Do you feel this genre often fetishizes/objectifies the males depicted? – moreover: do you feel objectified yourself? Offended? How accurate are the portrayals in these manga/anime? Is this true LGBT representation or does it actually serve to hinder promotion of LGBT rights in some ways? Would you feel uncomfortable around someone who self-identifies as a "fujoshi?" Also: What about shounen-ai?
I think this is incredibly interesting, and I'd love to know more about it. But it feels very much like a direct question as opposed to a topic. My recommendations would be to rephrase it so that an article could be written about it, and define some of the words which people may not know. – Connor Gregorich-Trevor9 years ago
Agreeing with Connor, rephrasing this would help the future writer to be guided into NOT writing commentary. Topic title should be like Yaoi a representation of gay relationships or romanticized fantasy... and are we talking about yaoi and sexual content? – Jill9 years ago
I think women objectify men in gay fetish porn the same way men objectify women in porn. And I agree that people in these portrayals are rarely true to how people actually are. This can set LGBT rights back in same ways, especially when gay men are always sexy with six packs and not just regular, ordinary men. I don't know much else about what you are asking, so I can't help much with this, but those are my thoughts on the objectification of gay people. I am not really offended by it, but I think it's detrimental to peoples' self-esteem and LGBT rights to a degree. – Robyn McComb9 years ago
I'm wondering if men who are into M/M works truly appreciate yaoi or shounen-ai, due to how characters are represented in these works. Or if they also appreciate bara more, which is produced primarily by gay men for a gay audience. Personally, as someone who identifies as male and queer, I am into yaoi, shounen-ai, and bara, but I find it problematic in how some characters and relationships are portrayed. I think that a certain type of body is being objectified in each genre, but that is how these genres cater to their respective audience. It can be damaging to those readers/viewers who identify as LGBT, and may not fit that specific portrayal.
Some shounen-ai works I have read/watched do a decent job in showing how gay relationships form, and touch upon the struggle that gay or bisexual people face in coming to terms with their sexuality and identity. – Sean Navat Balanon9 years ago
I think it's helpful, as someone who likes shounen-ai, to reflect on how these young women came to like genres like yaoi. I'd argue that it's due to the popularity of shounen manga and the intense male relationships within them (take NaruSasuNaru, or Light x L). Because these relationships never become romances, fans find other series to fill in for their characters. Popular male on male romances adhere to many tropes, many of which can be traced back to the original shounen manga the characters are derived from. – ChristelleMarie9 years ago
perhaps it would be best done as a comparison piece between the portrayal of gay men and other fetish images of both men and women. Classic daydreams of both men and women that stereotype others. – Jutor8 years ago
The World Government in One Piece is considered the primary antagonist of the series. Monkey D. Luffy is proud to proclaim that he wants to become the Pirate King and we applaud him as he tries. We consider pirates to be the heroes. Why? One Piece has managed to confuse the idea of justice and who delivers it. Is the World Government too harsh? Are they corrupt? Who are true wielders of justice? Have the lines between who is or isn't just been blurred too much to declare who's good? Why do we believe that the world government are the bad guy and are we right when we do so?
I like the angle you're approaching the narrative in One Piece. There is a lot of room to talk about a lot of things here. Like , we as the readers view Luffy and his crew as the heroes, the protagonists fighting against the Navy and other Pirates as antagonists. But time and time again, the main characters, often Luffy, proclaim that they aren't heroes. They're pirates. But time and time again he and his crew do heroic things. They have saved countries from civil war, stopped arms dealers, and trashed the laboratories of people doing experiments on children. If he was a Marine these acts would have him lauded as a hero, but since he's a pirate we are conflicted and unsure what to call him.
He also often clashes with the Marines, who in our experiences are the bad guys trying to stop Luffy from advancing forward and doing basically whatever he feels like. But when you examine the way marines are spoken of and treated outside of the pirates perspective they are often well respected and their presence is a comfort to common people.
Now there are exceptions on both sides of the coin, the Blackbeard pirates on the one hand and the CP9 on the other. To understand what this means for our heroes, we need to look at the motivations of the characters to do what they do. Akianu the leader of the Marines is driven by his desire to uphold the law, he has a twisted sense of what justice is and enforces it with an iron fist. On the other hand most pirates want to be Pirate King, meaning they want to find One Piece, Roger's treasure.
We have met multiple pirates with different reasons for wanting this. Buggy wants money, Crocodile wants power, Donflamingo wanted revenge, and Luffy wants freedom. He wants to be able to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. He wants to be Pirate King because that is the most free person in the world.
Luckily for most people who encounter him, what Luffy wants is to eat, sleep, eat and sleep, and help his Nakama (friends). Almost all of the heroic things he's done is because of his sense of morals. Whether a Nakama asked him to help them or someone did something that pissed him off, all of the good things he wanted to do were simply because he felt he was free to stop them.
Regardless of if they were Marines, Pirates, or the Shichibukai. He has stood up to them all because he wanted to. We gravitate towards Luffy for the same reason that the characters in the manga/anime do. He is capable of doing what he wants and often what he wants to do is what we want him to do. – joncarlos3rd9 years ago
It's often been joked about about fandom regarding the relationship between Sasuke and Naruto. However, does this perception within the fandom have any relevance. Yes or no? What's the impact for the overall narrative and themes of the series if any. Furthermore, how do cultural perceptions regarding controversial matters such as these influence the series.
There are a lot of fandoms out there that "ship" or imagine relationships between two characters of the same sex, particularly in anime and manga. It could be interesting to frame these questions within an exploration of "slash" fiction as a whole and its relevance, impact, and place in today's culture. – Nicole Williams9 years ago
What is the appeal of harem manga? In cases like Nisekoi, having too many female love interests hurts the story, as time is spent developing the love interests instead of moving the plot forward. As well, fan wars sprout on threads, because people argue which love interest suits the protagonist. Finally, is the 'harem ending' unavoidable or a cop out to make the fans happy? This article can use harem manga that do not work because of its genre, or focus on harem manga that are well-written because it utilizes the genre but stays unique in it's own way.
Perhaps also mention the "gyaku-harem" (the reverse harem of one girl and too many male love interests), the contrasts, as well as the stresses and the headaches in having the relationship(s). – Quill9 years ago
Maybe a discussion about the character at the center of the harem would be illuminating as well. It's usually an awkward, clueless, romantically/sexually inept boy and yet he has some of the most desirable women fawning all over him. That in itself is a sin of wish-fulfillment. – bookgirl79 years ago
I would say that the fan wars are part of what make manga popular. it can be incredibly fun to sit down with your friends and have a laughter filled conversation and debate over your favorite character. I think that controversy in harem animes and the lack of resolution actually makes the manga better. I do agree that too many characters detract from the plot however. – Jutor8 years ago
Though most shoujo manga typically have a female protagonist, there are some that have male protagonists. With a female protagonist, shoujo manga also usually have an underlying romantic development part of the plot, which isn’t characteristic to a shoujo manga with a male protagonist. What is it about these male protagonists that classify the manga they appear in as “shoujo”? What are the similarities and/or differences of various male protagonists of shoujo manga? How do their interactions with other people, their surroundings, and the plots of the manga determine this classification? Finally, does having a male protagonist in a shoujo manga have any social implications, since the target audience is generally teenaged girls? If so, how?
A few examples include: Hakkenden, Natsume Yuujinchou, and Gakuen Babysitters. I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
Male shoujo characters have different personalities, so it is hard to pinpoint what exactly defines them as 'shoujo'. There could be the popular one, the quiet one, the perverted brash one, the 'I-may-look-perfect-but-I-have-a-dark-secret' type... I think what makes a male protagonist belong in a shoujo manga is if the female character is able to help them in some way - whether it's improve their situation or overall attitude. Since romance plays a big part in 'shoujo', there is a sense that the male and female are perfect for one another, so they need to have some flaw that is improved once they meet the female. – YsabelGo9 years ago
While the Rurouni Kenshin manga was full of over-the-top action, unbelievable characters, and impossible inventions, the basis of the series was real historic figures. How does this history control and direct the Manga, and in what ways does the manga share a common linage with other works of historic fiction.
Find out how to come up with a good manga and write some tips to help people. Also, tell them some things they SHOULD and SHOULDN'T do. Plus add some websites where they can publish their manga.
"come up with" is a very clunky phrase. I would just go with "write" or "create" possibly "develop." – Francesca Turauskis9 years ago
I would advise you to talk about comic language in general and highlight how anime differs from the western notion. Robert E. Horn has a fantastic book defining the rules of comics, and I bet there are plenty of other books and papers covering this. With "good" or "bad" as far as literature goes, there are definite ways of defining them. With a film, we have mise en scene, lighting, directing, acting, etc., and for comics, I bet there are plenty of genre-specific conventions as well. – Mitchapman149 years ago
Suggestions: This is for the storytelling part: 1. When creating manga, start with a general list of what you want in your manga. The list should have general themes that you want to include in the manga. Should it be a sport, slice of life, fantasy, magical girl or a mixture manga? You decide. 2. Next is deciding details down. Once you have a good idea of your themes, you can start the details. This step will take a while because a strong manga is not without details. A way to narrow things down would be: -An outline of the plot (a summary of important events- you can use or create a chart of the events- it helps to clarify things in your mind) -An outline of characters (ex. a fantasy manga would usually have a being who have powers- like a wizard) Once you have a good general idea of the details, it's time to narrow things down even more! You can decide how specifically you want the plot to go- remember I said to have the important events down for the plot outline? Now it's time to decide what happens in between because important events cannot stand by itself without a good in between events. For an example, the manga "Bleach" started with a boy who can see the spirits which led to the important event of him becoming a shinigami- which shows that the little events can strengthen the bigger events. A good to see how to write little events is: -Ask yourself: how did the important events happen?
- What causes the important events?
-Is this little event necessary (this is SO important- don't put in a little event that leaves a plot hole or seems random fo the story!- it may either please the readers or bore them...) The characters are one of the most vital parts of a manga. We wouldn't have known the infamous trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura if they weren't strong characters and didn't pop out to the readers. How to recognize that your characters are ready for the story: -Be sure to flesh them out (it means that you know your characters so well that you can see what they will decide- which makes the story easy to write.)
-Traits are important- it makes who they are and what they are.
-Are they Mary Sues? (Mary Sue means basically perfect character-no flaws, no changes- it is not a bad character, but do your readers connect to them or feel isolated from them?) Don't be afraid to edit them and change them as you develop the characters- that is how you achieve a great character! "Naruto"'s creator spent a lot of time creating Naruto to finally achieve the Naruto we love today. Here's another section....I know I have rambled too long, but I will keep this short because I feel this is highly important as well. Art: Illustrating the plot and the characters are another vital part of creating a manga. Art is what appeals people to read them, and unique one can stand out among many manga titles. After having to develop the general outlines for the plot and characters, you can decide what art style you want. It depends on how well you can draw ( I do know that art is subjective, but having good illustrations and strong appearances of the characters attracts the readers). and how you unite it with the plot. How to do this is: -Environment (ex. a medieval themed manga commonly have castles and lots of lands)
-Time period (ex. Futuristic time period tends to have advanced technology)
-Character design (Do they fit in with the environment and time period?)
-Consistency is the key (Consistent will get you recognization and a job- If "Dragonball" was not consistent in illustration, it would not have become the most famous manga it is today) -Uniqueness: This one is important. If you are aiming to create a popular manga or even a fantastic manga, uniqueness will separate you from the mass of mangakas. It will make you immediately recognizable to the readers- "One Piece" is immediately recognizable because of the art style and unique (though, neverending) plot. Avoid cliches or try to put a twist on cliches because it will tire the readers out- imagine you read a story with a great theme and plot so you read another book with that same theme and plot...and you find exactly the same ideas in that story! After some repetition, it's just an annoyance for the readers (unless you are a fan of this cliche and want to see it again and again). I could go and go on about how to create a manga, but I don't want to extend this writing too much to bore readers...so I'll stop for now. I hope this helps!
– Japantakemyheart1009 years ago
dang that would be interesting to read. Unfortunatly, I, nor many others, are qualified to write this. I fell that this should be written by someone who has actually published a manga or similar piece of literature. They could speak from experience and probably write this better than many other people. – Jutor8 years ago
One Piece is a manga that started in 1997 and is still ongoing today. Despite its humour, there have been sad moments that made readers/viewers cry. For the fan that has watched all the episodes or anime, explain the 5 saddest moments in One Piece and explain how this event affected the story or character.
Totally agree, and I would put scene where they had to leave Going Merry as one of the saddest moment too. Thinking that Luffy and Ussop have a big fight and Ussop decided to leave the crew with wounded body really make me sad. The Ohara and episodes are really sad seeing that the world is trying to erase the truth of the history just to hide their sins. No wonder Robin is having lot of hard time during her childhood. The Fisher Tiger episodes really makes us think deeply about racism, especially when he tells his crew not to tell the villagers how he died just because he want the future generation can choose and figure themselves whether human can be a good or bad thing for them. – RoseF7 years ago
