And A Merry 801 Day To You, Fellow Fujoshi!

Above: a bunch of my yaoi/BL collection!

It's hard to believe it's 801 Day already. August seemed to creep up on this blog out of nowhere, and over half the year is gone in the blink of an eye. One of the first proper posts on this blog was about 801 Day, which shows you the BL roots that Nagareboshi Reviews has come from and is still proud of.

801 Day, for those who need a reminder, is also known as Yaoi Day, mainly because in Japanese, 801 can be read as yaoi. You can look at my first ever 801 post for more background information, currently sitting pretty on the left hand sidebar as it is my most popular post to date. Good job, fellow rotten girls and boys!

I thought it would be nice, this year, to share some important resources for yaoi fans that are in English. Hopefully, yaoi fans can use this post as a reliable list of places to read, buy, and learn about the boys' love genre.

Fujoshi O'Clock (801 Edition)

What time is it? It's . . . Fujoshi O'Clock, the biweekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

It's 8/01 yet again (here's a reminder of what 801 Day is about), so enjoy a very special edition of FOC! ♥

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• From the last MMF, about Yun Kouga: a Loveless fan writes a letter to Yun Kouga, another blogger discusses Loveless and the modern misappropriation of Moe, and Manga Bookshelf looks at volumes one and two of the Loveless manga.
• SuBlime has licensed three new yaoi series: Sleeping Moon, False Memories, and Hide and Seek, all from authors that should be familiar to BL fans in North America.
• The e-magazine Sparkler Monthly has launched, now with new chapters of fan favorite Off*Beat and other new series. It's part of Chromatic Press, which is rereleasing Off*Beat with plans to finish the series in print.
• As part of 801 Day, Otaku Champloo is hosting a ten day MMF, all about boys' love manga. Along with an introductory post on the MMF, Otaku Champloo has a post explaining what boys' love manga exactly is and two giveaways, found here and here. You can follow the hashtag #801MMF on Twitter for more 801 blog posts.
• Experiments In Manga is also doing a giveaway for the 801 Manga Moveable Feast. Up for the grabbing is Shiuko Kano's manga Affair, and it's open to fujoshi worldwide.
• CM Branford Manga Blog posts about language and yaoi as a contribution to the MMF. Fandom linguistics for the win!

Reviews:

• Rebecca Silverman at ANN reviews volume one of Sleeping Moon by Kano Miyamoto, a supernatural mystery by a prolific manga-ka.
• Manic About Manga reviews Priceless Honey by Shiuko Kano, a mature BL manga that is also a collection of short one-shots.
• Cherry Blossom Reviews reviews the series Punch Up! by Shiuko Kano, which is described as "pornographic and kinky", just so you know!

Am I missing your blog? Got some awesome fujoshi-related news and reviews you think deserve a shout-out? Poke me with a link and a bit of description over at my Twitter: @theseventhl. I'm always on the look out for more BL love!

801 Day Is Here (Again)!

Yes, once again it is yaoi day, the day where all rotten girls rejoice and read a ton of yaoi manga like it's boys' love Christmas or something. Fun, right? Yes.
  
As usual, Digital Manga is kicking off 801 day right with their Yaoi Day trivia Twitter contest, in which they're giving away copies of their BL manga for the right answer at the right time. You will have to follow @digitalmanga and tweet the right answer as soon as the question is asked to win, so you'll probably want to keep their Twitter open in a separate tab!


Update: Also, Viz's SuBLime imprint is hosting its own yaoi giveaway, including digital manga and several drama CDs. All you have to do is comment! Oh, and be 18 years of age or older. Should be fun!
  
You can also read fellow blogger Otaku Champloo's post for 801, wonderfully titled "Hello. I am a Fujoshi. Today's my day." Although I think "coming out" as a fan of yaoi is language appropriated from the LGBT movement, her thoughts about letting people in real life know her taste in manga are definitely worth reading!
  
For those looking for something deliciously boys' love today, I have a list of recs below, all readily available for purchase in English from legitimate publishing companies. Enjoy!

• Doukyusei by Asumiko Nakamura. Rating: Teen Plus.
• The Night Before The Wedding by Kou Fujisaki. Rating: Mature.
• Seven Days: Monday-Thursday by Rihito Takarai and Venio Tachibana. Rating: Teen.
• Three Wolves Mountain by Bohra Naono. Rating: Mature.
• Kizuna Deluxe Edition GN 1 by Kazuma Kodaka. Rating: Mature.
• Othello by Toui Hasumi. Rating: Mature.
• Entangled Circumstances by Kikuko Kikuya. Rating: Mature.

8/01: Yaoi Day!

What Is Yaoi Day? Put simply, it’s a day to celebrate the boys’ love genre of anime and manga that is enjoyed by fujoshi and fundanshi all around the world. That’s it!

Why 8/01? It’s a pun on ‘yaoi’ itself. To quote the always superb Yaoi Review:

“Another term for yaoi is 801. "801" can be read as "yaoi" in the following form: the "short" reading of the number 8 is "ya", 0 can be read as "o" – a western influence without doubt, while the short reading for 1 is "i" (see Japanese wordplay). For example, an Internet manga called Tonari no 801-chan, about an otaku guy who dates a fujoshi, has been adapted into a serialized shojo manga and a live-action film. 801-chan, the mascot of a Japanese shopping centre, is used in the manga.” 

Explains why 801 Media is named what it is, non? Thus, Yaoi Day falls on day ‘801’ of the year! Read on after the jump for more about Yaoi Day.