Also, the seme in this story is a kid (=・ω・=)
this is a trend that wants to counter the years of fragile and frail uke portrayals, often without not much personality. i get what you’re saying here, but tbh 80% of yaois were never really written properly in the first place
While I agree that there should be variety in general, buff ukes are not the standard in yaoi. Small twinks are. So I don't mind a buff uke. I mind uke/seme in a childish body (like in this story). The shota creepiness pisses me off. Same with teacher/student stories. NO.
I get your point and I'm glad that you agree with me and I hope there are other's that agree with me as well that there should be more variety. That's why I started translating manga's as well. I'm also not implying that buff guys can only be semes (although I would love it if there more translated works that do have one), but being a reader of yaoi manga/mahnwa and using mangago as a preferable choice to read mangas and consistently seeing small seme x buff uke pairings of stories on the "create date" and "update tabs" of this site day in and day out for the last few years, it's just gotten to the point where it find it equally perplexing and disappointing to see the nuanced dynamics of a slender 'twink' seme and a buff, muscular uke reduced to mere novelty, stripping away the rich potential for character depth and the subversion of traditional roles to become nothing more than a trope that's been worn thin.
No worries! I too love me some classic smaller uke - buff seme stories! A lot of these stories that have a buff uke, the seme has the body of a child. So the contrast, its pronounced. Personally, I want more stories where both characters are in their 30s.
I've come to notice a persistent trend in yaoi manga/manhwa that frankly gotten to the point where it just irritates me—the portrayal of buff guys as ukes. It's a creative choice, sure, but one that feels like it misses the mark on what makes characters truly appealing and multifaceted. The beauty of manga, especially within the yaoi genre, lies in the ability to explore a rich spectrum of personalities and dynamics, far beyond the traditional molds that society often imposes.
But this incessant pigeonholing of muscular/"bara" type characters into the role of ukes seems like a tired trope that's been overplayed. It's not about the physical possibility or challenging stereotypes—it's about the lack of creativity in storytelling. The fixation on this dynamic underestimates the complexity of relationships and reduces the depth of characters to mere physical attributes. There are literally so many stories that have buff characters have the seme appearance (literally), and it feels like a lost opportunity when they are continually cast as ukes, regardless of their personality or the story's context.
It's annoying because it feels like a shallow subversion of expectations—taking what is traditionally seen as a symbol of strength and masculinity and flipping it without adding anything meaningful to the narrative or character development. It's a superficial nod to diversity that doesn't actually celebrate the real diversity of human experiences and identities.
I’d love to see more balance and innovation in yaoi manga portrayals, where a character's physique isn't the be-all and end-all of their role in a relationship. It's high time that buff characters are given the narrative space to be just as varied and complex as their less muscular counterparts.