Otaku Champloo

Author: khursten

  • My favourite manga reads in 2016

    My favourite manga reads in 2016

     

    2016. What a year.

    It’s been a tough year for many of us and personally, it was a challenging one. I was so busy with the last stretch of my dissertation that I hardly read any manga at all! When things finally slowed down in December, I started thinking of the titles I should put on this list and honestly, I hardly remembered five titles! I know I enjoyed a couple of reads, but I can’t even remember why I enjoyed them! Isn’t that sad!?! My head was totally out of it that I spent the last week recalling all the good things I read. Thankfully, there were a few that reminded me of good things about 2016. Just like before, these are titles that I have read in the last year and are not necessarily published that same year.

    (more…)

  • The BL Manga Starter Kit

    The BL Manga Starter Kit

    blstarterkit

    I’d like to think of this BL Starter Kit as Pandora’s Box. When Airin raised the idea to me, I was obscenely curious over what she had to say. In fact, I’ve been very curious what titles people suggested because getting someone started on BL is like opening Pandora’s Box. The entire world thinks that it has nothing but evil — homosexuality, misrepresentation of homosexuality/masculinity, sexual aggression, yaoi hands, etc. Before you even grab your first BL book, people would have told you 9000 reasons why it suck and why you should not read it. It’s reached a point where any person who likes BL will openly tell you “Yeah, it’s TRASH,” as if acknowledging that nothing good comes out of it. And yet, a recent book about BL has earned an Eisner nomination. Amazing artists such as Yoshinaga Fumi and Shimura Takako started their careers as BL writers. And then the people who considered BL also trash also openly admitted that they genuinely love the genre. Doesn’t that make you want to open this Pandora’s Box?

    (more…)

  • Fujojocast #10: Building a BL starter kit!

    Fujojocast #10: Building a BL starter kit!

    Honto Yajuu vol. 8

    So I posted last weekend about pooling people’s recs for a BL starter kit! If you’ve got a few titles in mind, that’s great! Let me know about it!

    However, if you’re still thinking how to go about it, let Airin, Maija, and I help you build a criteria for your BL starter kit! In this podcast, we share our thoughts on BL titles we think is accessible for curious readers! It may have been recorded last year but I think our selection still holds! Listen in and I hope it inspires you to rec for the BL Starter Kit!

    (more…)

  • Pooling Recs for a  BL Starter Kit List

    Pooling Recs for a  BL Starter Kit List

    Asking me what BL to read is like asking me how I like my eggs for breakfast — I’ve got my favourite but I also like changing it up from time to time. Over the years, people have approached me to ask if I have any BL to recommend. I often recommend titles I recently read but given that I’ve read quite a lot of BL in my lifetime, it’s becoming harder to recommend BL titles. I’ve got titles that go back to 1969. I also enjoy all kinds of themes and tropes. I’m never one to turn down an insane idea so I tend to find merit in the unusual. I often tell friends that I’m never the kind of person to ask BL recs but lately, I’ve been thinking, maybe, I should challenge myself to think of one. And hopefully, you can join me in this process too!

    Over the next week, I’d like for you to consider 3 to 5 BL titles you would recommend to a friend who’s curious about BL. This may be a friend who has never read BL before. A friend who has but lost that loving feeling along the way. Or a friend who just wants something new.

    You’re more than welcome to send me your recommendations either via twitter (@khursten, with the hashtag #801blrec), or send me an e-mail (punkednoodle-at-gmail) with the subject [801BLREC], or leave a comment below. If you’ve got so much feels about these titles, do share why these titles merit your recommendations! I’ll be doing the same thing in a separate post and I’ll be sharing a podcast as well on this matter. I think more than my blabbing, I’d love to hear what titles you think are worth recommending!

    As a reward for your thoughts, I’ll be giving away BL care packages to the top 2 contributors. This BL care package contains BL goodies and books gathered from Japan, some doujinshi, as well as some prizes from Blush Con and Aarinfantasy!

    So, when you have a list ready, do let me know! I’m taking recs until 9 September!

  • Thanks for your contributions to the 2016 BL Webcomic Rec List!

    If you haven’t read the 2016 BL Webcomic Recs, now (or maybe the weekend) is the perfect time to do so!

    While I’ve had my list for this year, I was so happy to receive an awesome set of recs from other folks! Thanks to them, we’re still basking in the feels of all these amazing titles. In gratitude, I’m giving one of them a chance to win Mirror, the illustration collection book of Takarai Rihito!

    Winning contributor is @PhoenixTerran

    With the power of a general online lister, the winner is Ash (@PhoenixTerran) from twitter! He’s been a great supporter of many works and this site for years so it’s great that the fujojo gods are in your favor this year!! Do send me an e-mail (punkednoodle-at-gmail) for your contact deets!!

    To everyone who contributed, thank you so much! Let’s continue to track amazing BL webcomics over the next year! Super thanks!

  • 2016 BL Webcomic Rec List

    2016 BL Webcomic Rec List

    Whether it’s raining or I’m burning under the summer sun, I will not miss out on this year’s rec list!

    The contributions this year are amazing and diverse. I took out some recs  because they’re quite young narratives which still needs some time to brew. For most, well, I did my best to list them down below.

    If you’re looking for a steamy summer read, then you can get started with these BL webcomics! 

    (more…)

  • Let’s party, fujojo! It’s 801 (yaoi) no hi!

    Takeuchi sachiko's kusare joshi in deep

    Hey fujojos! Happy Yaoi no Hi!!

    If you’ve been abstaining from your delusional thoughts over boys falling in love, then it’s the perfect time to indulge yourself and bask in BL all day long. For all you trashy fujojos, it’s an opportunity to revisit your favourite stories and ships. For others who have lost touch with BL, perhaps it’s time to reconnect and find some new titles to try!

    This year is particularly special for me. As it turns out, on the 21th of this month, this blog has been around for 10 years! This day has been creeping on me and I often realise my blog anniversary often after the date. It’s crazy and to be honest, I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I wrote my first post! I also can’t believe I’ve kept this blog for more than ten years! I’m more delinquent than most blogs but it’s crazy just to have this blog and to have met some amazing people in the process. It’s been a batshit crazy decade that I just can’t handle all these amazing feels rushing through me this month. 

    In celebration of this blogversary, I’d like to invite you to a month long party in my blog! I’ll be doing a couple of features over the month and I will be giving away some goodies as I recollect the best things that happened to my fujoshi life in the last ten years. Hence, Otaku Champloo is celebrating Yaoi Day FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. Well, maybe we’ll be celebrating my otaku life for this month and you can join me in recollecting our love for manga in the last ten years!

    But for now, allow me to start your day right by greeting you a happy yaoi no hi, fujojo! May your day filled with love and boys who love each other!

  • It’s time for the 2016 BL webcomic roll call

    Yes gaiz. It’s almost August. If you stalk me well enough, you know that August is the time when this site goes crazy. This year, it’ll be wilder for reasons that I will only reveal on the 801. 
    For now, I’m calling all you fujoshi and fudanshi to lend me your awesome powers in finding the best BL webcomics you’ve read in the last year! Share with our fellow fujojos the BL webcomics that made you squee, crai, and loved dearly n the last year! Make sure that the comic you shared has not been listed in the 2012, 2013, and 2015 BL webcomic lists. 

    As for what counts as a BL webcomic, any comic that highlights some form of romance between boys or men counts. BL does stand for ‘boys love’ but I’m not strict when it comes to the genre. Over the last few years, the BL webcomic recs have been pooling a diverse set of works that explores amazing representations male homosexualities as written by various creators from all walks of life. So I’ll take every rec granted it’s a BL comic that is easily accessible online. 

    In return, this year, I’ll be giving away to a lucky contributor a copy of Takarai Rihito’s illustration book: Mirror! 

    If you want to contribute, you can leave a comment below, send me (@khursten) a tweet of your rec with the hashtag #801blrec, or e-mail me (check my About page!) with the subject [801BLRec]! Contributions will be entertained only until 31 July 2016 23:59, US Eastern time. 

    Looking forward to your recs, fujojos!! 

  • 44. Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    44. Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    Oshaberi wa asagohan no ato de

    I sometimes wonder if becoming a historian is just a haughty excuse to “gossip” on people’s lives. Well, technically, they’re dead but, not gonna lie, I love reading biographies of living folks too — if TMZ and Daily Mail clickbaits count. Hollywood and Hiddleston aside, over the last few years, I’ve been enjoying autobiographical essay manga. Essay manga are a bit like those 24 hour comics where a comic artist shares a part of their lives or their opinions in manga. The best example in English are the essay manga of Shigeru Mizuki — Nonnonba, Showa: A History of Japan series, and Onwards Towards our Noble Deaths. In Japanese, I’ve enjoyed Ishinomori Shotaro’s and Takeuchi Sachiko. One particular title has caught my heart mostly because it mixes four of my favourite things: travelling, manga, Hideyoshico, and food. Oshaberi wa Asagohan no Ato de (Conversations after Breakfasts, 2012) is a treat to read. 

    (more…)

  • 43. Doukyuusei by Nakamura Asumiko.

    43. Doukyuusei by Nakamura Asumiko.

    doukyuusei DVD

    I got my DVD of Doukyuusei last week. To be honest, I didn’t want to get the DVD. I mean, yes, I wanted to watch the film. I was miserable that I missed the film when I had the chance to see it. But the DVD, I thought, it can wait another day. Like, maybe, when the PhD is over. I’m at that point in my Nakamura Asumiko fan life that I can wait a few months before buying her next release. I mean there was a time where I can wait years before I get a book so, I know that this can wait. But somehow, the Doukyuusei DVD kept on popping up on my Amazon suggestions.

    And then it dawned on me that I might have a use for the DVD, so I eventually preordered it. When it arrived, I felt a slight tickle under my skin. I didn’t think I’d be so excited about it until I placed the DVD on my shelf beside my Doukyuusei manga. Suddenly, years of my BL life just flooded over me. I realised that had it not been for Nakamura Asumiko, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.

    (more…)