Blurring Boundaries

From Making to Breaking Categories

[Home]

[Lectures]

• Fearing Femininity
  • "They Were Eleven"
• Choosing Masculinity
  • "Rose of Versailles"
  • "Kakumei Shôjo Utena"
• Ideal Love
  • "They Were Eleven," "Rose of Versailles" and "Kakumei Shôjo Utena"
• "Ranma 1/2"
  • Tragedy to comedy
  • Normal Abnormal

  "They Were Eleven"

• Artist: Hagio Moto
  • Fabulous 49er
  • Poe no ichizoku and other classic works
• Sci-fi as social critique
  • What does Frol fear?
  • What does Frol want?
  • How do you interpret Frol's final choice?
  • What is the basis of Frol and Tada's relationship?

  Rose of Versailles

• Creator: Ikeda Riyoko
• Serialized 1972-73 in Margaret
• Commercial & critical success
  • Proved shôjo manga could sell
  • Used as supplement to history textbooks and purchased by school libraries
  • France boom
  • Takarazuka hit
  • TV animation series
• Overseas popularity

  Which one is the Rose of Versailles: Marie or Oscar?

  Rose With Thorns

• From the beginning, fans preferred Oscar over Marie
  • Fan clubs
  • Animation version foregrounds Oscar
• What is Oscar's appeal?

  Friends and Lovers

• Ideal Love I
  • Recognition and acceptance despite or because of imperfections
  • If (he) loves you, (he) will wait for you to grow strong
  • Relationship based on equality and sharing experiences
  • Homosociality and homosexuality

  "Kakumei Shôjo Utena"

• Original artist: Saito Chiho
• TV animation director: Ikuhara Kunihiko
  • Also known for work on "Sailor Moon"
• Genealogy:
  • Ribon no kishi
  • Rose of Versailles

  "Utena"

• Does Utena see masculinity and femininity as an either/or option?
• Whose "fault" are her eccentricities?
• Does she seem anguished?
• What does being a "prince" represent to Utena?

  Ideal Love II

• How does Utena relate to the other girls at school? The other boys?
• What kind of relationship between Utena and Anthy is suggested by the credits?

  Princely Lineage

• Compare and contrast "Rose" with "Utena" in terms of graphic as well as narratological representation of main protagonist
• Compare and contrast "Rose" with "Utena" in terms of depiction of key relationships
• Compare and contrast "Rose" with "Utena" in terms of concept of "revolution"

   

  Revolution to Carnival

• Urusei yatsura character of Fujinami Ryûnosuke
  • Genealogy: Tezuka's Ribon no kishi, Ikeda's Rose of Versailles
• Nature v. nurture?
• Takahashi's vision of "true" femininity?
• Happiness for Ryûnosuke?

  Ideal Love III: Ryûnosuke Meets Her Match

  "Ranma 1/2"

• Creator: Takahashi Rumiko
• Manga: 1987-1996 in Shônen Sunday
• Anime: 161 episodes from 1988-1992, 3 movies, numerous OVA

   

• European Fantasy: Parody
• The Secret to Elegance?
• "If it has battle in the title…"
• Feminine Wiles?

  To Discuss

• What does it mean to have so many, and such popular, representations of gender bending in Japanese popular culture?
  • Possibilities
  • Limits
• What are the "politics" of pop cultural texts that feature such figures? Are they inherently transgressive or can they also be conservative?