Lady Otaku

The Oracle is the largest English information center online, (perhaps the largest ever). The site offers complete details about the manga, anime, PGSM, and Sera Myu). There are detailed character profiles, setting explorations, inventory list of important items that appear, mythology related to the series, information about the voice actors, interviews, etc. There are also details about the series adaptation around the world, including a chart of the main characters names and their changed name in each country. The site also has multimedia and entertainment related to Sailor Moon.

This site is your one stop shop for everything you ever wanted to know about Sailor Moon. The site is owned by Betty Ann Anderson was created for nonprofit sharing of information around 2002. The contribution page list the many wonderful volunteers that aided her. Unfortunately, the site has not been updated since 2009. It is still a valuable wealth of information for any otaku.

In March 2011 Kodansha announced that the beloved global phenomenon Sailor Moon will return to the US this Fall. The reprinted manga will appear in 12 revamped volumes that will contain bonus material from Naoko Takeuchi!

The prequel to Sailor Moon, Codename: Sailor V!, will also be in print for the first time in English!

It has been six years since the original North American English manga release. Sailor Moon has captured the hearts of girls worldwide, of all ages. It has continued to grow in popularity, despite it being out of print in many countries. Sailor Moon is credited with opening the door for manga to grow into the global market it is today in addition to launching the mainstream success of the shojo genre outside of Japan. You can expect several Sailor Moon related updates as we count down to this thrilling release!

Source:
Kodansha USA to Publish Sailor V, Sailor Moon Manga

Outside Links

• The Oracle: The Ultimate Sailor Moon Resource
• SMFanfiction.net: The largest archive of Sailor Moon Fanfiction Online
• Forbidden Sentiments: An adult Sailor Moon Fanfiction Archive that accepts Hentai, Yuri, and Yaoi

Chobits by Clamp is a Japanese manga containing eight graphic novels featuring a robot who searches for true love. This legendary robot that is said to have the capacity for real human emotions is nicknamed Chobits. The series further expounds our questions on what it means to be human, and can A.I. be real enough to become human? Where does the line between us and them blur? What are the implications of creating machines in our likeness? Are we playing God? What are the consequences? Can real women compete against A.I. women? All these questions and more are explored within the eight graphic novels.

Within the series robots are called persocoms: computers in the shape of persons. They were all created by one man who dies before the series takes place. When his wife is asked why they weren’t called robots, she states “MY HUSBAND DIDN’T WANT THEM TO BE BOUND BY THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS” (vol.8, 127) [1]. The majority of them all female, only two male perocoms being seen in the eight volume series. Many of the real women throughout the series complain about being unable to compete with the female persocoms as men prefer to have sexual relations or even marry persocoms.

Plot

A country boy named Hideki goes into Tokyo to attend a cram school that will help him pass the college entrance exams. While leaving work one night he finds a persocom abandoned in the trash. He takes her home and turns her on. She awakens only being able to say Chi, and thus Hideki names her Chi. Knowing nothing about persocoms, Hideki has his friends look into her only to discover that she is running without a visible operating system. Whatever software she is running on is hidden behind layers of protection that fry any persocom that tries to gain access. Hideki must teach her everything. She learns rapidly through observations, including reading Hideki’s porn collection. Hideki constantly has to remind himself that she is a persocom, A.I., and not human. Even though she is A.I. he feels guilty about any sexual thought he has about her, and is determined to treat her with the upmost respect.

As the series progresses it becomes clear that Chi is no ordinary persocom. Hideki and his friends theorize that she maybe an urban legend, a Chobit. Chobits are rumored to have the capacity for genuine emotions just like their human counterparts. Through Chi’s point of view the reader learns that she is seeking to find her “someone just for her”, or true love. She is searching for someone who will genuinely love her and not just want her sexually. She begins to fall in love with Hideki as he falls in love with her. The catch is she cannot have intercourse with anyone. Her on switch is located within her vagina. Consequently, should she be rebooted she will awaken with no memories.

The creator of the persocoms wished that his creations could find happiness among the humans they served and not be merely instruments of the human will. He created Chi with a program that would erase all persocoms individual recognition programs so they could not differentiate any one person or persocome from another, could not form bonds such as love with anyone, and thus could not be hurt by unrequited love.

The series plot explores gender dynamics through man and machine by exploring persocom human relationships. In addition to Chi and Hideki’s relationship we learn of a man who married his persocom, a woman whose husband abandoned her for his persocom, and two persocoms who fell in love with each other. The female persocoms adhere to the different cultural ideals of beauty in addition to doing whatever they are programmed for. They never get a headache, never tell you no. How can a woman compete? What is a real woman’s place in a world full of “superior” artificial women?

Main Characters

• Chi: A persocom in the shape of a 16-year-old girl. She is programmed to love. She is on a mission to find that “someone just for her” otherwise known as true love. If her love is unrequited, she is programmed to remove all individual recognition programs from every persocom worldwide to prevent them from feeling the same pain. A legendary Chobit.
• Hideki Motosuwa: A 19-year-old virigin who failed to get into college. He moved into Tokyo from the countryside in order to attend a cram school to help him past the next college entrance exam. He finds Chi abandoned in the trash and takes her in. He falls in love with her.
• Freya: Chi’s older sister, a persocom. She fell in love with their father in an inappropriate way that was unrequited. The sorrow of a broken heart caused her body to shut down. Chi took in her memories within herself to preserve her. Freya and Chi are identical. Freya frequently speaks to Chi internally as she tries to prepare Chi for possible rejection by Hideki. She is always depicted wearing black while Chi beside her is depicted in white. A legendary Chobit.
• Zima: A government persocom who serves as the national database. He wishes that Chi would succeed in her quest for true love. He is love with the persocom Dita.
• Dita: A government persocom programmed to for data protection. In other words, her purpose is to protect the national database (Zima). In this twist of gender roles the female must protect the male. She wants to stop Chi in order to protect Zima and because the government wants her stopped. She is in love with the persocom Zima.

Themes and Motifs

• Love: The underlying theme of the series is true love. Chi must search for it, hope it is returned and be prepared for the consequences if it is not. She searches for a man who will love her for who she is, and not just for sexual pursuits. A modern day fairytale of idealized love.
• A.I. as Living: The series deals with the questions of can A.I. become human? When do the lines between A.I. and human blur? Do robots have rights because the existence and are intelligent? Or are they to be treated with the level of respect given to mindless animals? The series proposes that A.I. can be enough like us for us to marry them and form other deep bonds beyond objectification.
• Abstinence: The series promotes abstinence through the main couple and protagonist Hideki and Chi. Hideki is a 19-year-old virgin who chooses to loyally love Chi even though they can never consummate their relationship. The series depicts this pure love beyond the physical as ideal.

Symbolism

• Lolita: Chi is constantly dressed in Lolita fashion. Japan fashion contains girl like dresses with lots of ruffles and lace in soft colors. Lolita comes from the novel of the same name where a adolescent girl seduces a grown man. She is pictured as a sexual object that tempts the male characters and readers. This is contradictory to the fact that she cannot consummate love through intercourse without having her memories and personality erased. She is desired but unattainable. Her twin sister, Freya, is depicted in Gothic Lolita fashion as if depicting her in black shows mourning for her unrequited love.
• A City with No People: A City with No People is a novel within the series that is ultimately written about Chi and Hideki, authored by the wife of Chi’s deceased creator. The book depicts a persocom in the shape of a rabbit who is searching for their “someone just for me” [2]. These books guide Chi through her quest to find true love and the possible consequences of unrequited love.

References

• [2] CLAMP. Chobits. Vol. 1. New York: TokyoPOP, 2002. Print.
• [1] —. Chobits. Vol. 8. New York: TokyoPOP, 2003. Print.

Other Links / Resources

• ANN Chobits Summary
• Anime Chobits (Fansite)
• IMDB: Chobits

*Note: This was original created by me and first published on The Fantastic Wiki as an assignment for a past graduate course.

CLAMP is a group of all female manga artist. Such groups are called mangaka. Manga is a form of Japanese illustrative narrative similar to American comics, though different in style. The CLAMP artist include Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi, Satsuki Igarashi, and Nanase Ohkawa. Nanase Ohkawa writes the majority of the stories and adaptations.

Once consisting of nearly a dozen members, they are now reduced to four. Over the years the artist have used different pen names in the credits for the group name CLAMP. “In 1989, CLAMP debuted with its first commercial manga title, Seiden – RG Veda” (Chang). CLAMP the most popular global mangaka (Chang). Due to unwanted attention from overzealous fans, these women refrain from public appearances (Chang).

An interview on the Anime News Network states that “MC (Jo-Jo, Founder, Shuffle Alliance): CLAMP has been famous for over 16 years, from doujinshi to commercial work, with over 100 volumes of manga and over 100 million books sold” (Chang).

Four Constant Members

• Ageha Ohkawa (aka Nanase Ohkawa): writer, group & business leader
• Mokona (aka Apapa Mokona) : chief artist, character designer, difficult background art
• Tsubaki Nekoi (aka Mick Nekoi): secondary artist, toner and touch-up artist
• Satsuki Igarashi: assistant artist, layout artist

The later three take turns, changing roles for various series.

Note: Roles taken from Anime News Network (Chang) and (“CLAMP”).

• Mokona Apapa
• Satsuki Igarashi
• Mick Nekoi
• Nanase Ohkawa
• Akiyama Tamayo Sei Nanao
• Leeza Sei
• Soushi Hisagi
• Kazue Nakamori
• Shinya Ohmi O-Kyon

Titles

Note: This list is only a small list. Their volumes are too numerous to list all.

• Angelic Layers
• Cardcaptor Sakura
• Chobits
• Clover
• Duklyon: Clamp School Detectives
• Kobato
• Legal Drug
• The Legend of Chun Hyang
• Man of Many Faces
• Magic Knight Rayearth
• Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
• Okimono Kimono
• The One I Love
• RG Veda
• Suki
• Tokyo Bablyon
• Tsubasa
• Wish
• X
• xxxHOLiC

References

• Chang, Chih-Chieh. “Interview with Ageha Ohkawa and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.” animenewsnetwork.com. Anime News Network, 2 March 2006. Web. 14 December 2010. Direct Link
• “CLAMP.” Animenewsnetwork.com Anime News Network, n.d. Web. 14 December 2010. Direct Link

*Note: This was original created by me and first published on The Fantastic Wiki as an assignment for a past graduate course.

Updates and site makeover coming this summer! Sorry for my long hiatus, I’ve been undergoing a difficult divorce and several other family emergencies. I have lots of content to post and upload this summer, so please check back! Thank you for your patience.

Feminist Under Glass: Power and Agency within CLAMP’s Chobits by Rachel Cantrell

Chobits by CLAMP is a ground breaking Japanese manga (comic) that serves as a hybrid of the shojo (girl) and shonen (boy) genres. The female protagonist (robot), Chi, meets the majority of the core shojo conventions. The story places Chi, as a personification of the shojo genre, firmly under the patriarchal institution of the shonen genre as represented in the male protagonist, Hideki, and in Chi’s creator. On the surface, Chi appears to be shojo contained by the patriarchal power structure. On closer inspection Chi’s actions and inner thoughts reveal that she moves with her own agency through the partirachal power structure of the novel, thus creating a text rich for gender analysis in terms power and agency within a hybrid genre. I propose to analyze how Chi subverts the patriarchal power structure through her own agency as she simultaneously places herself within the control of patriarchal power when she chooses to stay in a relationship with Hideki. The intricate dynamics within this hybrid genre serves as a new dialogue that challenges the conventions of both genres which themselves are gender based. The CLAMP mangaka group has a reputation for such innovative work.

“Feminist Under Glass: Power and Agency within CLAMP’s Chobits.” PCA/ACA 2011 Conference. Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association. Marriott Rivercenter hotel, San Antonio, TX. 22 April 2011. Conference Presentation.

I will be presenting my paper “Damsel to the Rescue: Gender Roles within Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket” at 2010 American Studies Association of Texas Conference in Commerce, TX. The conference will be held November 4 through 6. As of yet, I don’t know when I’ll be presenting. I shall update you on that as soon as I know.

Here is my abstract:

Damsel to the Rescue: Gender Roles within Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket
by Rachel N. Cantrell

Within “Damsel in Distress” I examine the Japanese society gender role conventions that are followed with Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket series, contrasting them with the gender conventions that are broken. Fruits Basket is a Japanese manga series consisting of 23 graphic novels. Of these I will closely examine three, analyzing both the text and the illustrations.

Fruits Basket is popular worldwide where in the US “…Vol. 16 [has] reached #15 on the USA Today Bestselling Books Top 150, the highest position ever achieved by a manga…” (Fruits Basket).  The first edition of the first volume of the graphic novel hit the US in 2004 while the final volume (23) was released on July 6, 2009. It continues to endure in popularity among adolescents and adults alike as it is currently being reprinted in “ultimate” editions in which each edition contains two of the graphic novels.

The female protagonist Tohru Hona serves the typical female gender roles of homemaker in the sense of keeping the home, cooking family meals, and providing emotional support to the family. The only thing is, it’s not for her family. She is an orphan living with a group of men whom she is not related to. In that way she meets gender roles while at the same time violating them. She lives with two of her classmates and their guardian: Yuki and Kyo Sohma. Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo form a love triangle as the two boys fall in love with her and fight for her affection.

To add an interesting twist, the Sohma family is under a curse. Certain members of the family are possessed by animals of the Chinese zodiac. When they are hugged by members of the opposite sex, they are transformed into their zodiac animal for a short time. Yuki turns into a rat while Kyo turns into a cat. This prevents anything unchaste from happening between Tohru and the boys while providing comic relief to a heavy drama story.

Yuki fulfills the Japanese boy role of being a good student and a good standing member of society, while at the same time being a bad son. He ran away from his parents to find sanctuary with Shigure because his parents were allowing him to be physically abused by Akito, the head of the Sohma family. Kyo is an outcast among the family because he is the cursed of the cursed: the cat. He is rejected by his father and raised by another member of the Sohma family whose grandfather was possessed by the same cursed cat spirit. At first Kyo plans on obeying the tradition of the cat being locked up for the rest of his life after reaching adult hood, but decides to rebel because of his love for Tohru and his wish to have a life with her once he realizes that she returns his love. Her love for the Sohma family helps break the Zodiac curse. Afterwards, they are come to fulfill the gender conventions expected of them as they continue on to their happily ever after.

Statistic Cited:  “‘Fruits Basket’ Tally Over 18 Million.” ICv2. ICv2, Subsidiary of GCO, LLC, 08 May 2007. Web. 12 May 2010.

Cross posted on Weird Girl.

The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan by Patrick W. Galbraith (Review)

The Otaku Encyclopedia is an amazing guide to otaku subculture.  It has everything laid out in an alphabetical fashion and includes interviews with people like J-pop idol Shoko Nakagawa. The book includes over 600 entries that you’ll sure to learn much from. The book covers the beginnings of the otaku subculture in Japan to its evolving present day form. Did you know that in the beginning otaku’s were predominately male? A downside to this book is that fails to mentions today’s dominating female otaku force, especially in the realms of fandom online. The book acknowledges girls in cosplay and maid cafes, but that’s about it. That was a major point of contention for me. The books also contains typos and some entries seem to be copied and pasted in different parts of the book. Although not perfect, it still worthy of any otaku’s book collection.

Hi everyone! I have decided to add a suggestion box form so you can email me with your questions about anime and manga. You can ask a question about anything related to anime and  manga, and I will do my best to answer it. You can find the suggestion box link under pages on the right side menu.
Is there something you want reviewed? Do you have a suggestion for a how to article? Want to see graphics from a specific series? Just have questions about anime and manga in general? Maybe just a question about Japanese culture?

Send them my way and I’ll gratefully do my best to respond on the blog. Comments or questions are welcome. I am always looking for suggestions on what to post.

You can find the suggestion box link under pages on the right side menu.

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon,aka Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn by Naoko Takeuchi (review)

Sailor Moon became a magical girl phenomenon worldwide, that in turn inspired many more magical girl series.

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon is about a teenage school girl, Usagi Tsukino, who discovers that she is the reincarnation of the Princess from the Moon Kingdom which existed on the moon 10,000 years ago in what was called the Silver Millennium.  She becomes the legendary hero, Sailor Moon, guided by a black cat named Luna and reunites with her fellow senshi.  Bishōjo senshi means pretty soldier or warrior.  The other senshi are also reincarnated Princesses and warriors from their own respected planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Pluto. Usagi’s love interest is Her love interest is Mamoru Chiba who is the hero Tuxedo Mask and the reborn Prince Endymion. That is just the first season.

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi, first published in a magazine titled Nakayoshi in 1992, is a manga that heavily reflects many aspects of Japanese culture to the outside world.  Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon has a very successful publishing run:

At the end of 1995, thirteen paperback volumes compiled from the Sailor Moon series had sold nearly 1 million copies each; twenty volumes compiled from the animation series of Sailor Moon had sold around 300,000 each; and there were over ten types of  video games on the market, each having sold between 200,000 and 300,000. In five years, total revenues from character merchandising exceeded ¥300 billion. By the end  of 1995 the Sailor Moon manga books and the animation series had been exported to over twenty-three countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, most of Europe, and North America. A truly global market had been opened up. (Schodt 95)

The manga is the original story.  The Japanese anime followed quickly, and then came the North American dub anime.

The Japanese anime is divided into many seasons. There’s Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon, Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon R, Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon S, Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS, and Sailor StarS.  The manga is divided into Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS, and Sailor StarS. The first half of Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon R was never part of the manga story line, but added to the anime while Takeuchi was continuing work on the manga.  The part created exclusively for the anime is the story of Ann and Ail.  The Dark Moon Clan which appears in Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon R is part of the manga.

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon is about a teenage school girl, Usagi Tsukino, who discovers that she is the reincarnation of the Princess from the Moon Kingdom which existed on the moon 10,000 years ago in what was called the Silver Millennium.  She becomes the legendary hero, Sailor Moon, guided by a black cat named Luna and reunites with her fellow senshi.  Bishōjo senshi means pretty soldier or warrior.  The other senshi are also reincarnated Princesses and warriors from their own respected planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Pluto.

Related Websites

• Forbidden Sentiments
  A mature Sailor Moon fanfiction archive that accepts hentai (adult) fanfiction. It’s a subsite of Lady-Otaku.net.
• Manga Style
  This site is a gallery full of scans from all the Sailor Moon artbooks. Images are high quality.
• Moon Prism
  The approved Sailor Moon anime and manga fanlisting.
• Moon Sticks
  A fansite producing weekly Sailor Moon comic strips.
• The Oracle
  An online Sailor Moon encyclopedia. It’s everything you ever wanted to know and then some.
• PrincessSerenity.net
  This site has recently had a huge overhaul, making it a Sailor Moon social site in addition to a great resource for Sailor Moon images and media. There is also a great forum. This great site has been online for 10 years.
• Sailor Music
  An archive of music from the anime and live action series. The music is available in multiple formats.
• Serenitatis
  An Usagi and Mamoru image gallery that has been online since September 2007.
• SmFanfiction.net
  The largest Sailor Moon fanfiction archive still online today. I myself am an author under the pen name Sailor Draco. I also serve as part of the editing staff known as the SMFFQCC. It’s a subsite of PrincessSerenity.net.

For Further Reading

• Allison, Anne. “A Challenge to Hollywood? Japanese Character Goods Hit the US.” Japanese Studies 20.1 (2000): 67.
• —. “The Japan Fad in Global Youth Culture and Millennial Capitalism.” Mechademia 1 (2006): 11-21.
• Benezra, Karen and Jamie Hogan. “Toy Unfair.” Brandweek 36.7 (2 February 1995): 20.
• Cameron, Amy. “From Maggie Muggins to Mambo matriarch.” Maclean’s 116.7 (2003): 45.
• Considine, J.D. “TELEVISION/RADIO; Making Anime A Little Safer For Americans.” New York Times 1 January 2002: 33.
• Cornog, Martha and Timothy Perper. “Non-Western Sexuality Comes to the U.S.: A Crash Course in Manga and Anime for Sexologists.” Contemporary Sexuality 39.3 (2005): 1-6.
• —. “The Education of Desire : Futari etchi and the Globalization of Sexual Tolerance.” Mechademia 2 (2007): 201-214.
• “DIC, Bandai target girls market with show, products.” Brandweek 36.2 (9 January 1995): 5.
• Eisenstodt, Gale and Kerry Dolan. “Barbie gets ready to growl `hello Sailor’.” BRW 17.2 (23 January 1995): 68.
• —. “Watch Out, Barbie.” Forbes 115.1 (2 Jan. 1995): 58-60.
• “Girls in Cartoons: Japan’s Pioneers.” New York Times 24 September 2000: 4.
• K.T. “A matter of great imports.” Entertainment Weekly 13 October 1995: 89.
• McCormick, Moira. “`Sailor moon’ takes a shine to cross-rebates.” Billboard 108.10 (9 March 1996): 59.
• Neace, Melissa. “Reviews the book “Sailor moon,” by Naoko Takeuchi.” Library Media Connection 23.7 (2005): 53.
• “The next TV-to-toy phenom: Sailor Moon.” U.S. News & World Report 118.8 (27 Feb. 1995): 16.
• Pollack, Andrew. “Sega to Acquire Bandai, Creating Toy-Video Giant.” New York Times 24 January 1997: 1.
• Raugust, Karen. “DIC’s new independence refreshes company’s licensing efforts.” Animation Magazine 15.1 (2001): 17-18.
• Saperstein, Patricia. “Kids warm to new crop of Japanese toons.” Variety 377.9 (2000): N22.
• Silver, Marc. “Geared for Girls.” U.S. News &World Report 119.17 (30 Oct. 1995): 22.
• Spring, Gret. “`Sailor moon’ rises again in syndication.” Electronic Media 16.12 (17 March 1997): 6.
• Talbot, Margaret. “The Year in Ideas; Pokemon Hegemon.” New York Times Magazine 12 December 2002:112.
• Tomita, Shohei. “Real vs. not real: Children’s understanding of fantasy characters.” Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 13.2 (2002):122-135.
• Williams, Christine. “Review of ‘Millennial monsters: Japanese toys and the global imagination’.” American Journal of Sociology. 114.5 (2009):1562-1564.