Here’s the thing. On the outside, I look completely normal. Nothing suspicious here at all my appearance says. Nothing suspicious at all. Little do people know that lurking just below the surface is the beast known as the otaku fan girl. I’ve tried to curb her ferocious appetite with books and romance movies on the women’s channel, really I’ve tried, but I just cannot quell the ravenous appetite for all things Japan related. As if being an American fan girl wasn’t bad enough…I had to go global.
But despite the near constant cravings for manga and the like I have somehow fooled everyone into thinking that I am completely common. It’s quite sad that the vast majority of the world comes up with a certain image when they think anime-lover. Sometimes this image is of the pervy old man that you see in the manga aisle, chuckling to himself over scantily clad, big breasted Japanese (and those two words never seem to go together in real life, but for some reason in the world of manga and anime they abound) women. Rarely is it the honor roll student in a t-shirt and jeans harassing the Borders staff about the latest edition of The Wallflower that they still haven’t received. Of course, this is not to say that you cannot be into anime and manga unless you are a pervy old man, I am a case in point, I just haven’t found a lot of these people yet. So suffice it to say that I am a world class, completely obsessed otaku. And by otaku I mean zealous fan girl of all things manga/anime/Japanese related.
I should probably start out by saying which level of otaku I am at. You see, there are the really crazed otakus, and by really crazed I mean the people whose rooms are covered in anime figurines and go to comic conventions in outrageous costumes and generally live in the big black hole that once was their room streaming anime offline. And then there are the people who are into anime and stuff, but really don’t talk about it all that much and for the most part live on the fringes between occasional bursts of fan girl love and could live without it. I am somewhere in the middle of the two.
The thing about manga is that it is a great mind relaxer. With a normal book you have to visualize what the words are describing to you, but with manga everything is all laid out before you in pretty pretty pictures. Absolutely no brainpower required whatsoever! Manga, or as I sometimes call it, man-ga, of the persuasion I read is also full of drop dead gorgeous, I wish you would just leap out of this book and come alive right now men. And I do believe that they can turn just about any book from bad to good in about a nanosecond. Of course, there is serious manga as well, that actually deals with real life situations, but I don’t bother with it. I prefer escapism.
The first manga I ever read was Fruits Basket, which is the most popular manga for girls in the US. And it’s not hard to see why: hot men abound. I borrowed it from a friend who I noticed reading it one day and I was hooked. So what if I couldn’t’ tell the boys from the girls half the time? (Once you had figured out it was a boy you could not deny the inherent hotness.) I still loved it.
Yet another thing I love about Japan, besides the glorious gift of manga, is the country’s broad definition of what is stylish. And by broad I pretty much mean anything goes. In Shibuya (a district of Tokyo) for instance, there are a group of people who dress up in furry animal costumes and go about their business as, let’s say, a hamster. That is acceptance right there. The Japanese don’t sneak up on these people when they are unaware and drag them off to What not to Wear to cure them of their fashion ills, instead they just let them go about their hamstery business. Now that is pretty spiffy.
Of course, being the Japan freak that I am I am also an avid watcher of anime. And not just any anime either. You see, I wouldn’t be so bad if I just watched “adult” anime such as Cowboy Bebop and Death Note, I could at least defend myself with that. Instead, for the most part I happily choose to destroy my IQ by watching what is basically pure, unadulterated fluff. What makes it even better is that it is fluff aimed at ten year old girls. Magical girl characters and pointless plot twists abound. But I cannot help but be riveted. My theory is that my brain is so full of AP lit books all the time that I have to watch something with positively no literary merit whatsoever in order to detox myself. And cartoons aimed at little girls are just the answer. Of course, I do watch some serious stuff too but nothing can beat that guilty-pleasure thrill of watching happily every after unfold, in Japanese no less.
So suffice it to say that I am hooked, absolutely and utterly gone, don’t even try to drag me back because I will kick and scream the whole time, clutching my manga for dear life. It took me a while to accept something about myself which I basically viewed as something only geeks were into, but once I had opened up to it I realized what a dummy I had been. There’s nothing wrong with having a passion for something, and if my passion happens to be watching a cartoon with the damning name Save Me! Lollipop, then at least I know the ride will be fun.
Nakajo, Hisaya. Hana Kimi: For You in Full Blossom. San Francisco: Viz Media LLC, 2004.
Absolutely classic example of shoujo (girl’s) manga. Mizuki dresses up in drag and attends an all boy’s school in order to meet Sano, a boy who she idolized from afar in sports magazines. Mizuki sounding like a crazed stalker is the least of this story’s problems though. What is much more important is that Sano has quit the high jump (GASP!) and that Mizuki is falling for him (SHOCKING!). This twenty-three volume series chronicles Mizuki’s various exploits as she tries to keep her gender a secret and Sano tries to pretend he doesn’t know about it. And you have to give the boy some credit. After all, the two were roommates and he somehow managed to keep his hands off her for twenty-one of those twenty-three volumes…although I kind of wish he’d made up his mind a little sooner, watching him long for Mizuki as she slept in the bed above his was torture. I mean, get on with it already!
Konomi, Takeshi. The Prince of Tennis. San Francisco: Viz Media LLC, 2004.
Sports manga = shonen = Prince of Tennis. This epic masterpiece follows Ryoma Echizen, a strangely pretty boy (all of the guy characters in manga tend to be scarily attractive) who plays on his school’s tennis team. Once he realizes that younger students are looked down upon on the team he makes it his mission to defeat all comers, and win equal status for all. How the Japanese have been able to stomach twenty-eight plus volumes of tennis driven testosterone I cannot tell you, they even loved it so much the made a musical out of it.
Steinberger, Aimee Major. Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan. San Francisco: Go!Comi, 2007.
This travel manga follows Aimee, a six foot tall woman, and her two friends as they travel through Japan. The travel diary format gives the reader a great example of Japanese culture through the eyes of an American. Important lessons are learned such as: 1)Bring your own clothes because no way no how is Japanese women’s clothing going to fit over your boobs, not to mention your thighs. 2) If you have a tattoo you better not just hop into a public bath all willy-nilly because the Japanese women in the bath will think you are with the yakuza (read Japanese mafia) and will fear for their lives. 3) Be prepared to live the life of no personal space whatsoever because Tokyo real estate is crammed at best and “get me out of here or I’m going to die of asphyxiation right now” at worst. These and many other very very important lessons can be learned by reading this book, such as what exactly is a maid café, but I simply just don’t have enough space to truly show its otaku brilliance.
My Neighbor Totoro. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Perf. Kitoshi Takagi and Noriko Hidaka. DVD. 20th Century Fox: 2002.
Quite possibly the cutest movie known to mankind, and a classic children’s film in Japan. Why is it that the Asian countries are able to pop out stuff so cute that anything frumpy old America puts out looks ugly in comparison? My Neighbor Totoro makes you want to leave the world of American animation far behind you it’s so sweet. It’s almost like a vortex of cuteness that sucks up everything in its path. So long Toy Story. Good bye Shrek. It was good while it lasted Disney. This has them all beat. The film tells the story of Satsuki and Mei, sisters who moved to the country with their father in order to be closer to their mother who is in the hospital. While exploring the forest outside their home they come across Totoro, the king of the forest (He’s so cute you just want o give him a big fat hug, which come to think of it isn’t exactly an attribute you look for in a king, but whatever.)When the girls are led to believe that their mother’s condition has worsened Mei runs away, but in the true spirit of children’s entertainment is saved by Satsuki and Totoro (with some help from the Cat Bus) and they all live happily ever after.
Evers, Izumi and Macias, Patrick. Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno: Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2007.
Ah, the world of Japanese teenage fashion. How I love it so. I mean, You’ve got to respect a country where it is fashionably acceptable in a very large circle to spray tan yourself until you look like a burnt orange, dye your hair silver, slather tons of make-up on your face, and wear short skirts. Or you could go for the Goth Lolita look, and dress up like a suicidal Victorian doll. Black ruffles with lace are expected. I mean, don’t you just want to go and live there just for that. It’s like Halloween every day. This book even goes into what boyfriend you should have in order to best compliment you preferred style.
Takaya, Natsuki. Fruits Basket. Los Angeles: TokyoPop, 2004.
Ah, the start of my expensive ($10 a pop!) addiction to manga. This series follows teenager Tohru Honda, who was recently orphaned and through various circumstances comes to live with the Sohma family. Only problem is the Sohma family is possessed by the thirteen animals of the Chinese zodiac, and will turn into said animal when embraced by a member of the opposite sex. Of course, this makes romance kind of an issue for poor Tohru, but no matter! Love conquers all! Or at least some strategically placed barrier in the hug does.
Hayakawa, Tomoko. The Wallflower. New York: Del Ray, 2004.
This series’ heroine is pretty much the antithesis of every other shoujo heroine ever created. Sunako Nakahara hates her appearance, is into all things horror/goth/death related and cannot even look at a good looking boy without getting a nosebleed (the Japanese equivalent of being turned on). Of course, to fill the dark hole that was once the standard shoujo plotline that Sunako has brutally destroyed, Hayakawa has her living in a house full of four bishonen (literally “beautiful boys”) men. Sunako’s aunt has offered these four free rent if they turn Sunako into a lady, and of course they accept before they actually see what they have to work with. Part of the series’ charm is the artist’s ramblings in the extra pages. She goes on about various J-rock bands with reckless fan girl abandon. It’s always good to know that there are people out there just as obsessed as you.
Pretear. Dir. Kiyoko Sayama. Perf. Sayuri Yoshida and Shotaru Morikubo. DVD. ADV Films: 2004.
This show is basically pure fluff aimed at twelve year old girls that has been brought to life by brilliant Japanese animators. That being said, it is completely redeemed by the main character’s love interest Hayate. The main premise is that Himeno, a girl whose father has remarried a very wealthy woman with two daughters, must join forces with the leafe knights as the pretear in order to fight the Princess of Darkness (Cheesiest title ever! And don’t the Leafe Knights sound like some sort of deranged cult!?) and save the world. Himeno accepts and learns that leafe is what keeps all things alive, and that the POD wants it all to take revenge on Hayate, the leafe knight of wind, who rejected her love. Will Himeno save the world!? Will she master her pretear abilities?! Will the POD’s hurt feelings finally be soothed in an unexpected plot twist?! The answer of course is yes, but that doesn’t make watching any less fun.
Hatori, Bisco. Ouran High School Host Club. San Francisco: Viz Media LLC, 2005.
One of this series main purposes is to make as much fun of standardized shoujo manga as it possibly can. For starters, one of the main character’s love interests, Tamaki Suoh, is a completely narcissistic crybaby who acts like a total drama queen all the time. Of course, this type of character is not alien to the world of shoujo, just not as a main love interest. Instead, he would be the love interest’s goofy best friend. Of course, the series does follow the mold in some cases. Scholarship student Haruhi Fugioka is forced to join the Ouran High School Host Club after breaking an expensive vase. The club is made up entirely of males, who have nothing better to do than entertain all the females that come to their club. Problem is Haruhi is a girl, and to pay off her debt with the vase she has to dress up as a guy and get one hundred customers. So the reverse harem plotline ensues, with half the guys ending up falling in love with her. What makes this fun is that the author doesn’t take things too seriously. She knows that in the end, what she is writing is a shoujo manga, and is happy to take it where shoujo is bound to go.
Bryson, Jodi. Gothic and Lolita Bible. Los Angeles: TokyoPop, 2008.
The fan girls were waiting with bated breath for this one, let me tell you. After a twenty volume plus run in Japan the holy handbook of all things Goth Lolita has finally been translated. Of course, there was some grumbling over the fact that there weren’t any patterns for dresses, and pinafores (yes, pinafores) and such, but the fan girls have taken what they could get. Another interesting note is that this is advertised as a mook, which is apparently a book/magazine hybrid. Was this actually a word before Gothic and Lolita Bible or was it so special that they had to come up with their own word for it? I will never know. Suffice it to say that this is the supreme power in informing all the little American goth loli people on what to do to stay at the height of goth loli fashion. I will admit that many of the dresses are rather cute… but you will never catch me wearing a frilly apron and crinolines to math class.
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