Uke
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- Note: Uke (pronounced "yuke") is also a shortened version of the name ukulele.
In Japanese martial arts, the uke (受け; pronunced oo-keh) is the person who "receives" a technique.
In Aikido training this means that the uke initiates an attack against his partner (the nage (投げ) or "thrower"), who then defends himself with a technique, generally causing the uke to be pinned or thrown. This is called "taking ukemi (受身)." In other Japanese martial arts, the term is used differently.
In anime and manga, especially shounen-ai, yaoi and hentai, uke is a general term for a partner in a relationship who is predominantly femme, a bottom, and/or a submissive. The equivalent for top is seme (攻め).
Some fans dislike the term as portraying a sexist notion of relationships - its conflation of gender role with sex preferences and the notion that a relationship always contains one uke and one seme - and its prevalence in some rape fantasy doujinshi.
Uke are generally younger characters who are shorter, younger, or otherwise have an appearance slightly more 'cuddly' than handsome. Shuichi from Gravitation is a typical example of a character with uke overtones.
Although similarties appear in yuri fandom, the term is generally not used to refer to female characters.de:Uke nl:Uke