Hello, everyone! Two DramaQueen staffers were interviewed in a Japanese manga monthly while in Tokyo. We have extracted the interesting points for some fun reading.

Interviewers: FURUSATO Manabu-san, editor; Eiji OTSUKA-sensei, the prolific manga author and critic, and editor.
Interviewees: Tran B. Nguyen, DQs Managing Director; Angela Dooley, DQ's Editor in Chief.
Interview Translator: Daniela Shiga-san.
Interview transcription translated from Japanese to English by Taisa Toluchanian, May 25, 2005.
Interview graciously arranged by Toshihiko SAGAWA-san, an editor at Magazine Magazine.
Interview Conducted on February 24, 2005, at the Diamond Hotel, Tokyo. Printed in Comic Shin Genjitsu, volume 4, through Kadokawa Shoten (ISBN 404853842X).

Japans Sweet, Sexy, Cute "Yaoi"

Manabu: "Yaoi" is this interview's feature topic, and we hear that even in modern America yaoi manga has a supportive fan following. But how extensive is it really? We'd like to ask you a little bit about the yaoi situation abroad.
Tran: The question is how many people know about "yaoi" or how popular it is, right?

Manabu: Yes.
Tran: I've been a member of the yaoi fan community for three or four years, but before that I was just a regular fan of shoujo manga. I didn't even know yaoi existed until, probably about three years ago.
So I asked Angela, who was part of the internet fan community, several questions. She knew a lot about Japanese manga. She told me that there was a "boys love" genre in Japan, and that I would probably like it. I was already a fan of manga, a huge fan of anime, and, well, I guess you can say I was a geek [laughs]. But it was at Angelas recommendation that I began reading boys love manga.

Manabu: Did you know what the word "yaoi" meant?
Tran: At the time, not really. Later I found out that "yaoi" is an acronym for "no climax, no resolution, no meaning."

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