Lillith Bear

This is your chance to discover “Lesbearonic drag.” It’s Sunday, March 22 at SF Oasis. Underground Japanese manga artist Jiraiya will also be appearing from Hokkaido.

More sexy keyhole shirts

This trend is unstoppable. Today’s keyhole shirt illustrated by Go Fujimoto (藤本郷), via Gay Manga Tumblr.

Taipei bear beach party, at end of July

Taipei bears mix manga and beach party. Pass the beach ball, and share the inflatable donut. It’s Bear Festival 5.

Japanese gay manga Tumblr is a riot of hairy men and BDSM

 

If you’re interested in the Japanese manga and the Japanese equivalent of bears, you must know about Gay Manga Tumblr, which describes itself as “a love letter to our favorite Japanese gay comic artists.” The related site Massive sells gay manga, towels, shirts, and bags.

Thanks, Graham, for reading this blog and contacting me!

Incredible Japanese gay BDSM manga now in English, introduced by Chip Kidd and Edmund White

I found this incredible treat at Books Inc bookstore in the Castro. Big US gay names, book designer Chip Kidd and author Edmund White, introduce in English the manga of Gengoroh Tagame (田亀 源五郎), who creates cinematographic stories in which muscular and hairy authority figures are subjected to rough sex with lots of sweat and other fluids.

If it’s good enough for Chip Kidd, you might also enjoy it. I love how my copy prominently announced “printed in Canada” even though the publisher is based in Brooklyn, NY. Is this book too hot for Amerika?!

 

Male maid cafes

The Japan Times features a wonderful Christmas Eve story about the growing popularity of male maid cafes. What I love is that this trend of men assuming the maid costume is presented as having nothing to do with sexuality or gender identity.

1. Men like dressing as women, and it’s becoming more acceptable.

Behind this nascent trend, observers say, is that more men are beginning to enjoy dressing as a woman from a fashion viewpoint, and society is becoming more tolerant of the practice.

2. There are not enough women workers.

It started when one of the regular waitresses quit.

3. Male customers feel more comfortable being served by men.

“Men who are not used to being served by women can feel relaxed and talk to the ‘maids’ easily because they are male,” said Chaan Sarin, who heads the cafe’s waitstaff.

4. For the maids, cross-dressing provides stress-relief from work. It’s only temporary, the girlfriend does not know, and this personal therapy will be ended with marriage.

“I become a totally different person to release my stress from work. I have the feelings of a man and I will quit once I get married,” he said.

5. Manga makes them do it.

More male fans are also dressing like their favorite female characters in “anime’ animation and computer games.

6. Publishing houses are helping men look better in drag.

Cashing in on this trend, Osaka-based Yu-time Publishing released the book “Otokonoko no Tameno Henshin Gaido” (“Guide for Boys to Transform Themselves”) in October 2008.

7. Tolerance is related to looking pretty, and new media sources allow men to be prettier women today.

“People began to accept men dressed as women, saying it is OK as long as they are beautiful. At the same time, as there is more information nowadays on how to dress like women, men have gotten dramatically better at it.”

Japan has the most awesome combination of extreme kinkiness and feigned innocence.

Cute uniforms

A bunny clutching a teddy bear? In front of a house smaller than the bunny’s head?

Only in Japan would middle-aged men working for a tract home builder wear super-childish manga splashed uniforms. Do you think the worker feels professional, confident, and ready to move some pre-fab homes?

Fundoshi v Fujoshi

Another simple mistake in Japanese. Inquiring about the cultural activities of takenoko gathering, I innocently asked my in-laws, “Will there be any fujoshi?” Ooops. What I meant to ask was about fundoshi.

Above, a fujoshi, an anime and manga-addicted girl who enjoys boy-on-boy romance and sex stories known as BL (boys love). Below, fundoshi, a ritual loin cloth worn by men for some religious holidays.

Finally, one more fujoshi image, courtesy of recent commenter and blogger, imbeleth.

Kids’ anti-drug manga in Nakano

In the exhibit cases of the JR Nakano station underpass, this week features middle school kids’ manga of anti-drug messages. Some of the kids are pretty talented at drawing, and the local exhibit is better than most on an artistic level. Somehow, though, I am not convinced that these images will encourage kids to avoid forbidden temptations. Maybe it will give the artists and viewers some new ideas.

Types of tops (攻め), bottoms (受け), and Boys Love anime

My favorite blogger on otaku and manga language, Bangin, has recently released a second typology for seme (攻め) and uke (受け). Apparently new types of Boys Love roles are constantly being created and new words emerging.

The beauty of these top/bottom terms are their endless variety, unexpected reversals and melodrama. Here are two of my favorites. Follow the links to read both posts with over a dozen types:

ワンコ攻め[wanko-zeme]; Sounds cute, doesn’t it? Well, ワンコ[wanko] means a dog here(but it’s not correct) It derives from the fact that they howl ワンワン[wan wan “bow wow”]. At any rate, dogs are so obedient to their masters but they also fawn upon. Yes, no matter how cold 受け is, how many times 受け refuses to accept him, he never gives up, and eventually it comes to pass. It sounds like a relationship between 先輩受け[sempai-uke] and 後輩攻め[kouhai-zeme]. 先輩 means a senior at a company or school, and 後輩 means a junior as well. 先輩 is more superior to 後輩. In such a relationship, 後輩 becomes 攻め…the position is switched, isn’t it?

姫受け[hime-uke]: 姫[hime] means a princess. This type of uke is surrounded by several semes(more than two tops). I can’t think of a better example. Maybe Shibuya Yuuri? He can be paired up with Gunter or Conlad…but he ends up being uke.

These two posts also provide an evolving typology of BL (Boys Love) literature:

• リーマンもの[riiman-mono] or office settings;
• 学園もの[gakuen-mono] or schools;
• ナマモノ[namamono] or slash fiction about movie stars, singers, sports stars and “vocal actors”;
• イロモノ[iromono] or minor characters;
• 兄弟もの[kyoudai-mono] or brothers, often step-brothers;
• ML or men’s love, versus boys or minors;
• ロボやおい[robo yaoi] or robot love;
• 匂い系[nioi-kei] or “smells” type, meaning no sex but plenty of homo-erotic scent (like Water Boys, Ouran High-School Host Club, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Prince of Tennis);
• 健全[kenzen] or sound, meaning Normal Love (NL);
• 微裏[biura], an abbreviation of bimyou ni ura, which means “slightly porno” and should be no more than kissing

Wow. Thank you, Bangin sensei!

Writing as someone almost entirely untouched by anime and manga, I am certainly inspired to start reading. What about you?

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