Many of us will be familiar with the concepts of bears, twinks, and hunks when it comes to gay slang concerning body types. Unsurprisingly, there are many subdivisions and crossovers between these builds, and the same is true in Japanese gay culture. But, for the uninitiated, coming across “GMPD” for the first time can be a little confusing. But don’t fret, we can take you through these four large and in charge physiques, one at a time using a helpful and intuitive scale.
The Scale
No, this isn’t a scale for weight. Although GMPD describes larger men, just as there is no minimum weight limit for bears or maximum for twinks, and no upper or lower bound for muscle mass, you can generally get the “vibes” of which category one belongs to. With different websites using different definitions, we turned to artist, beefy-man enthusiast and friend of Japan Gay Guide Naxx to give us his solid yet flexible star scale!
It’s as simple as simple can be: Naxx identifies two categories, muscle and fat. Within this, one can achieve two stars for “a lot”, one for “some”, and zero for “not much.” So, let’s go through our categories in GMPD order! And to help demonstrate, we’ll be using pics of beloved celebrity comedian Seth Rogan!
G: Gacchiri
NAXX RATING
-muscle ★★
-fat ★☆
“Gacchiri” essentially means “robust.” We might think of someone who is gachhiri as being somewhat generically “buff.” There is no clearcut line between how much muscle someone should have compared with the amount of fat that they should have, nor how muscly. But as a rule, you might want to think of someone gacchiri as being pretty well built, without looking like a body builder.
M: Mucchiri
NAXX RATING
-muscle ★☆
-fat ★☆
Here we have more of an all-rounded body type. “Mucchiri” could be considered the equivalent of “thicc” in Englush, with “voluptuous” sometimes used as a more accurate translation, even if it’s more typically applied to women. Another way to express this body type is “muchi muchi,” which is the onomatopoeia of someone with a little bit of love to grab onto.
For an example of the mucchiri body type, you might want to think of the kind of person who takes care of themselves, or works a physical job, but also enjoys a good helping of barbeque at a party. For some, the term “dad-bod” might work as a good English equivalent.
P: Pocchari
NAXX RATING
-muscle ★☆
-fat ★★
Now we’re getting into the cuddly side of things. “Pocchari” is the equivalent of “chubby” in English, but it doesn’t have the negative connotation that we might tend to think of. Interestingly, this body type is very often popular in erotic manga, especially those created for and by men. While yaoi manga drawn by women typically emphasizes lithe, bishounen-type characters, artists like Jiraiya instead focus more on bodies that have more of a “realistic” or at least less ‘fragile’ aspect to them.
While we often associate such body types in the West with being a “bear” with a fair amount of hair, this is not always the case when describing pocchari people in Japan.
D: Debu
NAXX RATING
-muscle ☆☆
-fat ★★
“Debu” here is getting into the realm of “fat.” In this instance, it can be a little disrespectful if just thrown around, so you might not want to describe someone else as debu, and instead allow them to describe themselves if they are overweight. In this sense, you might liken it do a degree to the somewhat fetishy adjective of “BBM,” or “big beautiful man” in English.
As the NAXX rating suggests, people who fit into this category don’t have much muscle mass to speak of, but that isn’t to say they are necessarily outright obese (though obese people can be debu).
In Summary
As anywhere else, Japan is filled with people of varying body types, and has developed its own vocabulary to describe them. And as with anywhere else, finding a definitive line between the definitions, as everyone is going to have their own views on, say, who is mucchiri and who is pocchari. But hopefully this brief guide will help you to negotiate the nuances of gay culture when discussing it with Japanese circles. Ganbare!
Thanks again to Naxx for his assistance with this article.
