Posted in Anime, Conventions, Gender, Manga, tagged Koji Fukiya, Macoto Takahashi, Osamu Tezuka, shōjo manga on 2016/05/21| 7 Comments »
Image: Princess Knight (リボンの騎士) manga cover. Tink, dressed in a green tunic and cap, whispers in Princess Sapphrie’s ear. Sapphire has short black hair and is wearing a big hat with feathers in it and a puffy-sleeved tunic.
Origins of Shojo Manga
Manga historians tend to identify the prolific and influential artist Osamu Tezuka as the creator of shojo manga, but the true origins of the genre are somewhat more complicated – and interesting!
Posted in Gender, Manga, tagged eating disorder, health care, Rokudenashiko on 2016/05/19| Leave a Comment »
In this reader: lack of treatment options for eating disorders in Japan, women sushi chefs, including trans and non-binary people in US health care, the daycare crisis in Japan, the Rokudenashiko, and more.
Megumi Igarashi’s illustration of one of her trials (photo via @6d745/Instagram)
Posted in Anime, Conventions, Geek Culture, Gender, Manga, tagged 1970s manga, Geek Girl Con, shōjo manga on 2016/05/14| 10 Comments »
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.
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]
Posted in Ôoku, Gender, Manga, tagged Ôoku Eien, castle of crossed destinies, Emonnosuke, feminist film, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Tsunayoshi, Ōoku on 2016/02/04| Leave a Comment »
[Image: Kanno Miho as the Shogun Tsunayoshi; she is holding a fan] Credit: moviecollection.jp
Contains major spoilers for Ôoku: Eien (Emonnosuke/Tsunayoshi) (film, 2013) and Yoshinaga Fumi’s Ôoku, vol. 4-6 (manga).
Posted in BeruBara (The Rose of Versailles), Manga, tagged ベルばら, ベルサイユのバラ, BeruBara, Episodes, Ikeda Riyoko, Margaret, new volume, shojo, The Rose of Versailles, The Rose of Versailles Episodes on 2015/01/26| 1 Comment »
I finally got around to reading the new volume of The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのバラ), which focuses on some side stories about the male characters: Andre Grandier, Florian Girodelle, Count Hans Axel Fersen, and Alain de Soisson.
Image via Amazon.co.jp
I have mixed feelings about the volume. Parts of it were brilliant, but some of it felt a little forced. Mild spoilers for the volume, major spoilers for the original series.
Posted in Manga, tagged BBC, Sherlock on 2014/12/17| 1 Comment »
Yes, this is an official BBC-sanctioned manga of A Study in Pink.
The manga is a fun way to get your Sherlock fix during the hiatus and brush up on your detective vocabulary in Japanese, but the real reason I want to recommend this is how the artist captured Benedict-Cumberbatch-as-Sherlock’s hilarious facial expressions. Oh, it’s Christmas, readers.
Posted in Anime, BeruBara (The Rose of Versailles), Manga, tagged Beru Bara, humor, The Rose of Versailles on 2014/12/16| Leave a Comment »
We could do with a bit of humor around the holidays, yes? If you like fandom crack, Calorie Mate and FROGMAN collaborated on a Beru Bara parody anime, 「ベルサイユのマリモ」(“The Marimo of Versailles”).
Screenshot from YouTube of “Marimo Antoinette” arriving at court in a fish tank
