Popular Reviews of Shojo & Tell

I hope that those reading this review try to respectfully understand my opinions, know that they are just that: opinions. I believe in opening civil discussion spaces and having several viewpoints to things. I found this podcast through Podchaser.com and loved the logo, clever play on the name and the host has a very good audio setup. You can tell that the creator(s) are very clever in presentation of their podcast.As my introduction to this podcast, I listened to Hana-Kimi Pt.1 (with Ashley Hawkins). I think that the host had valuable input with their experience on the LGBT+ side of things – yet I hoped they would consider more of the time-period and where the manga was released. It would have been interesting to consider more of why the author may of wrote that way but instead a lot of opinions seemed to come from a very Americanized viewpoint. With every culture there are topics that are allowed in the society and not seen as taboo, which is why certain tropes come up repeatedly. As most manga readers learn after reading a ton, Japan is a very conservative country. Ashley did try to point that out midway, but it didn’t really get spoken about more beyond that point. Knowing the author, where the author comes from, why she may write the way she does helps individuals consider what the author was thinking. There are a few points they bring up that I love:-The gay teacher and why maybe it was a trope in the 1990’s.-The invention of chest binders and the authors note. I really loved this part and hearing the opinions.-Ashley often brought up that the translation of the books may present things differently, so they wished for a newer version. This could change a lot of the context for readers so it would be interesting to see happen.What this episode did well was explain why the authors’ books (or poor translation) are problematic in modern society in the United States, especially from a LGBT+ perspective. The use of the word transvestite, for example. Ashley pointed out that this could possibly be re-translated into something less harmful sounding for English audiences, ESPECIALLY for those exploring their own gender identity. All-in-all this is a good podcast and I enjoyed listening. Thank you creators!