Fujojocast No. 14: When Asian Fans Socially Distance because of Cultural Tensions in Fandom

06/21/20 • 72 min

Photo of a circle. Taken by the author at Comic Frontier 2018.

In case you missed the memo, fandom is not a safe place, especially for BIPOC fans.

It’s something that we Asian fans have been keenly aware of since our engagement online. It’s something that has been documented by scholars. In the last week, as different organisations respond to justice and equality, the Organisation for Transformative Works also made an effort to address racism in fandom. Of course, there are people who felt these promises are empty as there is no promise of structural change that supports BIPOC fans.

This recent drama has left my friends and me in a tiff, as we have been enraged as fans over the years. The ways in which Western ideas, practices, and morals are shoved down our throats has left a bitter taste in our fan experiences that, more often than not, we disengage with fandoms popular in the West or we seek for circles that understand our contexts. For a space that claims to be “our” own, this should not be the case and yet this displacement continues and it impacts the way we express our fandom.

Here are links to some of the articles and discussions I mentioned here and others that may also reflect the cultural tensions we face in fandom.

Stichomancery’s article on What Racism Looks Like in Fandom.
Dr. Bertha Chin and Dr. Lori Morimoto’s call Towards a Transcultural Fandom
Dr. Lori Morimoto’s petition to OTW do do better.
Dr. Rukmini Pande and her thoughts on racism in Fandom
- Squee from the Margins
- How (not) to talk about race
- Conversations with Henry Jenkins (Part 1 and Part 2)
My work with Dr. Febriani Sihombing on manga’s cultural tensions in Indonesia and the Philippines (If any of you are interested in reading this, leave a comment below)

Fujojocast No. 14: When Asian Fans Socially Distance because of Cultural Tensions in Fandom

Download Episode
Music Insert: Zhu YiLong and Bai Yu’s “Flying Across Time” from the Guardian Soundtrack.

Photo of a circle. Taken by the author at Comic Frontier 2018.

In case you missed the memo, fandom is not a safe place, especially for BIPOC fans.

Here are links to some of the articles and discussions I mentioned here and others that may also reflect the cultural tensions we face in fandom.

Stichomancery’s article on What Racism Looks Like in Fandom.
Dr. Bertha Chin and Dr. Lori Morimoto’s call Towards a Transcultural Fandom
Dr. Lori Morimoto’s petition to OTW do do better.
Dr. Rukmini Pande and her thoughts on racism in Fandom
- Squee from the Margins
- How (not) to talk about race
- Conversations with Henry Jenkins (Part 1 and Part 2)
My work with Dr. Febriani Sihombing on manga’s cultural tensions in Indonesia and the Philippines (If any of you are interested in reading this, leave a comment below)

Fujojocast No. 14: When Asian Fans Socially Distance because of Cultural Tensions in Fandom

Download Episode
Music Insert: Zhu YiLong and Bai Yu’s “Flying Across Time” from the Guardian Soundtrack.

Previous Episode

Fujojocast No. 13: A Thai BL Primer with Thomas Baudinette

BL is taking an interesting turn and it’s not happening on the shelves of Ikebukuro but on television broadcasts and streams in Thailand. Thai BL has become a hot topic in recent years and as someone invested in boys love culture, the world of boys love in Thailand has definitely piqued my curiosity. My enabler for this is none other than Dr. Thomas Baudinette who has watched every Thai BL ever released and was more than happy to give me the lowdown on Thai BL.

Show Notes

As mentioned in the podcast, Thomas was one of the first anthropologists who has written on Thai BL in English. He has an article that explores the early years of the phenomenon as seen through Lovesick and he has also mentioned in the podcast that he’s currently developing a book on Thai BL. Recently, he also gave a online talk on Thai BL which is definitely something worth listening to as well. His work on Thai BL has led to articles on Asahi Japan that talks about the explosion of Thai BL in the region, his recommended shows, and the new queer practices emerging from this new Thai BL Idol culture.

The show also mentioned a chapter written by Dredge Kang who touches a bit on this culture in his chapter for BL Opening Doors (Japanese only). For those of you who are able to read Japanese, I strongly recommend this book so that you may see the transformation of the genre in the region.

Over the years, I’ve seen Tom’s research grow and I’m fascinated by its connection with the Philippines. In this podcast, we also discussed why Filipino fans are at the centre of Thai BL, the politics of its consumption, and its engagement with our local BL community. After the recording of this podcast, the local publisher for original BL, Black Ink, tangentially touches on Thai BL as they discuss this genre with one of our renowned gay writers, Danton Remoto.

What is clear from this podcast is that BL is changing its shape and it’s no longer centred in Japan alone. Thailand is writing its own chapter and so is China with danmei. The Philippines is thinking of creating their own BL too.

Certainly, BL as we know it is changing. Isn’t it a fun time to be a BL fan?

Fujojocast #13: A Thai BL Primer with Thomas Baudinette

Download Episode

OP Music: Kan Gu, 2gether’s Theme Song

ED Music: The Ultimate Saraleo Remix by gay spoon (fanvid)

Next Episode

Fujojocast no. 15 – Diversity through Futekiya

Futekiya’s Library

When things look glum, it’s nice to find the light at the end of the tunnel. If there is one thing great about the world right now is that BL is growing and has become increasingly accessible.

When English-translated BL used to be handled by a select number of companies, some of which have consistently given us heavy hitters while others have broken our hearts, in the last few years, there are more publishers eager to publish BL works and distribute globally online. Sublime and Renta have been staples in our community. Seven Seas has also joined the BL race with a number of heavy hitters. And now, there is Futekiya.

On this Yaoi no Hi, I’m happy to speak with Emma Hanashiro, Editor in Chief of Futekiya, and how their website helps us navigate the ever-growing world of BL manga. We talk about their acquisition process, we squeed about how some of our favourite works and titles are there, and then we delved into some of the interesting questions BL titles are raising.

I hope you would find this podcast fascinating to try the titles on Futekiya.

SHOW NOTES

On this podcast, Emma Hanashiro and I talked about the origin story of their website, their selection process, their spice ratings, how they navigate censorship with their titles and dealing with puritanism and conservatism in queer expression. Some notable titles mentioned in this podcast can be found in English namely:

Sneaky Red by Thanat

Pornographer and Mood Indigo by Marukido Maki

The Dreams of the Cuckoos by Tamekou

Welcome to the BL Research Club by Haruta

Aki-chan is the Super Erotic Madonna for Guys by Kabano Sadakichi

Young Bad Education & Young Good Boyfriend by Dayoo

Here There and Us by Thanat

Link and Ring by Tsuyuku Yuruco

Shinjuku Lucky Hole by Kumota Haruko

Heaven in Hell and God is Probably Left Handed by Mushiba

Ayu Yamane’s Works