With the spread of e-books, it has become easier for everyone to access BL works, and with the accelerating spread of media, BL works are gaining new fans. There are a wide variety of genres, including the attributes of [attack] and [receive], and stories, such as pure love stories and slow love stories, and you may come across a variety of terms when enjoying the work.
Among these interesting terms, this article introduces the meaning and notation of “coupling”. “Coupling” has various meanings, but here we will mainly explain coupling in the BL world.
“Coupling” means combining or combining two things. In the doujin world, “coupling” refers to a romantic relationship between characters in anime or manga. The abbreviations for “coupling” are “kapu” and “CP.” This word is used in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships.
“Character A” and “Character B” who are in a romantic relationship are written as “Character A x Character B.” Also, it is often written by connecting the initial letters of the character’s name, such as “abbreviation of A and abbreviation of B”, and in that case, the “x” is often omitted.
In English-speaking countries, the word “pairing” is commonly used to mean “coupling.” In overseas otaku circles, the slang word “shipping”, which means coupling, is also used.
In BL (Boys Love) works, the coupling is expressed as “attack x uke,” with attack on the left and uke on the right. Therefore, attack is sometimes called “left” or “left side,” and uke is sometimes called “right” or “right side.”
As an example, the coupling between Kazunari Taira (seime) and Kanade Kiyoi (uke) in the popular BL work “Beautiful Kanojo”, which was even made into a live-action drama, is “Kazunari Taira x Kanade Kiyoi” or , the first letter of each name is taken and written as “Hirakiyo”. Also, in BL, personality has nothing to do with who is attacking and who is receiving.
By the way, pairs that are not in a romantic relationship or are in a friendship relationship are written as “A&B” or “A+B”.
◆The notation in other countries is “/”
In other countries, it is often separated by “/” instead of “x”, and a slash is inserted between the two characters you want to couple.
In the case of a combination of “Character A” and “Character B”, it is written as “Character A/Character B”, but unlike in Japan, it seems that there is often no relationship between the front and back position of the names and the attack and reception.
Coupling is a very important element in BL works. Coupling is an essential part of BL works, even if they focus on the story.
As a hint for finding your favorite work, you may also want to look at the story, design, and reviews, as well as what kind of coupling it is, and which one is more aggressive and which one is more popular. Part of the fun is choosing works based on your personal preferences, such as the attributes and combinations of attack and reception, such as ○○ attack and ○○ reception.
As you read the book, you wonder if these two will really be in a romantic relationship? I think there are times when you can’t shake your doubts, but the coupling notation also has the advantage of allowing you to read on with the expectation that there will be a BL expansion.
However, when it comes to coupling notation, I cannot say that it is absolutely necessary. There are many works where you don’t know if it’s BL or not, or if the two will develop into a romantic relationship.
If the genre of the work does not belong to BL, it can be fun to fantasize about whether it is BL or not, and even if a romantic relationship is not clearly depicted, there are many people who find it motivating even if there is a hint of a romantic relationship. Probably not.
Also, when I couldn’t find the notation for the coupling, or when I started reading without checking, the attack and reception were the opposite of what I expected! There must be many people who have had this experience. Some people may feel uncomfortable with this, but this is fine! Some people think so.
*About official couplings (official CP)
“Official couplings” are characters who are already in a romantic relationship in the original work. This refers to a publicly announced coupling, not a fan-created creation.
If an official coupling is specified, it is sufficient because some authors may prohibit reversing left and right in derivative works or creating a romantic relationship between one of the official couplings and another character. Please be careful.
◆ Difference between “Riba” and “Gyaku-Kup”
There are various interpretations of “reversible” (Riba), but generally it means that the attack and uke of a coupling are not fixed in the work, and the attack and uke may change depending on the case. It refers to things. If it is written as “with ribbing”, it means that there are depictions of both “A×B” and “B×A” in the work.
On the other hand, “reverse couple” refers to a coupling in which the attack and reception are reversed in secondary creation (“B x A” as opposed to “A x B”). In other words, the left and right fixed couplings are reversed. It is also a word used when the preferences or interpretations of attack and reception in a coupling are opposite.
In this way, “riba” and “reverse kapu” seem similar but have different meanings.
◆“Fixed Cup”
There are various types of BL enthusiasts. In derivative works, there are many “fixed couple” groups, including “coupling fixed” which does not accept couplings other than two specific people, and “fixed coupling” which does not accept the reversal of uke and attack. Masu.
For people who have a preference for fixed reception and attack'', reverse couple” is something that they definitely want to avoid, and for people who have a “fixed coupling” preference, it can be said that having another character involved can be an object of dislike.
一方、逆カプOKという人や、受け攻めをそれほど気にしないという人もいて、嗜好は千差万別。また、攻めのキャラクターAは他のどのキャラクター相手でも攻め、受けのキャラクターBは他のどのキャラクター相手でも受けであるという「左右固定」の嗜好を持つ人もいます。
こういったことからも、BLにおいてカップリングは繊細なものであり重要であると言えるでしょう。
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