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bengiyo · 3 months

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Hi, i'm a newish bl drama watcher from thailand that just started watching thai bls. i'm a bit ashamed to say that for a long time as a gay man living here i've been avoiding bl shows like the plague cuz of both the fandom reputation and of misconception from my yaoi era which i leave far behind. i'm just want to ask how did you got into watching thai bls and what were you preconception before you got into it.

Welcome to the Tumblr side of BL fandom. I'd actually like to also hear more of your experience with yaoi and BL as a gay person growing up in Thailand if you're willing to share.

For me, I'm a Black American from the Gulf Coast (the South). I grew up in a Catholic city and spent my entire adolescence in the closet. Despite having a sense of who I was as early as 8 years old, I kept most of that to myself. Because I didn't talk about it much with people, I found out most information about queer media and queerness from the internet.

I entered BL via queer cinema. I think the first explicitly gay character that I remember from TV was Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation. There were probably others, and definitely more subtle expressions, but when I think about the oldest gay character I remember and connect to, it's Marco. I don't like counting things like shipping Shawn and Corey on Boy Meets World or Tai and Matt on Digimon for oldest gay characters. Sailor Moon can't even count because we got a censored version of it in America.

I got access to satellite television away from observing eyes around age 16 and started watching content on Logo back when they aired gay content regularly. I watched basically whatever I could late at night. It's how I saw movies like Get Real (1998), Beautiful Thing (1996), and Bent (1997). It's also how I saw Queer as Folk (2000-2005) Noah's Arc (2005-06).

After hitting adulthood I mostly got lost in video games and standard American TV for a while, but I did basically show up to any Gay Event in TV. I appreciate that Stef and Lena from The Fosters (2013-2018) were some of the only TV lesbians to survive the horror of 2016.

I watched a bunch of movies in this time, many of which appear on the Queer Cinema Syllabus I made for a hypothetical Westerner new to BL and queer cinema, which @wen-kexing-apologist has decided to try to complete.

I got into Thai BL in 2018 accidentally. I started seeing gifsets of Kongpob telling Arthit he'll make him his wife passing around Tumblr and was basically like, "Right, what's all this then?"

I had watched a few Thai gay films, mostly notably Love of Siam (2007), Bangkok Love Story (2007), How to Win at Checkers Every Time (2015), and The Blue Hour (2015), but this was the first time I was seeing a long series made available so easily from any Asian country.

From there I got into Make It Right (2016-17) and Love Sick the series (2014). Once I realized that yaoi had moved beyond manga and a few anime adaptations, I went looking for a lot more. I basically haven't left since I started in about 2016 with SOTUS.

There's my basic entry into the genre. I don't think I was as worried about fandom and worries at the time because so much of being a fan of queer cinema was a mostly-private experience for me for so long. I didn't realize that BL fans active in the space would predominantly be women or queers figuring themselves out. It took a while to adjust to that, and also to adjust my expectations of the kinds of queer stories BL distributors were willing to fund.

That being said, I tend to agree with @absolutebl that BL has a useful role in normalization for non-queer audiences who encounter it. I like cheering BL when it does things I think work really well, and also deriding it when I think it does things that are offensive to help nudge the genre and offer my perspective as a gay man.

I like the place we're at right now where there's way too much to watch for any person with other hobbies and responsibilities because it means that people can pick and choose what's to their tastes.

More often than not, I'm probably most-invested in something airing from Japan because of my melancholy nature, but there's so much variety these days that it's okay if you don't like everything. I certainly don't!

I'm glad you joined us on Tumblr and look forward to your thoughts!

#answered #thai bl #fandom life #about me

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nieves-de-sugui · 11 months

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The Story of Live Action BL in Japan

This is an extra post to accompany the history of BL post I did earlier.

Japan has had live action BL long before Thailand entered the picture. It was however mostly melancolic stories or manga adaptations, until their own particular boom happened. I make a difference between what I would call LGBTQ+ representation and BL Live Action, because even though they have existed parallely they are fundamentally different in their conception. Here is an interview with the curator of an exhibition that was held in Japan about the history of Japanese Queer Cinema.

The evolution of Japanese BL Live Action has been very slow, and mostly influenced by manga. It is still not a big market, but it has improved a lot in the most recent years. This is my attempt to put it into phases:

The indie like movies and bad manga adaptations

Let’s start with Boys Love (a movie), shall we?

It is the year 2006 and up to this point there has been a small boom of gay stories in the 1990′s (the first Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival was held in 1992 me thinks this might have sprung the yaoi debates). In the 2000's, we're at the start of a new little boom on BL type movies being made. Many of which would be directly released in DVD, with a constant melancholic and tragic approach to love stories between young men.

Homosexual love is only attarctive to the mainstream if it’s painful. Like typical japanese imposible loves that are explored because of the passion and innevitable tragedy (it’s a japanese trope of almost any kind of romance movie, up to these days). its the intensity of feelings and the poetry of it all. In Boys Love we see those elements that are now very common in BL manga. Straight men falling in love with beautiful young boys and loving them until their tragic end. The movie was released in theatres and was successful enough to get a sequel. Here is a very good review of the movie, to know more about it.

A number of similar movies (with happier endings) follow through. Then enters the Takumi kun series. Based off one of the most popular yaoi novel (and potentially the first live action novel/manga adaptation of BL), it has all the June tropes: Traumatized feminine Takumi, raped by his older brother when he was young, has developped an abberation to human touch which prevents him from making friends. He goes to a boarding school for rich kids where he shares a dorm room with Gii, the most popular kid on the premises, who has fallen in love with him. And it is through that love that Takumi gets over his illness and heals from his past. It was such a success in the BLsphere that it got 4 more movies. I believe it is the bane of @absolutebl existence.

After the first Takumi-kun movie, the production of BL type movies, or adaptations of manga gets a boost. We go from no more than 3 movies a year to 8 in 2008, ie:

Kindan no Koi Ai no Kotodama Taiikukan Baby

And so it continues. When a manga is popular enough it either gets a Live Action, a drama CD (voice actors record the manga dialogues) or/and a series of OVAs (Original Video Animation). Because that’s how they do marketing in Japan. I believe most, if not all, of these movies go straight to DVD. It’s a treat for the fans.

The beginning of the shift

As the manga source starts to evolve, so does the live actions. Japanese society starts being more aware of the LGBT (as the term is used for business startegy purposes). As it’s all about what is going to sell, slowly, a slight neutral realism starts to be felt. Melancoly starts to be replaced with happier moods.

The first adaptation I genienly enjoyed at the time was Seven Days, 2015. A 2 part movie, adapted from the manga, with a very simple story (still no characters properly defined as gay, but maybe they could count as bi?)

While more LGBTQ+ movies get made, the BL Live Action movies remain in the same vein. Adpating what is popular and sticking to the tropes of the time. For example, in 2017 we get simultaneously:

BL - Hidamari ga Kikoeru. A loud and energetic college student becomes friends with a hearing impared classmate, as he helps him take notes for class.

LGBT - Close Knit. An 11 year old girl gets tossed aside by her mother and goes to live with her uncle, who is dating a transgender woman.

The Middle Aged Man Phenomenon

Have you wondered why office settings are so popular in japanese BL? Well, it is mostly Ossan’s Love fault in my opinion.

Besides office romances being a staple of japanese tv dramas, in 2016 two major mainstream actors (Tanaka Kei and Yoshida Kotaro) participate in a small short film about a salaryman who discovers his boss is in love with him. A simple comedy filled with misunderstandings and funny shenanigans. As the response to it was very positive, they decided to turn it into a full flegged series. And so, Ossan’s Love comes out on prime television (TV Asahi) for all to see. It is the first time we see a story like this being shown in a mainstream channel, for all and anyone to see.

A year later after the success of Ossan’s Love we get the wonderful Kinou Nani Tabeta/What Di you Eat Yesterday? (2019), which would not have been possible without Ossan’s Love. There was confidence that there was a market for such a story. Followed by the OL movie: Ossan’s Love: Love or Dead. Which was later followed by a horrible horrible second season that nobody wanted. On this year too, Mood Indigo comes out. A sequel to The Novelist/Pornographer, which would secure it’s popularity. It later got a second season.

We are now in a second boom of interest in queer stories. And the number of movies and tv shows grow. Some of the most known:

Novel adaptation - Fujoshi Ukkari gay ni kokoru LGBT Movies - His Dramas - Life: Senjou no Bokura

Queer voices have been increasingly loud and, in 2015, two municipalities put in place a partnership to acknowledge same sex relationships (not recognized outside of those municipalities unfortunately).

And so, start mixing the homophobia free idealized stories, with more diverse queer content, with the harsh realities of LGBTQ+ people, and the cinematic interest of the filmmakers/directors.

The rise of the salaryman and the thai breakthrought

Thanks to the appeal of middle aged men, Japan now knows there’s a market to be had in producing BLs, so the adaptations sprout like mushrooms. The ground is ready to bear fruit, and so enters thailand with the big success of 2gether at the beginning of 2020.

Japan got to have the movie screened in their theatres. Thailand has broken the Japanese market barrier, as soon as the borders open after the pandemic, fanmeetings are held there one after the other.

And then, we get Cherry Magic in late 2020, which continues to cement that the current japanese BL boom is still going strong.

The Aftermath

The production of BL shows and movies reaches its peak and we get 26 (shows and movies) in 2022. Movies, specials and second seasons are being made.

From Utsukushii Kare 2021 to Strange 2023. Old and new manga gets an adapation and more queer representation grows in media overall.

The story of LGBT representation in shows in Japan

As an extra, I want to put here a few examples of how queer characters, and stories have entered the mainstream of japanese tv dramas. Many mainstream actors have also taken upon portraying such characters.

Pretty Proofreader (2016) - featured a gay side character, not relevant to the plot. My Brother’s Husband (2018) mini series - adaptation of Gengoroh Tagame’s manga about a man overcoming his homophobia through getting to know his bother’s husband Life As A Girl (2018) mini series - the life of a lesbian trans woman Ie Uru Onna S2 (2019) - one episode features different types of LGBT people who want to buy a house and the difficulties they face. Also had some type of side gay stoyline (a little queerbaity)? Ore no Sukato, doko Itta? (2019) - a gay man who dresses as a woman becomes a teacher at a highschool and helps with his is student’s problems.

Special mention to Residential Complex (2018).

A drama that featured 4 families living in the same residential unit, each with their own fundamental problems. The father in the traditional japanese family was unemployed, the man engaged to a younger second wife who wanted no children ends up having to take care of his son from his previous marriage, the young newlyweds that are eager to have kids can’t concieve and the single architect is actually living with his boyfriend. It was a show that had worked with an LGBT organization to make a faithful protrayal of LGBT realities.

Final Thoughts

Here is a list of all Japanese BL and Queer media, Japanese BL list. I recommend to check it out to see the variety of adaptations being made today. It is intersting to see the differences in plot in the shows that are adapting current manga (Our Dining Table) and those adapting older manga (Candy Color Paradox). There is also a lot of queer movies and shows worth checking out. Here are my recommendations:

Kamisama no Ekohiiki (series)

Both Me and Him are the Grooms (movie)

I think it is great that Japan is intergrating queer stories and voices to their BLs, as well as adapting more content to the screen. It is a very exciting moment to be living through, but it still feels like it might go away just as fast as it came. Japan is a very conservative country, that embraces change so very slowly. Queer vocies are making noise, but they have yet to manage to make their government listen. Japan is very setback in this sense.

I do no think Japan will be able to have a BL market similar to Thailand for its live action adaptations any time soon. They stick to what they know, which sometimes can be very good and others, bad.

I do hope for BL to keep on doing what it does best for society: subtly normalizing queer lives so that conservative people start welcoming the idea that they're just regular people (who deserve rights, come on Japan).

Hopefully we’re headed there.

#history of bl #bl history #history of japanese bl live action #this was the quicker one to make #the yaoi debates require more research #but it will be the next post in this series #I hope you had a fun read #I hope I did a good job #I don't know as much on this subject but I did want to make a post to give some context to why japanese bl is as it is

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lost-technology · 6 months

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Hello, fellow Trigun fan who's way older than me! So you're a Trigun fan since the early 2000s, what was it like back then?

From what I can remember of it, just as weird as it is now. I can remember it being slightly less sexualized? There was plenty of horny-obsession with the characters then, but it seemed like there was a little more room for general stuff. Vash x Meryl and Wolfwood x Milly were more popular ships then than they are now. Vash x Wolfwood was wildly popular (all the yaoi / slash ships were, Vash with Wolfwood, Vash with Knives, Knives with Legato), but there was more attention on the het ships, as well. The het ships were actually as popular as the slash ships. When all we had was the '98 anime, but invested fans knew of the manga, there were a few people who had access to the manga who could read Japanese who would do their own scans and translations of various...and dubious quality. We waited for bits and pieces with bated breath, but never knew how wonky the translations were or how much of a personal bias toward their own fan-theories / ships /whatnot any given translator was putting into their uploaded scans. This continued on even after Dark Horse translated and printed the manga officially in English, because those of us who were collecting the print-manga were still looking up scans to see the rest of the story that hadn't come out of Japan yet. It was a time before the social media giants we know today, so fandom was on message boards, BBS boards and forums dedicated either to general anime or to Trigun in particular. There were also fan-groups on places like Livejournal. I remember being a part of a Livejournal called "100 Bullets," which was for "drabbles" - fanfiction of exactly 100 words. People would throw out prompts and writers were challenged to create little 100 word fics from it. There is a such thing called a "double drabble," which was 200 words, but "100 Bullets" confined things to 100 (no more, no less) as a challenge. I see the young 'uns (in all fandoms) throwing out the word "drabble" to just mean short fic and then writing something that's 700 words or so and I am just inwardly screaming "No! This is NOT how that works! This not how that works at all!" On a board I went to, Trinut, we had a little writing contest to make up our own ending for the manga before the ending came out. I wrote a story that I still kind of like (over on fanfiction.net) where Vash and Knives killed each other and the area of their last battle was haunted by their ghosts / energy. I might bring that one over to Ao3 someday... That kind of thing was pretty much how we expected it all to end. Some people were actually ANGRY that the manga got a happy-ish ending. There was one jagoff and his friends who created a BBS that got popular because he had "inside information from a friend in Japan" that Trigun was getting a revamped series like Hellsing Ultimate that was going to fit more with the manga (this was back in 2009 or so). People followed him for information. His handle was MillionsLivio if I am recalling correctly. He was rude and stuck up and not many people on Trinut or other boards liked him at all, but loads of people flocked to his board (I forget the original name of it, but it eventually shifted to all-anime and rebranded as Blue Panda). I joined it briefly because a friend wanted to do a roleplay and preferred me as a Vash-roleplayer over their resident one. I quickly quit after I realized that MillionsLivio's ACTUAL NAZI RHETORIC and racism WEREN'T him doing a fake "early 2000s Internets' edgy" persona, but were his actual viewpoints - shared by his core circle of friends. Like I said, I couldn't stand the guy, but a lot of people thought that people like that were faking it just to get a rise out of people, you know, reddit-troll types. In hindsight, here in 2023, we know by know that all of those edgelords were...the real thing. Yes, I met an early alt-righter in Trigun fandom of all places. (At least he actually hated Vash. He was a Knives and Livio fan, but you know, I don't understand how anyone could like Trigun at all and be... like that). The world is weird.

#trigun #trigun maximum #early trigun fandom

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dropintomanga · 21 days

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Initial D - The First Stage to the Overall Magic of Anime and Manga

Seeing this display at my local Kinokuniya Bookstore branch made my day and got me reminiscing.

In the early 2000s', I was still in my phase of consuming everything Dragon Ball. I followed Dragon Ball GT at the time and knew it ended around 1997. Since simulcast streaming wasn't a thing, I had to rely on Chinese-dubbed VHS tapes to rent for all the episodes.

When watching one of the final episodes of Dragon Ball GT on a tape I got, there was a trailer (which was actually the opening) for another anime that played before the episode. It wasn't for a Shonen Jump series and I heard some really cool-sounding techno music.

youtube

That opening began my journey into a series that highlighted what anime and manga was really like outside of American marketing - Shuichi Shigeno's Initial D.

For those who don't know, Initial D is about a young man named Takumi Fujiwara who gets himself involved in the mountain street racing scene. He drives a car that isn't suitable for street racing, the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. The car lacks horsepower and speed, but Takumi is able to utilize amazing drift techniques to make up for it. While reluctant at first, Takumi gets pulled into a race when a street racing team called the Akagi Red Suns challenges Takumi's local team. Takumi beats one of the Red Suns' top members and he slowly becomes a legend as he encounters more street racers who want to challenge him. The manga lasted 49 volumes, had 6 anime seasons in 16 years, and a Hong Kong live-action movie adaptation of the manga (which I appreciated as a Cantonese speaker) was made in 2005. The series also inspired a good amount of people all over the world to get into Japanese cars due to every car featured in the series existing in real life. It did not hurt that fans loved the Eurobeat music that played in races throughout the anime.

As you can see from the photo I took, Kodansha USA decided to re-release the entire Initial D manga in a 2-in-1 omnibus print format for a newer generation as the original English manga release by Tokyopop in the mid-2000s' left a lot to be desired for translation reasons.

After watching the OP teaser in that one tape of a DBGT episode, I decided to watch all of the First Stage season of Initial D in Cantonese Chinese on VHS. I became hooked. I absolutely loved the music. I appreciated how analytical some of the characters were. Even though I didn't understand a lot of the conversations being had due to my Cantonese not being good enough to talk about vehicle intricacies, I had the help of Initial D fansites to summarize things. I became obsessed when the manga was ongoing at the time to see who Takumi was facing. Fansites helped to bridge the gap.

Speaking of fan-related material, I learned about yaoi/boys' love through Initial D. I saw many fanfiction sites about the relationships between the major male characters. In a sense, I got to see why sports-like series appealed to female fans way before the current sports series boom we have now.

Initial D also helped me get close with my dad. He actually watched the anime with me. During the years when I was so depressed, my dad always spent time with me. We played a lot of basketball, talk sports, and watched Initial D together. It helped that he was into car culture, so he helped explain a few things to me about certain cars.

One more thing Initial D did was that it got me to go to my very first anime convention in 2003. It was the Big Apple Anime Fest and the Third Stage movie was screened. While I watched the Third Stage movie before, it wasn't dubbed in Cantonese. This time, I got to see the full film with English subtitles. I stayed for the 7:30pm screening and was excited with so many fans around me. The convention was also where I finally got to connect with a friend who lived in the same area as me. I still talk to and hang out with them today.

While Dragon Ball got me into anime in the first place, it was Initial D that got me to expand my worldview about anime and manga. The series gave me a glimpse of the other anime/manga communities out there. I got a first glimpse into series that weren't mainstream yet loved by passionate fans.

When both the Initial D manga and anime ended in the 2010s', my anime/manga interests were in a different place. But I still enjoyed Final Stage when it came out because I got to see Takumi grow immensely over time and the payoff was good. The final battle felt like two very similar individuals trying to impose their superiority over one another. It was a perfect way to end Takumi's story, given that almost all of his opponents were different from him.

I know Initial D isn't talked about as much as Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon in terms of impacting people's lives, but it has done wonders for me in genuinely seeing what the world of anime/manga fans was like outside of the usual fare. I know I'm not the only one.

So I want to say that if the super-mainstream anime and manga series aren't your thing, it's okay. There will always be something that will catch your eye and maybe change your perspective for the better. And maybe it will find you a community that you love being around and help you grow.

To quote one of the Initial D opening songs sung by the group, m.o.v.e, let's move into the brand new world and let's dive into the brand new trip.

For more perspective on Initial D's impact on its fans and car culture, this post from a car enthusiast is worth a read.

#Initial D #manga #anime #street racing #mental health #fandom #community #Asian culture #Youtube

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sailorstarr-chan4 · 1 year

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Some of my Favorite Manga That Deserve an Anime Adaptation

Red River (28 volumes)

😍😍😍 !!!!!!!! *gestures dramatically at the screen* I just!!! I cannot scream this enough!!!! This forgotten gem stole my heart in 2020 and I cannot get over it. In a word, this series is: passionate. Exquisite. UNDERRATED. 😭😭😭 It's a historical isekai romance that is full of political intrigue, erotica, brilliant characterization, GORGEOUS art, and great action. This manga is the reason why I wrote 3 out of the 8 non-crossover Red River fics that exist on AO3 lmaooooo. IT'S JUST SOOOOO GOOD!!!! I never finished a series longer than 7 volumes within less than 2 weeks, and completely online, no less! It's a damn shame that it's so hard finding even physical copies of the manga to own, because dammit, I NEED!!!! 😍😍😍🥺🥺🥺 I would straight up CRY from joy if an anime adaptation was ever announced skgjfdfkjgdf (but I doubt it'd ever happen 😭)

MAO (14 volumes and counting!)

I mean, it's only the legendary Rumiko Takahashi's latest work, COME ON. It has Takahashi's usual touch in the art style, themes, and motifs, but is also wonderfully refreshing, with all new memorable characters and low-key one of her BEST main ships of all time. The game's afoot, and there's mysteries to unravel with deeper conspiracies beneath them all, all with a hot immortal doctor and a feisty girl who shares his curse with a cat demon thing (a byoki, to be precise). WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!

FAKE (7 volumes)

Yes, there's an OVA 2-part special. No, it's not enough. This bitch is thirsty for MORE. 😍😍😍👀👀👀 Yuri on Ice may be the first "yaoi" to steal my heart (I only put quotations because there's no porn lol), but FAKE is the first "official" yaoi to make me SQUEEEE while reading. Yes, this older series is not free from some of the unfortunate trappings of older yaoi series (*cough* noncon issues! *cough cough*), but I think what makes it work is that it's never pushed too far. And honestly, the mysteries surrounding their work as private detectives was so compelling, that it was almost like they never had time for shenanigans.... until after they fell in love 👀👀👀 Or, rather, after Ryo FINALLY accepted that he's gay AF for Dee lmao. Also: points for Dee being an openly bisexual man, who constantly corrects those who call him a homosexual. For the 90's??? That's surprisingly progressive.

Angel Sanctuary (20 volumes)

Yes, there's a 3 episode OVA. But it only "covers" the first 2 volumes out of TWENTY. This series is absolutely gorgeous: the Gothic inspired art, every panel is just dripping in angst, detail, and passion. The incest takes a backseat for the REAL drama, a savage dressing down of the hypocrisy of Christian ideals in a world where even the realm of Heaven is corrupt and full of sin. Dark, angsty, deliciously sinful, and a thoughtfully cynical yet inspiring commentary on what makes us human (even if you're a devil or an angel), it is an absolute CRIME that this series was never made into a full-length anime. If other controversial anime can be made/adapted in this day and age, then why not give this classic, forgotten gem a try, anime studios?! 😤

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross (11 volumes)

Arina Tanemura's art is simply *chef's kiss* She has such a Shoujo Style that is unparalleled. Two are of her earlier works were made into beloved early 2000's magical girl anime series: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Full Moon wo Sagashite. So why not THIS?! It is such a deliciously absurd Drama that is addicting and frustrating as hell. It's also just a truly touching tale of how family baggage can be so damaging to people's perceptions on love, relationships, and self-worth. It's a series that's near and dear to my heart, and I'd love to see it animated one day.

Kitchen Princess (10 volumes)

This adorable series is 90% fluff, 10% ANGST, with some of the cutest art styles imaginable. If you're itching for a series about food that doesn't go batshit like Food Wars (I love that show, but I can understand that it can be, er, overwhelming lol), Kitchen Princess invites you in for tea and cake and holds your hand as you eat delicious desserts that warm your soul. It is just a sweet, sweet story, with an abundance of fluff, but enough angst and hurt/comfort to balance out the cutesyness. Definitely a comfort food series that NEEDS AN ADORABLE, WHOLESOME ANIME AND CUTESY SOUNDTRACK, DAMMIT!!!!

Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden (12 volumes)

If the original series can get an anime, then SO CAN THE PREQUEL, DAMMIT!!!! Genbu Kaiden took what is good about Fushigi Yuugi, and made it better. The protagonist is a thousand times more likable and stronger, both physically and emotionally. The dramatic scenes are far more effective and don't rely on Soap Opera BS. And the art has improved! GENBU KAIDEN DESERVES MORE LOVE!!!

Arisa (12 volumes)

Don't let the cutesy art fool you: this is one of the darkest series I ever read that didn't kill off the entire cast. With the right soundtrack and animation studio, this could be a downright chilling show to watch, without resorting to Higurashi levels of terror and violence. I don't Do horror at all, but the psychological thrills and twists of this dark series kept me invested, frightened, alarmed, and entertained until the very end. I would love to see it animated one day.... 👀

Shinobi Life (13 volumes)

THE BODYGUARD ROMANCE BEFORE YONA OF THE DAWN MADE IT COOL!!!! 😍😍😍 Lol, but in all seriousness, this series is SO GOOD!!! Now that I finally own all of the physical copies published in English (which is only half, because this world is cruel 😭😭😭), I cannot WAIT to dive back into this world of time-traveling ninjas and reincarnated princesses and adorkable relationship shenanigans, with an added bonus of backstory ANGST.

Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar's Game (7 volumes)

Listen. LISTEN. I DEMAND AN ANIME BASED OFF THIS MIND-BOGGLING TRASH, and no, not just that joke of a "movie" that is even somehow even more incoherent than the countless manga spin-offs. Not all of us have the patience or understanding to play the games, pleeeeeease 😭😭😭

~~~

Honorable Mentions:

Fairy Cube (3 volumes)

First of all: fairies. Second of all: this tiny 3-volume series is such a clusterfuck of chaos, lightning fast plot points, that if stretched out to even a 12 or 13 episode series would probably make it coherent AND give justice to the story.

Alice 19th (6 volumes)

Same logic to Fairy Cube: I just want someone to take this mind-fuck of a series, because, in the right studio and director's hands, it'd be soooo amazing!

Otomen (17 volumes)

Honestly, I barely remember much of this adorkable series, other than the very refreshing and honest takes on gender, gender roles, and gender identity and how all are similar and yet separate. It would be nice to see more representation in mainstream anime, even now.

RG Veda (10 volumes)

Once again: a 2-episode OVA does not an anime make. Literally I just love the art and mythologies. And it's one of CLAMP's earliest work, and is low-key their most gorgeous. Imagining this story animated to today's standards would be *chef's kiss* AMAZING!!! 😍

Kilala Princess (5 volumes)

Let me make one thing absolutely clear: this will never happen. Ever. Never ever ever. Not in my lifetime, certainly, as long as copyright laws exist. If Kingdom Hearts is never gonna get an anime/animated show adaptation, then this cutesy manga sure as hell won't. But GODS I WANT IT!!!!!! 😍😍😍🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭 It is every childhood Disnerd's self-insert dream come true sdkjgdjfgr

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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Speaking of fetishization and all that jazz, recently the term fujoshi came up in real life for me and a friend asked me what it meant. For transparency I’m only 25, didn’t really fall into fandom until covid. Essentially I said it was a japanese term sometimes used in fandom so it depends who you ask. It could be

Rotten women: this is the most technical translation and I’m pretty sure the actual word is a pun about rotten eggs or something. It means rotten as in spoiled, as in “spoiled for marriage”

A derogatory term for women who are ruined for marriage because they like gay porn

Women who likes gays porn

Women who like BL/boy love. The male equivalent is fudanshi. BL is gay mlm romance genre for manga. GL is for girl love, but I think GL is less popular of a genre/not really a thing. I’m pretty sure the porn equivalent is yaoi for gay porn and yuri for lesbian porn(still talking about manga/anime) but I could be wrong. BL and yaoi might mean the same thing I’m not sure. The important part here is fujoshi is for women who like BL and fudanshi is for men who like BL. This is the most correct term unless someone is trying to use it as an insult. I’m pretty sure this is what comes up when you google it.

Straight women who fetishizes gay men

Transphobic term for a trans man that actually just a “straight women who fetishes gay men”

(me still talking to my friend)

Now if you’re wondering why all this exists we need to go back to the early 2000s and I’m pretty sure 4chan. If I’m right, fujoshi already meant rotten women and was used to describe a woman who was ruined for marriage, but around this time it started being used specifically against women for liking gay porn/ BL manga. An intersection of misogyny and homophobia where women aren’t just ruined by jacking off, but even more ruined if they jack off to gay porn. Oh no the horror! How will women ever marry straight men if she masturbated to gay men? She is now ruined for straight men. I find this whole thing absurd, but honestly I forget that people “aren’t supposed to even masturbate” before marriage. Got to keep yourself completely pure I guess. Like I understand the concept of not having sex before marriage(even if I really don’t agree) because I grew up hearing that but the idea that you shouldn’t even masturbate or you’ll be ruined is so stupid to me it makes my brain short circuit. And of course it's misogynistic as all hell. At this time it's a Japanese term used in Japan against Japanese women and it's later reclaimed by Japanese women. Reclaimed as in “wait you guys can have porn and be horny but we can’t!? Well fuck you then I am rotten woman and you can go fuck yourself” At least thats what I think they mean when they say its a “reclaimed word” All I know is that its a misogynist term used against japanese women then reclaimed by said women. This is when “it just means women who like BL definition starts”

Short time later it slowly but surely gets used in western fandom by people(mostly women) who ship mlm and by women who like BL and in the latter case it literally means that. This is when “it means a woman who fetishes gay men '' crops up Now I wasn't around at this time and there's a lot of mud throwing and shit when people talk about early tumblr and shipping culture. From what I can tell lots of time it was just used as an insult against people who shipped gay stuff, but there were women who would act gross towards gay men. My opinion is that is kinda like lesbian porn. I don’t give shit if someone like lesbian porn. I give a shit if someone is gross to me personally, like a guy wanting to watch me giss my friend, but its non of my business what kinda porn someone likes. What a weird thing to give a fuck about. And shipping isn’t even always porn! Lots of times its just porn, but lots of times its just about the most interesting relationship on screen which normally isn’t the romantic one. I have a whole theory that the most popular ships being between friendships not romantic leads is because romantic story lines aren’t great. Take zuko and katara vs aang and katara. Zuko and katara have a whole arc where they learn to trust each other and we see their relationship grow and change, but with aang and katara we mostly only watch them crushing on each other which is just not as interesting.

I said more about how the term gets pretty transphobic and how fetishization is a good criticism lots of times but i’m pretty sure I’m out of words lol

腐女子 is a pun on 婦女子. They're both 'fujoshi'. The 'fu' character means 'rotten' or 'fermented' as in tofu: 豆腐.

English-speaking antis are just morons about language along with everything else and completely misrepresent this word.

Yeah, it was 2chan crying that girls liked something other than them and then women being like "Joke's on you: I'm proud of that".

(In general, insecure douchebags dislike their partners masturbating because they foolishly assume that if a partner has zero experience, they won't be measuring the douchebag against anything. In reality, you can tell if sex was bad without anything to compare it to.)

BL is a genre term for m/m stuff aimed at an assumed female audience. It tends towards romances, but that's not the definition AFAIK. I imagine that women who like gei komi probably also call themselves fujoshi, but the point of the 'fudanshi' term is to denote men who like the "for girls" stuff, not just gei komi.

Is GL used much? I usually see queer women using 'yuri' to talk about f/f manga.

You can drop that "porn equivalent" nonsense though. Aside from some English-language fanfic, there has not been a consistent terminology for softcore vs. hardcore. Both 'BL' and 'yuri' can cover the full spectrum of content.

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chaifootsteps · 4 months

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I refuse to watch this shitshow (out of concern for my own health) but i'm curious, so... what happened to earn a reaction like that, chai?

- Mimic

Something that makes trashy 2000s yaoi manga look classy is what happened.

#Anonymous #mimic anon #viv stuff #actual blog post

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bugtransport · 11 months

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i think we need to bring back manga sidebars?? so this whole dive i've been doing into older shoujo has been because i was informed that viz put a bunch of old shojo beat titles up on the app and i was like fuck it, two bucks a month i'll check it out... and i'm having an absolute blast with it. it doesn't have my all time faves but it's a really good excuse to check out series that i know i read and didn't completely click with when i was a wee little kid as an adult now to see what's going on in there. the answer is that shoujo is a wild fucking ride and i think my faves were on the tamer end so it's nuts looking back at this and being like "i read this when i was HOW OLD??"

that's not the point at all of the post. my point is this: holy shit if you think 2000s shoujo could be unhinged you have not seen some of the shit these mangaka will put in the sidebars. i've read about surgeries and jrpgs and the yaoi doujins people have written for friends and european work trips and how much, theoretically, someone would pay for a boyfriend (you can tell where that one's from i think) and of course, what are essentially the author's notes on each chapter.

i'm definitely not as up on modern manga as a lot of other people are so forgive me for making this assumption if it's incorrect but i think with the advent of social media and all it's a lot easier to follow creators and interact with them even so i can get why they died off. i would presume that to be one of the main reasons. but reading these sidebars is like coming across an audio log in a videogame almost: the author's just rambling to themself about what's going on in their life and in the plot and some of it's relevant and some of it's not but you can kinda feel what life was like for them in that moment. the nature of manga being released chapter by chapter means that they didn't really have things necessarily all figured out while they're writing so they're tied to a specific time unlike an author's note in a book or something. they become part of the experience of reading something it's a very unique experience that i hardly ever have seen replicated in a similar way since they're so tied into the pages - yeah you could argue that an author explaining something on twitter could be similar but that's a separate platform and experience; posts online can easily get lost to time and someone reading the series say 5 years from now would not necessarily be able to find them. there's not the staying power of print there. this is also the era where the artists are starting to mention their blogs in the comments and... these aren't necessarily up anymore...

anyway i've always appreciated seeing sidebars in manga and i didn't know just how much i really missed the author updates i would get even years behind the fact (what with the time it takes for them to get translated, published, and for me to pick up the book). they feel like a sweet little time capsule i'm unearthing. i love them!

#making spaghetti #sorry long post i got passionate

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alicenpai · 10 months

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reading medalist ch 5+6 ⛸

inori killed a man... two men. gonna hit inori with the monopoly go to jail card

more funny inori faces

ill keep posting about this series as i read until i get bored of typing ahaha. like i said in my previous post, this series hits hard for me so i def want to write about it. i'm having a lot of fun so maybe i'll do it for every series i read from now on?? bc ive noticed with conversations with people, even friends ive known for a while, that often they have no idea what i even like...... im sorry!! im such a lone wolf!!!!!!

spoilers + etc under the cut bc the images were making this post too long (ill only post comedic/non spoilery images before cuts)

why is this guy so fkn edgy for.

EDIT OCT 18 2023 JUST REALIZED THE CAPTION ON THE IMAGE WAS A METAL GEAR SOLID REFERENCE. HOW DID I FORGET I LOVE MGS.

who hurt you. im sure someone did... knowing this manga so far... heh... when hikaru was performing, tsukasa wondered if the dance routine was a famous skater's, but felt a bit off. turns out the routine was choreographed by jun (this guy). i'm wondering if the more experienced, older skater has something to do with jun's attitude...

gay gay homosexual gay

i cant wait for the anime to come out bc i bet there will be yaoi fanart of these 2 (im half joking) (but also i wonder if itll be like when i got into trigun last summer even before trigun stampede was announced and i was like i bet wolfwood/vash are a huge ship....and all of the fanart was from the 2000s. i was like well when it comes out in 2023 i bet there will be an explosion of wolfwood/vash fanart. I WAS RIGHT. I CALLED IT)

their victory dance is so CUTE

again like my previous post, the character progression in medalist is incredibly swift, but also somehow naturally paced and well deserved. albeit the chapters are super long, but only a few chapters ago miketa was bragging to inori about how she's a rebel who doesn't need adults to become a top athlete.

i think it's also an interesting narrative about kids who don't exactly fit in, but in the opposite way of the usual kind of kids who are quiet and shy - about kids who act out, and are aggressive and competitive but can't control their behaviour. and it's even more tragic when they're aware of their actions but still struggle to stop and to ask for help, to only wish to be like the other kids. these kinds of kids also feel alone much in the same way. points to tsurumaikada for really understanding how children work and weaving such insightful narratives into their characters.

#medalist

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chocochococoffee · 1 year

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i am usually the person who shits on manhwa due to some of them being what i call "2000 yaoi mangas but in 2020"

BUT this one just killed me

ML was KO'd in SECONDS!!

KO'd i said www

#manhwas name is #You Get Me Going #and hey they got me laughing

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imbelfoxxyloxxy · 10 months

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u do realize the creator of black butler ships sebaciel rite?

Sorry if this post seems long or rude I’m bad with tone through text :)

Are you able to show me some proof of this where it has Yana herself admitting to it?

Because from my years of being in the fandom and keeping up with some of the interviews between Yana herself, voice actors, and editors this seems very false

From what I know

-the idea that Sebastian and Ciel where originally meant to be a “yaoi” originated from a fans blog and no where else

-the fan based this rumor from the possibility that Yana MIGHT have written yaoi under a different pen name so we’re not even sure about that since she has yet to admit or deny this

-when asked about Sebastian and Ciel Yana basically said that “Sebastian views humans as objects and that Ciel is a burden to him” they don’t interact at all outside of missions, and as shown in some of the recent chapters in the green witch arc and in the blue star arc Sebastian is shown to not hesitate to kill Ciel or manipulate him if he feels as if Ciel is starting to stray from his goal

HOWEVER

- I don’t blame fans for taking some of the panels of the first few chapters as proof of this since they are iffy even for the time the anime/manga did show in the early 2000s

- And I also don’t blame others who use the scenes from some parts of season one and most of season two since it even took me a few years to find out Yana didn’t really have any control over her characters in the anime until the book of murders

ALSO (SA mentioning skip to “SO” if you do not wish to read)

imma bite the bullet on this one so imma mention this but not take it as fact

If we are using scenes in the manga as proof of the relationship regarding Ciel to adults characters

- in the recent chapters where O!Ciel and R!Ciel are SA by the adults in the cults it is not depicted in a romantic, or encouraging light. It’s dark, it’s censored, it’s looked down on and shows as a dark moment for the child characters. And is showed to leave a mark on O!Ciel as seeing how he does not like to be randomly touched especially by adults.

-So I can’t personally see why Yana would include those dark scenes in her story, show it has a dark traumatic affect on the child character, then turn around and ship the child character that went though that with a grown ass demon.

Again I’m not taking this as proof since it’s not from the direct words of Yana herself stating she supports/condemn the ships, but rather a personal opinion based on how her story that she seems to have more control over depicting her characters seems to be going

From my years of keeping up with the series I haven’t seen any articles/interviews that have the words from Yana’s, her editors, or other artist that worked with her that have said/claim/ or hinted that she ships the two. I wouldn’t personally remain in the fandom or keep up with the series if so and I’m aware many others will not either

I don’t want to fully defend Yana since we don’t really know her and what she wants in the end of the series for the characters so shit could probably bite me in the ass (hopefully not) 🧍‍♀️

I hope that kinda clears things up? If not I would love to see where you found this claim since if it is real I got some post purging to do and detaching from my favorite gremlin 🧍‍♀️

I apologize if this was rude or confusing!!!

#black butler #ciel phantomhive #ociel #sebastian michaelis #do not attack asker

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rizaposting · 1 month

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💖 and 💛 for the opinions asks (FMA edition of course, and since we both like 03 you go with the version you want ^^)

Ooooohhh extra reason to talk about fma03 don't mind if i do -wiggles my fingers-

💖: What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

That it's good, even though it doesn't follow the manga plot? LMAO. I'm so used to everyone hating 03 but it seems like that's not the case as much anymore so I NEED to chill. Let's try again.

I've seen a LOT of "fma03 izumi is an abuser" rhetoric recently that I hate so much I'm struggling to even put it into words. 03Izumi has issues and is NOT a good role model (I don't think I'd call mangahood Izumi a good role model either), but I think she's a profoundly sad character, and it makes me so frustrated that no one is willing to give her an ounce of empathy/understanding like they would a male character who acts similarly or was in a similar situation to her. Or even how they view mangahood Izumi, who does a lot of the same things. I will elaborate more on this if asked but I'll stop myself here sjdgndjkgdngksd

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Ohhh this one is hard for fma03 specifically... Ugh... Fine... I'll address it. The early-mid 2000s were big for Roy x Ed era due to the general attitude at the time about Yaoi. I personally disagree with the idea that FMA03 was "pandering" to ryed people any more than it was to the ryai people, like if you actually look at what happened in the anime, in CoS, in the promotional artwork. I don't like ryed because I don't like shipping a 15yo with a 30yo, and also for the fact that even more than in mangahood, Ed really does not like Roy.

#answered asks #ask games #unpopular opinions game #thank youuuu!!#these were surprisingly difficult lmao

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ballsballsbowls · 8 months

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The plot from THERE is actually pretty Normal for a contemporary romance where everyone screws everyone (heroine takes the hero as a +1 to a wedding and she decides she is hoping either she OR her +1 can bang the groomsman), it's just the details that are tacked on that make it bonkers.

I actually found out about this book on a "worst book you ever FINISHED" thread on SA. If this wasn't the author's first published book, it was maybe their second, and they were obviously young enough to have still OBSESSED with yaoi manga and Final Fantasy and weeb stuff in general while the plot is set in England. I think we ALL wrote a story like that at about the same age (I know I did), I just managed to never publish it so people can't hold it against me now even though it's been out of print for years.

I think it's almost impossible to spoil a book like this (I can't remember some of the granular details anyway as I think I read it last in 2016 or so), but it has everything. Bonkers sex involving multiple people (sometimes multiple people and a realdoll), using non-lube items as lube, people trying to trick other people into threesomes like they're the fae, discussions about the annoyances of importing yaoi manga into England in the early 2000s.

If you bought it assuming it was a very normal contemporary erotica (even a fossilized one from the 2000s), I think you would probably eat the book in pure rage. But coming into it from a, "You HAVE to read this shit, this is ridiculous," I think it's a lot of fun if you have a limit to how much secondhand embarrassment you can feel.

I discovered while looking up the NEW book that some of her other older books have been heavily expanded and edited and are available for purchase, but this one isn't.

Is it an issue of who holds the rights, or knowing that no amount of revisions will improve what has happened here?

#cannot stress enough that this is one of the genuinely bad books i have read that I ENJOYED #it's incredibly stupid and embarrassing and I get a huge kick out of reading it #stop b think of the children #but it IS like $15 to get another copy so I don't know if I can stomach that anytime soon

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cowboy-robooty · 5 months

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Let me show you the world of my hell hole of a playlist

Obviously I need to share the good word of the Sonic Vocal Tracks like dude i will make you sit and listen to all of them if i have to but my personal favorites are “This Machine” from Sonic Heroes, “Find Your Flame” and “Im Here” from Sonic Frontiers, “Live & Learn” from Sonic Adventure 2 and “I Am… All of Me” from Shadow the Hedgehog. They are a little more metal/rock ish sorry if my music terms are off but yeah you will be screaming you will be so pumped

Also literally just any track from any Lupin III media is so fucking good omfg. So Jazzy and upbeat you will feel so radical. My favorite intros are from Part 2 and also “Superhero” is a transcending experience I lives in my head rent free. Yuhi Ohno’s work is honestly just so good just skip immediately to his entire discography

Ok im sorry im a hardcore MARINA and Girls Love Shoes fan its just who i am inside. I need to come clean. Girls Love Shoes’ “Supamedicine” is my godsend its my holy grail. MARINA always drops bangers the people know her not much to say than that.

Also some random out of pocket ones. Any minecraft parody ever, any pop song from the 2000’s, animation meme songs that haunt you for life, the living tombstone and specifically She Wolf but nightcore. Just night/daycore / slowed down/speed up just to get a little cray cray.

Alot of my own music taste is just a bunch of Punk Rock and other random artists scattered about, sorry if you already listen to these guys </3 My entire playlist is a tonal nightmare its older than most average playlists. Been going strong since like 7th grade

DONT WORRY LOL MY PLAYLIST IS AIDS TOO ive had it since i got my first phone in 6th grade because i like to put all the songs i like ever in one playlist and hit shuffle on that ^_^

SONIC SHIT: I LIKED THIS. ROBOOTY WAS A FAN OHHH YESSS... DONT WORRY IDK HOW MUSIC TERMS WORK EITHER LOL BUT THIS IS GOOD. **nods head** ITS LOUD ITS GOT A VERY FULL SOUND I LIKE IT A LOT YESS!!!

LUPIN SHIT: DUDEEE I FUCKING LOVE THE LUPIN SOUNDTRACKS TOO!!! I FUCKING LOVE JAZZY SHIT ITS SO GOOD ITS SO FIRE I LOVE IT I LOVEEE WHAT LUPIN IS IN I ALWAYS DO BE PLAYING THAT LUPIN OPENING ON TAIKO!!!! I need to check out yuhi ohnos discography properly.... i always am slacking ok

GIRLS LOVE SHOES: i listened to supamedicine and it was pretty good! it was pleasant i was like **nods head** if my buddy put it on i wouldnt go "well... if you wanted to go to teen sex cove you couldve just asked 😏" but id be like **nods head in approval** and then continue talking about how my soundcloud almost got deleted for reposting yaoi christmas carols. anyways secret.. im actually not really a marina fan. like primmadonna and oh no is okay theyre like 5/10 to me but idk i just aint into her shit

RANDOM SHIT: IM NGL I DIDNT LISTEN TO A LOT OF MINECRAFT PARODIES BECAUSE THEY WERE PARODIES OF POP MUSIC AT THE TIME AND I HATTTTTEEDD POP MUSIC LOL. i think some are ok like dont mine at night but i cant really think of any others i liked. i still am not really big on modern pop in fact i kind of hate like a lot of it lol im a hater by birth 💔 I ALSO... **says this on the cross** HAVE HATED ANIMATION MEMES FROM THE MOMENT I WAS BORN TOO. i used to get so mad id be like THATS NOT A MEME!!!! THATS A SHITTY LOOPED GIF THAT HAS NO JOKES AT ALL!!!!! idk i never was an animation meme kid.... i always looked up to newgrounds animation and like people who made full mv parodies of vocaloid mvs or cola shake dance yknow but i liked those because i think theyre different from animation memes. its a completely different vibe and i think that comparing shit like burihamachi or the pappara baby boy thing to animation memes is like comparing manga and comics. theyre the same thing in principal but COMPLETELY different vibe yknow? anyways yeah i was a hater and refused to watch them in my lifetime... 💔💔💔 I LIKE THE LIVING TOMBSTONE THOUGH I LOVEE THE SONG CATS OUGHHH THATS SO GOOD.... i never listened to them a lot i only know like 3 songs lol so erm i dont consider myself a living tombstone fanboy since i think id be considered a poser 💔 LOOK IVE ALWAYS LIVED UNDER A ROCK IM ALWAYS SEVENTEEN YEARS LATE TO EVERY PARTY EVER!!! I NEVER EVEN LIKED FNAF I WAS INTO THE NIGHTGUARDS BUT DIDNT CARE ABOUT THE GAME THE LORE THE ANIMATRONICS I LITERALLY DID NOT GIVE A FUCK I NEVER WATCHED A SINGLE MATPAT VIDEO OR LISTENING TO ANY FNAF SONGS!! i was an asdf movie and newgrounds + niconico douga kid ermmmmm anybody like danjo danjo? anyways i do like nightcore! i love listening to nightcore of 80s songs ohh yes... i only listen to out of touch nightcore 😏😏😏

sorry for long tangents but yknow how robooty empire is. THE KING LOVES TO SPEAK! THANK YOU FOR THESE RECS ESPECIALLY THE SONIC SHIT I BE LIKE OHHH ME LIKEY 😍

#ask

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olderthannetfic · 10 months

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YA G-D anon again with an analogy concerning "what is/is not YA" that might be helpful or put things into more perspective through m/m fiction:

In the 20th century, shounen ai was a category that described m/m manga, usually about attractive teenage boys in schools (many being boarding schools), and inspired by French films then being shown in Japan. Today, we'd just call this BL (at least, professionally. Colloquially it is still called shounen ai and contrasted with yaoi to mean stories without sex and with sex, respectively. This is incorrect, however, historically and culturally). Yaoi was just nonsensical stories, often parodying tropes of shounen and at times seinen manga. It comes from yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi, translating to approx “no climax, no fall, no meaning.” Both shounen ai and yaoi (as well as BL that was published in shoujo, like Banana Fish, and ) today are called BL. It wouldn't be incorrect to say BL didn't exist before the 2000s because it didn't, as an established genre/demographic. BL technically existed as centuries if we're just generally talking about m/m stories from Japan, or even East and SE Asia in general. However, in the context of publishing, we understand BL to refer to a specific era of time in which magazines adopted to term BL to publish specific manga.

(Of course there's less to muddy the waters because the categorization of demographic in manga is dependent upon the target demographic of the magazine that published it originally. So, there're less confusing things in this aspect than in the context of YA because books can be reclassified as different things upon republication or when published in specific editions, like those that are abridged. *Insert long-winded explanation of abridged books for adults being classified as appropriate for children and YA with specific ISBNs and subjective editor standards*)

It always makes me die laughing that 'shounen ai' is cluelessly used for ~clean~ stuff in parts of English-speaking fandom. Granted, you probably won't see dicks on-page in all those tragic 70s schoolboy manga, but they're not exactly fluffy.

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