I was browsing YouTube videos lately and stumbled upon a video by Jesse Cox. While quite a funny video, one of his lines that stood out to me was when he mentioned that there were “animu ladies” in the game and that he assumed they would be “in various states of dress” which was quickly proven true. The cliche that anime and manga are only about sexualizing female characters is irritating to me but, unfortunately, it is also very easy to for me to see how this stereotype is perpetuated.
Let’s start with why this is a common outlook both outside and within the otaku community. I recently wrote an article titled “Fan Service: Past, Present and Future“. In it, I detailed how prevalent fan service featuring females in provocative outfits, positions and situations have become in anime and manga. Much of this comes down to merchandising where figurines, body pillows, plushies etc have become a vital source of income to publishers.
It has not helped that plenty of recent anime shows feature strong sexual content within their premise. An easy example of late is “Interspecies Reviewers” an anime adaptation of a manga of the same name which features male characters visiting brothels containing various humanoid species and reviewing their sexual services. Regardless of your thoughts on the show, there is no doubt that the show has proved controversial and seen many services (in Japan and without) drop the series.
That is only one example of the many sexually charged anime and manga series that are created and released (of which there are plenty). The fact that these shows are so visible that many people make the mistake that they represent all of anime is, as far as I’m concerned, a major issue that will act as a hindering factor in the growth of anime/manga markets.
I, unfortunately, made this mistake quite a bit when I was first getting into anime/manga. In my effort to show how anime/manga was different to Western animation/comics, I, stupidly, focused people on the sexual side of these media in an effort to prove that they weren’t for children. What I have since realized was that I was actively discouraging other people from taking anime and manga seriously and perpetuating an unhealthy stereotype.
Instead, it is easy to forget that many of the greatest works of anime and manga eschew the need to titillate and, instead, focus on the development of engaging characters and stories with incredible themes and ideas. It is these that we should be encouraging people to view/read and hold up as the very best that the anime/manga mediums have to offer.
I always feel embarrassed when people immediately presume that anime/manga is all about sexualization. I know that anime and manga have far more to offer but it is easy to see how people develop that prejudice. In order for the anime/manga mediums to grow, we must raise awareness that anime and manga have far more to offer in storytelling and characterization. Let me know what you think about this stereotype, if you have had any awkward experiences with people because of it and what your ideas are for helping to correct this.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!