How does the Alien cinematic universe fit together (and do fans care... about Predator)? How important is Ripley to the series? Is feminism an important part of the series? All this and more as Jaime of [Perfect Organism](https://www.perfectorganism.com/), an Alien Podcast, helps us to better understand the fandom around the Alien films! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Alien is a science-fiction horror media franchise centered on the film series depicting Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien". > > Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the series began with Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. It was followed by three sequels, Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997), directed by James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, respectively. Scott also directed a prequel series, composed of Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). > > The series has led to numerous books, comics, and video game spin-offs. The Alien vs. Predator franchise combines the continuities of the Alien franchise with the Predator franchise, and consists of two films as well as varying series of comics, books and video games. A video game called Alien: Isolation was released in 2014 to generally positive reviews. > — [Wikipedia - Alien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise)) **Search Data:** Interest in the Alien franchise is down a little bit since 2004, [but is relatively stable and oddly periodic](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F095d5f). There have been outsized spikes in search volume starting August 2004 (_Alien vs. Predator_), December 2007 (_Alien vs. Predator: Requiem_), February 2010, February 2013 (_Aliens: Colonial Marines_), October 2014 (_Alien: Isolation_), and May 2017 (_Alien: Covenant_). The top ten countries, by search volume, are as follows: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, ...
[// Pregenerate link to episode ahead of time: - clicktotweet.com- sharelinkgenerator.com]: # This week, we need an expert to get to the bottom of the difference between yaoi and shonen-ai, for starters, as we dive into the world of Boys' Love fans (just in time for Anime North)! ## Where can I learn more about Sara (Feminist Fujoshi)? Sara is the writer and moderator of the blog Feminist Fujoshi on [Tumblr](http://feministfujoshi.tumblr.com/) and [WordPress](https://feministfujoshi.wordpress.com/). Sara's work on Feminist Fujoshi started on Tumblr in 2013 and she has even done some academic research on the subject! If you want to check out more of her work, you can find her on Twitter [@blusocket](twitter.com/blusocket) and soon on [Anime Feminist](https://www.animefeminist.com/)! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > In English, often abbreviated BL. Written as BL or ボイズラブ in Japanese. The manga and anime genre of fictional male homosexual romance, created for a female audience. Used interchangeably with yaoi and shounen ai in English (but not in Japanese). > > — [Fanlore - Boys' Love](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Boys%27_Love) **Search Data:** Based on the search data, interest in the literary genre of ["Yaoi" is, generally, up](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0f9s9). There was a wave of interest that appears to have started in 2011, peaked in Summer of 2015, then has been on a bit of decline ever since. It appears that Yaoi might be the general term that Google wraps up search terms under. The top 10 countries, by search volume, for Yaoi, are as follows: Thailand, Phillipines, Chile, Vietnam, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, Russia. ### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/#-name) Famous Last Words **Z** Did this genre emerge simply because folks saw these elements in other stories and wanted to make a quick buck? Or was it about expressing themselves? **T** How much BL is sports ...
Are you ready to give up your mundane life and explore a world of unimaginable possibilities, all while learning the values of friendship and becoming a pirate (possibly with some wacky abilities but definitely a quirky crew)? We're not _quite_ there, yet, but we _are_ talking about the fans and fandom of this beloved show, _One Piece_. Plus, we have special guest, Greg Werner (from the [One Piece Podcast](http://www.onepiecepodcast.com/)) to navigate us all the way to the Grand Line, and beyond! ## Episode Outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > One Piece is a long-running shounen manga series created by Oda Eiichiro (Odacchi to his fans) that is serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump. The story chronicles the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who gained a rubber-like body after eating a cursed fruit as a young child, and his quest to find the One Piece and become the Pirate King. Along his journey, he fights many villains, makes new friends, and finds his nakama, most of whom join his crew, the Strawhat Pirates. > > — [Fanlore - One Piece](https://fanlore.org/wiki/One_Piece) Since the first volume was released in 1997 (the same year as the Fifth Element, StarFox 64, and Final Fantasy 7, for reference), an additional 89 volumes have been released, over 850 episodes of the anime, 13 movies, 45 games (including GameSpy's "GBA Platformer of the Year" in 1995)... like, a lot of stuff. Lots. **Search Data:** One Piece has been increasing in popularity [up until around January 2016](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F01_f03). After that, it starts to decrease in popularity but is still more popular than in 2004. Another interesting occurrence is a spike (and drop in) in interest around October 2010. The top ten countries for _One Piece_, ...
