Manga Mavericks EP. 177: "LGBTQ Manga"

Queer manga should be read and celebrated all year round, and thanks to the growing efforts of publishers to bring more great LGBTQ titles over west, it’s easier than ever to find works that speak to you!

We’ve taken pride in covering many great LGBTQ manga on our show over the years, and for the longest time I’ve wanted to do a broader topic discussion centered around queer manga. So I decided to take our exploration through the world of queer manga in steps and start from a personal place; what queer manga means to us as queer readers, and our evolving histories with them. Joining me for this discussion are some wonderful guests who’ve specialized in exploring media through a queer lens, examing representation in media and spotlighting queer media in their work - Trevor & Alex from the Queering the Guilotine podcast and Karleen from the blog CoherentCats!

We discuss the works that we feel helped us discover ourselves, best represent the queer community, and are promising signs of progress in the ways queer characters and stories are told. We also discuss tropes we’re not fond of, the give-and-take of finding value in imperfect or problematic works, and underserved areas of representation we want to see more of.

We had a gay old time recording this podcast, and we hope you’ll join us over the rainbow!

For a complete list of links and Community Shout-Outs included in this episode, check out this podcast's webpage at: http://all-comic.com/2021/manga-mavericks-ep-177-lgbtq-manga/

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:22 - Intro & Podcast Overview

03:15 - Introducing the Discussion

04:55 - Karleen’s Relationship with LGBTQ Manga

06:48 - Trevor & Alex’s Relationship with LGBTQ Manga

10:15 - When did we first become aware of LGBTQ manga, and when did we start to seek it out?

20:48 - Finding Satisfying Queer Representation in Manga vs. American Comics

29:55 - What were the most formative queer manga and characters for us growing up?

55:15 - How often have we felt truly represented by a queer character in a manga?

1:05:36 - What are some LGBTQ manga or anime that we think have the best representation of queer characters, topics, and themes?

1:28:37 - What are some tropes and trends we observe in BL and yuri that we like? What are some that we don’t care for?

1:48:15 - What kinds of topics or stories do we want to see more of in LGBTQ manga?

2:00:30 - Thoughts on the growing visibility and availability of LGBTQ manga in recent years

2:01:53 - What currently unlicensed LGBTQ works do we most want to see brought over?

2:16:28 - What manga would we recommend to newbies to BL, yuri, and LGBTQ manga?

2:25:00 - Guest Plugs & Sign-Off

2:30:50 - Community Shout-Outs

2:51:05 - Wrap-Up

Music Featured:

“Itsudatte.” by Daisuke

“For You” by Rie Fu