Forum - View topicANNCast - The Shojo Must Go On
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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Interesting show. I found myself wishing a few times that you had included Jason Thompson in this discussion, since his column has covered more than a few of the titles you discussed here. (I really love Jason's column, BTW
 )
What I liked best about this week's show was that it got me thinking a lot about what shojo is, and what it is not. I look at my shelves and start thinking about what shows on those shelves give me that "shojo vibe". Stuff like Ghost Hunt and Escaflowne. Does all shojo have to be romances? My first introduction to shojo was Kare Kano, and very soon after that, Fruits Basket. Even though I am female, I can't really say that I am a huge shojo fan. Most of what I see out there reminds me a lot of romance novels. I'm a big reader and romance novels are a genre that I avoid, so naturally a lot of shojo is not to my taste either. A lot of it reminds me of soap opera, which usually looses my interest fairly early on. Looking through my shelves, the shojo that I own is mostly fantasy-shojo or horror-shojo. The manga I enjoy is stuff like Apothecarius Argentum, Pet Shop of Horrors and Natsume's Book of Friends. I also, for some reason, bought Alice in the Country of Hearts. It's the only manga on my shelves that I am tempted to use for campfire kindling. I think the whole "forced seduction" scenario is an overused romance trope. Yeah, in RL it would be considered rape. It's all over the place. Western literature as well. I think it has less to do with the protagonist's victimization (since it is always presented with an underlying attraction to the aggressor), and more to do with setting up the protagonist as a savior or redeemer (who cures the aggressor of his messed up behaviour with the power of "true love"). 
I have to wonder how much of the Japanese media version relies on the old, tired character trope: Tsundere. The male tsundere in shojo seem, to my eyes anyway, suspiciously similar to their famale counterparts in otaku shows. Japan seems to love this character trope. IMO, tsundere are rude and tiresome no matter what the gender. I must be fairly atypical for my gender, but most shojo heroes I would have dropped before even the first date had ended. No bad-boys for me. I like the nice (and sane) guys. |
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mannyperson
Posts: 62 |
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I'm a pretty big fan of shojo, but I have to say that I find it interesting that I can tolerate some of the antics in some stories better in manga than prose. I know that I wouldn't even bother to pick up novelizations of some of the titles that I read.
A title that I've recently gotten into is Dengeki Daisy. One of the things that really bugs me about the shojo genre is exactly what was mentioned in the podcast: weak/annoying/ridiculously stupid heroines. DD's heroine is actually rather intelligent and thoughtful, and doesn't come up to stupid conclusions, but she still retains that innocent vulnerability that is appealing in shojo manga. And yup, my first foray into shojo was Marmalade Boy! (hated the anime adaptation btw--Miki came off ridiculously more annoying than she ever did in the manga) |
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Sewingrose
 Posts: 579 |
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Are you kidding? That series went out of print, hold onto it for a year or so, and put it up on ebay, you'll make a decent amount of money off of it. |
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Brand
 Posts: 1028 |
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If we are going by magazines the Emma is a seinen manga because it ran in Comic Beam.
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tuxedocat
Posts: 2183 |
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yeah. That's why I said "tempted". I really don't want to donate it to a library though, like I do with other books. Don't want to encourage the younger readers with this kind of material. The "Alice" in this story is an idiot. Stockholm Syndrome is not a desirable trait. |
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Sewingrose
Posts: 579 |
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Amen to the last sentence. I poked through the first volume, and found myself underwhelmed. I don't know why I keep looking at spin-offs or books based on Alice in Wonderland, since pretty much every single one of them I've seen can't hold a candle to the original two books, and most don't know how to work dream logic at all. As for the library, way I see it sometimes, me donating the few volumes of Vampire Knight I picked up, saves probably at least a few kids from buying it. |
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tuxedocat
Posts: 2183 |
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Agreed, but there was sort of a delicious, creepy quality in the originals that sort of begs for further treatment, which is why I keep getting attracted to the spin offs. *sigh*. Also, I can't help but enjoy looking at the bishies, which I guess is why a lot of the shojo I like tend to be sausage fests. Unfortunately, most reverse-harems are pretty bad, just like their harem counterparts. Lately alot of shojo reverse-harems are adapted from Otome games. Not a good trend IMO. They tend to work out about as well as those eroge adaptations. I like Story of Saiunkoku. I collect the manga. I'm wondering how long it is going to last though, since Shurei has an actual brain which she uses, and there is a logical explanation for the reverse-harem. I tend to get my bishie-fix from sources other than shojo, and it's not like I have taste or anything. I'm a girl who finds ultimate relaxation in watching giant robots bash the crap out of each other. Lately I've been watching Tytania. Sheesh, that show has a well dressed, wine sipping, bishie sausage for every generation! But it is definitely NOT shojo. Sci-fi, yes. and eye-candy. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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I haven't been exposed to a ton of shojo anime/manga, but here's the ones I've checked out so far:
-Fruits Basket: the first one (the anime version) I was exposed to. The anime was good, but the manga was excellent, and is my third favorite manga of all time (after Fullmetal Alchemist and 20th Century Boys) -Ouran (anime-only so far): a great title, I liked how it was very funny at first, but then allowed the characters to get deeper as it went on. Also, I'd say Haruhi is a good "strong" heroine in terms of modern shojo. I'll check out the manga eventually -Vampire Knight (manga) - a fairly enjoyable title. I like its dark setting and story, and the occasional funny moments are good. I admit, the characters, particularly Zero, are pretty angsty often, but that's a guilty pleasure for me. Also, unlike Twilight, when a character does something that's morally questionable, they actually get called out on it! (for example, Kaname is presented as a "hmm, can we REALLY trust this guy?" sort of character as opposed to "I'm Mr. Perfect!" Edward Cullen) -Gentlemen's Alliance (manga) - a decent title. I need to finish it, but it's got a good mix of comedy and drama I've got the first two boxsets of Utena, once the third set arrives I plan on marathoning it. As I said, I'll check out the Ouran manga soon. I've got the first boxset of Honey & Clover, once I get the rest I'll start watching that one. I'll definitely get to NANA eventually (probably start with the anime, and if I like it then the manga). Once the next Sentai sale starts on RightStuf, if I can fit into my budget I'll order Maid-Sama. I'm also looking forward to FUNimation's DVD release of Princess Jellyfish, NISA's release of Kimi no Todoke, and Vertical's manga release of Princess Knight. I might check out the Skip Beat manga sometime, I've heard it's really good but the premise doesn't immediately grab me. I'd really like to check out Marmalade Boy, but I shudder to think how much it would cost to pick up the DVDs at this point. To a lesser extent, the same with Fushigi Yuugi. As others have said, the "girl falls in love with rapist/borderline-rapist" holds no interest to me. Heck, I get pissed off when molestation is played off for laughs as well (like that annoying girl who's fixated on Minami in Baka and Test. The minute she began groping Minami, I wanted Minami or someone to kick her ***), so going to the next level is an immediate kill of any interest I would have in the title. |
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lys
 Posts: 1010 Location: mitten-state |
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You just mentioned a bunch of titles I love (as well as a few that I really ought to check out; for shame, me!), but this one jumped out at me. Oooh, Skip Beat! I waited until two years ago to even start that series (intimidated by the length, unimpressed with the art and premise), and when I finally did I was glad I'd waited so long because it allowed me to marathon all 18 volumes that were out in a very short amount of time (thank goodness for my library). Now I have to wait a few months between releases and it's sooooo hard (I'm not complaining, I know it's just how it must be). Skip Beat! is incredibly addictive. I never really cared about the premise of a wannabe-idol/star either, but Kyouko is so awesome I can't help but get caught up in her story :D I think she's definitely a strong and interesting shoujo heroine. Love, love, love it!! Okay, fangirling over (for now)! |
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cl-shojo
Posts: 70 Location: New York |
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Originally posted by tuxedocat:
I do agree that male tsundere love interests are overused in shojo (probably more so than female tsunderes in shonen). Some really irritate me, but others (especially ones from older series like Hana Yori Dango and Itazura na Kiss) I really do like - maybe because it wasn't so cliched back then. |
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digitani
 Posts: 3 |
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Just wanted to say, I loved the Dr. Sbaitso intro.
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Asterisk-CGY
 Posts: 398 |
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Also wondering if LA count towards this? I watched a K-drama called The Coffee Prince. Very mainline romance, playboy rich guy meets poor hardworking girl, learn from each other, add cast of humor and a token japanese guy, and it was a fun show to watch.
Also there's the Hayate no Gotoku T-drama which would have a hard time to be silly being LA. |
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