Queering the Guillotine

Before "My Villain Academia" there was "Sasuke f**ks around and finds some followers." We're back this week with the latest installment in our Naruto reread, but the titular blonde isn't all that present. Instead the focus shifts to Uchiha drama, Jiraiya, and the mystery of who (or what) is Pain. We share our queerpinions on:

Naruto chapters 343-383

Memorable cover pages: both the homoerotic and the body horror erotic

The series' shift between villains

A neverending series of flashbacks starring Jiraiya

First impressions of Pain: god, mystery, and design

You can also find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict! To catch up on our Naruto coverage thus far, check out parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven.

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. Our discussion this episode is full of Naruto spoilers up through chapter 383.

There's never a bad time to talk about Digimon, but there could hardly ever be a better time than now. Digimon Adventure: (why the f**k is there a colon?) just started airing in Japan, and for the first time in the franchise's history America is getting official same day releases! We take a walk down memory lane and discuss the original anime, our first impressions of the new one, and all the homosexuality in between. We share our queerpinions on:

Digimon Adventure (1999)

Mimi Tachikawa, the GOAT

Iconic dub vocal performances

Which Digimon we're gay for

Digimon Adventure: (2020) episodes 1-2

Strange pacing choices

Our hopes for the series going forward

You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. This episode also contains spoilers for Digimon Adventure (1999), Our War Game, and the first two episodes of Digimon Adventure: (2020).

It's time for another queer manga grab bag! This week we pick back up with Cocoon Entwined's latest installment, as well as discuss three standalone titles. Some of them are heartfelt, some are ethereal, and some are downright porny. We share our queerpinions on:

Mentaiko Itto's The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Chii's The Bride Was a Boy

Educational reads aimed at young and cisgender audiences

Mita Ori's Our Dining Table

Yuriko Hara's Cocoon Entwined Vol. 2

Approaching the line of magical realism without crossing it

You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Content warning: We’re a NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. This episode also contains spoilers for all the aforementioned series. The Boy Who Cried Wolf specifically is an erotic title, and our discussion of it includes blatant descriptions of sex. Besides this, the manga covered (and thus our thoughts about them) reference rape, sexual assault, homophobia, transphobia, and child abuse.

After months and months of counting down, it's finally here: a new mainline Animal Crossing game. So, how is it? Awesome. Duh. We share our queerpinions on:

Gender in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Our starting villagers and the ones we still hope to meet

The game's emphasis on crafting mechanics

Near limitless freedom in landscaping, construction, and decoration

The startling omission of a certain bespectacled pigeon

The new Bunny Day event

You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. Our discussion this episode also gets pretty in-depth, so if you haven't played the game yet and want to avoid spoilers...well, avoid this episode and the entirety of Twitter.

We're back after a week off and it's time to dive into Shonen Jump! Act-Age continues to achieve GOAT status but almost everything else was good this month, too. Chainsaw Man excels artistically, Dr. Stone brings Kakegurui to the Stone Age, and The Promised Neverland features a glorious return. We share our queerpinions on:

Act-Age chapters 103-106

Chainsaw Man chapters 60-63

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba chapters 196-199

Dr. Stone chapters 141-144

My Hero Academia chapters 262-265

My Hero Academia - League of Villains: Undercover

The Promised Neverland chapters 169-172

Spy x Family chapters 23-24

You can find all our episodes on Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Apple Podcasts!

Spoiler and content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW-podcast that uses reclaimed homophobic slurs. We also spoil the hell out of all the series mentioned above. Content-wise, they (and our discussions of them) touch on physical violence, blood, gore, sexual objectification of women, tyrannical governments, and poorly done social commentary (including one comic invoking the coronavirus).

This episode might be a little short, but our love for the topic is unparalleled. This week is all about cat manga, specifically two recent releases that touched our hearts and funny bones. We share our queerpinions on:

Umi Sakurai's A Man and His Cat Vol. 1

Human-cat bonding in the wake of loss and emptiness

Heavy use of "nya" and "meow" sounds in cat dialogue

Makoto Kobayashi's What's Michael?: Fatcat Collection Vol. 1

Excellent artistic renderings of cats' movements

Realism, absurdity, and the in-between among fictional felines

Our own cat adoption story

You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict! Also make sure to keep listening after we sound off to hear some thoughts from our own cat, Leuvis.

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. Our discussion this episode also contains spoilers for the aforementioned series.

Are straight people valid? No, but they can have a few good manga...as a treat. This week we talk about three series we've recently read that subvert and play around with traditional gender roles and expression. When do they succeed, when do they fail, and what moves a comic beyond basic Gender Nonconformity 101 territory and into something more thoughtful? We share our queerpinions on:

Kousuke Oono's The Way of the Househusband Vol. 1-2

Oono's comedic chops and successful variations in artistic style

Tamekou's My Androgynous Boyfriend Vol. 1

Social media clout and the fashion industry as plot points

Aya Kanno's Otomen Vol. 1

Some early developments that made us a bit nervous

Excellent character building and a fantastic protagonist

You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. Our discussion this episode is full of spoilers for all the volumes listed above.

Ryuk is back back back back again and ready to cause more chaos in the human world. Meanwhile the homosexual pining is excellent in Act-Age and Dr. Stone is finally starting to get good again. We share our queerpinions on:

Act-Age chapters 99-102

Chainsaw Man chapters 56-59

Death Note: Special One-Shot

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba chapters 192-195

Dr. Stone chapters 137-140

My Hero Academia chapters 259-261

The Promised Neverland 166-168

Spy x Family chapters 21-22

You can find all our episodes on Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Apple Podcasts!

Spoiler and content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW-podcast that uses reclaimed homophobic slurs. We also spoil the hell out of all the series mentioned above. Content-wise, they (and our discussions of them) touch on physical violence, blood, gore, sexual objectification/violence against women, and death of animals.

It's a Naruto week again, and we might not be covering very many chapters but we sure have a lot to say about them. Shikamaru comes to the forefront and we finally learn more details about the Akatsuki's big evil plan. We share our queerpinions on:

Naruto chapters 314-342

Hidan and Kakuzu

Ninja Pokémon types

A certain character's last words

Emotional resonance attempted through flashbacks

More homosexual pining

You can also find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict! To catch up on our Naruto coverage thus far, check out parts one, two, three, four, five, and six.

Content warning: We’re a fairly NSFW podcast that includes use of reclaimed homophobic slurs. Our discussion this episode is full of Naruto spoilers up through chapter 342 (plus a later spoiler regarding Minato). Content-wise, these chapters include death, blood, and some pretty brutal physical violence.

Way back in episode five we shared our first impressions of two stellar manga about queer people navigating their identities, feelings, and places in the world. Now that both series have ended we're back to discuss them in full with spoilers, heavy feelings, and all. We share our queerpinions on:

That Blue Sky Feeling Vol. 3

Hide and how his problematic conduct is handled

Descriptions of fat bodies as being desirable

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare Vol. 2-4

Overbearing faux-acceptance from straight cis people

Someone-san's character arc and unique role in the manga

You can find all our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podcast Addict.

Spoiler and content warning: Our discussion spoils the hell out of both manga in question. Additionally, the manga (and by extension our commentary) cover homophobic and transphobic violence including slurs, obnoxious allies, death and visitation rights, and more.