A cute BL manga with an old-school rom-com feel? You just know we had to “go for it!”
That’s right, just in time to commemorate the 5th anniversary of its conclusion and the recent release of its sequel, we recorded a retrospective of Syundei’s retro-feeling BL rom-com Go For It, Nakamura with freelance writer extraordinaire Anthony Gramuglia!
Touted for being a comfy and queer throwback to 80s manga romcoms, we discuss the thoughtfulness and sincerity of Nakamura’s depictions of queer sexuality, making connections and forming relationships with other people, and being unafraid to be yourself. There’s a lot of nuance and depth to how Nakamura depicts and reflects on exploring queer identity through the consumption and creations of art, so don’t judge a book just by its cover memes! Nakamura is a story about being unafraid to vocalize your desires and express who you are, and we certainly don’t shy away from relating how resonant this series was for us, though maybe Lum reveals a little too much about how intensely they mirror Nakamura’s love of octopuses…
PODCAST BREAKDOWN:
00:22 – Intro & Show Description
02:40 — Our FMA Analysts Guest Spot!
07:23 – Introducing Anthony
10:37 – Introducing Nakamura
15:08 – Nakamura’s Sexuality
16:20 – Anthony’s Perspective on Nakamura as a Rom-Com
20:30 – Nakamura & Hirose’s Relationship
22:40 – The Octopus as a Metaphor for Queerness
28:54 – Great Teacher Otogiri
29:50 – Nakamura in Contrast to Classic Rom-Coms & BL
35:44 – Nakamura as a Wholesome Queer Rom-Com
40:46 – Nakamura as a Queer Fantasy
43:11 – Exploring Queer Identity Through Art
51:18 – The Meaningfulness of Positive, Sincere Queer Stories
55:55 – Nakamura’s Cover
56:45 – Nakamura’s Thoughtful Commentary on Queer Experiences
58:44 – Focus on Friendship & Acceptance
1:00:58 – Final Thoughts on Nakamura
1:03:56 – Nakamura as a Lens to the Diversity of BL
1:07:04 – Teachers, Threats, & Traumas
1:13:39 – Women in Nakamura
1:16:20 – Q&A: “Thoughts on the Octopus Motif as used in Nakamura?”
1:18:00 – Q&A: “Where did the Nakamura Cover Meme Come From?”
1:20:20 – Anthony’s Sign-Off & Plugs
1:23:21 – Community Shout-Outs
- Anthony’s article on Nakamura as a Queer throwback romcom
- Anthony’s article on the strangely sanitary role of police in cyberpunk anime
- AIPT Comics article on Octopus symbolism in Nakamura
- Queering the Guillotine on Syundei’s manga
- Gayest Episode Ever on He-Man
- Murphy Napier’s One Piece Videos
1:35:00 – Wrap-Up
Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and subscribe to us on Youtube. You can follow the host on twitter at @LumRanmaYasha! 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! If there are any topics, series, or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us at mangamavericks@gmail.com! 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 LumRanmaYasha’s Ko-fi here! 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! Thanks for listening!
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