👨‍❤️‍👨 BL Book Club 🎓 BL University 📚

Japanese Reading Book Clubs
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523

Legal Drug is the only thing that comes to mind in regards to Shonen-Ai. Card Captor Sakura had gay side characters but was clearly Shoujo.

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524

Spent too much a lot of time on the list yesterday finding release dates and reordering. :melting_face:

Everything should have date info, but it would be nice if there was a couple of sentences at the start of the list description about the item (shounen-ai/yaoi, content, why it was popular).

I noticed we’re a little light on content for the end of the decade (2007-2010) if anyone has any suggestions.

Sounds good!

Still need to add some titles for these mangaka:

Added Countless Time and Nakama to the scanlator list. :+1:

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525

most of their series at the time had some shounen ai in it, some examples:

Tokyo Babylon and the sequel X/1999
Card Captor Sakura (yes, the whole touya/yukito is not just a ship, it is canon)
legal drug (both the main characters were on the shounen ai kind of vibes as well as a “back” couple that was homosexual)
I can go on lol

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526

most BL and shounen ai initially started as shoujo so I feel like excluding it is a bit unfair to the genre?

edit: edited out the yaoi, that started as doujinshi lmao

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527

did someone start this one already? because I just remembered a really cute manga that first this

528

Definitely, I think most other lists should be pretty straightforward, so should only have a short introduction (the exception possibly is the 70s manga list, since it would be nice to include info on the early days of BL).

I’ve added Legal Drug since the BL characters are main rather than background, but it would be good to include links to the other series in the description to show how popular CLAMP was at the time.

I’m gonna take a break from editing the list for now, so if anyone wants to add/edit stuff, feel free! (I had to create boku no sexual harassment on TMDB just so I could add it to the list :rofl:)

Not yet - we’re focusing on one list a week, but feel free to leave your suggestions in this thread! I might also try to think of some that fit that list… :smile:

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529

Another name I remembered and is worth an add, not sure if she fits the criteria (she’s more of late 20’s)
Nakamura Asumiko

edit:
KUNIEDA SAIKA
SHES EARLY 20’S AND SHE WAS FAMOUS AT THE TIME
also Suzuki Tsuta

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530

What specifically is the criteria btw?
whether or not it’s main characters or how much of a factor it is in the story telling?

I’m asking because for example Tokyo Babylon+X/1999 is the main antagonist and MC being gay for each other but the plot itself is more of a wizard fight than that relationship (a.k.a you feel the tension but it doesn’t got beyond)
so I’m trying to pinpoint what it is I should or should not be recommending

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531

Some suggestions for this list:

I think we’d need to include a disclaimer that these are not necessarily good/favourable/the best depictions of the “non-standard” characteristic, and elaborate on the details in the item description.

Other character types that could be included in the list:

  • trans/gender non-conforming
  • disfigurement/deformity
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532

There isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but I think it’s better to have a single representative work from a creator rather than flooding the list with a lot of related titles; similarly we only want the anime (for example) and mention the manga, light novels, etc in the description.

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533

another long series
純情ロマンチカ

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534

ahhhh I see, I get it now :+1:

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535

Perfect Fit by Thanat
FOUND THE B**CH

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536

I am so bad with names, but there is this one manga where a guy gets transformed into a woman whenever he is horny? (I think) and ends up with his best friend who enjoys his body in either form. :melting_face:

and this is about intersex people :thinking:

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537

I recognize the manga
And yea it was horniness triggered change
Can’t remember the name

edit: nevermind what I said earlier it does fit, forgot some info about this manga lmao

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538

Man, the EWC list looks soooo good, you guys! Definite, major kudos to @bibliothecary, as well as all other contributors! I’m sorry I’ve been a bit erratic the last few days; I’m transitioning onto a new team at work, so things have been a bit crazy. :sweat_smile: Might be for another week or so (if I’m unlucky), but I will 100% be lurking and adding in bits here and there. Please bare with me! orz

Would 美しい彼 be a good fit for this? 平良 feels pretty atypical: stutter, the class loser, etc.

Oh, CLAMP is an excellent callout! I don’t have much experience with the group beyond Tokyo Babylon and X/1999, but even then I knew the group was a Thing.

I’m really looking forward to these pre-2000s lists. So much to learn!

Re: the nonfiction list title: I spruced it up a tad and made it “Non-Fiction Texts”, but it doesn’t sound quite right still. :thinking:

  • BL University | Beyond Fiction: Non-Fiction Texts
  • BL University | BL in the Real World: Non-Fiction Texts
  • BL University | Non-Fiction Texts for the Scholar

…None of these sound quite right either.

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539

Created a couple of straightforward lists, all you need to add to the description at the moment is the number of volumes. :slightly_smiling_face:

Again, the titles may need a bit of work. :sweat_smile:
And we can change the volume count limits if people feel they’re too high/low.

No worries, RL takes precedence! :smile:

Oh, hadn’t even thought of that! Definitely fits I think. :+1:

Agreed, I think these will unironically become actual reading lists for me… :joy:
Looking at all the old manga and anime the past couple of days has already got me nostagic.

I actually like this one -it suggests non-fiction and a broad scope, while also sounding like a pretentious course title! :rofl:

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540

Could you add me as a collaborator for these? I can add in details when I get a chance!

BL University-specific bookclub… :thinking:

That’s the kind of vibe I’ve been aiming for. Make the list-browser fear all the homework. XD

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541

Oops! Forgot about that, will do it now. :grin:

ETA: @shablul I’ve added you, too.

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542

For the Long LN list, we’ll definitely need more info once it’s that list’s week in the spotlight. For example:

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Natively only lists 4 volumes, so we’ll likely need to be pretty explicit about what we’re counting here.

I’m leaning towards a slightly higher volume minimum for both; maybe +5? But I’d like to hear other’s opinions as well.

Anyway, not to divert the focus from EWC too much; it’s still got a few days of focus it needs. Stuff still on the EWC to-do list:

  • For each item, verify it has a couple of sentences at the start of the list description about the item (shounen-ai/yaoi, content, why it was popular)
  • Some more suggestions for content released near the end of the decade (2007-2010)
  • Need a representative work suggested for these mangaka:
  • Some more detailed info on the 合法ドラッグ entry about CLAMP in general, since they were a huge force back in the day.
  • check if any entry is missing related anime/manga/etc that had translations at the time
  • change some entries to series rather than volume (applies to newly-added stuff that’s waiting for approval or hasn’t populated yet)
  • Add a list of other works by the author that were published at the time (maybe only official) and link to natively page

Let me know if there’s something else you think would be good to add to the to-do list!

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