Hello and welcome back to Otaku Thursday! Today I am not coming at you with a first impressions, but instead talking about something that has been on my mind for a while now–and that is the anime label Blue Lynx. Now who is Blue Lynx you might ask? Well have you ever seen the anime Given? Well if you have then you have Blue Lynx to thank for bringing it to life. This relatively new anime label has done extraordinary things and I wanted to take a moment to talk (hype) about it today!
So Blue Lynx was an anime label formed under Fuji in 2019. Yes you heard that right. This label was formed just last year and they broke onto the anime scene with the release of Given–a boys love manga turned anime that won the hearts of both shounen-ai and non shounen-ai fans alike. I know I, an avid lover of all things boys love and yaoi, was captivated. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the all around praise from the anime community about this show though so again–thank you Blue Lynx for gifting us this. Within the course of the year, Blue Lynx announced three additional projects it was going forward with — the first, a Given movie (yessss), a film adaption of Umibe no Etranger (YASSSSS), and a film adaption of Twittering Birds Never Fly (FUDGE YESSSSS). Shockingly, this label was spitting out all boys love, so naturally I had to do some research.
It turns out that this new label is specifically for boys love titles and was formed due to the lack of their presence in the mainstream market. The last memorable boys love out there, after all, was Yuri on Ice (jk–we know it was Banana Fish cause all my bitches love Banana Fish). I honestly think that this is absolutely great–to have a label that is dedicated to cranking out BL for the masses–and they did it SO well. Honestly, let’s just take a moment to look at the titles they chose for their first year on the job.
Given. Now, if you’ve been around this blog for a while you know how much we love this show. I raved about it when came out. But I just wanted to reiterate just how pleased I was to see this show not just gather attention from BL fans, but also get praise from the non-BL community. The thoughtful music based anime attracted a lot of people and introduced them to a different kind of BL that has been portrayed in popular media. And it was a big hit. Honestly it had everything you’d want in a chill BL–all the beautiful storytelling, the dramatic moments, a sweet love story, humorous moments, and even some imparting wisdom. It was a great introductory course in boys love and I’m so happy they announced the movie shortly after the anime ended. It came out recently and I’ve heard that it’s been doing good in theaters so far.
But y’know, the Given movie wasn’t the only thing Blue Lynx had ready to go–they also announced a film adaption of the popular Umibe no Etranger. If Given was the introductory course to BL and yaoi, Umibe no Etranger is the advanced class. This is one of my absolute fave yaoi series, so naturally I’m super excited for this adaption and the production of it looks super nice. Yet again, I appreciate the choice of series to adapt. This story is a step up from Given and explores MISCOMMUNICATION. Just kidding, it’s more like lack thereof. One of the MCs in this, despite having feelings for the other, doesn’t want to commit as he, knowing the complications of his sexual orientation, doesn’t wish those complications on anyway. This of course means that the other MC finds his romantic advances turned down, but instead of get mad he wants to know why. Their journey together is one that is really sweet and really GOOD. It’s another excellent choice for those who might not be super into BL/Yaoi, and yet another love story that is easy to digest by the masses. I truly think this movie is going to be another big hit just like Given.
Lastly, we have Twittering Birds Never Fly–which is admittedly another good choice but not quite as…digestible as the other two adaptions chosen by Blue Lynx. It’s definitely not as cute and a lot edgier–and perhaps more in line with what the masses would normally assume of the yaoi genre, but the complicated relationship between the two main characters as well as their motivations are quite interesting to watch and learn about. I’d say that if Blue Lynx chose Given and Umibe no Etranger to appeal to the masses, this was the anime film they chose to appeal to more experienced yaoi lovers. Given was the introduction, Umibe no Etranger was the advanced class, and this was DEFINITELY the master course. Oh, and they didn’t greenlight just one film for this series–the greenlighted a whole trilogy of movies for this.
Overall, I’m super pleased with Blue Lynx so far. As an anime label, they are absolutely killing it. I’m loving that they are trying to bring more BL and yaoi to bigger audiences and normalizing it a little. Their choice in stories to tell are super encouraging as they are choosing ones that both appeal to new audiences who aren’t familiar or wary of the genre, as well as those who are super into it. I look forward to the future of this label and to see what other manga they end up adapting. Because right now? They’re doing amazing things for all of BL and yaoi.
So as you can tell, I’m super psyched about Blue Lynx. I look forward to their future projects as well as watching some of the movies that have come out in Japan but have yet to have their english translations released. But that is all I have for today so until next time!
Stay weebtastic
xoxo
Luna
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