The Maiden Switch: New Possibilities for Understanding Japanese Shōjo Manga (Girls’ Comics)

Abstract

This paper aims to expand the scope of studies of Japanese shōjo manga (girls’ comics) by examining early 1980s and 1990s shōjo manga that were primarily targeted at the youngest band of readers, stories with early adolescent heroines in light, romantic, and fairytale-like narratives. These have been paid comparatively little scholarly attention thus far compared with texts that enact more explicit gender subversion, such as stories that feature same-sex male love and cross-dressed fighting girls. We argue, however, that the “maidenesque” (otomechikku) subgenres enact complex and fascinating versions of girlhood. Furthermore, we propose that these neglected manga benefit especially from an analysis that prioritises the visual dimensions of shōjo manga. We apply these suggestions to our analysis of fashion and aesthetic in heretofore neglected “maidenesque” works by Takase Ryō. Rather than simply maintaining conservative norms of femininity and heterosexual romance, these works explore gender issues within the “safe” trappings of girlishness. Examining the visual and textual dimensions of such works is vital for a more accurate picture of girlhood and gender as it is more broadly imagined in shōjo manga.

Keywords:

• Japan
• girls
• shōjo manga
• fairytales
• Japanese popular culture
• gender

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jaqueline Berndt for her insightful comments on our work on shōjo manga. Thank you also to the two anonymous reviewers of this paper.

Notes

1. Deborah Shamoon, for example, begins her book Passionate Friendship (2012, p. 1) by pointing to gender subversion and resistance in shōjo manga, as well as the “many” stories of romance between boys. But though they are an intriguing presence, stories of boys’ love are vastly outnumbered by and enjoy less popular success than the more gender-conventional manga featuring heterosexual romance (see Galbraith, 2013, p. 196; Kan et al., 2012).

2. Outside Japan, comics that are primarily produced by and targeted at females are often assumed to be rare compared to male-produced and targeted ones (Takahashi, 2008, p. 114; Shamoon, 2012, p. 1). Yet within Japan, though academic work on children’s literature and comics for boys previously dominated, currently there seem to be more studies of shōjo manga than of shōnen manga (boys’ comics).

3. See Takeuchi’s work (2010) for detailed analysis of shōjo manga studies and criticism in Japanese language.

4. For example, see Iwashita (2013b), Kuramochi (2013b), Kan et al. (2012), Prough (2011), Bryce (2010), Welker (2010) and Takahashi (2008).

5. See, for example, Ogi (2001), Oshiyama (2007/2013), Toku (2007) and Shamoon (2012).

6. While this is also translated as “Where Do I Belong?”, we use “Where is My Place in the World” following Fraser’s translation of the chapter “Rezubian: Onna de aru koto o aiseru ka” (Lesbianism: Can We Love Our Own Existence as Women?), published as “Where is My Place in the World? Early Shōjo Manga Portrayals of Lesbianism”.

7. This practice has since declined due to changes in female sexuality that increasingly allow women to identify with and project their narcissism onto (girly) girl characters (Ueno, 2015, p. 275).

8. For an analysis of ballet manga, see Monden (2014).

9. Perhaps eclipsed by famous contemporaries in Nakayoshi such as Takeuchi Naoko (e.g. Sailor Moon), Akimoto Nami (e.g. Miracle Girls, 1990–94) and Clamp (e.g. Cardcaptor Sakura, 1996–2000).

10. See, for example, Watanabe’s Garasu no shiro (The Glass Castle, 1969–70, especially the second part of the manga), Yamagishi Ryōko’s Shiroi heya no futari (The Two Girls in the White Room, 1971), Ichijō Yukari’s Maya no sōretsu (The Funeral Procession of Maya, 1972), Satonaka Machiko’s Aries no otometachi (Maidens of Aries, 1973–75) and Miyawaki Akiko’s Kin to gin no kanon (A Canon of Gold and Silver, 1984).

11. This is in keeping with shōjo culture traditions. Fujimoto Yukari observes that same-sex female relationships in 1970s shōjo manga either end in tragedy or resolve more happily through the removal of lesbian elements (1998/2014, trans. Fraser). Nagaike (2010) discusses the way shōjo-shōjo relationships in “S” stories and later yuri texts are usually confined to the space and time of all-girl schools, with girls expected to graduate into adult heterosexual relationships.