It’s our 3rd Annual Very Important Internet BL Awards and we’ve changed up our whole shit! Ben and NiNi talk the best things we watched all year.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction: It's Awards Season Once More

02:09 Acting!

08:00 Ships Ahoy!

16:31 Immortal Technique

29:05 Top Tings

41:43 Special Class Awards

43:11 Special Class: Honourable Mentions

47:36 Special Class: Mark Pakin 6th Man Awards

51:13 Special Class: Standout Queer Narratives

01:06:00 Outro

It’s our holiday special (because it's a holiday somewhere in the world)! Ben, NiNi and assorted friends of the pod look back on 10 years of BL as a genre and talk 10 shows that define the genre for us.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Celebrating the BL Canon: A Retrospective

02:08 Blueming (2022) | KR | dir. Hwang Da Seul (Megan)

07:35 Dark Blue Kiss (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Shan)

13:59 He's Coming To Me (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Captain Hands)

17:00 His (2020) | JP | dir. Imaizumi Rikiya (Twig)

21:12 Light On Me (2021) | KR | dir. Lee Yoo Yeon (Kyra)

25:40 Make It Right (2017) | TH | dirs. New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul and Cheewin Thanamin Wongskulphat (Turtles)

33:29 The Miracle of Teddy Bear (2022) | TH | dir. Paajaew Yuthana Lorphanpaibul (Pluem)

39:52 Theory of Love (2019) | TH | dir. X Nuttapong Mongkolsawas (Bookworm)

46:15 The Untamed (2019) | CH | dirs. Steve Cheng and Chang Ka Lam (Shan)

51:42 We Best Love (2021) | TW | dir. Ray Jiang (Twig)

57:59 Ben and Nini's Drive-by Faves

Ben, NiNi and Shan discuss a weird year for QL and look ahead to 2025.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

00:55 2024 Headlines: Industry Consolidation

06:49 2024 Headline: Self-Censorship

13:52 2024 Headlines: Vertical Format Micro-BLs and Other Shit We're Anti

20:14 Festivus Airing Of The Grievances

36:51 2024 Fan Awards

55:49 QL Resolutions

01:04:45 Affirmations and Hopes for the Future

Korea swung big at the end of the year and hit it out of the park on both the queer romance and queer life drama fronts. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo and Love In The Big City.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

01:15 Introduction: Let's Talk Hallyu

06:01 Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

12:36 Taekwondo: Themes and Patterns In Hwang Da Seul's Work

21:54 Taekwondo: The Separation

33:28 Taekwondo: The Reunion

38:22 Taekwondo: On Hyeon Ho

44:57 Taekwondo: Final Thoughts and Ratings

52:33 Love In The Big City

58:46 Love In The Big City Part 1: Mi Ae and the Film Adaptation

01:06:50 Love In The Big City Part 2: Umma and Young Soo

01:17:05 Love In The Big City Part 3: Gyu Ho and Kylie

01:28:31 Love In The Big City Part 4: Habibi and the T-aras

01:40:28 Love In The Big City: Final Thoughts and Ratings

01:48:25 Outro

More takes on the office romance, now with bonus miscommunication! Ben, NiNi and Ginny talk Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko and At 25:00 In Akasaka.

Episode transcript available here.

The pulps are evolving in what seems like two distinct directions, and we have some thoughts on that. Ben, NiNi and friend of the pod Twig talk We Are and Knock Knock, Boys!

Episode transcript available here.

It's a mailbag episode!

Queer truth is on back on the menu, just as we were starting to get FAMISHED. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk Marahuyo Project and No One Cares For An Old Man's Underwear.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

Summer didn’t give us a lot to say, but we ALWAYS got something to say. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk a highlight of the season, Twig reports from the field, and we award summer’s Girl Who Tried.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00:00 Welcome

00:01:15 Introduction

00:02:21 Twig’s Dispatch

00:14:24 Spotlight: Tadaima Okaeri

00:20:34 Girl, You Tried

00:27:08 Celebrating 50 Episodes

School's in at GMMTV, but we gotta put two series in detention for not fulfilling the assignment. The actors were charming, but the finishes were...rough. Ben, NiNi and Ginny talk 23.5 and Only Boo, the merits of high school stories, and the specific challenges of telling stories about queer high schoolers.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00:00 Welcome

00:01:15 Introduction

00:02:18 23.5: Early Reactions

00:14:18 23.5: Supporting Characters

00:21:27 23.5: Frustration with the Writing and Execution

00:33:42 23.5: Final Arc and Ratings

00:38:42 Only Boo

00:48:06 Only Boo: Popping the Bubble

00:58:42 Only Boo: If You're Gonna Do An Idol Story, Commit

01:05:06 Only Boo: Final Thoughts and Ratings

01:08:45 Outro: High School Blues