Uke (manga)
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In anime and manga, especially shounen-ai, yaoi and hentai, uke (受け) is a general term for a partner in a relationship who is predominantly bottom and/or submissive. The equivalent for top is seme (攻め?).
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[edit] Appearance vs. Personality
The classic guidelines establish the uke by appearance (shorter than the seme, more childish, mostly light-haired, cute faces, effeminate) in relation to the 'dom' seme's appearance (taller, more masculine, older), often regardless of the characters' personality. Some artists are known to physically alter the original appearance of characters to fit the stereotyped look. Recently, most characters (especially in American fandom) are established as seme based strictly on personality (the uke being typically more emotionally imbalanced, acquiescent, and immature or have more feminine interests), which sometimes conflicts with the original visual concept.
[edit] The Height Rule[1]
As previously stated, pairings (especially when fan-based and in Japan) follow what is known as the "height rule". The shorter of the two characters is placed as the uke while the the taller is inevitably cast as the seme, regardless of whichever character is more passive personality-wise. Even when fans wish for the more dominant or agressive shorter character to have the role of seme, often the character will go through a sudden height change in either the fanart, doujinshi, or fanfiction. The reasoning behind it is most likely because having the shorter character "on top" visually looks odd.
[edit] Types of Ukes
There are may different "styles" of ukes that are used in anime and manga:
- Ukes are usually seen as a younger characters who are shorter, younger, or otherwise have an appearance slightly more "cuddly' than handsome. Shuichi from Gravitation is a typical example of a character with uke overtones.
- Another uke style is the depressing uke. They are usually dark and short, and prone to having to worst luck in life. They cry, and are usually antisocial from large groups of people. They might even resort to cutting their own wrists or other forms of self harm to 'let out emotion'. In fan writings and other fandoms, "Fruits Basket's" Yuki and Kyo are often paired with either being placed as the uke. But both can be classified as a depressing uke. The self-sacrificing Kurama from YuYu Hakusho, would fall into this category when placed as an uke (mostly under the "personality/American" definition of an uke), or, when following the "Height Rule", his popular fandom boyfriend Hiei would also fit this category.
- A popular uke "style" is the rebellious uke. They are slightly taller and more mature than the above placed uke, and usually have a fiery temper. When in involved in a relationship, their seme makes it clear who's in charge and this doesn't sit well with this particular uke. They rave and protest, demanding to be the seme and not the uke. They refuse to admit that they are sometimes adorable, or have a soft spot for something a little less 'manly'. For fan-based pairings in "Fullmetal Alchemist," Edward Elric is usually considered this type of uke.
- Another Uke style is a more "girly" boy. eg. Kim JaeJoong from TVXQ is considered an uke because of his girlish looks as opposed to Jung Yunho who is cast as a seme because of his masculinity in the fanpairing "Jaeho".
[edit] Controversy of Term
Some fans dislike the term as portraying a sexist notion of relationships - its conflation of gender role with sex preferences and the notion that a relationship always contains one uke and one seme - and its prevalence in some rape fantasy dōjinshi.
[edit] Relation to Yuri
Although similarities appear in yuri fandom, the term is generally not used to refer to female characters.
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
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