12.22.08

Your mother is a Fujoshi!

Posted in Fandom Tags: fujoshi, 腐女子 at 9:08 am by reversethieves

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)

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08.22.07

Moe! Good God ya’ll! What is it good for?

Posted in Anime, Fandom, Manga Tags: analysis, fujoshi, moe, Ookiku Furikabutte, おおきく振りかぶって, 腐女子, 萌え at 12:21 am by reversethieves

Moe is this insidious cancer of the anime world. It started as the normal cells of princess characters and turned into to the festering monster that is moe. And like cancer it has slowly spread from the areas it originally infected to the whole body of anime. It’s also a wily cancer. It’s constantly changing itself to adapt, disguising itself in new forms, and always perpetuating itself. Will moe kill anime and then desecrate it’s once beautiful corpse?

Yes.

What was that again Ambassador Kosh, “Understanding is a three-edged sword?”

See the odd thing is, I don’t wholly hate the idea of moe I just hate the horrible machine it has become. Pretty princesses sometimes need saving. As I have already made clear in this blog, I like strong female characters but there are times a girl needs to be saved by her handsome protector. There is an undeniable romantic element to the white knight coming in to save a woman in her darkest hour. Women sometimes want to be swept off their feet and men want to play the role of protector. There is also a warmth that comes from being a chaste protector.

I’m not really opposed to the idea that is moe either. Heck, I like to save the princess and be the great big hero. But then again just saving the girl isn’t really the entire definition of moe. Plenty of girls have been saved that I would in no way put into the moe category.

Let’s define moe because it’s become a very nebulously defined term. In my opinion a “true” moe character is a vulnerable character that instills the viewers with a desire to protect and nurture that character. Tha,t in my mind, is the heart of the beast known as moe. Moe has started to mutate into this more amorphous term. For some reason moe has become this odd catch all for anything that is a turn on. You can be moe for girls with glasses, or moe for tsundere girls, or moe for trains, or moe for gosh darn ramen.

I only learned the term “moe” a few months ago but I am already tired of it. I don’t even acknowledge it anymore. Because as Hisui said, it’s now a blanket term to mean whatever the heck you want it to. In fact, by the way people use it, it means nothing. Because if someone uses it now, I have to ask “in what way” or “how do you mean?” I am sure there a different levels of moe as well but it seems to gotten out of hand. I don’t think the words moe and pathetic need go hand in hand but we are getting there. I don’t use the word, unless in jest.

I also hate the fact that it’s attached itself to some of the most reprehensible parts of anime fandom. The biggest moe fans seem to be the lolicon perverts and the “your virtual girlfriend is better than any real girl” people.

Wait…you mean that last part isn’t true?

I hear it on good authority that sometimes real girls can be fun and can have worthwhile relationships despite the fact that unlike moe girls they have flaws, that are not super cute, and human failings, that are not turn ons.

Both groups that seem to champion moe seem to be afraid of or reject mature, in-charge women. They seem to be the basement dwelling Hikikomori who are just plain afraid or distasteful of real girls. Moe girls seem to be popular because they are safe to these recluses. Since moe girls need a protector and moe otaku can be that protector. A moe girl is safe because she needs a protector like the moe otaku so she won’t reject the moe otaku.

It’s safe to say that saying a character is moe conjures a very different image than was originally intended. I also wonder how prevalent the word really is in the industry outside of moe-loving shows. Does a writer really say, “hum I’m gonna make this character moe,” or do they just write their characters. I feel like the word gets used on characters that is may never have been intended to be used on. And frankly, it’s annoying.

Moe defenders often state that moe is harmless because moe is not sexual. Moe is all about being a brotherly or chaste protector. Because the moe fan is a chaste protector they are not a creepy perv. But it turns out that most moe otaku may claim that they have a chaste interest in their moe obsessions but then they go and buy pornographic doujinshi and racy figures of their moe desire. Their actions often invalidate their speeches of innocent love.

I think a big difference is you are starting to see moe shows as opposed to moe characters. They used to just be a part of a cast with many others but now the crazy has grown so much that you entire series dedicated to those types of characters. So I guess you get your choice of all different looking moe girls in one show! How exhilarating! Moe is kind of just lumping itself in with hentai and dating games at this point. The characters don’t seem to be viably connected to any real story it is just about fan service.

Well the problem is with the flood of moe is that moe seems to be the hot thing in Japan so the Japanese are going to cater to these guys who keep spending good money on moe garbage.

I watched two episodes of this horrible show, Ookiku Furikabutte and I encountered a moe guy! Wow did I take a wrong turn. I have no qualms with shonen-ai but seriously, gimme a story. This was a thinly veiled, very thinly, show allegedly about baseball but between the crying pitcher, the hand holding, the speech about how teammates should sleep together, and the pillow fight, I remain unconvinced that this show has anything to do with sports.

Well, I am sure that has a lot to do with the rise of the Fujoshi. Horrible female otaku have to be catered to as much as horrible male otaku. Girls have their own home in Akihabara at Otome Road. Girls have their sections at Comiket. So they should get their own moe fan service characters. I assume moe will be less attractive to girls but I’m sure there are girls out there who want a vulnerable boy to protect and love.

Did you realized that using moe you can also spell emo. This cannot be a coincidence.

In the fact that they are both running gags on the internet.

The real question that I can’t really answer is, how long until moe will fade from it’s position as the hot thing in anime. I’m pretty sure moe has left enough of a mark that it will never go away completely but how much of an impact will it have on the medium as a whole.

Every once and a while, some new trend comes along and grips everyone’s attention. Then, all the animation studios rush in and try to make their own version of said trendy show. Sometimes the trends dies off and is basically forgotten. Other times they fade into the background but still get made every few seasons. I feel sci-fi anime is like this. Sci-fi anime was big back in the 80’s but you only see a few sci-fi shows now a days. Other times they change the genre and every season you see a show that revolves around it.

Well, has anything that was crazy popular ever not had an affect on the medium? Aren’t certain characters or shows always referenced? However, I agree I’m not sure in what ways it will be impactful. Has it changed the way people watch anime? I suppose in a way it has, but at the same time I don’t think its life changing. I didn’t encounter moe and think “wow, I never knew anime could be like that.” Atleast, not in a positive way.

Will there be a moe show every season for now until the end of time or will this whole craze die down and we can get back to shows filled with all types of horrible female characters not just horrible moe characters?

Narutaki Currently!
Watching City Hunter
Reading Berserk
Listening to Utada Hikaru

Brainwasher Detective (Hisui) Currently:
Watching Full Metal Panic

Reading Boogiepop Returns: Vs. Imaginator Part 2

Listening to Red Faction by MELL

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