Well, didn’t think a meme would be apt for this moment but I really feel that it has been a journey from this blog to this moment.

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It was a short and sweet event. It was fun seeing everyone celebrate 801 and it was great to also sit back and enjoy this genre that I love.

It’s been a very busy period for me, no thanks to this new normal. So celebrating BL yesterday kept my anxieties at bay. BL helped me recentre my life and focus on what’s important–boys love. *pfft*

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Futekiya’s Library

  When things look glum, it’s nice to find the light at the end of the tunnel. If there is one thing great about the world right now is that BL is growing and has become increasingly accessible.

When English-translated BL used to be handled by a select number of companies, some of which have consistently given us heavy hitters while others have broken our hearts, in the last…

From Welcome to BL Research by Haruta   Today would have been the Blush Convention. For years, as organisers, we’ve sought to find ways to hold the con as close to 801 yet schedules fail to align until this year. There were some exciting things that could have happened. We would have had Kumota Haruko as our first BL manga artist as guest! Our array of speakers would have helped us squee over…

Mii and Kei from Itoshi no Nekokke   Here’s the fondest memory I have of Kumota Haruko.    I was running around Osaka station, trying to get my google maps to work just to find the exit to Denden town. I had a Shinkansen to catch. I was hungry. I was lugging my luggage around because lockers were unavailable. At this point, I’m running on adrenaline as I found my way out of the stations, rushed…

It’s been a while since I was a part of a BL party. When I hosted the 801MMF, BL felt brand new. The online community was still shifting from using to yaoi to BL. Yaoi hands were still a thing. And I was eager to talk about diversity in boys love at a time when it was being challenged as a queer text.

Back then, I hoped that people could embrace this media and how this was an empowering space for…

From Harada’s Happy Kuso Life   Hey folks. How are you doing?   This new normal has certainly left the introvert in me happy but the lockdown has certainly made me miss some of the fun things I do outside my home. Like walking around a green campus. Having a leisurely cup of coffee while sharing a cake with friends. And of course, conventions.    Virtual conventions (or even conferences) are…

Photo of a circle. Taken by the author at Comic Frontier 2018.

In case you missed the memo, fandom is not a safe place, especially for BIPOC fans.

It’s something that we Asian fans have been keenly aware of since our engagement online. It’s something that has been documented by scholars. In the last week, as different organisations respond to justice and equality, the Organisation for…

BL is taking an interesting turn and it’s not happening on the shelves of Ikebukuro but on television broadcasts and streams in Thailand. Thai BL has become a hot topic in recent years and as someone invested in boys love culture, the world of boys love in Thailand has definitely piqued my curiosity. My enabler for this is none other than Dr. Thomas Baudinette who has watched every Thai BL ever…

Chillin’ like Takane (from Takane and Hana vol. 10, Viz ed.)

From time to time, I wonder if I have outgrown this blog. The fact that I’m writing this after some while means I haven’t.

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2017 came like a hurricane and I have not left. Just when I thought I’d have a little break to write something for this blog, I’m swept away by strong currents of school work, papers, and other things. I’ve been working hard to find time to settle and for some magical reason, after sleepless nights pouring through papers, I found myself some free time to write. Because you know what, I HAVE BEEN…

Herculion’s Full Service. Illustration by Mazjojo I am finally back from check republic ((as my students call final markings)) with the second part of my conversation with Thomas Baudinette on gay manga. In the last episode, we talked about Tom’s research, how he stumbled upon gay manga, and how this genre is consumed by readers in Japan. As for this episode, Tom and I will continue and conclude…

Geshuku no Oniisan (下宿のお兄さん) by Nohara Kuro Even when my life since last year has been moving forward like a jet plane, I always make an effort to do something special for Yaoi no Hi! That’s August 1, and that is today!  For this Yaoi no Hi, I decided to upload a podcast featuring my awesome friend and colleague, Thomas Baudinette (or Tom, as I call him in the show) about gay manga in Japan and…

Hello! It’s been a while! Since I last posted, I’ve done so many things like pass my thesis, prepare a conference, and uproot my life from Australia. It’s a bit crazy but all is well and good! Throughout the month, I’ll be giving some talks about my research. (more…)

Welcome to the Ballroom’s gonna be an anime, and I can’t help but feel excited. At a time when lesser known sports, such as figure skating and rugby, are getting some love, I’m happy that dancesport is joining the party. (more…)

Not once did I ever imagine that I would be so engrossed over a rescue team. When I was young, Baywatch glamorised rescues on the telly. Having lived along a typhoon belt, I knew better heroes than those lifeguards in orange. Every typhoon season, I bear witness to neighbours, friends, and families braving the torrential rain to save people. People didn’t need all the fancy boats and jet skis to…