Everyone has their guilty pleasures. Kennedy enjoyed his Marilyn, Ricor of Star Trek: Next Generations had the Holodeck, women have soap operas, and I shamefully read copious amounts of Shoujo manga fluff. Shoujo manga are Japanese comics aimed at young women and feature a variety of artistic, sequential styles, and storylines that focus on romance, relationships, and emotion. These comics also feature some of the most ridiculous, helpless, beat-your-head-against-the-door stupid heroines that couldn’t make a good decision if their life depended on it! To be fair, I’m covering these select titles because I’ve personally read them (with the exception of Hana-Kimi) and enjoyed them on a surface entertainment level. And in the genre’s defense, there is a growing majority of amazingly written, complex, and well developed Shoujo heroines with healthy romantic relationships. But those sort are outside the scope of my critique. My critical analysis of several shoujo characters’ decisions is meant to display a critical mindset in enjoying this genre of comics and to inspire this thoughtful breakdown of themes, characters, plot devices, and messages to be applied in all entertainment outlets.
Hana-Kimi by Hisaya Nakajo is the starting offender of intelligent heroines and it has nothing to do with the cliché, screwball setup of a girl choosing to cross-dress, as this concept has been well executed in Twelfth Night and She’s the Man. The main difference is that those interpretations involved a choice that was made based on significant ideals and relationships whereas the main protagonist in this manga does it for a guy she knows nothing about. Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese student living in America, idolizes the young athlete Izumi Sano so much that she decides to disguise herself as a boy and transfer to his all-boys school: Osaka Gakuen. Everyone knows the way to a guy’s heart doesn’t involve relentless stalking and cross-dressing, but the fact that her parents agree to let her transfer to a new school, (which they obviously didn’t research enough to realize the gender specificity) in a completely different country based on her whims boggles the mind. As if giving up everything for a guy based on a shallow perception of who he is wasn’t bad enough, she comes to find he has given up the athletic career she so cherished him for. The consequences of investing in a guy you don’t really know resonates on some level with many girls, but one can only hope that you wouldn’t go to the point of giving up your identity to reach him! Sometimes the problem of connecting to someone on a deeper or romantic level is being defined by a stereotype that creates distance and insecurity.
Awkward moments like this wouldn't be happening if you hadn't transferred to an all-boys school!
Peach Girl by Miwa Ueda uses this conflict of true self vs. outside perception to build tension between the female lead and her crush. Momo Adachi hates that everyone assumes she’s a ‘slut’ because of her dark skin and light hair and wishes that someone could accept and love her for who she really is. It also doesn’t help that her best friend, Sae, is the one fueling the cruel rumors and malicious behavior. Of course she sets her sights on Toji, the dullest, most gullible, and shallow guy in school, over her handsome and admiring best friend Kairi. If she had opened her eyes to the value of her friend she could have avoided basically all of the series’ conflict. And just to clarify how horrible her choice is in pursuing Toji- this is the same guy who ends up making out with Sae while dating Momo, and defends himself in all sincerity by claiming he was practicing for Momo. This is also the same guy who chivalrously defends her one minute and then reacts to a negative rumor or lie the next, no matter how untrue to her character or absurd they are. Midway through the series Momo does have a change of heart and pursues a relationship with Kairi but not before putting herself through unnecessary turmoil. Trust is vital to peace in any relationship, especially trusting a person to be true to who they are, and Toji’s constant doubt of Momo’s disposition should have been evidence to her that he wasn’t a good choice for a healthy relationship. A healthy relationship or a healthy mindset that can lead to a successful relationship in her dating life starts with solid values and a consistent standard of respectful behavior.
Happy Mania by Moyoco Anno is an unsettling and darkly comedic look at how chaotic a love life can be without any sense of self esteem or value system. Shigeta, a love-hungry sales girl at a book store, combines poor taste in men with nonexistent self-esteem to create cringe-worthy misadventures in finding true love. Her first mistake is having sex with every guy who gives her the slightest attention or kindness, excluding Takahashi, her co-worker who’s the only decent guy interested in her. She also has the tendency to drop everything for time with her new love interest like in vol. 1 when she stops showing up to work and eventually loses her job to spend time with her new boyfriend Tokieda. Shigeta hopes for a perfect love and suitor to the point of delusion, sometimes catching boyfriends in the act of sex or outright knowing that they love someone else, and still believing that they will marry her, eventually. She does go through short, sporadic phases, typically in between relationships, of putting aside her obsession with finding ‘the one’ to focus on other areas of her life, like her job. She comes out of these quite easily though, as she doesn’t take the time to set goals outside of romance or explore values to live by; values that could lead to pursuing more constructive passions and thus goes back to the only pursuit that distracts her from her lack of fulfillment. In addition to values, a good amount of self-respect determines how you let others treat you and what kind of relationships you’ll get involved in.
Um, happiness IS possible outside of the pursuit of romance...
Model by Lee So-young showcases a heroine with little self-respect, surrounded by and submitted to prideful and vain male characters. Jae, an art student residing in Europe, comes into contact with Michael, a gorgeous and mysterious vampire, when her drunken roommate brings him to their apartment. After he passive aggressively attacks her and drinks her blood, she makes a deal to live at his creepy mansion and draw his portrait. I don’t think I’ve seen an odder response to being victimized, and in later volumes, Jae further demonstrates her complete lack of dignity by allowing Michael’s attractive son, Ken, to come in on her taking a bath multiple times and demean her in conversation without giving much effort of self defense. If she lets people walk all over her, then she’ll likely only attract people who prefer to be controlling or abusive in their communication or expressions.
The point of this alternative perspective on these select manga titles is not to dissuade from reading shoujo manga, but to invite readers to think critically with the material and ideally on a large scale, allow themselves to approach all entertainment critically. Lianne and NotHayama of Sleep is for the Weak, laid it out best in their article: “She Was Asking For It,” when they made the point that it isn’t the shoujo themes themselves that are dangerous, but the mindless absorption of them without discussion! Without critical analysis or discussion they can subliminally become a standard, which is a problem. Comic readers owe it to themselves to carefully examine the themes, messages, and behavior of characters in what they read, and hold it up to their personal standard of what is true, what is right, what is relevant, and what is meaningful.
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It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you few interesting things or tips. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read even more things about it!
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome. I don’t know if I’ll be covering this topic specifically again, but if you enjoyed this subject then I think you’ll like my piece that covers ‘Yaoi’ manga that will be in the Oct. issue. Thanks!
All of these examples pale in comparison to Hatsumi, the terminally doormattish heroine of “Hot Gimmick,” which I believe Lianne and NotHayama discuss at some length in their article.
P.S. Was there some kind of copy glitch in the first paragraph? “I’m covering these select titles because I’ve personally read them (with the exception of ‘Hana-Kimi’)” makes it sound as if you haven’t actually read “Hana-Kimi.”
Lol, I only read a little bit of the first volume of ‘Hot Gimmick’ before tossing it due to the unlikeable characters so I take Lianne and NotHayama’s criticism and your word for it.
I’m not sure what you mean by copy glitch but yes, I haven’t read Hana Kimi which is why I listed it as an exception to the others. The reason being that I’ve read a similar series ‘Girl Got Game’ and with the crossdressing manga, once you’ve read one, you’ve basically read them all lol. I got my analysis for ‘Hana Kimi’ from research and feedback from friends who are fans of the series.
“Happy Mania by Moyoco Anno” I really love Moyoco Anno, actually. I didn’t know of Happy Mania. Haha, cool I’ll read it sometime.
Yeah, she has an interesting take on shoujo and a darker sense of humor. I hope you enjoy “Happy Mania” though I warn you that the main character is intentionally unlikeable but if you see the story as the parody of love-hungry single women it’s intended to be then you’ll have a good time lol
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Very interesting post! I too love shoujo manga but can’t stand such weak-willed protagonists.
I haven’t read it but with its focus on a working woman, Happy Mania sounds more like a josei manga to me.
As for shoujo heroines with doormat personalities and no self-esteem, look no further than Hina, the pathetic protagonist of “Dakara, Ore ni Shina yo” by Minase Ai. I hated this girl so much! Her actions were so hurtful to a decent guy yet she acted like she was oblivious to his pain. Her lovely, kind, goodhearted childhood friend (now head of a gang of delinquents), is in love with her but she treats him like dirt. Instead she falls for a disgusting guy from a rival delinquent gang who arranges to have her gang-raped by his sleazy friends, with him watching. Just reading this series made my blood boil!
For shoujo manga with intelligent, non-doormat heroines, try “Akuma to Love Song” by Tomouri Miyoshi, “Strobe Edge” and “Ao Haru Ride” by Sakisaka Io, “Six Half” by Iketani Rikako, “Dengeki Daisy” by Motomi Kyousuke (and anything else by her), “Warau Kanoko-sama” and its sequel “Koi dano Ai dano” by Tsujita Ririko.
Your mention of “Model” reminded me that there are some good manhwa series out there too, with likeable, non-idiot heroines, like the webtoons “Orange marmalade” and “Annarasumanara.” Sadly, it’s the prolific artists like Hwang Mi Ri and Han Yu-rang with awful heroines and terrible storylines who get the most attention.
And although these aren’t shoujo, Nishimori Hiroyuki’s shounen manga series all feature likeable female characters who aren’t sexualised in any way, eg “Ocha Nigousu” and “Tenshi na Konamaiki.”
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