Perhaps a less philosophical topic, but I'd love to see just a short article analysing various light novel titles. I've noticed a trend in which many of them have excessively long titles, some overly descriptive, but some not so much? I'd love to know why, or even just read about some common themes in them. A lot of them, as a result of their overly-wordiness, also tend to have nicknames, which could also be interesting to look at.
There are plenty of examples to look at: Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka (DanMachi) (Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?)
Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sō Desu yo? (Mondaiji) (Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't they?)
Ore no Nōnai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Rabu Kome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru (Noucome) (My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy)
This sounds like an interesting article for the light novel enthusiast. Perhaps research popular and cultural trends within the Japanese publishing industry. Titles with more than a few words (books, film, TV, music) are exceptions in the West rather than the norm so it’d be cool to get an understanding of why the Japanese like long titles so much. – Tanner Ollo5 years ago
A trope I've seen quite commonly in manga is that of the 'death game'. Usually, a group of students wakes up in some closed-off area, with mysterious instructions to either kill each other, perform acts that might end in death, vote people to die, etc.
I'd love to see an analysis of why this genre is so prolific. Perhaps a look at the themes it deals with, and how despite the large number of manga, there are still so many unique ideas.
Possible example to look at could be: Ousama Game, Jinrou Game, Tomogui Kyoushitsu, Doubt, etc.
As I am a Manga lover thats why I really like to have this topic on this site. All the Articles Published in this site in Manga Section are helpful and are really interesting to read. – soulmate3 years ago
The manga Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) is about two transgender youths, and their struggles with adolescence. I'd be interested to read an analysis of the manga and how it handles these themes. Perhaps commentary on the influence of Japanese culture on the way the representation is handled, and also how times have changed in that respect too (as the manga began in 2002).
The art and storytelling in Junji Ito's manga are very original in a peculiar sense. As a researcher interested in the concept of creativity and a fan of Junji Ito, I would be delighted to read an article about what makes Ito's works creative.
Why can't Oda, the master storyteller and plot artist of One Piece write good female characters? Eiichiro Oda is one of my favorite mangaka of all time and the proclaimed writer of the epic over 900 chapter-long, continuing manga, One Piece, the current top-selling manga. He continually astounds readers with his beautifully interwoven story arcs, character development, and unique artistic style and yet one aspect of his work persistently falls short of the mark — his writing and designing of female characters.
Oda has displayed an immense array of designing abilities, drawing influence from artistic and regional styles from all over the world and yet all of his female characters have the same face and body shape. Vivi, Nami, Robin, Rebecca, Shirahoshi, etc. All of these unique characters would look the same if you gave them the same hair and eyes, something that would not work for the male characters who display many different kinds of eye shapes, hair styles, body types, nose shapes, etc.
In terms of writing as well, even characters who are supposedly "strong" like Rebecca (a freaking gladiator), are swept up and saved by male heroes. Oda doesn’t seem to like to give his female characters proper adversaries to fight, a necessary component to completing a character arc in the world of One Piece – all plots lead to a final showdown of some sort. And yet the female characters only face off against other villainous female characters of the same caliber (Nami vs Kalifa/Miss Doublefinger) whereas Luffy and Zoro are always given stronger and better challenges.
Oda doesn’t seem to respect a woman’s ability to battle a man on equal footing; its a logic that doesn’t seem to exist in the narrative. Throughout the series Oda betrays a serious awareness of historical and political issues regarding human injustice, inequality, authoritarianism, colonialism, etc. And yet why is it that he utterly fails in turning this critical eye to gender?
"Oda doesn’t seem to respect a woman’s ability to battle a man on equal footing" Because it doesn't really exist. It can happen, given some circumstantial factors, but overall its a fallacy created by the more moden concept of equality. Of course the concept itself is righteous and necesary, as both men and women should be respected equally and given the same opportunities. But like with many other things, this causes a large part of the masses to confuse and misunderstand some aspects. And before this possibly devolves into me getting called sexist (because it tends to be the "easy rebuttal" button for some people), for pointing this out, lets clarify one thing: I AM a woman, but that doesn't make me blind to some very obvious facts that a lot of people seem to be intent on forcibly denying no matter how clear they are. Men and women are equals, but they're not "the same". We are fundamentally different in many aspects, which includes the physical one, and no amount of self-righteous denial will change this. It has been proved time and time again that in all disciplines involving physical strength and speed, even the top female athletes tend to fall far behind their male counterparts. The same can be said from women in military combat positions, who always get outperformed by men in similar circumstances (meaning, with similar amounts of experience and training). This is an undeniable fact. Oda doesn't often put female characters fighting on par with male characters, because in the real world that IS how it works 99% of the time. Of course a woman with extensive fitness and combat training can beat a man with much less of both, which gets represented in scenes like Kalifa steamrolling through countless strong male fighters from the Galley-La company, but the point is, when both men and women have a similar level of preparation, the intrinsic physical advantage men hold over women comes to play in full force, greatly tilting the balance in their favour. Again, it has nothing to do with sexism, but with being realistic.
– CarmenDia6 years ago
You would have probably noticed that the category "gender bender" is found in manga. They tend to feature characters as cross-dressers or transgenders, which has driven many readers of manga to be open to the idea of gender transformation. If such type of manga gets implemented in education, the coming generation would probably develop attitudes of acceptance and even appreciation toward individuals who identify with different sexual identities. What are your views concerning this matter that is drawing the attention of many nowadays? And how can gender bender manga be included in education?
In the manga, Golden Kamuy, the Ainu people and their culture is a major theme throughout the series. The way they eat, hunt, dress, and go about their lives are explored and raise awareness of this group of people. Should we, as readers, show more support towards authors and artists such as these to spread awareness and attention towards ignored cultures? Is this one of the first in a long trend of authors providing a spotlight towards more obscure cultures?
There are a couple reasons why people stopped. For example, there are a few series that have spanned years and it looks like they are nowhere near completion. The characters are essentially just one or two age older than when they started but the readers have aged a bit. People eventually find the story boring or lost track of the development.
I definitely agree that this is a phenomenon happening currently... it could also be interesting to include an analysis of manga that people have stuck with, and reasons why readers made the decision to stick with those manga, even though many of these also took years to complete (Naruto or One Piece, for example). – ees7 years ago
