Yaoi-Con draws "Boys Love" fans
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on Nov. 8, 2005 Sign up now!
By Ian Brill -- Publishers Weekly, 11/8/2005
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| CPM's Masumi O'Donnell (l.) and Kazuma Kodaka at Yaoi-con |
Yaoi-Con is where the fans of this small part of anime and manga culture can interact with others who share their interest, with a strong communal energy arising. "I think a lot of fans can't share this with their friends and family because it's so specific," said Tricia Owens of Juxtapose Fantasy. "It's got kind of a fetish edge. So they come here for protection in numbers." Many attendees may be in contact with each other through the Internet, but this is the one time of the year they can see each in person for discussion over food and drinks. It's not unusual to see people identify the characters others are dressed up as and start fraternizing based on that.
Yaoi publishers are having a bigger presence at the con. Digital Manga Publishing officially participated for the first time. Their guest was manga-ka Higuri You, whose Gorgeous Carat Galaxy will be published by DMP. At a panel, DMP director of operations Isaac Lew spoke about the company taking more notice of yaoi after their titles like Only the Ringer Finger Knows and Yellow became hits. Two big titles announced by DMP include the first yaoi art book in the U.S., Kiss of Fire by Haru wo Daiteita, as well as the first serial yaoi magazine in the U.S., J-Boy (short for Junky Boys), by Japanese publisher Biblos. They also announced four new titles: Little Butterfly by Takanaga Hinako, You & Harujion by Kinoshita Keiko, Lost Boys by Itsuki Kaname and Same Cell Organism by Yumeka Sumomo.
"We're going to try and include every single story and give them to you," said Lew. The crowd responded to these and most other announcements with loud cheers and afterward shouted suggestions for titles DMP could translate. Fans find these books through scanlations—fans scanning and translating manga only available in Japan and posting them on the Internet—and anticipate what titles will see a legitimate U.S. release.
Tokyopop showcased its new Blu Manga line in front of another enthusiastic crowd. Earthian and Loveless were two books already very popular from fan Web sites. Loveless was the only book being published under the Tokyopop name so it could receive a bigger publicity push. Tokyopop Junior Editor Lillian M. Diaz-Przybyl made clear that the line will not censor anything, saying the only difference between the original books and the translated version is the language they are in. She also pointed out that, in terms of what titles Tokyopop is interested in bringing over, "we're very story driven. We don't want to sacrifice character and emotions for sex." All the titles announced were either teen titles, marked 16+, or mature titles, marked 18+. Diaz-Przybyl mentioned that a title labeled mature cuts the distribution in half because some major booksellers like Barnes & Noble will not carry such titles.
Be Beautiful, the yaoi imprint of Central Park Media, was a sponsor of the convention. It publishes Yaoi-Con 2005 guest of honor Kazuma Kodaka's Kizuna: Bonds of Love, considered to be a masterpiece of the genre. Four other new titles were announced: Midaresomenishi by Kodaka, Boku No Koe by Youka Nitta, YEBISU Celebrities by Shinri Fuwa and Play Boy Blues by Shiuko Kano.
As for the future, CPM director Masumi Homma O'Donnell said that while yaoi may not become mainstream, the explosion of shojo manga is helping the genre. "I believe yaoi is a post-shojo genre. The story and art are very shojo because of a lot of the relationship and romance aspects. That is something that appeals to a female base." Knowing that yaoi has been going strong in Japan for 15 years and that the readership is growing in the U.S., including more men, O'Donnell noted, "I'm very curious how this genre will evolve in this country, and very excited to be a part of it."
