Brazilian Fandom’s Perceptions of the Thai Boys Love Series Industry and the Practices of Fanservice and Shipping - Content Analysis of Online Comments on a Fansubbing Platform

Aug 29, 2026

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The study examines Brazilian fandom’s perceptions of the Thai Boys Love (BL) series industry through online comments on a fansubbing platform. Qualitative content analysis covers 423 comments produced during the consumption of War of Y series. The analytical construct organizes findings under “industry,” with subcategories “fanservice” and “shipping,” inspired by an “indices and symptoms” model. Results show predominantly negative views toward the Thai industry, linking fictional narratives to problematic realities and highlighting disputes, accountability concerns, and implications for industry actors within transcultural fandom.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Literature Review

Thai Boys Love Series Industry and the Practices of Fanservice and Shipping

Empirical Context

Pifansubs platform and War of Y storylines

Methodology

Content analysis and the “indices and symptoms” model

Discussion of Results

Industry perceptions: fanservice and shipping subcategories

Brazilian Fandom’s Perceptions of the Thai Boys Love Series Industry and the Practices of Fanservice and Shipping: Content Analysis of Online Comments on a Fansubbing Platform ANDERSON LOPES DA SILVA 1 NUNGHATAI RANGPONSUMRIT Chulalongkorn University, Thailand LIGIA PREZIA LEMOS University of São Paulo, Brazil This article analyzes Brazilian fandom’s perception of the Thai Boys Love (BL) series industry based on online comments on a fansubbing platform . The study employs qualitative content analysis of 423 comments posted during the consumption of the War of Y series . Organized by the major category of “industry” and subcategories of“fanservice” and “shipping” practices, the analytical construct is inspired by the “indices and symptoms”model. The results indicate a negative perception of the Thai industry among fans, with correlations made between the fictional narrative and problematic situations in the real world of BL series . Fans’ perceptions of fanservice and shipping practices highlight the complex relationship between fandoms and the industry, disputes over the blame and accountability for “toxic” practices, and the implications for the actors involved. The study contributes to the field by analyzing a type of media flow in SouthSouth relations, which has yet to be fully explored. Keywords: Thai Boys Love (BL) series, Brazilian fandom, fanservice, shipping, fansubbing, South-South media flows, War of Y This research aims to investigate the perspectives of Brazilian fans who consume Thai Boys Love (BL) series about the industry that produces them. These perceptions are captured through online comments generated by fans while watching the series War of Y (Wongskulphat, 2022), which explores the behind-the- Anderson Lopes da Silva: [anderson.l@chula.ac.th](anderson.l@chula.ac.th) Nunghatai Rangponsumrit (corresponding author): [nunghatai. r@chula.ac.th](nunghatai. r@chula.ac.th) Ligia Prezia Lemos: [ligia.lemos@gmail.com](ligia.lemos@gmail.com) [Date submitted: 2023-05-14](Date submitted: 2023-05-14) 1 This research project was supported by the Second Century Fund (C2F) and the Center of Excellence in Translation, Interpreting, and Intercultural Communication, Chulalongkorn University, and approved by the Office of the Research Ethics Review Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects, COA No . 305/65 . Copyright © 2025 (Anderson Lopes Da Silva, Nunghatai Rangponsumrit, and Ligia Prezia Lemos) . Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) . Available at [http://ijoc.org](http://ijoc.org). 1656 Silva, Rangponsumrit, and Lemos International Journal of Communication 19(2025) scenes aspects of the Thai industry specializing in BL works. Additionally, the article presents a critical reflection on fanservice and shipping practices within the industry from the perspective of the transcultural fandom. The fans engage with this media consumption on the Pifansubs platform, where they can access War of Y and other Thai BL works with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles created by fans. Given the sparse production in this field, it is worth noting that this exploratory article serves as one of the few English-language works to discuss the topic and explore the relationship between the media flows of these two countries within the Global South. We hypothesize that Brazilian fans, possessing profound knowledge not only of the elements comprising the consumed products but also a substantial understanding of their production environment, recognize the existence of the Thai BL industry and its practices . Furthermore, because of their engagement with the researched universe, they have significant considerations about it and are not merely passive consumers . Thus, the article is structured as follows: (a) literature review, covering the Thai BL series industry, the conceptualization of fanservice and shipping practices, transcultural fan studies from the Glob

FAQs

What data source and scope does the study use to capture Brazilian fans’ perceptions?

The study analyzes 423 online comments generated by fans while watching War of Y on the Pifansubs platform.

How are fanservice and shipping treated in the analytical framework?

Findings are organized under a major category “industry,” with “fanservice” and “shipping” as subcategories, using an “indices and symptoms” inspired construct.

What do the results indicate about Brazilian fans’ attitudes toward the Thai BL industry?

The results show a largely negative perception of the Thai industry, with fans associating elements of the fictional narrative with problematic situations in the real BL industry context.

Aug 29, 2026

Upload by Paura