Once 20 nominations are submitted, we’ll have a poll to decide the next book club read.
How long should voting be open for?
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- 3 weeks
- 4 weeks
0
voters
1 Like
In other book clubs I have been, one week is generally enough for votes to dry out (but it’s best to include 2 week ends, so 9 days, since some people do not visit the forums during the week)
6 Likes
I had no idea 
7 Likes
Wild, I know. What are they even doing with their time.
8 Likes
Title: 炎の蜃気楼シリーズ 1 炎の蜃気楼 | L30??
Book type: light novel
Available formats: physical, ebook
Summary - Japanese
かつて敗れ去った戦国武将が怨霊として甦り、再び戦国時代をやり直して生き人たちの世を転覆させようとする《闇戦国》。
軍神となった上杉謙信の霊魂は闇戦国を阻止するため、上杉景虎、直江信綱、安田長秀、柿崎晴家、色部勝長を《換生者》としてこの世に甦らせ、生き人たちに仇なす怨霊たちを冥界へと《調伏》する冥界上杉軍・上杉夜叉衆を結成させた。
本作は総大将・上杉景虎とその監視役となった直江景綱の関係にフォーカスを当て、四百年もの時代をまたぐ怨霊たちとの戦いと、生き人の体を奪って生きる換生者としての苦悩や生き人の世の中に隠れて生きる苦しみを経て、生きることや真実の愛とは何かを求めていく姿を描いた大河サイキック・アクションシリーズである。(Wikipedia)
Summary - English
Takaya Ougi, a high school student, wants nothing more than to protect his best friend Yuzuru Narita and live a normal life. That is, until Nobutsuna Naoe, an intense and charismatic man, informs Takaya that he is in fact the reincarnation of Lord Kagetora, the adopted son of a noble samurai lord, Kenshin Uesugi. Naoe, himself a “possessor,” or a soul reborn through time, reawakens Takaya’s abilities to exorcise evil spirits and fight the Feudal Underworld, a collection of restless warrior spirits bent on modern-day conquest. While most possessors remember their former lives before being reincarnated, Takaya is one of the few who doesn’t, and is often hostile towards any effort for the complete recovery of his memory.
As the plot unfolds, the complex history of the characters and their past suggests why this is so, and the true nature of the tempestuous and somewhat ambiguous relationship between the two leads provides the backdrop for a melodrama that spans several generations of Japanese history. As they ascend to the living world to renew their ancient war, Naoe, Takaya, and two other possessors gear up to prevent that from happening. (Wikipedia)
Content warnings
Not totally sure, but I’d assume there’s at least some violence.
Reason for nominating: In stark contrast to @eefara’s nomination, this series has 47 volumes (75 if you include 外伝), published over almost 30 years! The fact that it’s such a long-running BL series is intreguing , and the plot sounds action-packed and exciting. 
4 Likes
Title: 女装してめんどくさい事になってるネクラとヤンキーの両片想い 1 | L25
Book type: Manga
Available formats: physical / ebook
Summary - Japanese
お互いの好きな人は、嫌いなヤツが女装した姿!?
可愛く朗らかな女の子・「花」
凛とした美人・「めい」
二人はお互いに好きだと気づいていない両片思い！
…しかし、互いにバレてはいけない秘密が…。
Summary - English
Note: Seven Seas Entertainment (which was picked by Anilist and MAL) has a much more involved blurb… but I disagree with some of the stuff they say, which I noted down.
Shuumei has a problem. He’s in love with a girl who works at a maid cafe, but he’s too cool to go into a place like that without being embarrassed. But girls can go to maid cafes without seeming creepy, right? When he dresses in feminine clothes and transforms himself into “Mei,” he can finally walk into the place to meet the girl of his dreams: the lovely blonde Hana. Meanwhile, Hanae is an introverted otaku who’s uncomfortable talking to people…unless he’s dressed in feminine clothes himself. While decked out in his best dresses [note: incorrect, he is wearing a “uniform”, in the sense that it belongs to the shop], he works at a maid cafe, and finds himself crushing on a young woman who regularly comes to visit him: a cool beauty named Mei! In this delightful LGBT+ romcom, two young people in love are about to find out a lot about each other–and themselves.
[Thing that is missing from the Japanese blurb: they know, and hate, each other as men]
Content warnings
None that I can think of.
Reason(s) for nominating: So, first, I have to say that I’m not sure if this series really fit the spirit of the club. Sure, it’s two men in love with each other, but they both believe that the other is a woman. Most of the tension comes from them trying to hide that they are men, preventing them to go forward with the relationship, while reading the other’s identical hesitation as a sign that they are not romantically interested.
For that reason, though, the romantic part mostly takes place when both are in girl mode, so it’s kinda hard to call it BL from the get go? I does get there, I swear, but that’s much further in the series and I guess we’ll only read one~two volumes with the club… If people feel like it’s out of topic, I don’t mind dropping it.
Still, I really liked how the story developed as well as the kind of internal exploration that comes from the situations that came up, to the point of nominating it despite having just read every published volumes so far 
9 Likes
Hoping that senpai will notice you? 
I’m assuming you’re taking about my latter one, correct? Anyway, that’s a ton of volumes. Makes me wonder if it’s just incredibly slow-paced or what. Now I want to read it.
I’m cool with having it here. The summary sounded pretty gay to me.
Edit edit: I see we’re already having trouble with links in the nomination table. :\ Wish I knew why it does that…
4 Likes
Sounds good to me! 
Indeed. For those that like epic historical BL, 'twill be a glorious battle between 炎 and F&B! 
I hold my breath every time I edit. 
But if the links don’t render correctly the first time, I add a period and save again, which usually corrects the problem.
2 Likes
Thank you both! Well, it’s staying, then. 
2 Likes
Oh, good to know. I’ll need to keep it in mind for the LN club…
I’m amazed there’s one long form historical BL, let alone two. Makes me think we’ll need to do more research into this area. For science.
3 Likes
Generally, series tend to follow a narrative that continues through subsequent volumes. However, some do not, and act more like collections connected by theme, any of which can be read as standalone books (anthology series, for example).
Which volumes in a series should be eligible for nomination?
- The first volume only
- Any volume that can be read as a standalone
0
voters
2 Likes
I thought about nominating this one as well!!!
1 Like
So I recently watched Shin Godzilla with omk3 on Discord and it was a lot of fun to have someone to chat with while watching. Keeping in mind that I probably can’t accommodate all time zones would there be interest in doing watch parties for any shows/movies I happen to have access to?
Relevant to the club I know I have access to
メタモルフォーゼの縁側 | L23?? (About an old woman and a young girl bonding over their shared love of BL, I haven’t finished this but what I have seen it’s ~L25)
さんかく窓の外側は夜 | L28 (the manga is way gayer than the movie tbh, but the movie is fun)
おっさんずラブ S1 | L29 (very fun and silly)
おっさんずラブ ―in the sky― S1 | L30?? (basically an airplane centered remake of the above)
30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい S1 | L24 (I have season 1 only, don’t think I finished it)
腐女子、うっかりゲイに告る S1 | L30?? (a fujoushi befriends a closested gay guy, I think I only watched the first episode?)
おじさんはカワイイものがお好き。 S1 | L26 (this one is a total tease, but the 
vibes are all there)
Some of these will have JP subs, some will have nothing, I don’t think I have Eng subs for any.
I don’t really want to nominate any of these because it’d be pretty ad-hoc based on my schedule, @bibliothecary if this doesn’t seem appropriate to mention here please let me know and I’ll remove the post.
6 Likes
Nice idea! 
As the majority wanted to keep this a book club, it might be fun to have a sister brother club for BL tv series and movies. It could just be a casual club to share the watch party times, and possibly act as a discussion hub for those who can’t join the live stream but watch on their own and want to share their thoughts.
Now, let me just add all those titles to my wish list…
4 Likes
there is a sequal coming which I am curious about. BL series are so cringe, they are fun to watch in groups.
4 Likes
When it comes to each new round of nominations, there are a couple of options:
- Start fresh with each new nomination cycle
- People can (re)nominate1 whichever titles they want2.
- The nomination period will likely last longer.
- More likely to have fresh titles in every cycle.
- Carry over the previous cycle’s nominations2
- No need to renominate.
- The waiting period would mean those who have submissions carry over to the next round must wait a week after the new round of nominations opens if they want to submit further nominations.
- If you’re no longer interested in reading a title you previously nominated (if you read it yourself, for example), you’re more interested in another book and don’t want to have to wait to nominate, or there are a small number of slots left, you would have to request to cancel your original nomination.
1. Renomination can be as simple as posting “Nominate [link to original nomination]”, or quoting/copy-pasting the original nomination.
2. Excluding the winning book and any disqualified titles.
Should non-winning titles automatically roll over to the next nomination cycle?
- Yes
- No
0
voters
We’ve already had several polls, I know. Expect more over the next month or two until we’ve covered all the bases. 
3 Likes
I voted yes, mostly for convenience, but it would be interesting to participate in a club that wiped nominations every time. 
3 Likes
Yeah, there are pros and cons for each - convenience is a big pro for nominations carrying over. On the other hand, I’ve got plenty of books I could nominate, as I’m sure others do, and fresh nominations each time could make things more interesting (…with the added benefit of a fast-growing wish list)! 
4 Likes
Why not copy the technique from WK book clubs of eliminating the least voted for options? The bottom 3-5 nominations could get eliminated and people can renominate them if they feel strongly enough about it.
6 Likes
I do have a poll for that waiting in the wings!
5 Likes
