Interest
History of BL Manga Exhibition Opens on May 20
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Specifically, the exhibit will explore three major periods in the subculture's history. The first is the June era, named after an influential magazine founded in 1978. Former editor-in-chief Toshihiko Sagawa will share the story behind the magazine's founding; the exhibit will also show off the works of the authors who made their careers through June, like the magazine's first issue cover drawn by manga artist Keiko Takemiya. Takemiya also drew the exhibit's key visual, based on the influential Kaze to Ki no Uta series.
The second section focuses on doujinshi that became popular at major conventions like Comic Market (Comiket) in the 1980s. This was referred to as the "yaoi" boom. "Yaoi" is an acronym of the phrase “YAma-nashi, Ochi-nashi, Imi-nashi” (no climax, no punch line, no meaning).
The third section focuses on popular manga and novel magazines in the 1990s, like MAGAZINE BE×BOY, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The popular artist Yū Asagiri was representative of this period; her work will be on display at the exhibit.
This is also the part of the exhibit where Kadokawa's involvement starts to make sense. In 1992, Kadokawa Shoten (now Kadokawa established the Kadokawa Ruby Bunko imprint, which mainly focused on aestheticism and BL novels. The imprint frequently published creators who started their careers in June.
Other things to look out for include voice-over narration by the popular voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa; among his many anime roles, he also played Ryuuichiro Isaka in the popular BL anime Junjō Romantica. There are also handwritten manuscripts of novels by Azusa Nakajima, a writer, editor and critic of BL who was also famous for writing the Guin Saga novels under the pen name of Kaoru Kurimoto. Hardcore BL manga historians will also get a kick out of seeing samples of out-of-print BL magazines.
The magazines and novels on display at the exhibit proper will be made available for visitors to browse through at their leisure in the adjoining Satellite Venue on the same floor. This area will also contain a selection of wraparound covers for BL books, curated by freelance writer Marco.
Sources: Kadokawa Culture Museum website, Comic Natalie
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
