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smile Interesting your question and you have a point; there are some cases when you notice all that muscles and masculinity is kinda exagerated, excessive and well quite unrealistic, and even not atractive in all. There we could talk about some other genre as you said that is better labeled as hyper guys not bara guys. However you're also perhaps pushing so much for this boundary, as you also quote there's times when the line is very blurry and therefore cannot be so easily to know when does bara ends and when hyper begins. In my POV all this happens because all POVs variate among individuals and then it's difficult, if not impossible, to have a general agreement about what's bara and what's hyper [most of the time, bara embroads the hyper subgenre, then it's not a different genre of bara but an special topic among their coverings]. It's difficult to define then the boundaries of bara, as there's also another blurry boundary in the opposite side with yaoi bishonen guys, when they're muscular and/or have a quite manlier attitude [when those guys are actually just muscular or manlier bishonen guys of yaoi, or true bara characters?] Somewhat something similar happens about some true bara characters as many of those of Takeshi Matsu ones, where while no one doubts that are physically bara, their attitudes, more specifially emotions are not restrained or agressive at times as a 'standard guy' is supposed to be [they reflect a lot and are quite happy-go-lucky in attitude, which contrast many times with some other bara artistic portrays as Matsuzaki for sample]. There's also another blurry issue with some other yaoi-like characters who are more shota-like as in most of Mentaiko stories, and many of Nakata's as well. And Masanori created some quite unique style of handsome muscular men with beautiful faces and expressions, and little corporal hair indeed on thei quite bulging beautiful pecs, a style more as a mixture of a moe girl character [as Mikuru Asashina from Haruhi Suzumiya's series] with a bara guy, i.e. a 'moe bara' as I call it. wink Fatties are also not considered bara at times when they're mostly more cutte and polished, than with a manlier attitude and appeareance [i.e. dirty pigs-like]. Furries had their issues with bara as most of the time the furry/anthro genre is considered as something very different from standard human topics, eventhough the characters share similarities as the bara issue. [This often comes blurry when kemono characters does appear, who are anthros more human-like than animalistic-true furry-like]
Bara does includes guys, quite hot muscular manly guys in female-dressing, even lingeries, usually as maids, hence other connection with many of the moe stereotypes [and furtherly they have also a sumissive attitude: those great manly bottom guys as Beast from TM]. Other could even have huge pecs with proturding nipples which furtherly could lactate, all this relating with the transgereded issue, but they aren't just being some kinky fancies, some even going so far as mpreg with birthing [in my case], but whereas the guys are manlier in appeareance and/or attitude [mostly having a balance of both, or giving more preference to the physical] that's what defines a bara character: a true grown-up adult guy, mostly manlier in attitude and physically [mostly this second issue] who have sex and/or loves another guy who shares many similarities with him [though not always also], whatever the position they had during the sexual intercourse [furtherly bara bottoms somehow are more hotter than bara tops, though there's exceptions too]. They could variate in shape, species, dressing [though they almost never had make up on face, which is a huge difference with real transgender issues], could even lactate having large pecs [but those never are actually female breast whatever so far they aproach them: usually areolas are smaller and not so darker, whatever their nipples and underneath are well erected and have some true mammary growth, but never are so sphaarically shaped or fattier-softer as females, but quite more broader and tickier with heavy muscular tissue instead, perhaps with some superficial layer of fat which makes them smoothier, yet not wavy as femmes], could even get impregnated and give birth [something very rare but it happens] at times even being intersexual-hermaphrotides [I saw a pic of Oland of Pumpking Scissors as it, and he had his whole male genitalias as well a vulva and vaginal opening in between his a** and scrotum {testicles}, so he probably could have some internal female reproductive organs as well; and oddly this has happened in real life: true biological males with female internal organs, as uterus and ovaries, sometimes even whole functional], but more male in appeareance and way of self-conception than female or something else. So bara is quite a broader concept so though there might be some specializations as those I mentioned, is not so good to separate of them, if the main subject keeps there: the worshiping of true male masculine atractiveness as well, though not always, the erotic issue of their sexual potential, with other male partners [ many times involving real love too] or in a different way [there's certainly considered bara all those pics with self-stimulation for pleasure, i.e. masturbation, and at times, particulary for those bi guys, females could also be involved in bara neutral ]
So bara is a way broad term, hyper is just a specialization, and well while the guys are true guys in your POV and you like them, it's bara! mrgreen heart

wink You're welcome, but you're right too: there's a kinda standard core of what bara is, just that in my POV it doesn't works as the POV of each individual who likes bara might broad the cover of the term into other subtopics, whereas somehow at least one of the characteristics that define the bara archetype fits into it. confused It's then confusing to know what are those bara standard characteristics, but again in my POV perhaps it's better that way to not know it. Therefore bara reflects reality and fantasy at the same time, and it helps to mirror the wishes and desires guys who love it had, and then doesn't becomes a fixation of just a single thing that breaks the focus of both ilusion and/or reality [Keeps the balance to have a broader mind than just a single liking, because just focusing into it, might narrow a lot chances to see it happens in real life when opportunities come, than having more choices of acheiving the same goal.] heart
Still it'll be interesting to know what are those bara core features, but it'll be better to ask it for some other persons here. [From my POV a standard of what a core bara might look like are CrimsonBlood-Zhu and DongSaeng drawings and also Takeshi Matsu, Tsukasa Matsuzaki, Senga Mingiri/Ie Tatematsu and Gai Mizuki/Rycanthropy stories are. Other artists and authors could be more harder going into hyper or heavy extremes at times [Jiraiyia, Seizoh Ebusibashi, Gengoroth Tagame, Zeloee and Rybiok], while others go for a thiner, polished/charming and youthful extreme [Mentaiko, Nakata, Masanori and Hydaria]. GoGoMonkey and Sarumax are also core bara drawers. Yuatari and Kondou are some gorgeous odd end hard drawers.]