Archive for the Now This Is Only My Opinion Category


‘Utter Nonsense!’ 2013 edition

April 11th, 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve declared it to be ‘Utter Nonsense’ time here on Okazu, so…it’s “Utter Nonsense’ time!

What is “Utter Nonsense’ time, you ask? Well, it’s when you ask me questions about…life, love, blogging, anime, manga, Yuri, whatever. And I do my very best to answer you without lifting a finger to do research. ^_^ For previous Q&As, check out the Now This is Only My Opinion Category here on Okazu,. and take a look at the kinds of things people have asked previously.

There are a few rules:

1) I will not answer questions about “what is your favorite….” I find them difficult to answer, as I really don’t have favorites.

2) No A/B choice questions like “ham or cheese” or “Coke or Pepsi” questions, please.  They aren’t all that interesting for any of us and I can tell you honestly, the answer is almost always “neither of the two.”

3) If you want to ask me what I see as the future of Yuri or why I like Yuri, I beg you to read all the previous iterations of my answers to these questions. If you have a real question about Yuri that I have not previously addressed, bring it on!

4) Please, please, no questions that can be answered by 30 seconds of actually READING one of my reviews here. Also, asking me “what do you think of so-and-so anime/fandom” is not going to give you the external validation you crave nor will I rise to the bait of using it as a springboard to rant about a fandom, either. Don’t know if I’ve reviewed a thing you want to know about? Look to the right—->
See that empty box on the sidebar that says “Search Okazu”? Try that first.  ^_^

5) Lastly no “define the term” questions. The answers have been posted here: https://okazu.yuricon.com/glossary/.

Now, I realize that this makes it harder to ask me questions. But the harder you work at the questions, the harder I have to work at the answering, so it’s a fair deal. The funnier the question, the better chance of an amusing answer. ^_^

Please post your questions in the comments here and I’ll do my best to answer them meaningfully. I’m looking forward to your questions!





Okazu News: Okazu Post in Academic Online Journal

March 12th, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on Okazu about Maria-sama ga Miteru, Bodacious Space Pirates, The Bechdel Test and portrayals of women in anime that were genuinely strong (as opposed to the “strong woman” trope of body-suited chick with big gun). The article has now been published in an academic online journal on feminist studies, labrys. It’s been cleaned up so there is less presumption of knowledge of the series discussed for non-fan readers, so please feel free to share the link with media and feminist studies folks.

It’s a Woman’s World: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Bodacious Space Pirates, “strong women” and the Bechdel Test

It’s also been added to the Yuricon Essays page. If you’ve written something that belongs there, please let me know, we’re always looking for Yuri scholarship to add!

 

 

 

 





"Yuri Needs" List for 2013 / 2013の 「百合が必要」のリスト

February 18th, 2013

日本語で

Since I started this blog in 2002, we’ve come pretty far in Yuri.  There was a time when we had to be content with a tertiary character in a series with a probably tragic backstory, or a predatory lesbian implied with vague hints and innuendo.

Now, we’ve got 2 steady print Yuri anthologies, another in webcomic form, and various on-again, off-again anthology collections. Some of our best and most popular Yuri runs in mixed-gender “5th column” magazines, and as I look at my shelves, I’m very impressed at the quantity AND quality of Yuri manga these days.

Originally, I had added a fifth request to this list: “A Long-running Series.” And then my eye lit upon Aoi Hana, the 8th volume of which should be out soon. 8 volumes. So check off that one. We have a long-running Yuri series (with a lot of real-life lesbian issues in it.)

After some thought, here are the 4 things I’d like to see in Yuri in the near future. Yuri Needs:

4) Yuri Needs a Good Middle-aged/Senior Yuri Story: There are a few doujinshi stories with older or elderly characters and Fujieda-sensei included an older couple in Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan, but both readers and creators are going to hit a moment when we’d like to see someone like ourselves in the pages of Comic Yuri Hime. This year will be my 30th high school graduation. I’d like to see someone older than 16 now, thanks. ^_^

3) Yuri Needs a Non-ero, Non-childish Sci-fi/Fantasy Series: We’ve had sci-fi Yuri, of course, and fantasy Yuri, but remarkably none about not-children who do not have big breasts and/or have sex a lot. In early western lesbian fiction, sci-fi was a popular genre, but we just haven’t seen much in Yuri without tentacles or something else. Mouretsu Space Pirates was a good start. Now some of that with grown ups would be terrific, thanks.

2) Yuri Needs Decent Yuri Novels: This makes me weep with frustration. There are many good authors in the world. Where are you dragging these indifferent, mediocre-at-best novelists up from Ichijinsha and Tiara Bunko? A Yuri novel ought, at minimum, to be a novel, not a series of short stories, with two females who are in love with one another. I’m even okay if one is an alien or android or other non-human. Two women who share the pages of a book with not a single moment of attraction or affection does not a Yuri novel make.

1) Yuri Needs a Sports Yuri Series!!!

This is our number one need right now. Sports is the perfect hothouse for an intense love-rivalry and a genre in which there is very, very little Yuri. My suggestions for suitable sports: Gymnastics, swimming, tennis and my #1 suggestion – motocross/BMX.  Table tennis has been done, Volleyball or soccer would be acceptable as nods to early shoujo sport manga. But really, in honor of Haruka, Yuri Needs a Motocross or BMX series.

Dear Yuri creators, if you give me a Yuri sports manga this year, I’ll be your best friend forever. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Erica

***
わたしがこのブログを始めたのは2002年のことになるんですが、それから百合というジャンルも 発展を遂げてきたと思います。作品の中で脇役に過ぎなかったり、大抵は悲劇的な背景を 背負っているか、曖昧なヒントや皮肉でほのめかされる好色なレズビアン、といったキャラクターで 我慢しなくてはならない時代もありました。

それが今では、定期的に刊行されている百合アンソロジー誌は2種類存在していますし、 ウェブコミックの形で続いているものもひとつあります。さらに、現れては消え、また復活するようなアンソロジーも色々ありますよね。私達にとって最高の内容で、最も人気のあるような百合作品がいくつか、ジャンルを特定せず、読者層のジェンダーも混在しているような雑誌に掲載されていたりもします。あらためて本棚を見渡してみると、近年の百合漫画の量だけでなくその質にも、とても感動してしまいます。

当初は、以下のリストに5番目のリクエストとして、「長期連載されている作品」という項目を 加えていたんですけれど、第8巻がそろそろ刊行される筈の「青い花」に目が留まりました。 「8巻」ですよ。なので、既に長期連載されている百合作品がありますから(レズビアンにとっての現実生活における問題も、たくさん描かれていますし)、そのリクエストは外しておきました。

というわけで、これがちょっと考えてみた、これからの百合というジャンルで、わたしが見てみたいと思うもの4つのリストです。百合が必要とすべきなのは…。

4.「百合には中年や、年長者についての優れた作品が必要」
同人誌では、年長者あるいは高齢者を扱った作品がいくつかありますし、藤枝雅先生は 「飴色紅茶館歓談」に年齢の高いカップルを登場させていますよね。けれど読者も作り手もいずれ、「コミック百合姫」の誌上で、自分達自身と同じようなキャラクターに触れてみたいと思う時に、行き当たることになるでしょう。今年でわたしは高校を卒業してから20周年になるんですけど、今は16歳以上のキャラクターのお話を読んでみたいんですね (^_^)

3.「百合にはエッチ系ではなく、幼稚でもないSF/ファンタジー作品が必要」
もちろん百合を扱ったSF/ファンタジー作品というものは存在していますが、注目すべきなのは、 巨乳や性的要素を備えていない大人の女性を描いた作品は全くないということです。 欧米における初期のレズビアン・フィクションでは、SFはとても人気のあるジャンルでしたけれど、 現在の百合では、触手やそういったものが登場しない作品はあまりないですよね。「モーレツ宇宙海賊」はよいきっかけになったと思っていますし、今後は大人の女性を描いてくれるSF/ファンタジー百合作品が増えればいいと願っています。

2.「百合には良質の小説が必要」
この件については、欲求不満で泣きそうにもなります。世界にはたくさんの優れた作家がいますよね。でも、どうして一迅社やティアラ文庫では、平凡で、せいぜいが平均的レベルでしかない小説家達に百合小説を書かせているんでしょうか？　百合小説というものは最低でも、お互いに恋に落ちる二人の女性を描いた、短編集ではなく、ひとつの長い物語であるべきです。この際、片方が異星人やアンドロイド、あるいは他の非人間的な存在であっても、わたしは構いません。作品のページの中に登場する2人の女性が、魅力や愛情を感じ合う場面が全く描かれないようであれば、それは百合小説になり得ません。

1.「百合にはスポーツ百合作品が必要」!!
これがわたし達にとって、現在最も必要なものですね。スポーツは、激しい愛憎感情を描くためには完璧な舞台ですが、ほとんど百合が描かれたことのないジャンルでもあります。 百合を描くのにふさわしい種目には、体操、水泳、テニスなどがあると思いますけれど、わたしの一番のお薦めはモトクロス・BMXです。卓球は既に題材にされたことがありますし、バレーボールやサッカーも、初期のスポーツ少女漫画で描かれたように、使えるかもしれません。でも本当に、「美少女戦士セーラームーン」の天王はるかに敬意を表して、百合にはモトクロスかBMXを描いた作品が必要だと思います。<

敬愛する百合作家のみなさん、もし今年、百合スポーツ漫画を描いてくれたなら、 わたしはあなたの永遠の親友になりますよ。(*_*)

よろしくお願いします。

エリカより

(小松さんによる翻訳 Many thanks to Komatsu-san for translating my whimsical idea!)





What "Following Your Bliss" Looks Like

January 25th, 2013

I came across my answer to this question: What has happened to you when you’ve followed your bliss? on Quora. Since it is absolutely related to Okazu, I wanted to share my answer with you:

Campbell talked about this line at length. “Follow Your Bliss”  wasn’t ever meant to be a bumper sticker, but a compulsion, something that the Hero HAS to do. It’s not easy, cute, fluffy-bunny stuff. It’s hard work, thankless and you can never go home again.

Yes, I’ve followed my bliss. It’s hard work, thankless and the new home I have made is full of amazing people. But it’s still work, every day. And when I die, no one will remember or care. I will be a footnote in a book, a sidebar discussion in a discussion and that’ll be my entire legacy. 3 paragraphs in a text no one will read.

***
I wanted you to know that, yes, I consider this endless promotion of a genre to fans who would suffocate it to death with their love a compulsion.

I cannot stop exhorting you to support the creators with money, to appreciate the riches you have now, when a decade ago you had so much less.

I will not stop writing reviews in hopes that you will buy or license to consume the content on a particular platform no matter how many excuses you have to justify not doing so.

I will continue to tell companies like Sentai to cease translating the word “Yuri” if they cannot find a less skeevey phrase than “girl on girl”. I will continue to rag at Seven Seas for never thinking to send me a review copy of their books – even the ones I worked on.

I will continue to comment on fanboys’ absurdly simplistic understanding of women.  I will be too opinionated and too rude for these poor, sensitive fanboys who are remarkably fragile for people who threaten to rape and kill me all the time.

I will continue to support the industry with loads of my money, because I fucking love Yuri. And if you love it, you’ll do the same thing. (And I’ll keep saying that.)

I will continue to spend 40 or more hours a week on reading, writing, researching, answering questions, working websites, projects and promotion.

When I die, no one will remember me or Okazu, because I will have not been the person who made any money on this, gained any recognition or lifetime achievement awards. It’ll probably kill me in the end.

But I have to do it, because that is what I have to do. Because I love it with a burning flame of passion that can’t be quenched.

This is what “Following Your Bliss” looks like.





More Miscellaneous Musing On Digital Manga

January 20th, 2013

“When there are standard formats, more scalable systems, more ubiquity, we’ll see more adoption.”

Oh my goodness, what utter douchebag said THAT?

Ah, erm, yeah, it was me. ^_^;; And I wasn’t kidding, although I was being ironic. But let me begin from the beginning.

This past Thursday, JManga launched what I consider to be one of the best Yuri licenses they have, Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan by Fujieda Miyabi.

I posted this on my personal timeline on Facebook and someone I like and respect brought up many of the same issues I’ve heard from others in regards to digital manga; specifically “ownership” vs. “possession” and format standards.

In addition, another party involved themselves in the conversation, taking the part of “Perpetually Angry Fan”. I wanted to re-state some of my points here for future reference (and address the issues around being a P.A.F. I know not all of you are perpetually angry, probably not even most of you. Okazu readers are some of the sanest, most reasoned people on the Internet – something for which I am forever thankful. But if you are – or you know people who are – perpetually dissatisfied and angry about not getting what you “really want” or because you can’t “have nice things” I hope you’ll read it with an open mind.)

So this post is not about anything…it is quite literally miscellaneous musings on issues surround the transition to digital. Change management is complicated, especially when we’re managing someone else’s change.

Here’s the ideal world we all dream of – media comes out in globally accessible open standards, with multiple languages and flexible formatting. So I buy a print book, get it also as an open standard e-book which can be read on any device anywhere in the world (and, ideally in any language I might want.)

Reality looks like this – Japanese companies manage print and digital licenses separately, so one has no relationship at all to the other. Most licenses are by country, so America and the UK have to have separate licensing companies, with separate agreements.

Things are changing, but probably not towards our ideal world, just towards a new reality.

Point One: The concept of “ownership” is being detached from that of “possession.”
And it’s freaking us out.

For those of us who started watching anime in the late 80s, early 90s, the only way to watch anime was to own it. We would buy a VHS tape and watch it. That was the only way we could watch it. No anime was on TV. There was no Internet, no DVDs/BDs, no streaming, no video files.

If we wanted to read a comic book, the only way to read a comic book was to own it

The point is, if you are not under 12, you have been trained to associate *consuming* media with owning a physical copy. You may not even realize to what extent this behavior has imprinted itself upon you. We like books because we are used to books. We like scanlations and fansubs because they give us a file which we hoard on media storage

And yet, this horse has already left the gate. People “purchase” books on Kindle by the millions. They listen to music on Pandora. They stream movies on Netflix. People who do these things are not angry about not owning a copy. They are paying to enjoy the content on that platform. You’ve been renting movies for decades. You don’t own the movie, you don’t get to keep the movie…and when the local Blockbuster closed, it took that movie with it.

This issue, I’m sorry to say, is over. Books are around as long as my generation is around. When I pass away, books will already have been passe’ for decades. It’s not a bad thing, really. I’m watching Airbender: Legend of Korra on Amazon Instant and I’m very pleased with it. I really don’t need to have the DVDs. I just want to watch the show when I have time to watch the show. I am  pleased when I can log into Funimation and watch anime without having to buy it first, just to watch it. It would be nice if my selection wasn’t format/company specific, but that is out of my control.

Point Two: Things change.
And it’s freaking us right out.

Dear Perpetually Angry Fan, I understand that you feel disappointed because:

Tokyopop went out of business, and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

CPM went out of business and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

CMX went out of business and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

ADV went out of business and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

Go Comi! went out of business and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

Infinity Studios went out of business and wasn’t able to finish printing your favorite manga.

And, for good measure, DC or Marvel cancelled the comic you like with the artists you liked.

None of this actually gives you any imprimatur to be angry or feel betrayed. Change happens. Businesses have life cycles and absolutely none of that has anything at all to do with you. Companies are not “betraying” you when they change their business model or if a series you like is not selling well enough to pay for itself. Can you imagine, for a moment, having a friend who took it personally that McDonald’s cancelled the McRib sandwich? That seems kind of extreme, right? It would seem very odd to me if a person ranted that they were NEVER going to McDonald’s AGAIN because they cancelled the sandwich. (I’m not saying people don’t do this, but it does seem an extreme over-reaction to, you know, a sandwich.) Fiction has characters we begin to identify with, see as friends. So of course when those friends are no longer in our lives, we’re sad.

Feel disappointed – go ahead. I was very disappointed when the Aria manga was cancelled the first time by ADV and disappointed again the second time when it was cancelled by Tokyopop. (Then I finished it in Japanese and realized I didn’t like the end anyway.^_^;;) Feeling disappointed is absolutely reasonable. Feeling betrayed is a little less reasonable. To betray you, there had to be at least a social contract – betrayal is an act of intention. You don’t guarantee that you’ll buy a book when it’s published…there is no social contract between you and the publisher. They are not going out of business to spite you. Be unhappy, be disappointed. Don’t be bitter and perpetually  angry. The thing about tantrums is not that they are only for children – it’s that they indicate the person having one is a child. If you’re blaming companies for going out of business and forcing you to read scans, that is a tantrum. No one forces you to consume any kind of entertainment in any format. It is not Stu Levy’s fault that you read scans. ^_^

Let me stop and try to explain where I’m going with this analogy.  If you read this blog and you talk to the computer screen every day, I will never hear it. You talking to your screen is not a social contract with me. I have no idea you are there, because, from my perspective, you are not. If you’re angry that I liked something you didn’t or did not like something you did, you were not betrayed by me.

If tomorrow I were to announce that I was done and will no longer be writing Okazu, it would be a really super-self-absorbed leap for you to think that I had betrayed you. My decision, when that times comes, will not be about you, it will be about me. Understand?

My point is that you have never once been betrayed by a manga or anime company. Not. Once. They have made decisions you don’t like, yes. That is not a betrayal. It’s business. So, Perpetually Angry Fan, your righteous burning anger that companies are screwing you by not fulfilling their part of the social contract you have never committed to is pretty meaningless. I have had otherwise sane people tell me quite honestly that they can “never trust the manga/anime/comic companies, since they’ve been screwed so many times.” Fans have never been “screwed,” (again, this implies intention) they have been disappointed. And the manga companies don’t want or need “trust,” they need people to buy books. Translation is an art, not a science. Being critical about translation choices is the least clever thing you can be on the Internet. It is not a betrayal if a choice made is not the choice you would make if you were the boss.

Please, if you are perpetually angry or dissatisfied, please stop being so negative all the time. It’s not helping. It’s not righteous, it’s not meaningful. The only thing it does is alienate the companies that are, actually, trying to help you. Take a second to think about how rough it is to be the person who realizes that their life’s dream is disintegrating, they have thousands of dollars in debt and they have to lay off dozens of people they like? Please be more vocally appreciative for the options you do have right now, for entertainment you like right now.  Thank you very much.

Point Three: A Quick Guide to the Points System on JManga.
Which is not as confusing as it seems.

The point system is to make it possible for everyone globally to pay a fair price. 500 points equals 500 cents, 500 yen, 500 pence, 500 euro cents. So everyone around the world is paying a fair, very reasonable price for digital manga. If you bought Ameiro Kouchukan Kandan in print it would cost 900 yen. Even at an unrealistic 1 cent=1 yen exchange rate that would be $9.00 In reality it would cost $9.98 plus shipping (at time of printing. it was actually a little more when I first wrote this.) On JManga you get it for $5 or £5 or whatever the standard is where you are.) JManga pays the creators, the publisher, the translator, editors and letterers, so I gladly give my money to support these people.

Last night on Twitter someone from Japan asked me if Ichijinsha was showing flexibility by charging half price on Ameiro and I said yes. That they are allowing a digital license at all is pretty great, that they are comprehending the perception that digital ought to be a lower price, since we are not paying for physical materials (although we are still paying for work like translation, editing and lettering) – all of this shows some real flexibility on Ichijinsha’s part. I’m pleased when I see manga magazines with sample chapters online, as well.

Comparing legit manga to illegal methods of distribution is always unfair. Because scans are free and unregulated, it always seems like you’re getting ripped off when you’re asked to pay. I think $5 is a very fair deal to read manga, especially when that is basically 50% of the retail cost of print, and no shipping. Despite the fact that I worked on this, I still paid for it (and all the other Yuri Manga, sans Yuru Yuri, on JManga.) Because I truly believe that digital manga is the best possible solution for a global market. And I do put my money where my mouth is.

Point Four: We are in the middle of technological change.
Suck it up.

Yes, I said these words, “When there are standard formats, more scalable systems, more ubiquity, we’ll see more adoption.” I meant it – and I believe it, to some extent. Except the bit about standard formats. Those will never last more than a short while from now on.

Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, iPad, Android tablet…yeah, every hardware has its own format.

People did not collect books when “books” were gigantic heavy vellum things that took years to transcribe. It was the invention of a process that standardized the creation of “books” that made it possible for regular people to read them and own them.

I completely understand and sympathize that you may not want to switch to digital – see Point 1. I always said that I’d switch when digital became the best option for me, not just an option. Well, if I want to read Yuri manga in English, JManga is the best option for me right now. Additionally, I found that carrying 15 books around on my tablet, which incidentally also allows me to connect to my blog and Twitter, is loads easier than carrying 15 books around and a laptop when I travel. Digital is not the perfect option, but is a very good option right now for me. (When I can buy Light Novels from Amazon JP on my Kindle app, it will be the best thing evar.)

In no way am I saying that you should or have to move to digital.

You don’t. Not now, not ever. (Take a moment and reflect on elderly relatives who had one huge console TV that had rabbit ear antennas. That could be you, if you’re comfortable with that.)

I am saying that if you love reading Yuri manga, there is a way right now that allows you to access translated Yuri manga that is legal, mostly global (with some exceptions) and is becoming more portable as they work on it. The people who do the work are paid, the folks who create the comics you like are paid. It is not perfect, but it is a very good option and has the support of the manga artists and  publishers. When you spend your $5 on JManga you are not stealing anything from anyone. You can feel morally sound and enjoy your Yuri. ^_^

No, there is no guarantee that JManga will exist in 10 years. And I get that you can play your parent’s LPs. But you can’t probably play their 8-tracks or their Betamax. Some media formats last longer than others. We’re watching all sorts of formats vying to become a standard.  Pick a format that works for you and run with it. When it turns out that reel to reel, then Betamax, does not end up being the media standard, you have to re-purchase your favorite movie on VHS and again on DVD, then Blu-ray. Actually, you really don’t HAVE to. You can wait until you really need to get a new whatever and upgrade your media to fit it, get whatever is state of the art at that moment and just realize that there will never be a point in time when a “standard” exists for more than a few years.

The world is speeding up, don’t expect it to slow down just because you remember when it was slower. ^_^

In my life we’ve gone through punch cards, then large floppy disks, then small floppy disks, then thumb drives, SSD and the cloud. I’ve had to reformat some of my files completely a dozen times. This is not something to be pissed about – it’s something to learn from. Change happens and it never stops happening.

Welcome to the future – here are your dancing shoes.

Try, to the best of your ability to separate what you are used to/like from what is good and righteous. And, please, no screeds about how awful the companies are, how bad translation sucks or whatever imagined criminal infractions they have made against fandom. See Point 2. That having been said, your comments, rebuttals and miscellaneous musings are welcome in the comments.