I think our guest is a translator! Oh, who am I kidding? You already know he is!
Leo McDonagh is a multimedia translator who’s worked on innumerable projects, including two incredible standout queer manga, Okura’s heartwarming I Think Our Son is Gay and Keito Gaku’s empowering Boys Run the Riot! It’s a rare occasion that two remarkable and resonant queer manga such as these both come out within weeks of each other, much less sharing the same translator, and we really wanted to celebrate the occasion by spotlighting these works and getting Leo’s intimate insights on them!
Leo shares his career journey as a translator, and his perspective on both series as their translator and as a gay transman who can appreciate and relate with both series in different ways. We talk in-depth about how both works explore and speak to real-world struggles queer youth face with optimism and encouragement, defying heteronormative social structures with community and validation, and how resonant and important these messages are for young queer readers and are so cathartic to older queer readers who can relate with these experiences.
There’s a lot to love about these series, and we had a wonderful time discussing them with Leo. There’s no shame in our game, it’s a riot!
PODCAST BREAKDOWN:
00:22 – Intro
03:16 – Interview w/Leo McDonagh!
39:09 – I Think Our Son is Gay
55:28 – Boys Run the Riot
1:28:03 – Leo’s Favorite Moments to Translate
1:31:13 – What Do We Hope Readers Take Away From These Series?
1:35:14 – Leo’s Favorite Chapters
1:37:05 – Leo’s Plugs
1:38:38 – Community Shout-Outs
- Leo’s Blog, Essay on Translating Gender from Japanese to English
- Manga Machinations Pride Month episodes
- Kodansha USA spotlight on Boys Run the Riot
- Boys Run the Riot and Fashion as Self-Expression
- Vrai Kaiser on Boys Run the Riot
- Vrai Kaiser’s Samurai Flamenco Retrospective
- Jacob Chapman’s Attack on Titan and Promised Neverland retrospectives
- Wandering Thoughts on Wandering Son
- Profile of Trans characters in Anime
- Thread of Trans Manga Recs
1:48:14 – Wrap-Up
Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon and receive some awesome rewards like our Patreon-exclusive Bonus pods! If one-time donations are more your speed you can donate to Colton’s Ko-fi here and LumRanmaYasha’s Ko-fi here, and if you want to support LumRanmaYasha’s art and other projects you can follow them @siddartworks on Instagram and Twitter and donate to their personal Patreon. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content!
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