Artwork depicting a seme (left) and uke (right) couple The two participants in a yaoi relationship (and to a lesser extent in ) are often referred to as ('top') and ('bottom'). These terms originated in martial arts: seme derives from the verb 'to attack', while uke is taken from the verb 'to receive' and is used in to mean the receptive partner ('bottom') in. Aleardo Zanghellini suggests that the martial arts terms have special significance to a Japanese audience, as an archetype of the gay male relationship in Japan includes. Zoids Saga 2 English Patch here. The seme and uke are often drawn in the style and are 'highly idealised', blending both and qualities. Zanghellini suggests that the samurai archetype is responsible for 'the 'hierarchical' structure and age difference' of some relationships portrayed in yaoi and boys' love. The seme is often depicted as the male of anime and manga culture: restrained, physically powerful, and protective.

Sentimental Trickster is an original 18+ BL visual novel written by an English-speaking yaoi fan for other English-speaking yaoi fans. Public Enemy Power To The People And The Beats Rar.

The seme is generally older and taller, with a stronger chin, shorter hair, smaller eyes, and a more stereotypically masculine, and 'macho' demeanour than the uke. The seme usually pursues the uke, who often has softer, androgynous, feminine features with bigger eyes and a smaller build, and is often physically weaker than the seme. Another way the seme and uke characters are shown is through who is dominant in the relationship - a character can take the uke role even if he is not presented as feminine, simply by being juxtaposed against and pursued by a more dominant, more masculine, character. Although not the same, a yaoi construct similar to seme and uke is the concept of tachi and neko.

This archetypal pairing is referenced more often in older yaoi volumes - in modern yaoi, this pairing is often seen as already encompassed by seme and uke or simply unnecessary to address. The tachi partner is conceptualized as the member of the relationship who pursues the more passive partner, the latter of whom is referred to as the neko. Seme and uke is similar but not identical to tachi and neko because the former refers primarily to sexual roles, whereas the latter describes personality. [ ] Although seme and uke roles are already used in some manga to describe which member of the relationship is more dominant and which member is more passive, there are just as many manga novels which subtly or overtly differentiate between the two.