Mahō Shōjo: Lauren Moss

Image copyright Alison Boyd Rasmussen

Shojo spa(w)ns infinitely.

As such a ubiquitous and sprawling behemoth of genre, that is to be expected. You name it, a pretty girl can sell it. While I've had the chance to talk about the economic and narrative impact of shojo, I haven't yet explored the way it impacts free time and hobbies.

This leads me to the topic of ball-jointed dolls. Doll collectors in the West focus largely on Barbie, or fragile babies in ageing muslin; the BJD is a different beast entirely, with "exaggerated features inspired by Japanese animation" (Holton, 2004, Time Magazine)

It seems odd that the notion of a collector of antique dolls seems rather mundane, but a collector of new dolls might (to Western eyes) seem somehow abnormal. BJD collection is a hobby which offers a means to explore art and fashion photography, through these anime characters brought to reality if not to life.

Anime and manga have reflected back these objects which first reflected them. The seinen series Rozen Maiden (2002-2008 in Monthly Comic Birz, then 2009-2014 in Weekly Young Jump) by Peach Pit focuses heavily on BJD's. It can be summarily described as The Hunger Games as fought by seven magical sentient dolls in frilly dresses. Interestingly, the main character, Jun, is suffering from that most Japanese of maladies, hikikomori. I am currently reading the seminal work on the subject, Saito Tamaki's Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End with the hope that it will inform my future work.

In Rozen Maiden, the dolls must form a contract with a human master in order to generate the strength to fight one another, a clear reflection of the way in which real doll collectors project narrative, meaning, and identity onto their dolls.

This notion of contract really caught my eye, because it is also present in another series I have previously written on, Maho Shojo: Madoka Magica. The thing I find suspect is the fact that Rozen Maiden is largely aimed at older male teenagers, and the action packed Madoka is far more open to a male audience. Is it possible that where a maho shojo is present for a male audience, she must be limited and tied to contract, even source her own power and agency in a legal tie with a male character? More correlations between a maho shojo contract trope and shonen or seinen manga would have to be identified to drawn any solid conclusions, but it still beckons with possibility.

Rozen Maiden certainly invites a literal objectification of it's female characters, in a way one rarely sees in BJD photo galleries. The notion of having power and control over the doll as a "Master" is not necessitated by the reality of the hobby. Patrick W. Galbraith wrote a compelling and detailed article on dolls more widely in Japan, and interviewed one "wet user" (one who makes an emotional investment in their dolls, as oppposed to a "dry user") BJD owner, "“People can’t hear my friends [dolls] because they don’t believe,” says Mai, a 23-year-old college student from Hiroshima who has been talking to dolls since she was a child. “You can’t approach them like objects.” (Galbraith, 2008, Japan Today, emphasis mine). Another example is author and blogger Alison Boyd Rasmussen, who offers an anthropomorphising reading of one of her dolls, named "Selfie Desotto". Rasmussen writes blog posts from Selfie's perspective, for example a piece titled "Me and My Doll", complete with this charmingly meta photograph.

Image copyright Alison Boyd Rasmussen

From the second arc of Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon, mangaka Naoko Takuchi set out in no uncertain terms precisely what the future held for Usagi. Spoiler alert, Usagi and Mamoru marry, they and the other senshi do not age, and found a futuristic utopia over which Usagi rules as Neo Queen Serenity, Mamoru becomes King Endymion, and they have a daughter named Small Lady Usagi Serenity (Chibiusa). A group of rebels named Black Moon mess around with time travel, and you have the Black Moon arc of the manga, or second half of the R season of the anime (or second half of Sailor Moon Crystal season one).

The issue with this which is somewhat concerning and frequently goes overlooked is the fact that this utopia is a monarchy, and a global empire to boot. Neo Queen Serenity is depicted as having godlike power over the universe itself,

Neo Queen Serenity with Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon
Naoko Takeuchi, 1994, Nakayoshi.
Reproduced at http://mangastyle.net/sailormoon-artbook-vol-02/

In the DiC dub of the 90's anime, the word ginzuisho, the jewel which is the embodiment and source of Usagi's power is translated as "Imperium Silver Crystal" and "Imperial Silver Crystal", although a better translation would be "Legendary Silver Crystal", or "Phantom Silver Crystal", implying it's fantastic, unnatainable nature. But I feel that DiC unintentionally hit the nail on the head. The word "Imperium" means "ultimate power", and that is essentially correct, and also implies the notion of the Empire.

The ten senshi are not just pretty maho shojo a la Sally the Witch, but truly senshi, they are soldiers, a military group. In the final arc of the manga, Sailor Moon and Galaxia effectively go to war with one another, over Galaxia's desire to control the entire galaxy. The fact that Sailor Moon succeeds with the power of love is neither here nor there from an objective military standpoint.

The point where this becomes a rather troubling point is when exploring Japanese history. The Japanese Empire was a force of colonialism, and this older, nationalistic perspective invites all manner of racist perspectives, as well as factoring into Japan's startlingly low immigration rates. Brian Bremner recently explored the imperial hangover which is hindering Japan in "Japan's Incredible Shrinking Empire" for Bloomberg Business, particularly focussing on Japan's need for foreign investment. Bremner also mentions an extremely (and rightly so) controversial manga titled Kenkanryu, which loosely translates to "Anti-Korea Wave". Extremely racist right wing conservatism knows no racial boundaries I suppose. I would love to learn more about this text but suspect that spending more than five minutes doing so would be incredibly unpleasant and akin to spending the day at an English Defence League rally.

Naoko Takeuchi has very rarely been interviewed on her work, and of the sparse materials I have been able to view, there is nothing regarding her personal political leanings, so it seems unfair to assume either deliberate or subconscious imperialist attitudes. It's also an issue that I can't access work by Japanese political commentators and historians, due of course to the language barrier. My research is from quite a definite Western perspective, see for example the rather deliberately titled "Why Japan Is Still Not Sorry Enough", by Kirk Spitzer for TIME Magazine back in 2012. To cite the most unreliable of sources, Wikipedia, their article on Japanese war crimes lists a pretty stark collection of accusations.

Wikipedia, 21/09/15

All the context aside, Neo Crystal Tokyo under the rule of Neo Queen Serenity need not be such a stark prospect. It is, of course, "Neo". Usagi rebuilds what remained of the old world, the Silver Millenium, the tragic past of the senshi's former lives, which ended in bloody conflict between the Earth and Moon. Perhaps the Earth and Moon are allegorical, in place of Japan and the rest of the world.

In her marriage to Mamoru, this conflict is negated, and Neo Crystal Tokyo, and the heir to the title of Sailor Moon, Chibiusa, comes from their union. Perhaps in fact, Neo Crystal Tokyo is about NOT repeating the mistakes of Imperial past, but the reality of the place is so obscure within the narrative, that it leaves fans to speculate on just how benevolent Neo Queen Serenity's rule really is.

This notion of Neo Crystal Tokyo as post-colonial speculation could be an extremely exciting direction in which to take my research, and I certainly have a great deal more contextual reading to explore.

Hatsune Miku is a character who appears and reappears in online communities of otaku, but she was not originally associated with any manga or anime. Instead she began life as a promotional mascot. Given the ubiquitous nature of manga/anime in Japanese pop culture, it is little wonder that products and brands frequently use moe girls to sell anything and everything.

Hatsune Miku was developed by Crypton Media, using Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 programmes. Effectively she is a vocal sample machine. Phonic sounds were recorded for Miku by voice actress Saki Fujita, and the Vocaloid programmes allow songwriters to string these sounds together and pitch them to make Miku sing. More recently, strides in holographic technology have been made which allow Miku to appear in concert with live bands. Following the success of Miku, other vocaloids were produced by Crypton Media, including twins named Kagamine Rin and Len, and Megurine Luka, all sampled from other voice actors.

There is something more than a little enchanting about this, once Western audiences recognise that Japan isn't trying to oust real singers from the marketplace and are instead enjoying a novelty. This novelty has been well-received that she has given her own US performances, as well as being a support act to Lady Gaga on her 2014 world tour. And far from frivolous novelty, these vocaloids might also offer exciting prospects to those with mutism. Voice synthesisers are a well-established technology, but the idea that these synthesisers could be made to allow their users to sing is just fantastic.

Hatsune Miku was by no means the first vocaloid ever made, but Crypton Media were the first to create a character to market theirs. The idea of using a cute anime girl to sell an otherwise obscure add-on to a piece of music software is genius, but surprisingly, Crypton Media put little effort into establishing her as part of a pantheon of anime characters, instead relying on audience participation to pull together fanon on her identity, beyond her physical traits and singing ability.

John Whitter Treat suggested that “The aidoru’s [idol’s] appeal […] is that interchangeability and disposability – that “commodification” that makes the shōjo affiliate with the signifying processes of Japanese consumer capitalism” (p.364). Miku embodies that disposability immpecably; she is not just commodified, she was invented as merchandise. Her existance is secondary to sales figures. Where anime featuring shōjo are usually produced, then products are sold in response to market demand, Miku as a shōjo was produced to create a demand. Crypton Media have bragged that over 100,000 unique songs have been written using Hatsune Miku.

One song associated with Miku which I find particularly fascinating is "Hatsune Miku no Shōshitsu - DEAD END -", or "The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku - DEAD END -", produced by cosMo.

This song in particular is fascinating in as much as the lyrics explore the idea of Miku becoming self-aware, and experiencing a fatal error.

Shinjita mono wa

Tsugou no ii mousou wo kurikaeshi utsushidasu kagami

My beliefs are just a mirror

Reflecting my recurring delusions of a perfect world

Utahime wo yame tatakitsukeru you ni sakebu...

I'll end my life as a diva, and scream as if in pain...

Saikousoku no wakare no uta

A Farewell Song At Top Speeds

(http://www.animelyrics.com/doujin/vocaloid/mikushoushitsu.htm)

At this point, the song flaunts Miku's technical abilities, with speed-singing peaking at around 240bpm, reminding us that we are listening to a computer programme. As she continues to rush and fight through her song, she physically struggles, first falling to the floor, then fading into static. As she repeats the words "Shinkoku na ERAA ga hassei shimashita", or "a critical error has occurred", the crowd goes wild.

The reference to recurred mirroring really fascinates me from a theoretical standpoint. Miku has indeed repeatedly been brought into a perfect world where she sings 100,000 different songs, completely flawlessly. But she is an idol with no real background. She is all things to all people. She refers to herself as "a toy that counterfeits songs", which is now in "the garbage bin". This is a song which questions why we are drawn to an Idol who is inherently unreal, performative and totally disposable. Moreover, in live performance, the audience cheers her romantic demise. The fiction of Miku is a fascinating look into the Idol system and the way the shōjo is used as the ultimate signifier.

Kei Garo, the manga artist tasked by Crypton Media has since produced a volume of manga titled Hatsune Miku: Unofficial Hatsune Mix, which provides Miku with a narrative, which I hope to acquire and write on in the future, and I plan to explore the link between anime and advertising in greater depth in the future, when I rewatch and analyse Wish Upon the Pleiades, Until then, I would recommend this post by thejamoe on the use of anime in the Japanese automotive industry (Hatsune Miku has also been used to promote motor cycling).

So on the 2nd of July, 2015, I was awarded my bachelors degree, English Literature and Creative Writing (joint honours), 1st Class.

I really hope that this will be the first of a few higher level qualifications, and I dream of a day when I can fill in forms for online shopping with "Dr" instead of "Miss" (can you do that if you're not a science/medical type doctor? Hm. Also, what kind of qualification is the title "Professor" associated with? So many questions.)

I don't want to say that getting such a high mark (it was an easy 1st, let's put it that way), was straightforward or easy, but it felt right, and all of the work felt natural. The end products, my essays and dissertation, all made me very proud. Grade or no grade, it's the writing that matters to me at the end of the day.

That's why this blog is here. To keep me accountable and keep that work coming.

Unrelated news, I had a big clear out of my books they other day, and my manga has it's own dedicated shelf now. I even bought volume one of CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura to celebrate! I've also been pricing up copies of the various Puella Magi Madoka Magica series', and I'm pretty interested in looking at Tarte Magica - I love when mangaka lift elements of Western history, you get some really original work.

Not one post into my new mahō shōjo blog and I’m already technically off-topic! Ah well.

This week I’ve been fascinated with watching playthroughs of an indie game simply titled “Yandere Simulator”, which, at a glance, might be a Dating Sim, in which you play a generic protagonist, tasked with choosing and romancing one of a number of love interests. It’s effectively a choose your own adventure game, and can demand other gameplay elements with the story, or simply be a Visual Novel.

But "Yandere Simulator" is a tad different. The word yandere roughly means 'a girl so in love, she'd kill for him'. In "Yandere Simulator" you play a teenage girl who must dispatch each and every one of her romantic rivals, by any means necessary, in order to have a chance with her beloved senpai.

There are a few things to note before analysing YanSim too hard, the first being that the game is still in its pre-Alpha infancy. The second fact is that YandereDev is American, not Japanese. So while YanSim emulates the look and feel of a slice-of-life anime, it is doing just that, emulating. YanSim is hardly the first story which subverts the sunny feel of the slice-of-life genre, but it is probably the first where just one American man is at the helm.

This is already a disconcerting fact from an objective standpoint, at least as far as panties are concerned. Yes, panties make up not one but TWO game mechanics. The first is panty customisation - choosing special underwear for Yandere-chan, to give unique stat boosts, the second is... well... Panty shots. Ah yes, everyone's favourite voyeuristic anime and manga trope. Let's get a good look up at them shimapan baby.

These covert photos of fellow pupils are exchanged for favours from 'Info-chan', who... I don't know what she does with them, but she clearly profits by them, and these photos are not anonymous. YandereDev has explicitly stated that he does NOT consider this core gameplay mechanic to be at all sexual, after YouTube pulled a video demonstrating the Panty Shot mechanic for "nudity or sexual content". In the description of his video response he says "I think that panty shots are a silly, funny anime cliche. YouTube disagrees."

I think I disagree too, but just as well that these NPC's will probably be killed by Yandere-chan before this revenge porn starts to circulate. Silly anime cliche, sure, but when you snap an upskirt before shanking a girl, it goes from ambiguously funny to outright misogynist attack.

Effectively this is a narrative of shōjo on shōjo predation, where male attention is the prize, which is, well, a worry, but admittedly not all that remarkable in the grand scheme of comparable anime.

YandereDev has stated that the game is currently only 5% complete, given the fact that he is a freelance programmer on a day-to-day basis, and only time will tell if the progress of each update will bring more depth and fewer jailbait butts to this shōjo slasher. I fully intend to play every version of this game until it's final release, and hope to be able to support YandereDev via Patreon.

To download or learn more about Yandere Simulator, visit https://yanderedev.wordpress.com/

I'm Lauren Moss, and I was just an ordinary sixth former, until I met a magical creature named SFE, and signed a contract to become a Magical Student! That was three years ago, and I'm not exactly a shōjo anymore, but certainly not ready to grow up and give up my powers! I don't have SFE looking out for me anymore, but I'm going to do my best to defeat the yōma named 'MA' - wish me luck!

Forgive the indulgent silliness, I'm currently engaged in researching the mahō shōjo subgenre of Japanese manga and anime, and it only seems right that I kick this blog off in fitting style! This year I graduate from York St John University with a Bachelors in English Literature and Creative Writing (joint honours), and will (touch wood) begin my Masters study in English Literature at the same institution.

When I was eight or nine, the only TV show I really wanted to watch was Sailor Moon (specifically the English dub produced by DiC), and, as it was only repeated on Fox Kids at about eight o'clock on Saturday mornings, I actually tried to persuade my mother to let me quit ballet as it clashed with Sailor Moon. I was dead serious.

And although the magical girl subgenre as a whole can seem very silly indeed, it's standing within the Japanese media is very important indeed. Shōjo in general is a driving force behind Japanese consumerism, Hello Kitty being a go to example. Pretty girls in pretty clothes are absolutely ubiquitous to Japanese popular media, and, unsurprisingly, giving those girls some magical powers has led to some of the most dynamic and fascinating texts I have personally ever explored.

So, please enjoy some more indulgent silliness, with more glitter, bows, and frills than you've ever seen in one place.