Episode 35: What is BL? Revisited

The 8OH1 Podcast

This episode of the 8OH1 podcast is sponsored by Rotten Blossoms.

What makes a work BL? In 2022, this is a difficult question to answer. BL Garden revisits the topic of an early 8OH1 episode to discuss the the shift in label conventions, how BL is defined outside of Japan, and just how serious the "love" part of "boys' love" is.

Titles Mentioned in This Episode

• Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend into a Girl by Azusa Banjo
• I'm Kinda Chubby and I'm Your Hero by Nore
• Killing Stalking by koogi

Supplemental Reading

• "The Author of "Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata" Tells the Secrets To Making Things Cute - When the love for your characters inspires you." | Pixivision
• "Thailand brings 'boys' love' back to Japan with homegrown dramas" | Japan Times
• Kwon, J. (2021). The past, present, and future of Boys Love (BL) cultures in East Asia. In Transnational Convergence of East Asian Pop Culture (pp. 96-112). Routledge.

「Sponsor Information」

Rotten Blossoms is a LGBTQ+ positive publishing company focused on localizing self-published, Japanese BL/Yaoi/Shonen ai works for the western market.

Check out their amazing catalog and follow them on Twitter!