The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies

Book Review: Queer Transfigurations: Boys Love Media in Asia

2023-03-16T13:55:56-05:00

Queer Transfigurations is a well-edited, novel, and interesting volume addressing new developments in the Boys Love genre. The positive, forward-looking tone of this book mirrors Welker’s final argument that the BL genre has been “positively reshaping the imaginary and real worlds of its fans and others in Asia and beyond” (Welker 2022, 275) and leaves readers feeling refreshed and optimistic for the future.

Book Review: Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence

2023-03-16T13:56:00-05:00

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VI Foro Internacional de Creación en la Frontera: «Manga in a postdigital environment»

2022-10-07T14:32:16-05:00

Report on the VI Foro Internacional de Creación en la Frontera: «Manga in a postdigital environment» symposium held in Pontevedra (Spain) in May 2022.

30 Years Later, Re-Examining the “Pretty Soldier”

2023-03-16T13:50:06-05:00

December of 2021 marks the 30^th anniversary of Naoko Takeuchi’s Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) manga (1991-1997), and March of 2022 will mark the 30^th anniversary of Toei Animation’s Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon anime (1992-1997). The series follows Sailor Moon as she defends Tokyo and the galaxy against alien enemies. While there seems to be controversy over whether Sailor Moon can be read as a feminist text, Sailor Moon still maintains its status as a feminist and queer magical girl series. Although there has been some scholarship on the magical girl genre and gender roles in manga and anime, there has not been much written about Sailor Moon specifically. As an influential series that is still relevant in pop culture, further analysis of this text is necessary to identify its feminist and queer nature. Despite being three decades old, Sailor Moon still maintains its status as a feminist and queer magical girl series. My argument is that on the surface, the Sailor Moon franchise appears to be a heteronormative and an (arguably) antifeminist series with traditional heterosexual relationships and gender stereotypes, but upon closer examination, the manga and anime series subvert patriarchal and gender stereotypes in both obvious and discrete ways.

Plot Patterns in Manga Based on Propp’s narratological elements

2023-03-16T13:56:14-05:00

This article takes into consideration Vladimir Propp’s work on narratological elements and applies them to the narrative strategies of manga. Through a generalization of Propp’s scheme, an in-depth explanation of how they interact with one another and the addition of several new functions, this work demonstrates that these categories are functional in the study of the narratological elements found in manga. For the purpose of this article, most of the provided examples derive from shōnen manga as they provide for a clearer analysis. The secondary aim is to emphasize that there is room for critical analysis in manga, one that is directly correlated with literature. This medium that combines literature and art, other than having its own history, has evolved along the decades and adapted to the requirements of its generation; it is hence important to acknowledge and value a possible analytical approach.

Prefiguring the Otokonoko Genre

2023-03-16T13:56:24-05:00

This article examines two manga, Stop!! Hibari-Kun! and No Bra, which prefigure the increasingly popular anime and manga genre of "Otokonoko" from a queer studies perspective. Otokonoko is a term which translate to “boy-girl”, “boy-daughter”, or “boy-princess” and is often translated into English as “cross-dresser”. The genre emerged in the early 2000s and has since become a popular point of reference and conversation both within and outside of anime and manga communities. Both the genre, and its titular characters have become iconic within both Japanese and Western online culture. As with most genres, the otokonoko genre is trope heavy, so it was decided to look at works that prefigure the genre to better understand the appeal without the weight of the traditions of the genre weighing too heavily on the content. Both Stop!! Hibari-Kun! and No Bra follow the story of a boy who becomes increasingly attracted to a gender ambiguous character assigned male at birth, but who appears female to most. Both manga are centrally about this conflict between the love interests’ perceived maleness and the protagonists perceived heterosexuality. The article analyses the appeal of each work to both male and trans feminine readers, because what would later become the otokonoko genre is written and read by both male and trans feminine readers. It also argues that these manga offer something unique from Western depictions of transgender lives, based on the popularity of manga and anime among Western trans feminine readers.

Affective Transformation

2023-03-16T13:56:21-05:00

Kyoto Animation can rightly be called one of the leading studios of Japanese animation, and its works have been at the forefront of anime production in terms of both techniques and aesthetics. This is why it has been subjected to academic scrutiny by several notable anime scholars. However, no significant studies have been conducted on the works of Kyoto Animation from the perspective of the studio as a whole, or identified consistent themes and patterns flowing throughout them. This paper aims to rectify that gap by studying four works by the most prolific directors of Kyoto Animation (the Haruhi Suzumiya series (2006-2010), Beyond the Boundary (2013-15), A Silent Voice (2016) and Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon (2017)) from the perspective of the Japanese Buddhist conception of tariki (Other-power) in order to tease out the central theme that lies at the heart of the studio’s work, and argues that Other-power (redefined as affective transformation) and the presence of a community of peers to nurture it offers powerful interpretive frameworks through which to understand these, and other, works by the studio.

"Why must fireflies die so young?" The Picturesque of Caution in the Works of Studio Ghibli

2023-03-16T13:56:11-05:00

As opposed to most contemporary usage of the word “picturesque” – which is generally taken to mean visually attractive in a quaint or charming way, or else something that resembles a picture – William Gilpin introduced this term to the English cultural debate in 1792. Gilpin used “picturesque” to typify an aesthetic ideal wherein roughness, raggedness, and ruins would be privileged over smoothness, symmetry and perfection. Over time, his conceptualization of “the picturesque” led to a celebration of disorder, decay, and ruin, a kind of glorification of violence also familiar to the Gothic romances of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, following the unimaginable havoc and mass destruction caused by the two world wars, ruins and images of ruins started to be viewed very differently. This paper seeks to explore how the picturesque mode has been used as an instrument of caution in the works of Studio Ghibli, spearheaded by two creative artists and directors, Hayao Miyazaki and Takahata Isao, who have experienced the horrors of WWII firsthand in their own childhoods. This paper specifically looks at two famous anime feature films produced by Studio Ghibli – Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004) – that deal with the impacts of war and convey strong anti-war messages by uniquely employing the picturesque mode of representation.

Nation Building and the Role of Leadership

2023-03-16T13:56:19-05:00

In this paper, I will deal with the isekai anime ‘Tensei shitara slime datta ken‘ (eng.: That Time I got reincarnated as a slime) and will examine its potential power and messages in a new shed light. As the main argument of this paper will deal with the main character and his ‘semi-diplomatic’ attempts to build a nation out of the blue, I will argue that in critically analyzing the strategic ends, ways and means used by the main character can give insight into to mindset of an archetypical understanding of how and under which circumstances leadership and social interaction between human beings is presented in a Japanese context. For a better understanding of this – unfortunate – less researched field, I will present the current state of research regarding isekai animes. After a synopsis of the series of interests, specific aspects and actions of the main character will be highlighted to contribute to a better and critical understanding of the presumed unintended message that ‘Tensei shitara slime datta ken‘ is sending.

Attachment to Manga (Japanese Comics)

2023-03-16T13:56:06-05:00

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it seeks to conceptualize attachment to manga (Japanese comics) by extrapolating attachment theory’s behavioral markers to manga readership. Second, it compares manga attachment markers between avid, moderate, and occasional readers in order to find differences in the strength of the attachment. The study predicted that (a) attachment theory’s common behavioral markers (i.e., proximity maintenance, safe haven, secure base, and separation distress) map onto manga readership and that (b) avid readers display stronger attachment behaviors towards manga than moderate and occasional readers. Participants (N = 279) answered a questionnaire identifying a set of 24 manga attachment markers. Analyses revealed a four-component solution that mirrors attachment theory’s markers, supporting the premise that manga attachment mirrors interpersonal attachment. The results also revealed statistically significant differences in the strength of the attachment behaviors to manga between avid, moderate, and occasional readers among three behavioral markers (i.e., proximity maintenance, safe haven, and separation distress), confirming that avid manga readers maintain proximity with manga, find in manga a safe haven when feeling distressed, and experience separation distress at the real or perceived possibility of the manga not being available. These findings contribute to the increasing literature and understanding on the role of media in individual’s wellbeing.

Anime Convention Attendance in Response to Covid-19

2023-03-16T13:56:09-05:00

The following report is meant to be paired with the dataset collected through the “Anime Conventions and COVID-19” survey. Designed by Maria K. Alberto and Billy Tringali, this survey collected participants’ thoughts about their involvement in and perception of anime conventions before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Both the dataset and associated survey questions can be found in the supplemental files paired with this report, or downloaded through the Hive, the University of Utah’s Research Data Repository. See: “Dataset for: Survey of Anime Convention Attendance in Response to Covid-19” at https://hive.utah.edu/concern/datasets/qj72p722r

Mechapocalypse

2023-03-16T13:56:16-05:00

In 1988, Tomino Yoshiyuki released Char’s Counterattack, the filmic conclusion to the nine year saga he had begun with the original anime series, Mobile Suit Gundam (1979). Set in a distant and alternate future where war is fought in giant humanoid robots known as “mobile suits,” Char’s Counterattack centers on the final battle between the Democratic Earth Federation and the fascist Neo Zeon Empire. This essay examines Char’s Counterattack as its own watershed moment for the Gundam franchise wherein Gundam would begin to spin-off into multiple media and other franchises, including more anime and films, but also manga, toys, novels, and later video games, all of which would be exported throughout the world, giving rise to Gundam’s global popularity. In reading the explosion of the Gundam franchise alongside its roots in the genre of “real robot” anime, this essay postulates that the destruction of real robots in Char’s Counterattack allegorizes the concept of C ool Japan. In doing so, this essay traces the production and exportation of Gundam’s media to both East Asia in the 1980s and North America in the early aughts, thereby repositioning the pivotal role Char’s Counterattack plays in the growth of otaku culture alongside other works in the anime canon, such as Akira (1988) and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995).

Open-Access Anime: The Magnificent Continuation of JAMS’ Magical Girl Transformation

2023-03-16T13:48:35-05:00