On Friday, June 11 9:00 pm (CST), I’ll be giving a talk at Fujocon on Fujoshi Bait!
What is Fujoshi Bait? How does it work? Why is it successful for some but not for others? How much of it is intentional or unintended? Central to this lecture is the idea of Boys Love literacies and the effective and ineffective ways media use these literacies to keep and maintain a captive female audience and market.
I hope that I can see you at this talk! The talk is for free just register at Fujocon’s website. (And for those who live in my region PH+8, the talk is at 10 AM!!)
There are also many fantastic talks from other BL academics and fans so it’d be a worthwhile experience this weekend. ALSO, I heard Futekiya’s list of guests for Fujocon are A++. Check out the panels!
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*
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 our favourite ships and series in the last year.
That said there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. The new normal has kept us apart but I’m genuinely happy that we are all celebrating it one way or another through our virtual hashtag party #Blush801.
And in the spirit of fun and giveaways that we usually do in the con, I’m happy to giveaway 5 one month subscriptions to Futekiya! I’ll be giving it to three BL fans in the Philippines and two BL fans outside of the Philippines. These fans MUST also have active paypal accounts.
How will you get to have a chance for this price? Here’s the mechanics.
In a comment below, name three Futekiya titles that you are looking forward to reading and why you want to read them. You can check the list of Futekiya titles here. Let me know where you’re from too by placing which country you’re from.
Is it that easy? Yes! It’s that easy!
All entries must be given before the 11:59 August 1 GMT +8. I’ll announce the winners the next day.
So let me know the titles you’d like to try below while I share my own recs on August 1!!
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 just not good enough. This year, one of our local BL cons in Manila, BLush, had to cancel because of COVID-19. It could have been an awesome convention given that for the first time in years, the calendars aligned and we were FINALLY hosting it on 801. Quite a number of people were excited about the convention, however, they had to replan the event for the safety of everyone involved.
Interestingly, virtual conventions are a thing now but given the reliability of internet connections in Manila, the people of BLush decided to hold a virtual hashtag party instead. From July 27 until August 1, @BlushCon will be launching a set of activities for BL fans in Manila all over the globe. Even when the world robbed us the opportunity to squee together, the folks at BLush feel that we still deserve a decent 801 party online. And I am TOTALLY up for that.
So, what happens?
During this week, follow @BLushCon and they’ll be releasing some activities for everyone under the hashtag #BLush801. If you’re an artist, there’s a fun activity to do. If you’re just a fan of boys love, there’s something for you too! And this event is open to fans of all iterations of boys love–from danmei, ThaiBL, BL manhwa and of course BL in Japan!
Over here at Otaku Champloo, I’ll also be writing some articles just to contribute to this BLush801 party! I’ve also got some more surprises for everyone especially towards the actual 801 weekend!
I’m pleased to share my article that looks into how BL’s getting nastier by the minute!
I find it so surreal to write this so casually given the tone of what I’ve been writing for the past few years. I have disappeared from this site as I prioritised my academic work and now I’m happy to share a result of that work!
This article was born from reading all the naughty BL that’s been released in the last decade. Harada. Ogeretsu Tanaka. Yamane Ayano. You know, the nasty titles that are not classified as shonen’ai in foreign sites and are often categorised as yaoi for their “sexually explicit” content. In Japan, it has been referred to as Hard BL, but in recent years these titles have been described as eroBL. I examine the nuances of this term and the characteristics that make these eroBL titles as pornographic among BL readers. Much like the BL pundits I mentioned in this article, this research was born from my own curiosity over what makes a “sexually explicit” BL work and how that even happened.
There’s a lot of history that I glossed over for the purposes of the article. I’ll probably write about that on this blog if time permits.
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!
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!
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!
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.
BLush, Philippine’s BL convention, is back for another round of BL fun this coming 9 July 2016!
This year’s con is leveling up with a bigger and badder venue for more BL shenanigans. This year’s theme celebrates the love that comes from loyalty and servitude. I don’t reckon what we were thinking when we thought of this theme, but for sure, you can’t help but think about the lovely images of butlers, chefs, maybe some civil servants, and perhaps some royals.
This year, we’re fortunate to have two special guests: Malaysian illustrator, KiDchan and Thai cosplayer PD. We also have our ragtag of Filipino writers and illustrators to talk boys love. I will also be prattling about boys love, doujinshi, ships and whats not and I’m quite certain we will all be screaming like nutcases at one point during this event. Our butlers from Cafe La Vie en Rose is once again open to serve the loveliest tea while playing silly games with you (and maybe with each other). It’s one happy day filled with BL shenanigans and if I can put you all in my pocket and take you with me, I will.
By the way, if you are planning to attend Blush and you want to sell your warez or have pressing feels about ships or a fandom, applications for the market and fan panels will be open until 9 June 2016. With regards to our panels, our talks have been a mix of histories about BL manga, technologies in BL drama cds, the various sports anime that made our hearts go crazy (or made you ladies scream like crazy), and distinctions between seme and uke. Honestly, you can apply for a 30-minute panel just to talk about how Bakugou makes the best uke ever. Or how tsunderes are the best.
People have spoken and Random.org has done the hard work of pick out the winners. Congratulations to PotatoeOverlord, Trenna Schram, and Kawaii_Mess!! If you guys won and want to claim your prize, send me an e-mail and let’s talk about how I get some BL to you!
As for everyone who contributed super super thanks!
I also want to give a shoutout to Sparkler Monthly for answering my silly question and making it possible that I can give this prize. No, Sparkler Monthly did not provide the prize, but they do have so many amazing titles in their mag which I want to share to winners of this contest.
Again, congratulations to the winners and give me a few minutes to post the 801 BL Webcomic Rec List!
