Adventure!

I may not be as knee deep in BL as I was a year ago, but I try to keep up with what's current. Recently I fell upon a discussion where individuals commented on how they were sick of reading BL where it was just about the men falling in love. They wanted something more. They wanted action and adventure with a nice side of love. What these ladies failed to realize is BL is a sub genre of romance; therefore the focus is romance. If the story's focus is adventure than it is an adventure story; it's no longer in the realm of BL just because two guys fall in love at some point in the story.

Think of it this way, it's like reading a mystery novel and then giving it the critique that it focused too much on mystery and the romance should be at the forefront of the story. Sounds a little absurd, right?

Mystery is read for the mystery, adventure for the adventure, and BL for the boys love.

I am not implying genre's can't mix and have awesome little spliced babies, this happens all the time. We've all read or seen a good action/romance. But you're misleading yourself if you come to the BL genre expecting the action to be something other than what goes on between the sheets.

Hello new year!

Couldn't keep up with the blog after I got hired. But I'm back on the job market so I'm looking to start updating this thing again. I miss rambling about all things BL and slashy. For now have a page from a Junjou doujin I failed to complete last year before leaving for Japan.

Cheap Cheap Cheap's the Name of My Soul

Right Stuf has the Oofuri S.A.V.E Edition as part of their weekly special. It's going for 18 dollars, which is a pretty sweet deal for 26 episodes including a dub track. Usually I'd check and see if Best Buy is selling it for around that price or less, but since their anime section keeps shrinking and shrinking, I doubt I'd even find Oofuri there.

I'm trying to save money, but I'll probably buckle and end up ordering a copy tomorrow. Oofuri totally failed at getting me interested in baseball the way Hajime no Ippo had me suddenly flipping through channels searching for boxing matches. I watched purely for Mihashi. He's like crack to me. Now that I think of it, personality wise, Ippo and Mihashi are kinda similar. In fact I watched HnI for Ippo. I guess I have a thing for wimpy guys. And Mihashi is the king of wimps.

This series is also very slashy. Like, Prince of Tennis slashy times 10. So, if you're a slash fan and you haven't read or watched this series, I AM DISAPPOINT.

Disney Kink

Yes, yes, I'm still going on about Disney slash because it is my thing right now. If it's your thing too then head over to the disney_kink community on Live Journal and add to the huge list of request.  The meme allows all sorts of pairings and perversions so you don't have to hold back. I was surprised to see so many request for The Great Mouse Detective. People actually liked that movie? Hardy-har-har! Also, when filling a request you are allowed to do fics, vids, art, pretty much anything. Yay, for options!

I haven't made a request but I am currently working on filling a prompt. No, it's not Dean/Dimitri, but it's something close to it and a whole lot better. I actually didn't post here yesterday because I was so engrossed with writing for the meme. It distracted me! 

T_T

Rest in peace, Satoshi Kon.

It Does Exist

Found me some Dimitri/Dean Slash.
 

Not finding this was totally my bad for always spelling Dimitri's name with an E in the beginning. So, nothing ever popped up when I searched. Oh, mighty English degree, I have failed thee!

Boys in Skirts

This whole boys in skirts thing seems to be a new trend for the guys in Japan. I really can't tell the difference between a prepubescent boy or girl in a dress, but I guess that's the point. We're all pretty much unisex in looks until glorious puberty hits. So it has to be the thought of the images being male which gets the guys excited because there really is no way to tell unless those skirts are being flipped. I may be alone in this analysis but these magazines as well as Boku no Pico seem like voyeuristic forms of pederasty. A way of participating in the old practice without actually participating. If you don't know what pederasty is I'm going to direct you to Dirk Deppey's article here and also to a Frontline video which looks at the practice in Afghanistan. Both will help you better understand the history and the practice and maybe shine some light on why these boys in skirts magazines are springing up in Japan.

As for females, I know there's an audience for this material (you need look no further than y!gal for proof). I doubt it's huge and I'm pretty sure the reason for this is rooted in history as well and is linked to the woman's role in the home. If your job is to raise young boys it's probably not beneficial to look at them sexually. With female roles changing and so many females opting out of childbearing more females might join the ranks of men who like boys in skirts. However, I do not see this group growing in countries such as the US. Christopher Handley will probably serve as a warning to individuals interested in shota or magazins such as Oto☆Nyan. So, maybe in the US, the shota audience will shrink.

I'm still waiting for someone to create a magazine dedicated to men in skirts. I love me some cross dressing men.

Going Global

Ah, Global BL. BL with origins from outside Japan. Or, as I see it: a mishmash of a marketing scheme and Japanese purism. Love it!

No. No I don't love it. I've never been a fan of calling Japanese comics manga or Japanese animation anime. I do not live in Japan, and unless I'm speaking Japanese, usage of those words are unnecessary. I am not trying to be a word Nazi like John Locke and demand everyone apply the same definition to each word or not have so many words for one definition. It's an unrealistic goal. In this particular case I am a bit perplexed as to why an extra word is needed to distinguish a product. At its core, BL is romance shared between males. Does this change if a Mexican is penning the story? No. So why is global necessary?

Some part of me believes this has to do with keeping Japanese products exotic. Seriously, doesn't Global BL sound like a cheap knock off of the real thing? But I can't follow that line of thought because I know the phrase came from within my own community. So I'm doubly puzzled since us fujoshi tend to be very accepting of all forms of BL because in the end it's all about the love, baby.

I just can't willing go along with the segregation of a genre based upon the origins of the creator, especially when there is no core distinction between what the Japanese produce and everyone else. Yes, there can be sci-fi BL, western BL, and  fantasy BL, but there is no global BL.

Where my girls at?

When it comes to American mainstream comics and the two big companies, Marvel and DC, I have always felt they didn't do enough to reach out to their female audience. Oh, yes, DC had Minx, but that was doomed to fail. They did have some awesome titles, but I'm an old fujoshi and what I'm going to appreciate is not what a thirteen-year-old girl will appreciate. They're in the middle of puberty and their hormones are going all crazy--they want sex. DC gave them wonderful girlhood stories. However, the thirteen-year-old eighth grader who can't wait for Keith to message back he likes her too, isn't looking for the next Little Women. Twilight topping the hardcover graphic novel charts speaks volumes to this fact.

There's a lot of blame to go around when it comes to failing at appealing to females and after reading this article from The Comics Reporter, I believe the proprietors of comic shops deserve the same amount of blame. Tom Spurgeon outlines three arguments we could be having about comics. One particular question caught my eye: why are so many direct market comics shops still female unfriendly? Although he provides no answer, he touches on some interesting points, such as the comic shop location and environment, which are none to pleasing to females (or him, for that matter). I think the environment is very important reason females stay away. Because, lets face facts, usually enclosed with in the dark dank area of the comic shop are some really creepy people.

I understand some male comic fans may take offense to this, but allow me to elaborate on my own experience. When I first started going to a comic shop the guys were either mean jerks who sent out "you have no place here" vibes or they were creepy losers who sniffed around my skirt. Once, while sifting through old comics, I was approached by a guy who told me how he lived in his moms basement, collected Spiderman comics and ended by asking me for my number. Yeah, really made me feel comfortable. I don't know, I guess, for me, despite the darkness, despite the dankness, I had expected the comic shop to be a safe zone. A place where I would be accepted and respected because I shared a common interest. And I definitely did not go there expecting to be hit on. What amplifies this and made the situation seem worse to me is it happened in this closed in space where you're crowded by comics and people. I've been hit on in the mall or the library but the difference is these are wide open spaces with light. The openness put me at ease.

I can't blame the customers. People are jerks and they will put you in uncomfortable situations. Therefore the responsibility falls on the lap of the comic owner to make their environment as amicable as possible. So far, the majority of comic shops do not do this. I do not believe comic owners go out of their way to make females feel uncomfortable so comics can remain a male only club. I do believe these shops are owned by men who haven't an inkling how a female feels. So, I'm letting you guys know, if you have a dark, eerie, dreary comic shop where it's difficult to keep the people from overlapping, maybe it's time to call in a interior designer to work their magic. Not only will you benefit from more light and more room, you'll benefit economically because you'll gain me as a customer. And believe me, in this dire economy, you want my business.

Crossover Fun

My sisters have been obsessed with these animation crossovers over at youtube. These are music videos where the creator will take a character from one animated movie and pair them up with a character from another. For example: Tiana / Dean, Cinderella / Beast, Gaston / Wendy. I have to admit, they are kind of addictive. I like coming up with the craziest paring I can think of and searching to see if someone has dedicated a video to it. Thus far, the oddest pairing I've seen was Hercules with Maid Mirian. Yes, that's Disney's Maid Mirian, who is a fox. So, yeah...

With all these crossover hijinks there is surprisingly (well, for me) very little slash. I would love to see someone hook up Dean (Iron Giant) with Demetri (Anastasia). It makes about as much sense as Hercules / Maid Mirian, but it must be done. Because I said so.

Out of the few slash videos I could find, this one is my favorite:



Go search and see all the crazy mashups you can find. And maybe, if you have the ability to do so, make one of your own. And if you are an awesome person you'll do Dean / Demitri. Because I said so.