Perhaps nothing fuses the current modern Japanese art and entertainment scene so well as comic books, or manga.  Popular for both adults and children, men and women, Japanese comic books span a wide variety of genres and capture the attention of almost every audience.  From observation at the Hirakata City Book-Off (where I go to buy manga myself!) the popularity of manga is evident.  Sometimes getting to the shelves or leisurely browsing for a new series is impossible, for the many rows and aisles of comics are choked with standing readers.

This picture captures the amount of manga available, though even in this relatively small bookstore, this is nowhere near the total amount of manga offered.  There are at least seven shelves full of manga, as well as two floor-to-ceiling wall-lining shelves:



Obviously, since manga is so popular, it must serve some kind of need in the population.  Liking and reading manga myself, I can understand the allure.

One of the most popular genres of manga is the shoujo (少女) genre.  This is the genre I am most familiar with, and obviously, by the way it is named, one can immediately determine the target audience.  Shoujo manga appeals to young girls (although is read by women, as well). The topics dealt with in these comics are often supernatural (magic), and always with a young girl (aging from 12-18) in the leading role.  Information from personal experience and the following article: http://matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/japan_quarterly/index.html

In this post, I would like to talk about two manga in particular. Both of them I was introduced to in America; one of them I had finished reading in English and had watched the anime for, and the other which I had read several volumes in English but now am reading in Japanese.  They are, respectively, Fushigi Yugi (ふしぎ遊戯) and Basara　(バサラ).



In Fushigi Yugi, the main character is called Miaka, a junior-high school student under pressure for her exams into high school.  Upon discovering a book in the library called "The Universe of the Four Gods" she finds herself sucked into ancient China where she decides to become the priestess of Suzaku and receive the power to make her wishes come true.  However, in doing so she gets into a love rivalry with her best friend (who also falls into the world and becomes the priestess for a rival diety) and sees many of her guardians and protectors killed for her sake.

Before entering the Universe of the Four Gods, Miaka is an irresponsible girl who thinks too much about food to be a serious exam candidate.  She has low self-confidence (as evidenced by her subconscious jealousy over her intelligent best friend) and is helpless in difficult situations.  During her stay in the world of the book, however, Miaka grows up.  She learns how to take care of herself and care more for others, putting their wishes above her own, and eventually spends her three wishes on protecting the realm of which she was priestess, wishing her best friend back from the dead, and repairing the damage done to Tokyo when the characters of the book made their way out to the modern day.  With these wishes, she denies herself the chance to spend her life with the man she loves.

The art of this manga shows how the main character gains power and responsibility (sorry it's horizontal...I can't change it!):



In Basara, the main character is 16.  The fact that she is a girl has always been a problem...for she has a twin brother, who is considered to be the "Child of Destiny" who will liberate their country from the domain of the Red King.  However, just when the two children come of age (at 16) her brother is murdered and her villagers scattered.  Cutting off her hair and disguising herself as a boy, she declares that she, Sarasa, was killed, and that Tatara (her brother) is still alive.  Leading them in the disguise of her brother, she maintains rebellion against the Red King, gaining allies through tests of bravery and strength.

Basara is more grim than many shoujo manga, plotwise, and therefore is not so popular (for example, the anime never went beyond the first four volumes of manga).  The characters however, are complex and the situations are adult.

Eventually, Sarasa is revealed as a woman, and, in tears, she apologizes for leading on her supporters.  But they refuse to let her go.  As one of the characters says:

"この中の誰もあんたが＜タタラ＞だからついてきたわけじゃないよ。” (Basara, volume 10, p 175)  My translation is not very good, but I read this as meaning, "In the end, nobody but you is "Tatara", so that's the reason we keep on following."  Gender roles mean nothing--Sarasa has led them as a competent leader, so it hardly matters that she's a woman.

Personally, I believe that these manga (especially shoujo) serve a need in the young, female population for the idea of control, magic, and power.  Women in the main roles are often flawed (irresponsible, clumsy, and flighty) but through extraordinary situations they are revealed to mature and grow, and they inevitably gain self-confidence.

P.S.  If anyone can help me with that translation, I'd be grateful!

Tags: amine, basara, books, fushigi yugi, manga, shoujo
Current Mood: contemplative

It took me a while to think through what I wanted to give attention to in this blog post.  Obviously, since we're all living in Hirakata City, there would be no point in me doing any silly city spread photos, as we all know what the city looks like.  Although, the view from the ceramics studio is really amazing, and if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

I've found a website, actually, for Hirakata city, entirely in English and it looks like it's meant to be used for people moving permanently to Hirakata.  Linky thingy here:

http://www.city.hirakata.osaka.jp/freepage/gyousei/hpcontent/eng/index.html

This site has quite a bit of useful info, although when I was trying to find out where a movie theatre might be located, it was less than helpful.

Instead of focusing on what the city physically looks like, though, I'd rather talk about what cool things you can DO in Hirakata City.

I'll start with the area right behind Seminar House 4.  Did you know there's a Kofun-era tomb there?  Most of the locals won't walk on it, because it's a lonely area, but the area is wooded and peaceful, as shown below:



Yes, that's me.  I suppose I'm not being a very good anthropologist, sticking myself in pictures like that.  What surprised me most when we walked up there was that someone had left a scroll in the area underneath which the king (or whoever) would have lain.  I really wanted to know why someone would do that, but I have no explanation.

So, I recommend a visit to this little area.  There was even a sign next to the tomb, and I took a picture in the hopes of being able to read some of it.



So, besides the history of the area in which we live (for there are also several temples and similar things in the area...and I want to get to them when the weather gets warmer) what else is there to do?

Well, for one thing...karaoke adventures!

My friends and I had heard that Hirakata shi station area had several good karaoke bars.  So, Saturday night we all took the bus there to see if we could find them.  We did find one, but it turned out to be...very interesting!



This one-room karaoke bar was in the basement of a pachinko parlor, and was populated by the proprietress and three drunk old men.  The old men bought us (there were four of us) drinks and chatted with us in a mixture of English and Japanese (mostly Japanese) and while we were still in shell-shock trying to figure out what to sing (there were NO English songs!) these men (called our 'ojiisan' by the owner) paid for an hour's worth of karaoke for us.

All in all, it was fantastic!

I suppose my conclusion would be that Hirakata city, though small, really does have a few interesting place to go and visit.  I also have a small list of shops around the city station area that I would recommend:

Mister Doughnuts (the bitter chocolate rich doughnut is wonderful)

BookOff (your one-stop-shopping for cheap manga and discount CDs)

Vivre (which apparently has been going out of business for the last half-year.  I recommend the socks...I now have pink panda socks)

I guess that wraps up this post.  But I'll stick a link in for a very funny site that explains in greater detail the concept of Engrish:  http://www.engrish.com/faq.php  If you study Chinese as well, I highly suggest looking at the Chinglish/Qinglish section of this webpage.

OH!  I almost forgot!  If you don't want to do any of the above activities, you could always go shopping for ultra-kawaii products!  (Found at Vivre)



Or...



See what I mean?  Pink panda socks.

 

Tags: books, cds, history, karaoke, kofun, sight-seeing
Current Mood: amused