WisCon Panel Write-Up: Spontaneous Programming; Shonen Manga

[laceblade]

My panel write-ups are very note-like and not structured, but I figure they're better than nothing.

This was not an officially scheduled panel. I suggested the panel, but it didn't make the programming cut. So I'm going to push for anime/manga programming a lot for next year!

Anyway, here is the panel description I originally suggested:
Female Power in Shonen Manga
Panel Description: Japanese manga targeted toward boys is called “shonen manga.” How is female power shown in shonen manga? Who has power, and who is powerless? How are women’s bodies represented? Do readers get to watch women be powerful, or is their action shunted off-screen in favor of boys' action scenes? Which shonen manga series get it right?

There were no panelists, but present were myself, oyceter, joannkatana, and 5 other people whose names/pseudonyms I don't know.

We sort of drifted around a lot from the actual panel description, but I think it's mostly because we're so excited to be talking about manga/anime at WisCon. Also, there wasn't a ton of overlap in the particular series people had read.

I was not writing a transcript by any means, so my notes are more a listing of series than of substance.

We began by identifying the shonen manga we had read. oyceter and I are shojo manga people, but I've also read a fair amount of Fullmetal Alchemist, Claymore, Bleach, Naruto, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Lately I've been reading seinen stuff, like things by Naoki Urasawa or Osamu Tezuka.

We discussed whether scars are used to signify survival in shonen manga. Bodies get blown up and put back together. A significant number of limbs are lost, as opposed to shojo manga by CLAMP, where characters lose eyes. Jet in Cowboy Bebop has a massive scar on his eye, which caused joannkatana to wonder how he got such a scar without actually losing his eye. In addition to showing survival of horrific events, it seems like scars are used to say, "Look how bad-ass I am."



I brought up breast size as a physical marker for female power in shonen manga. For example, in Bleach, Rukia is pretty flat-chested, but she begins the series having literally lost her power to Ichigo. Contrasting this, the captain (whose name I forget....I just went to Wikipedia to try and find it. THERE ARE SO MANY CHARACTERS IN SHONEN MANGA WTF) has ridiculous cleavage, not only in size but also in low-cut clothing that nobody else seems to wear.
Tsunade, in Naruto, is also large-breasted. Is this always the case?
Evangelion was brought up as a counter-example. Rei seems pretty normally-proportioned, but she's still sexualized in the scene with Shinji falling on top of her and ending up with his hand on top of her breast, for example.
Additionally, Misato sends Shinji a photo in the beginning of the series so that he will know what she looks like, and she literally draws an arrow pointing to her cleavage.
I think Evangelion is doing a lot in its exploration of sexuality, but it still stands that bust-size is treated weirdly in anime/manga.

We also talked about Yukari-sensei in Azumanga Daioh weirdly introducing herself to her class by giving her measurements.
Lena of Slayers has a small bust, but she spends a lot of the series complaining about it.

We did cheer Fullmetal Alchemist for having normal-sized women and generally well-developed characters as women, for a shonen manga especially. GUESS WHAT Fullmetal Alchemist is written/drawn by a woman.



We discussed how protagonists in the series have to struggle with having too much power. In Evangelion, Shinji/etc. have to synchronize with Evas that can go berserk. In Bleach, Ichigo has to manage his bankai.

I also have a note written about monstruous power in both the series Bleach and Naruto, a beastly/demon energy. Naruto, the titular character, has a fox demon trapped inside of him. Ichigo, protagonist of Bleach, gets some demonic power as well. These heroes have to be strong enough to defeat their increasingly powerful enemies, but also have to control the power inside them.

In opposition to this, the villains in shonen manga are often examples of what could happen to the protagonist if he becomes no longer able to control his power.

Missing mothers/family members seem common (Evangelion, Bleach, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc.).

joannkatana knew about sports manga, and the rest of didn't really. She said that in sports manga, the protagonist is often brand new to the sport, but for some reason has an amazing talent that allows him to be really good. In Eyeshield 21 (a football sports manga), the protagonist begins by running errands. Because he's so good at running, he ends up being a natural at playing running back.

Sports manga focuses on working hard and training every day, but also on characters pulling what seem to be magical moves out of nowhere. Storylines revolve around tournaments.

I remarked that this sounds a lot like the shojo series Crimson Hero, a story about a girls' volleyball team, which has all of those tropes.

oyceter said that while Yakitate!! Japan is a manga about making bread, it has a lot of sports manga tropes. The main character is a natural at making delicious bread because his hands are a few degrees warmer than other people's, for some reason; thus, his bread is made differently and tastes better.

One person brought up the movie "The Great Yokai War." I think that the person meant the 1968 film mentioned in this Wikipedia article? Or maybe it was the 2005 version. Anyway, it's a live-action movie that has a weird subversion of tropes, and is basically impossible to disguise. There is evidence of a stuffed hamster, which leads me to believe that the 1968 version was the one being described.

The manga "Battle Royale" was briefly mentioned. I've been meaning to read this after finishing The Hunger Games. Apparently, this manga focuses more on relationships than most shonen manga, with the fight scenes being more of an after-though. Unfortunately, there is a high amount of panty shots.

Comments

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Well, denoting physical maturity is one thing, but the chest-size, of, say, women in Bleach (http://www.aznclan.org/aznwallpaper/1600X1167/%5BAzN%5D%20Bleach%20Girls.jpg) is sometimes a little ridiculous, and Orihime & Co. are all in high school, correct?

From what I've seen, anime girls tend to be quite busty, and this can be true of shojo series as well, but is usually more ridiculous in shonen manga. I mean, the phrase "Gainax bounce" exists for a reason, right? Most characters in shonen/etc. series are in high school, right? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of series like Mai Hime, Code Geass, Elfen Lied, Chrono Crusade, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Sailor Moon, etc.

I will point out that I didn't necessarily mean physical power, either - sometimes it's matriarchal power (ie, Tsunade in Naruto, the Captain in Bleach whose name I can't find but she has blonde hair and a prominent mole), or sometimes it's magical/whatever (ie, Orihime).

[freemonoid.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about the breast size correlation, for the most part. It's not like I think they're sitting there going "this character is a badass, we need to show it with 30lb tits" when they design characters, but I think they try to make badasses 'desirable' which obviously means massive breasts. No, I don't entirely get it but I'm pretty sure that's the logic.

Also, have you noticed the breast inflation factor over the years? Back In The Day, Naga from Slayers had craaazy huge breasts. So much so that it was almost embarrassing to watch. I noticed recently when browsing the shelves at Best Buy that, now, Naga is practically the size of your average shonen anime/manga character.

Oh, and almost all the best manga is written by women. Seriously.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Except for manga by Naoki Urasawa!!

But, yeah. I'm not sure I'm 100% correct, I'm sure there are many counter examples of women with power being flat, or at least normally-proportioned, BUT, it does seem to occur with regular frequency.