Just to be clear I'm not talking about blatent hentai shonen ai series here. I mean stuff like Descendants of Darkness and Gravitation (the origional series, not the OVAs) that are plot based.

I like shonen ai (also known as yaoi), not just for the fanservice but for the plots. I just love the plots. The guys can be so funny about falling in with each other and I find the cross-dressing aspect that pops up every so often to be rather amusing. Shonen ais also tend to be very dramatic, and I'm a very dramatic person so I love that. And I'm not going to claim I don't enjoy the fanservice, because I do (I just don't like it when it becomes gratuitous). The guys are always so flawless, too. *sigh* A pity they aren't real and often only like other men anyway. ^^;
I'd like to hear why other people like it.

My personal favorite shonen ai is Gravitation. For one it deals with the issue of each characters' sexuality and reservations (or lack thereof) about loving someone of the same sex, unlike many shonen ais which just have you assume that the characters are gay and that's all there is to it (which has its own merits). I myself am bi-sexual so I really enjoyed that element. Another I liked was the fast-paced drama. Everything was just happening so fast and it was just one thing after another. The light-hearted comedy that was thrown in here and there was nice too. It deals with such serious things yet it stays light hearted and cute. Just like Shuichi-kun. ^^
What are other favorite shonen ai series? (and why)

Shounen ai, as to yaoi? I think its kinda disgusting.

I love shonen ai!Though i prefer manga to anime, but that's another thing^^

I love it because the emotions are very deeply shown, the characters are cute, funny but serious and angst as well. And, of course, the bishies.

My fav one would be Yami no matsuei, though Gravitation is quite good as well. YnM has impressive drawing and animation style, the setting is veyr good and the story is more deep than Gravi's. But the real thing that had me hooked to this anime is the characters. I've never encountered someone as fascinating as Tsuzuki: at first he looks like a dork who eat a lot(typical) but later you realise how serious and powerful he is and how much sorrow and pain he hides behind that mask. Also, the bad guy in this series is as fascinating as the good guy, and you find yourself almost CHEERING him on.The only weak point was the music, so laaaame.
But my fav arc was never animated, the Shikigami's world. So i hava to say the manga is ten times better.

Oh, enchantressinthedark, if you write in this psot just to say something like that, then don't. At least explain yourself, cause your statement sound quite childish.And shonen ai and yaoi are veyr different things. You should wait a reply before saying something.

Yaoi, bleh, it's not my thing. It makes you think extra on what the world today has to say. And a side note, even though I'm a guy, Shoju-ai isn't my thing either. Not to say I am strange, but I just think guy to girl has it's comdey quirks. ahem. I don't have a problem when I walk into the manga section at my local bookstore to find girls reading it, and giggling like crazy, and looking at pictures that I would rather not see.

Shounen-ai? Well, I don't really mind it as long as it's not too much. I think it's interesting, yup I like Descendant of Darkness.

Hentai shonen ai ?
shonen ai ?
Sorry, but can somebody just explain to me the difference first? and the meaning?
I get lost sometimes...
Thanks in advance :D

Hentai= manga or anime about explicit sexual intercourse between a guy and a girl.

yaoi= the same as hentai, only between two guys. It ususally has more plot than the sex(and hentai usually doesn't)

yuri= the same as above but between two girls.

shonen ai= manga or anime about a relationship between two boys that doesn't go further than kisses and hugs. Some innuendo may be intended, but nothing graphic.

shojo ai= the same as above but between two girls.

I've never liked shonen-ai, only watched a very few of them (like 1 series) I refer shojo-ai.

shonen - ai hentai would be really disgusting

I don't mind shonen-ai. It cute in the slight. I'm bi, so I'm open to both sides..
but, you know.. still being a girl.. I wouldn't really go for the hentai shonen-ai.

I've watched Fruits Basket, and I found the style quite amusing...

I don't mind watching it, although I haven't seen much of the gender. The only series I've got is Loveless, but since it's not even completed I haven't watched it yet. Shoujo-ai is cute, shounen-ai is cute. I like the expressions on their faces when they get embarassed.

Does kyo kara maou count only show i watched with a hint of shonen-ai i know its a spoof and wolframs love is one-sided but gunter on the other hand is totally too weird for me hes cool and all but the way he hangs all over yuuri and blushing makes me wonder what is his mind thinking,lol but overall if i didnt live with my parents still or brother who also is a otaku but totally against shonen-ai and me against ever thinking of watching it but if i lived alone i would prolly watch shonen-ai=)

I lOVE yami no matsuei. it was the first shounen-ai series that i bought, and the second that i'd seen. gravitation was the first, as it is for many people, and it was good, but sometimes a little too cute for me. (except for yuki, who is just divine!) but i love descendants of darkness because i like the darker storylines in general in the anime i watch, and the concept of shinigami with their own pasts coming to light. and muraki is just creepy-wonderful! the hisoka & tsuzuki storyline is wonderfully understated and the more blatant muraki & tsuzuki storyline is satisfyingly strange, even though it has non-con moments. and i agree that the artwork is lovely, it was what caught my attention in the first place.

I don't mind watching shounen-ai. i don't close my mind to those types of anime. im watching it for the storyline, not for the acts. ive convinced my friends to watch Gravitation before. At first they were reluctanct co'z of the theme, but then after watching some episodes, they got hook. You'll even forget sometimes that those two are guys, co'z what you only see now are two people who love each other.

As they've said, you cannot chose the person whom you're going to love. Besides, these are now normal in real life, so for me its okay to watch them.

Wow Shounen-ai, Yaoi and Hentai are VERY different things, you shouldn't put them together like that O_o

I used to think yami no matsuei is too bloody...but then I got older and I can see pass those blood into the plot. I've got to say it has one of the best plots ever...and the cutest love too ^^ although I prefer subtleness more than the explicit moments...

I don't mind shounen-ai and lighter yaoi, as long as the plot and character development are carefully planned. It's very true that shounen-ai do tend to give a more complex character development due to the hesitation and general embarassment of the characters...

...and of course, let's not forget the bishounen! *captures Soubi*