The Conversation
The Conversation is a podcast all about Asian BL/GL/QL (and sometimes other queer media), coming at you from a film crit perspective. We swan in every other week-ish to shoot the shit on faves, flops and trends, artistry and industry nerdery, and also crack and simping, because we contain multitudes. NiNi is our editor and producer. Ben is our creative director and content manager. Shan is our associate producer. Twig is our correspondent. Our theme music is Dedication by Ron Gelinas Chillout Lounge (Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com).
Episodes
Prestige TV is gay now! Historical bottom dementia is on the menu as we tackle two different era-spanning toxic romances. Ben, NiNi and friend of the pod Captain Hands talk Interview With the Vampire and Fellow Travelers.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
02:25 Interview With The Vampire
12:27 IWTV: The Vampire Mythos
17:28 IWTV: The Best Bits
21:35 IWTV: Claudia
26:55 IWTV: Queerness in the Story
36:19 IWT...
FINALLY SOME GOOD GL. Ben, NiNi and Twig talk Fragrance You Inherit and Fragrance of the First Flower.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
03:16 Fragrance You Inherit
08:34 Fragrance You Inherit: All About the Relationships
17:46 Fragrance You Inherit: Sakura's Coming Out
21:50 Fragrance You Inherit: On-chan
24:21 Fragrance You Inherit: Final Thoughts and Ratings
29:08 Fragrance of the First Flower
37:14 F...
In Part 2 of our Untamed discussion, Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk our love for Jiang Cheng, our hatred for Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao, and why we will always hold out hope for more Chinese BL.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Intro: More Notes From The Future
01:45 The Second Life
09:23 The Second Life: The Fallout of Wei Wuxian's Choices
16:52 The Second Life: Meng Yao's Dastardly Deeds
26:52 The Second Life...
It's 'the biggest goddamn BL in the world', and we're finally going to talk about it. Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk The Untamed. In Part 1 of our two-part episode, we talk censorship, the journey from MDZS to The Untamed, and the first half of the story.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
03:55 Censorship in Media: A Global View
12:37 The MoDaoZuShi Phenomenon
24:33 The Big Picture
33:3...
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
...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...
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 Taekwond...
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.
00:00 Welcome
01:16 Intro
02:52 Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko
10:45 Ayaka: A Split Narrative
17:20 Ayaka: The Negatives
24:25 Ayaka: Final Thoughts and Ratings
29:08 At 25:00 in Akasaka
35:34 At 25:00 in Akasaka: It's the Characters for Us
43:18 At 25:00 in Akas...
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.
00:00 Welcome
01:15 Introduction
05:56 We Are: Branded Pair Background
14:37 We Are: A Rorschach Test of a Show
30:47 We Are: Final Thoughts and Ratings
38:21 Knock Knock, Boys!
48:39 Knock Knock, Boys!: Sex Positivity
55:51 Knock K...
It's a mailbag episode! Episode transcript available here. 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:15 Introduction 00:02:10 Inbox: Surprises of the Season 00:07:07 Inbox: Does Categorization Matter? 00:11:42 Inbox: BL Fatigue? 00:15:51 Inbox: The BL Bubble 00:30:26 Inbox: Sex On Screen 00:41:07 Inbox: Fave Sex Scenes 00:51:24 Inbox: Worst Sex Scenes 01:04:24 Bonus Round: Best Sex in a Bad Show 01:06:54 Inbox: Critical Philosophy 01:18:31 Outro
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 01:15 Introduction 08:40 Marahuyo Project: A Queer Activist's Story 20:24 Marahuyo Project: On Queerness 30:16 Marahuyo Project: Our Characters 42:09 Marahuyo Project: The Christina Story 48:52 Marahuyo Project: Parents an...
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: Su...
Second chance romances, long-term pining, and their roles in queer narratives are our JAM, so we gotta talk about how two Japanese BLs should have been 10s but absolutely flopped for us. Ben, NiNi and Twig talk Love Is Better The Second Time Around and Living With Him. Join us to break down what it's like to watch a show fall apart in real time.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00:00 Welcome
00:01:15 Introduction
00:02:38 ...
It's been awhile since we checked in on Taiwan, and the latest offerings have really run the gamut in terms of quality. Ben, NiNi, and Shan sat down to discuss the state of Taiwanese BL via two recent shows, Anti Reset and Unknown. Episode transcript available here. 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:15 Introduction 00:02:11 Anti Reset and VBL 00:13:13 Unknown the Series 00:20:16 Unknown: The Pseudo Incest Trope 00:27:53 Unknown: Sa...
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