Hi, everybody ( Read more... )

In the year 2000, Saitou Tamaki published Sentou bishoujo no seishin bunseki, an early attempt at (psycho)analyzing Japan's budding otaku culture. I read sections of it in Japanese in 2010, but, frustrated by the psychoanalytic terminology, ended up working more off of others' critiques (notably Tom Lamarre's in The Anime Machine). From that ( Read more... )

Today I'd like to write about Fujoshi no Hinkaku, or "The Dignity of Fujoshi." This semi-autobiographical manga-essay was written by an office worker/artist going under the pen name "Kusame," a pun on the characters for "rotten woman" in the word "fujoshi." It introduces readers to the world of Boy's Love fan culture through the character of Fujoko ( Read more... )

When Kuragehime (“Princess Jellyfish”) debuted on Japanese television back in Fall 2010, my first thought was: oh my god, they made an anime about me. Ok, not exactly about me. I’m not an 18-year-old NEET living in a Tokyo apartment full of female otaku, like the heroine, Tsukimi. But a jellyfish-loving virgin geek girl? Yes indeed! And it’s cool ( Read more... )

This week I've been really enjoying reading the posts that starlady38 and marshtide have been serving up on 70s shoujo manga (most recent only linked here; check around!). I wanted to contribute too, but sadly I've read very little 70s shoujo manga beyond Rose of Versailles. Then I remembered: ah, Kaze to Ki no Uta! I've watched the anime, at least ( Read more... )

So, this week’s “Hey, Answerman” column on the Anime News Network website has a write-in section about the “moe” trend in anime, which emphasizes cute characters meant to evoke tender feelings of protectiveness. In the course of the postings, someone linked to this article by Patrick Galbraith called Moe: Exploring Virtual Potential in Post- ( Read more... )