(258) The Other Side of Shoujo
I read shoujo from time to time. Why? Because every once in a while I get a desire to read a sappy love story with all the relationship pains and problems and angst. I go and find some random shoujo story (with good art) about a girl pines who for a guy in the most excruciating manner - and the guy, who is usually standoffish or seemingly a jerk, turns around and becomes the loving boyfriend/partner he really is, just for her. And then once they're finally a couple they go through a number of antagonists/events that test their devotion to one another - but with more angst and more pain, and usually through the power of trust and some ass-kicking on the part of the guy - the two come through and live the rest of their life in bliss.
(Cytosis, before you say anything - it's a girl thing.)
So in this vein, I discovered a number of Shoujo titles: Special A, Absolute Boyfriend, Skip Beat, Love Monster, and Lilim Kiss. (I'm sure there're are few more titles that I'm missing.) They were, in terms of relationship problems alone, all pretty the same, though Lilim Kiss and Love Monster pushed the envelope on just-what-exactly-does-a-couple-do-together a little. (I leave out Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi from this list because those mangas' scope goes much, much further than simple problems with love - especially Fruits Basket.)
I think I would have been perfectly happy if I were to continue searching out girly manga like this. The plot was sometimes boring, sometimes repetitive, usually logically inept, and in a few cases outright incredulous (Love Monster) - but it filled up that little hole in my heart that cried for sappy love stories and happy endings.
But then I found Kanan Minami.
I swear, it was just a fluke. I was on 9panels and scrolling through their "Recently Released" chapters, and happened to glance upon a page of Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu. It was a fairly typical picture of a cute girl with a just slightly over-the-tracks looking dude, but the art was very pretty, and I thought, fantastic. Just what I was looking for, because I hadn't read a shoujo manga for a while. And the guy looked just sufficiently enough as a bad boy type.
The story started out fine. It got a little surprising with the extent of girl-against-girl violence, but that was okay. The boy in question was a little crueler than I was used to, but that was okay, too - I liked the realism. It was a fun read - right up until the guy, in an empty karaoke room, nearly molested the girl.
And I was like: Dude. Wait. What? I think I was a little bit in shock, because I had never seen this happen in any shoujo manga that I've previously seen. Sure, I had seen scenes where the guy might see a girl in a bra (or less), but those were usually treated as accidents or a set-up for a gag, and the guy was usually embarrassed. I've never seen a scene where a guy actively sought taking a girl's clothes off out, especially without her consent. They were supposed to be too honorable for that.
But I got over it. The story went on, it made sense, there was a lot of French kissing, but not too much beyond that (except for one scene that I won't spoil here). And so I thought: wow, this Kanan Minami person really knows how to write a story. I like her plot, I like her drawings - let's find more!
So then I went back and found another title of hers and read Ren-ai Shijou Shugi. Or rather, read part of it. Because I, the type of person who usually reads manga all in one go (really bad for sleep, fyi), can't finish that manga, at least not in one sitting.
Because, dear god, the SMUT.
I won't go into the details. Suffice it to say that I have never seen this much sex, near-sex, set-ups for sex - anywhere. I couldn't believe that it was serialized in Shoujo Comic, which is, I think, a manga whose readership include girls under the age of 12. And I couldn't understand why something like this was allowed - until I realized that the manga, smutty as it was, didn't show anybody's genitalia. So then I went: Oh. So that's their criteria.
In the end, though, for all my initial shock, I can't call myself pure or anything like that. The best people will probably throw it away altogether, but over time I kinda got used to it. Upon final reflection, I think I was just too surprised initially - I expected this sort of story in a paperback romance, not in my girly, tame shoujo. So I'll probably finish the series in the end. And the whole point of this rambling post is to just document my process in discovering that other side of shoujo, which I never previously knew existed. :P
(Cytosis, before you say anything - it's a girl thing.)
So in this vein, I discovered a number of Shoujo titles: Special A, Absolute Boyfriend, Skip Beat, Love Monster, and Lilim Kiss. (I'm sure there're are few more titles that I'm missing.) They were, in terms of relationship problems alone, all pretty the same, though Lilim Kiss and Love Monster pushed the envelope on just-what-exactly-does-a-couple-do-together a little. (I leave out Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi from this list because those mangas' scope goes much, much further than simple problems with love - especially Fruits Basket.)
I think I would have been perfectly happy if I were to continue searching out girly manga like this. The plot was sometimes boring, sometimes repetitive, usually logically inept, and in a few cases outright incredulous (Love Monster) - but it filled up that little hole in my heart that cried for sappy love stories and happy endings.
But then I found Kanan Minami.
I swear, it was just a fluke. I was on 9panels and scrolling through their "Recently Released" chapters, and happened to glance upon a page of Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu. It was a fairly typical picture of a cute girl with a just slightly over-the-tracks looking dude, but the art was very pretty, and I thought, fantastic. Just what I was looking for, because I hadn't read a shoujo manga for a while. And the guy looked just sufficiently enough as a bad boy type.
The story started out fine. It got a little surprising with the extent of girl-against-girl violence, but that was okay. The boy in question was a little crueler than I was used to, but that was okay, too - I liked the realism. It was a fun read - right up until the guy, in an empty karaoke room, nearly molested the girl.
And I was like: Dude. Wait. What? I think I was a little bit in shock, because I had never seen this happen in any shoujo manga that I've previously seen. Sure, I had seen scenes where the guy might see a girl in a bra (or less), but those were usually treated as accidents or a set-up for a gag, and the guy was usually embarrassed. I've never seen a scene where a guy actively sought taking a girl's clothes off out, especially without her consent. They were supposed to be too honorable for that.
But I got over it. The story went on, it made sense, there was a lot of French kissing, but not too much beyond that (except for one scene that I won't spoil here). And so I thought: wow, this Kanan Minami person really knows how to write a story. I like her plot, I like her drawings - let's find more!
So then I went back and found another title of hers and read Ren-ai Shijou Shugi. Or rather, read part of it. Because I, the type of person who usually reads manga all in one go (really bad for sleep, fyi), can't finish that manga, at least not in one sitting.
Because, dear god, the SMUT.
I won't go into the details. Suffice it to say that I have never seen this much sex, near-sex, set-ups for sex - anywhere. I couldn't believe that it was serialized in Shoujo Comic, which is, I think, a manga whose readership include girls under the age of 12. And I couldn't understand why something like this was allowed - until I realized that the manga, smutty as it was, didn't show anybody's genitalia. So then I went: Oh. So that's their criteria.
In the end, though, for all my initial shock, I can't call myself pure or anything like that. The best people will probably throw it away altogether, but over time I kinda got used to it. Upon final reflection, I think I was just too surprised initially - I expected this sort of story in a paperback romance, not in my girly, tame shoujo. So I'll probably finish the series in the end. And the whole point of this rambling post is to just document my process in discovering that other side of shoujo, which I never previously knew existed. :P