Yeah, since pretty boy physique is common to MOST bl manga, NOTABLE MENTIONS: KS, PAINTER OF THE NIGHT, JAZZ FOR TWO
Bara basically do their chatacters the way most men look, BIG, HAIRY, More muscular
Although in some cases of bara, there would be chatacters that arent really that muscular but doesnt fit in the pretty boy category as well so yeah
ON ANOTHER NOTE THOUGH.
Yaoi is directed mostly to FEMALE READERS/FUJOS
While bara is also gay erotic content but made BY GAY artists, for GAY men
Since yaoi doesnt really potray LGBTQ+ representation that well
*Sexualization of rape, Fetishizing MLM, etc etc
hi! so, while they are both within the category of bl, bara is made by gay men with the target audience being for gay men. that doesn't mean anyone else can't read it, but like shoujo anime for example, while the target audience are woman, of course anyone can watch or read it! yaoi is also an outdated term, and it's really only used in western places. most just catagorize all types of bl (yaoi, shounen ai, bara etc) under just the term 'bl.' anyhow, yaoi in western terms is generally made by woman for woman. so, unlike bara, the target audience is woman. again that doesn't mean anyone else can't read it, it's just the target audience!
both (on most western unofficial websites) will generally have adult content in it. however, the thing about bara too is yes, it does tend/almost always have bigger men in it. keep in mind men can write yaoi too, but the content separates the two as well. yaoi tends to have more cutesy themes or the whole 'mean seme and timid uke.' bara tends to have all the members who are apart of the relationship having muscular features or bigger bodies.
please keep in mind im not an expert at this, but this is what i've learnt from the research i've down prior. hope this helps!
What is the distinction between bara and yaoi? What makes a manga to be categorized as bara and not yaoi??? Is it purely body type of the mc? Can someone educate me pls?