Category: Editorials

Your mother is a Fujoshi!

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genshiken, ohno, ogiue, saki, yaoi, BL, doujinshi, fujoshi

So the internet is a mysterious, fun, and sometimes scary place. I have observed many strange statements and maybe that is the way of the internet but really. When I hear arguments that reverse harem, BL, and ren’ai games are smart or incredibly artistic, I have to wonder if we are seeing the same things. Of course these genres have examples of greatness, but could anyone really believe that an entire genre of anything is all good? I have even seen people claim that these types of genres are the way to combat an alleged boys only attitude in fandom. It seems like a similarly elitist attitude that plagues everything.

Before we begin I would like everyone to be on the same page. So I begin with a definition. What exactly is a fujoshi? We have mentioned them in the past but I have never really talked in depth about them before now. The simple definition of fujoshi is a female otaku who focuses on BL/yaoi and BL/yaoi related material. I have seen a trend to try to label any female otaku as a fujoshi but I think this is a grave mistake. Fujoshi have very specific tastes that warrant them having their own sub-classification. All fujoshi are female otaku but not all female otaku are fujoshi.

Something strange is happening. And while it certainly isn’t just these genres, it seems to be quite prevalent. Some girls actually think that BL, reverse harems, and girl-oriented dating sims are automatically deep. I get that girls want to have their own sub-genres that are specifically created for their enjoyment, that speaks to their fantasies, but why go putting meaning in things that have none? I feel the same way about anyone who actually believes moe is the be all end all of high art. It is becoming quite apparent to me that there are some fujoshis who are a whole different class of women in denial.

You unruly cad! Are you implying that Fushigi Yugi, Fake, and Angelique are not the pinnacles of visual literature whether it be in the pantheon of Eastern or Western civilization? Next you are going to tell me that Fate/Stay Night, Strawberry Panic!, and Negima! aren’t high literature! All kidding aside, no one sane that I know has ever attempted to even imply that Night Shift Nurses or F-Force has a grand amount of subtlety and deep insight into society. They are animated porn for men to masturbate to. Any social insight gleaned from them is ancillary to the actual “narrative.” And I use narrative in the loosest sense of the word. Porn is porn and titillation is titillation no matter if it is made for men or for women. I will bet good money that 75% of all BL, reverse harems, and girl-oriented dating sims are as shallow as shows made for men. They may be entertaining and enjoyable but they are almost always about as far from deep as Naruto is far from the actual practices of ninjas. I’m not saying it’s all pop culture junk food but it is certainly the dominant percentage.

Yaoi is to manga what romance novels are to literature. Not all books containing romance go into the romance novel section, but you can bet on what you are going to find in that section. Sure some of it has some semblance of plot but that isn’t why the reader is reading it. That is not a bad thing! Read for your own enjoyment but don’t try to tell me that it is saving the world. To ascertain that BL is the answer to the “male dominated world” of anime and manga is not only wildly exaggeratory, it is insulting. That seems to imply that women are only superficially interested in these mediums. As if they could only possibly care about pretty faces and boys touching each other. I mean no woman actually wants a plot line or character development, right? Aren’t these kinds of statements ghettoizing females and making them seem even more remote in a fandom that has a great number of men?

I think that the real problem is horribly vocal crusader fujoshi. They then assume their fellow female fans are just as shallow as they are. I think that female anime fans can be similar to their male counterparts but I don’t think that one gender is filled with nothing but intellectual pursuits where as the other group only wants shallow fan-service. I think that anime containing a wide variety of genres including genres aimed at females of all ages that are often written by women makes it appealing to women.

It is true that much of geek culture has a large gap in the male to female ratio. However, I frankly think it has quite a lot to do with women more than men trying to keep girls out. Women keep women out. And this has a whole lot to do with society and many outside factors that have nothing to do with geekdom which I could go on and on about. But I won’t, not right now. Geek pride is on the rise and with the growth of online communities, one not even need to leave their house in order to interact with their chosen fandom. I’ve mostly found a female opinion welcomed.

I think that most geek guys would give their eye for more women to be into their chosen hobbies. One problem is that most geeky guys lack the interpersonal skills to easily draw more women to their groups. I will also admit that a certain percentage of any geeky community will have a no girls allowed attitude but I think they are in the definite minority. Plus, they mostly have that attitude due to bitterness of the small numbers of women actively in the community. Women stay out of geeky hobbies because they think they don’t have a place in geek fandom or it holds any interest for them. Why this happens is another debate beyond the scope of this article and perhaps even this blog. The main point is I don’t think there is a cabal of men trying to keep women out of anime and only though the diligence of Light x L and Kyo x Yuki doujinshi authors are girls watching anime.

What about that shojo manga? Manga written for young women has been a popular genre since the 1970’s (though obviously appeared much earlier) so I think it is safe to say it has plenty of influence on why women/girls like anime and manga. And shojo manga sells quite well here these days, some have even made it on to the best-seller list. What about Sailor Moon? She was a phenomenon! Half the girls I know my age remember her fondly and can credit her, atleast partially, to their thrust into fandom. Yes, there has been an influx of girls in fandom as of late but there is more than one reason for this. I just think they are overlooking huge things just to make their given preferences important.

More girls start watching anime and reading manga due to non-sexual reasons. You usually have to hook girls on the shojo and the shonen before they go out and start reading the BL and doujinshi. It’s an outgrowth of their interest in the medium. Women don’t primarily come to anime for any one reason. There is the universal appeal of Studio Ghibli films. There is the wish fulfillment magical girls. There is the simple pure-hearted romance of young girls’ shojo. There is the drama and excitement of older girl’s romance, fantasy, and adventure shojo. There is the more mature look at love and life in josei manga. Many shonen shows have had almost as many female fans as they have male fans. Do some girls just watch these shows as fodder for their BL doujinshi? Sure. Are some girls only reading Fruits Basket because they want to be surrounded by the handsome men of the Sohma family? This is an undeniable fact. I just feel that the appeal of anime and manga is stronger than that. I have always loved the attitude of certain fujoshi that their favorite pairings are not just in their heads but actually a secret between them and the author. They also usually have the feeling that anyone who does not realize this is a plain idiot.

Everyone isn’t just here watching, reading, (blogging) for purely aesthetic, superficial reasons. We all know that anime offers both things to its fans. We can have over-the-top, shallow, or silly stories and we can turn around and move on to deep, thought provoking, or endearing tales. Nothing dominates bringing female fans in as far as I can tell. It is just the vocal minority on the internet that gives this weird illusion. And don’t get me started on the obsession with non-canon relationships that do not exist. Please don’t imply that all women are that delusional. Do I read doujinshi? Yes. Do I read about characters that will never be in a relationship? Yes. Do I insist that it is real? No.

I just want to make it clear that I don’t mind fujoshi in general. Everyone is entitled to like what they like. Women should be able to indulge themselves and be catered to with all the gusto that any male would. I feel fujoshi are no better or worse than moe fans, mecha fans, hentai fans, classic anime fans, or sports anime fans. I would even go as far as to claim that American fujoshi make the U.S. market more robust and healthy. What I don’t like is fujoshi running around with a superiority complex. Even moe fans don’t claim to be the saviors of fandom.

Top 5 non-canon couples
5. Spike and Faye (Cowboy Bebop)
4. Allelujah and Sumeragi (Gundam 00)
3. Allen and Lavi (D.Gray Man)
2. Kanda and Lenalee (D.Gray Man)
1. Zoro and Nami (One Piece)

Byakuya isn’t the only one getting a piece of Renji’s ass.

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renji, bleach
Spoilers up to the current chapters of Bleach.

Guest editorial by Lothos

Based on the number of Rukia x Renji fan-sites/supporters on forums, plus his standing in  Bleach character popularity polls (consistently in the top 5 until recently), I had to stop and wonder why people like him so much. The more I thought about his character the more I found myself baffled. As far as I can surmise, he just serves as fodder to fill air time/page space to placate the fan-girls who think he’s hot. So he’s Rukia’s buddy from back when they were in Rokungai. Great. That’s apparently so inconsequential that it’s only touched on a couple times in the series. When she’s going to be executed he seems to be pretty much okay with it until Ichigo and friends storm the castle. The more I look back at Renji, the more and more pointless he seems to be and the only reason I can think of why people like him is because he has tattoos and a spiffy haircut. Lets take a look at what exactly he’s ever done throughout the series.

He has never won a fight that mattered, not even his very first fight with Ichigo! Byakuya has to step in to save his bum because Ichigo powers up and almost kills him. [Ch. 55] And that was an essentially untrained Ichigo. His Bankai is weak, it’s just a bigger version of his sword. And not even a bigger cooler version like Komamura has, where a giant samurai is wielding his now gigantic sword and he controls it like the kid in Giant Robo. Nope, it’s just a bigger version of his whip blade thing. He also sucks at Kidou and the only time in memory where he actually puts it to good use is when fighting one of the Espada. During his fight with Szayel Aporro Granz, Espada #8, after basically trying everything against him with no effect he manages to use his Shikai to bind himself to Szayel and sets off a pillar of fire around them. This essential does nothing to Szayel other than make him cough from the smoke, and set him up for Ishida to attack. [Ch. 275] He had to blow himself up in the process to do nothing to the guy but char his clothes. Also, his Shikai has a horrible flaw in that it has a set number of times he can whip it around and then it has to go back to being a (for the most part) normal sword, so against any worthwhile fighter it’s pretty useless. [Ch. 96]

He is the constant “set the stage” character for whoever he happens to be running around with. Be it Ichigo, Ishida, or whoever else. He is so useless that all he can do is try to distract the enemy so someone worthwhile can actually do something to them because his wet noodle of a Zanpakuto was ineffective.  He yells at Ichigo and everyone else all the time about how they’re so dumb or weak, [Ch.54, Ch.95, Ch.141, Ch.292, etc.] when in reality he’s never done anything useful except carry Rukia away AFTER Ichigo busted in to save the day and did some bad-ass shit like take out three vice captains bare-handed before they could even draw their swords. [Ch.152] I’m not a big fan of Ichigo either, but at least he gets stuff done and doesn’t fail at every endeavor.

I also blame Renji for the fact that Chad is constantly getting his butt handed to him. After all, Renji was Chad’s sparring partner. [Ch. 224] Which is unfortunate because Chad actually shows some promise and developed some pretty awesome powers. However, even though Chad tends to be on the losing end of fights (mostly because he seems to get matched up against someone way more powerful than those his friends fight) he does at least win some of the time on his own, so thus he’s better than Renji.

His captain, Byakuya, is also fan-girl fodder, but at least he is a bad-ass mofo who tends to beat the snot out of anyone who gets in his way and look good while doing it. What could Renji do against him? Pretty much nothing as we saw when he squared off against Byakuya during the Soul Society story arc. When Renji finally comes around and decides that Rukia shouldn’t be executed, he is confronted by Byakuya who intends to let the execution go through. Byakuya chides Renji saying he’s just an animal looking up at the moon, but just like that moon his fangs will never touch him. [Ch. 142] After a lot of failed attempts he managed to scrape Byakuya’s hand or something [Ch. 144] and that’s with Byakuya essentially going easy on him while Renji was going all out do or die style. Granted, Byakuya’s a captain and one of the more powerful ones at that, but still, Renji’s one of the few non-captains to have achieved Bankai and all he could manage was a scratch? Weak.

I guess that one thing Renji’s good at is taking a beating, but he’s not even among the best at that. Ichigo and Kenpachi take a hell of a lot more punishment than him and they keep on ticking (most of the time anyway). What I’d LOVE to see in the upcoming chapters is someone from soul society die at the hands of one of the Espada. It’d be great if it was a vice captain, and I think Renji would be a prime candidate. That could be the one thing he’d actually be useful for, breaking the hearts of fan girls everywhere while adding a bit of grittiness to the story. It would also show that Soul Society isn’t invincible. He’s a major enough character that it would have a lasting impact on readers and he is connected to enough characters in the story to push some development in them. C’mon Kubo, make me proud! Extra points if you have Gin/Tousen/Aizen do it.

renji, bleach, byakuya, BL, yaoi, doujinshi

“The most useless are those who never change through the years.”

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Spoilers for Claymore manga and Gundam 00 season 1

Poor Raki from Claymore has fallen into this chasm of despisement along with Saji and Lousie from Gundam 00. There are surely more to be told of but these three have been on my radar of late. Oh, how short-sighted of you people!

Let us first examine the youth known as Raki. He is maybe 14-years-old when he and Clare first meet and start their wandering together. Clare sees a part of herself and who she once was in Raki and their bond becomes extremely important. What makes Raki so significant is that there isn’t a story without him. Clare would have awakened in just a few chapters and there would be nothing left. Even putting that aside, Clare’s character growth hinges on this boy. Really, Clare is not so interesting in the beginning. She starts to become an interesting, multi-dimensional character thanks to her continued interactions with Raki. Raki brings some of her humanity back to her. That humanity is what moves her to question what the Claymores purpose is and to find out the secrets of the Awakened. Raki is a young boy, who starts with zero experience with a sword, not to mention they are fighting demons that even Clare has trouble with. I cut the guy some slack! The writing was on the wall that Raki was going to grow up and be a warrior. He wants to be Clare’s equal at the very least and at most he wants to protect her like she protected him. Lo and behold he comes strutting into town in recent chapters tall and handsome with Claymore-like armor, a broadsword on his back, and some unaccounted for years. He dispatches a Yoma with surprising skill and ease. Rather a far cry from the defenseless boy we once knew. Take that haters!

Saji and Louise’s story was actually a highlight for me while watching the first season of Gundam 00. They were shown in almost every episode for varying periods of time, sometimes even for just a moment. I laughed and smiled watching these two young people dealing with such normal things like school, parents, and dating. It was desperately sad to see Louise lose her parents and be in the hospital with her own injuries; to see the anguish in Saji when he didn’t know what to do for her; and to see him give her that ring only to have her reach out with only one hand left. It was touching and moving, even thinking about it now. Theirs’ is the only story that is about civilians, how this war affects the common person. It was great to see such a different perspective because these two kids get pulled into something so much bigger than themselves. They are the innocent people that are tragically affect by all of the political war mongering and finally thrust into it themselves. This was a wonderful lead up to what promises to be an interesting tale. If Saji and Louise showed up for the first time at the beginning of the second season and we saw their background in quick flashback people would be calling BS all over the place. A lot of their history is tangentially related to the rest of the cast but it all just coming together now.

You have to give characters a background, a story, a life to grow from. If all of these people just appeared when they were finally “useful” they would have no significance to the audience. People would be calling foul left and right on them. I am certainly not saying that no character is useless, oh there are plenty, but I feel like people throw it around so much it splatters on everyone who isn’t a seinen hero! I enjoy those types of characters, don’t get me wrong, but I have a wide range of people I like to watch. So I think it is important to step back and look at the bigger picture. Their lives are connected and there are reasons they are appearing on our screens. I’m not saying you should like these characters (thought I do) but they are far from being useless in these stories.

Top 5 Minor characters who are awesome and useful
5. Mei Ling (Card Captor Sakura)
4. Ozma Lee (Macross Frontier)
3. Wataru Tachibana (Hayate the Combat Butler)
2. Ensei Ro (Story of Saiunkoku)
1. Urahara Kisuke (Bleach)

*title quoted from J.M. Barrie