It wasn’t until quite recently that mangas and anime that had homosexuality as a main theme in their storyline were accepted by the general Japanese public. Yuri (lesbianism) and Yaoi (male homosexuality) were both considered unpopular subjects up until the early 1970’s. In 1971 the gentle ecchi (soft porn) yuri love story Shiroi Heya no Futari (‘The Couple in the White Room) was published by Ryoko Yamagishi and it became a huge popular hit which changed the way the Japanese looked at homosexually based hentai.
(more…)