The origin of the term “Bara” was actually from a slur for gay people in Japan. The term “Bara” is written with the kanji 薔薇 which literally means “rose.” Its common usage can be traced back to the first magazine catering exclusively for gay men in Japan, Barazoku (薔薇族). In Japan, however, the term is not commonly used with the same meaning and has a more complex history. “Bara” is a term commonly used in English-speaking manga reader communities to generally describe a genre of manga depicting romantic and sexual relationships between men with art styles showing more realistically-drawn characters or muscular men.