INTRODUCTION: For this project, I chose to create a blog using Blogger to talk about anime and aspects of Japanese culture that inspired shojo anime, or was influenced by it through a feminist lens. It is interspersed with videos illustrating my points, or as examples of what I am writing about specifically. I specifically wrote about shojo anime, the Takarazaka Revue and Lolita fashion. Shojo is anime that is geared towards a female audience, anyone from young girls to women. In my posts, I wrote about the trends and history of shojo anime, while commenting on it, questioning it, and dissecting it. Besides that, I wrote about an all-female theatre troupe that has been influential on anime and also Lolita fashion, which has been influenced by, and also an influence on, anime. The role of women and girls in the particular media of animation, theatre and fashion was highlighted and commented on. In addition to that, I hope that this blog will get people interested in shojo anime, th
Posts
What's a Lolita?
Japan's Lolita style of fashion, is at once Japanese, and heavily Westernized/globalized. Lolita fashion emerged in Japan in the late 70s/early 80s. It is characterized by European Victorian-style dresses, blouses, skirts and petticoats. Its style of makeup emphasizes a "doll-like", sometimes garish style, which is almost a sendup on makeup use, itself. Most Lolitas are women, but there are a minority of male Lolitas. Its popularity greatly increased in the 90s, and Lolita fashion can be seen throughout the world. I wanted to include a piece on fashion in my blog of shojo anime, because so much real life is reflected in anime and vice-versa. Lolita fashion became popularized in the 90s due to fashion designers and fashionistas, alongside popular bands and celebrities. The anime voice actress Yukari Tamura was an influential force in bringing Lolita to the mainstream. Lolita has many different subfashions, including gothic, steampunk, punk, kawaii, rock, ugly, and girly.
Wait, There Are No Guys in This!? The Takarazuka Revue's Upending of Gender Norms and Sexuality
The Takarazaka Revue is an all-female theatre troupe that was founded in 1913 by Japanese male railroad magnate, Ichizo Kobayashi. He had thought that traditional Japanese theatre was becoming stale and boring to the Japanese public, and thought that an all-female theatre group would be unique enough to be a profitable business venture. The Takarazaka Revue was highly influential on a young Osamu Tezuka, creator of two of the anime from my first post, Astro Boy (shonen) and Princess Knight (early shojo). The influence is seen throughout a number of his works, with his depictions of gayness, feminist themes, crossdressing, and strong female characters. Princess Knight is the story of Princess Sapphire, who was born with both a boy and girl's hearts (sounds weird, but this anime), who fights crime and injustice in a male persona and guise. Other shojo that have been influenced by the Revue have been Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena , which I have previously bl
Shojo Anime History Part 3: 90s - Present
Shojo anime continued its experimentation with genre styles and playing with gender conventions throughout the 90s and into the present day. Budgets for shows increased, and new creators got bolder and bolder with depictions of sexuality, upending gender norms and female protagonists increased exponentially. Several series debuted in the 90s, specifically Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. These two series often get compared to one another, but I feature them here in order to not only contrast them, but to show the diversity that just exploded in the 90s. I picked these two series to highlight, because I consider them, not only to be most stereotypical of 90s shojo, most iconic and popular, but also among the most radical. Sailor Moon features a cast of teenage girl super heroes, specifically in the magical girl trope, that protect the world from alien and demonic invaders. Their villains are female, who very often have male subordinates. Sailor Moon's love inte
Shojo Anime History Part 2: The Seventies and Eighties
Picking up from last post, we will be taking a look at shojo anime from the 1970s and 80s. The anime of the 60s was awash in what I've been referring to 60s chauvinism, a type of age-old sexism that one can find in a plethora of media from that period and before. The archetypes were standard; male lead, often supported by other male protagonists, male antagonists and male-driven storylines. Women and girls were confined to playing minor, inconsequential roles, or served as waifish supporting cast members or love interests to the male protagonist. Society was undergoing rapind changes in the 1970s, and the feminist movement was exploding in both influence and popularity. This was the Age of Aquarius, and the Pill. Japan was experiencing a wave of feminist thought, and this was reflected in anime. This quote from Gender, Race and Class in Media sums up the zeitgeist of feminism in the 70s pretty perfectly, "Female scholars and writers embraced this agenda (feminist
Shojo Anime History Part 1: Focus on the Early to Mid 1960s
Anime, or Japanese animation has become ubiquitous in the West, and in other parts of the world outside of Japan. Japanese animation has been created since the early 1900s, first in more primitive forms, but then in rapidly increasing sophistication. Japan quickly became the leader, next to the United States in terms of animation output and quality. In the 1960s, the Japanese animation studio system allowed anime to be produced on a much larger scale, comparable to American studios. The 1960s saw anime not only exploding in Japanese popularity, but international popularity, as well. Programs such as Astro Boy, Gigantor, and Speed Racer, also known by their Japanese names of Tetsuwan Atom, Tetsujin-28 and Mach GoGoGo) were staple viewing for millions of American and Japanese children, teens and adults alike. These shows could be classified as shonen, or "boy", "youth", lending some ambiguity to the "gender" of the word. These shows could be s