If you like boys' love manga, gay romance novels (known as “M/M” or “MM”) are throbbing for your attention. If you like M/M novels, boys' love manga (known as “BL” or “yaoi”) will lasso you in!
As part of author Hayley B. James' initiative to help the BL manga fan explore M/M novels and to help the M/M novel fan explore BL manga, we four ladies(?) sat down this past weekend to chat over coffee (definitely not vodka).
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Kimberly:
1. How did you find BL? Did you get
into it right away, or did you have to warm up to it?
Barbara: Well,
it all started with Harry Potter
fan fiction. Do
you remember after Goblet of Fire
came out, and we were all waiting for the Order
of the Phoenix? I wanted to read
more so badly I thought I'd write my own novel, but I found out it
was a lot harder than it sounded. So I started reading fan fiction.
And I ran into slash pretty quickly. I don't think I even BLINKED. I got the eroticism of it right away and was totally hooked! So
when I started watching Naruto
with the kids in 2007, I started slashing Kakashi and Iruka
naturally. Then I looked for fan fiction, and it existed. Then I
found doujinshis. Then I realized that there was actual real manga
featuring gay relationships! I was like a kid in a candy store! I'm a
natural fujoshi. [A fujoshi is a female fan of BL.]
Anne Lee: Sounds
very similar to me, except I started with Sailor
Moon fan fiction.
Sailor Moon
was my first anime/manga, though, so I think it took me a little
while longer to get to the point where I started slashing characters
myself, but the gay/lesbian relationships written into the canon
helped expose me to that "world," so to speak.
Alexandra: Netflix really helped me out. One day I'm watching Utena,
the next it suggests Loveless.
Next thing I know, I'm jonesing for a new fix, and there's Crunchyroll
with Junjo Romantica.
[After] the first episode, I was a goner.
Shortly after that I met Barb,
so it all worked out just fine. Haha.
Kimberly: I lived a fairly isolated existence from birth
to about 20, but I did have posters of Erik from Gaston Leroux's
Phantom of the Opera
(Susan Kay's version is better) and Mr. Rochester from Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre
on my wall; I've always loved intense human emotions expressed
through words and art. One day, in my mid 20s, I just happened to see
an AMV [animated music video] with clips from the 1992
Ai no Kusabi anime. Chains? Whips?
Torture? Out of control emotion? Possession? ...Love? Sweet merciful
above! WHAT IS THIS FABULOUS MADNESS?
So, BL was actually my first introduction to manga and anime itself!
Fifteen years later, the fire only burns hotter. Deep end first baby.
No swimming lessons.
Kimberly:
2. Has BL brought any other benefits
to your life?
Barbara: Yes,
lots! 1. made my sex life better (when I had one) 2. introduced me to
lots of cool women & men (or perhaps I should say nerdy otaku and
fujoshi) [An otaku is a fan of manga, anime or video games.] 3.
pushed me to learn Japanese and become a translator 4. gave me a year
of fiction writing that I may not have had otherwise
Anne Lee: I'd
have to say the biggest positive impact BL has had on my life has
come from my deciding to pursue research of the sub-genre
academically. I took this class while I was an undergrad called
"Homosexualities in Asian Literature and Film," and it
basically showed me that people were actually looking at BL from an
academic standpoint, and I thought "Wow! I could do that!"
(Since I already knew I wanted to go to grad school, the rest is
history!) XD
Alexandra: Wahahaha!
Er... I'd have to agree with Barb's 1-3, and then add in learning
InDesign and Photoshop. Let's go with that. Big words about accepting
sexuality without labels can wait for another day.
Kimberly: Here's
mine: BL, despite the generalized “porn” classification, has
forced me to question a lot of serious matters and helped me shape
the questions I wanted to ask in order to find the answers I needed
to find about myself and my world. Like Anne, I've been inspired
to do a lot of exciting research.
Barbara: I
have one more! Can I? I
used to think penises were ugly, but now I really like to look at
them.
Kimberly: The Art of Penis?
Barbara: The
Beauty that is Penis.
Kimberly:
3. Digital publishing and the comic
medium: pros/cons?
Anne Lee: Pro:
ease of distribution, able to get many titles out quickly. Con: I
hate reading on computer screens! I want a shelf full of books I can
smell!
Kimberly: Pros
to digital publishing with business models like Digital Manga
Guild: more authors I
want to support are available in English now!
Alexandra: But
dedicated eReader devices like Kindle need to catch up in regards to
quality.
Seriously. I'm not blind, but comics on Kindle
make me think I am.
Barbara: For
me... I prefer books, but my life is unmanageable. I have too many
books, so ereaders work for me. I do hate reading manga on my Kindle.
I'm not thrilled by reading it on a computer either.
Kimberly:
4. Censorship on Apple iDevices &
Amazon's Kindle: thoughts?
Barbara: Who
knew that the most advanced technology came with Victorian age
principles? I'm still stunned.
Anne Lee: I
honestly don't know enough about the history of the whole ordeal to
comment fully on the cases of Apple and Kindle, but I can't see how
certain stores can think it's okay to censor what they sell like
that.
Kimberly:
There's enough censoring from the publishers. Please don't censor
where I can buy and read something as well! Censorship is
insulting to my emotional and intellectual intelligence. It has certainly influenced my buying habits. Right
now, I have an iPad. It's great, but my next purchase will be a
tablet that supports an operating system like Android.
Alexandra: Amen
to that. Apple and Amazon have not been getting my money for a while
now. Don't you smirk a little when B&N [Barnes & Noble] will
distribute something they won't? I know I do.
Kimberly: 5.
What are your top five BL mangaka recommendations?
Anne Lee: Fumi
Yoshinaga, Basso, est em, Keiko Takemiya, Asumiko Nakamura. I realize not all of these are available in English.
Kimberly: Saemi Yorita's Brilliant Blue.
I cried and cried and it felt so good. Completely fell in love with
both main characters. Yuki Shimizu's Love
Mode. Akira Honma's... anything.
Yayoi Neko's Incubus.
Barbara: Nishida
Higashi, Shiuko Kano, est em, Renaissance Yoshida, Tomoko Yamashita, Fujiyama Hyouta and Marta Matsuo.
Alexandra: Setona Mizushiro, Dokuro Jaryuu, Shoko Hidaka, Akira Kamuro & Hiroi Takao
together, Tetuzoh Okadaya, Sakaki Kuroda. It’s difficult to pick between favorites! * sob sob *
Kimberly: 6.
What M/M romance would you most like to see adapted as a comic?
Kimberly: Anything by Sarah
Payne!
(Her subscriber system is beyond annoying--just let me buy the whole
damn book and read it offline--but her stories are worth the
aggravation!) Also, not exactly M/M romance, but a series of manga
one-shots from The Great Mirror of
Male Love (1684) by Saikaku Ihara
would be amazing. OH, OH! Or even The
Blue Hood and The
Chrysanthemum Vow (both published in
1776) by Ueda Akinari!
Barbara: A comic adaptation of Forster's Maurice.
Anne Lee: Wouldn't a Brokeback
Mountain manga be fine?
Kimberly: Excellent!
Time’s up, ladies! Thanks for the chat!
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So, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. If you love BL, try M/M. If you love M/M, try BL. There is manna waiting to explode on your taste buds and fill your starving bellies. If you're already dining on both, then we wish your continued pleasure alongside us at this fine buffet!
Don't forget to comment! Every comment on a "Manga & Romance" related site enters you into a draw for mouthwatering treats! There's also a scavenger hunt!
Treasure sparkles!
Blog hop image from: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi by Shungiku Nakamura.
