The Lobster Dance

My co-panelist and friend Dr. Kathryn Hemmann of Contemporary Japanese Literature and I teamed up again at Geek Girl Con 2015 to give an improved version of our “Crossdressing in Anime and Manga” panel as well as a brand-new panel, “The Sparkling World of 1970s Shojo Manga,” originally presented Oct. 11, 2015. We are pleased to present a multi-part series based on the latter panel on this blog. We’d also like to thank not just our readers and panel attendees but the awesome section of teens who sat in the front row and squeed at all our pictures, especially Oscar’s.

Panel description

Shojo manga, or manga for young women, is at the center of a thriving comics publishing industry in both Japan and the United States. The legacy of shojo manga is readily apparent in contemporary media from Sailor Moon to Steven Universe, but where did it all begin? This panel offers a glimpse into the classic works that shaped the genre and still inform international fan cultures. Join us to learn more about graphic novels filled with romance, political intrigue, and tons of gender trouble. We’ll introduce you to the work of legendary artists such as Riyoko Ikeda, Moto Hagio, and Keiko Takemiya while celebrating the appeal of illustrated explosions of flowers that rival the flowery speeches given by fascinating characters.

Kyoto International Manga Museum [image: ceiling-to-floor shelves of 1980s manga, with each shelf labeled by year at the Kyoto International Manga Museum]

Introduction and Overview

For style notes, see notes.

Shojo manga, or manga for young women, is at the center of a thriving comics publishing industry in both Japan and the United States. The legacy of shojo manga is readily apparent in contemporary media from Sailor Moon to Steven Universe, but where did it all begin? This essay offers a glimpse into the classic works that shaped the genre and continue to inform international fan cultures. Join us to learn more about graphic novels filled with romance, political intrigue, and no small amount of gender slippage and negotiation. In this multi-part essay, we’ll introduce you to the work of legendary artists such as Riyoko Ikeda, Moto Hagio, and Keiko Takemiya while celebrating the appeal of illustrated explosions of flowers that rival the flowery speeches given by fascinating characters.

In contemporary Japan, there are four major demographic publishing categories. The first is shonen, or manga for elementary and middle school age boys. Shonen is the most popular genre both in Japan and abroad and includes internationally recognized titles such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, Pokémon, and The Prince of Tennis. Manga for high school and college age guys, as well as older men, is called seinen manga, and it includes everything from the ultraviolent sci-fi of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Attack on Titan to moé stories about cute girls, such as Yotsuba&! and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Manga for women, or josei manga, is stereotyped as featuring primarily love stories that feature both heterogamous couples (as in Natsuyuki Rendezvous and Bunny Drop) and homogamous couples (as in Maria Watches Over Us and World’s Greatest First Love).

Detail of official art for The Rose of Versailles (BeruBara) by Riyoko Ikeda, of a very sparkly Oscar in her French military uniform leading a charge. LM owns this art on a postcard and it was also featured on the cover on Shojo Manga: Girl Power!

When it comes to popularity and profitability, however, a close second to the genre of shonen is shojo, the various subgenres of which are targeted at girls from ages eight to eighteen. Notable shojo series  include My Love Story!!, My Little Monster, Vampire Knight, Ouran High School Host Club, Fruits Basket, and, of course, Sailor Moon. Even if you’re too young to remember the shojo stories that shaped a generation of girl geeks, such as Magic Knight Rayearth or Revolutionary Girl Utena, you’ve probably seen their influence of such titles on American animated television series like The Legend of Korra and Steven Universe.  

But where did all this come from?        

This essay focuses on the sparkling world of 1970s shojo manga, which ushered in a brave new world of gender bending and gender fluidity, epic political romance sagas, and protagonists defying social expectations to forge their own unique identities while following their dreams. First we’ll touch on the origins of shojo manga, and then we’ll take an extended look into the life and work of one of the most fabulous female manga artists ever, Riyoko Ikeda. We’ll also give you as taste of two other incredible artists active the 1970s, Keiko Takamiya and Moto Hagio. Finally, we’ll discuss the influence of these artists, their themes, and their visual stylizations during the past twenty years, from about 1995 onwards. Along the way, we’ll offer suggestions for books and shows that you can read and watch in English.  

There will be flowers, and there will be tears, and there will be tons of brilliant ladies, boys who look like ladies, ladies who dress like men, and characters who transcend gender. In France! In space! In the past! In the future! And in the hearts of young and emerging artists all over the world!

Part 2 

Part 3

Notes

Style notes: To standardize our rendering of certain Japanese words and names, we have 少女 (shôjo) as “shojo”; Japanese names are in the Western name order of Firstname Lastname; franchise titles like Sailor Moon, which is made up of several anime series, manga, and live action shows, will not be italicized, but titles of individuals shows and manga series will be.