Intimacy. Sex. In shonen-ai are boys close to each other. In yaoi they are even closer. But it´t just mine opinion. (づ￣ ³￣)づ
Yaoi generally has explicit sex scenes. Shounen Ai either just glosses over scenes and doesn't show anything in detail, or skips sex scenes entirely.
Level of smut - ai is usually tame - kissing/holding hands, yaoi is usually full on sex
shounen-ai has no sex and it focuses more on the relationship while yaoi usually focuses on the sex and the physical aspect of the relationship.
While a lot of Yaoi manga do focus on the physical aspect, I think it's unfair to say that Yaoi as a whole puts more focus on the physical then the emotional. It simply includes the physical intimacy as a factor in the story - which is generally an important part of most relationships anyway.
yaoi shows the dick
Best explanation ever.
Shounen-ai is more romancey and lovey dovey with a lot more plot. Any manga labeled yaoi is bound to have at least one sex scene in it (づ￣ ³￣)づ
^ basically sums it all.
i won't be going on a personal definition but rather my observation throughout the years of reading BL. shounen-ai can also feature sex but they usually cut half of the body or do the "fade to black" cut. normally plot-centric than sex.
meanwhile, yaoi is smut-oriented. it equates to "ecchi" in het mangas. plot varies from paper-thin to rich. but generally has lesser plot compare to shounen-ai.
I love your way to explain! lol
Isn't that untrue though? I don't read yaoi, but I know that some censor it by blurring it out, right? I'm pretty sure that would still count as yaoi.
yaoi = know who seme and who uke
shounen-ai is subtle love, very plot based
yaoi is smutty, a lot of fanservice
What's the difference between shounen-ai and yaoi?