Happy Snowflake Day, arr.
December 24th, 2008 by Lianne
It’s Geek Current Events time!
1.) I still haven’t been laid off from Tokyopop, huzzah. I even got a new series from them, one with VAMPIRES IN IT. Mweh heh heh.
2.) Speaking of vampires, for any of you who heard the scream of a thousand fangirls this week, that’s because there was a climactic kiss in the most recent chapter of Vampire Knight in Japan. If you want to spoil it, here you go. And let me just say that printing the kiss horizontal in the magazine to the point that it was practically upside-down was a stroke of genius on Matsuri Hino’s part. Agh…she’s so good at what she does! *wipes squee-induced tear*
3.) Both Bad Jew and NotHayama liked the seinen Solanin. Since they never agree on anything, it must be a pretty impressive comic. I’m also considering that the copy they shared had money tucked between its pages.
4.) After reading the most recent (and interesting) ladies-only roundtable at Anime News Network, NotHayama and I are starting to think most people don’t read enough girl-aimed media from Japan to really “get it.” Everyone knows Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket and Ouran and maybe Hana Kimi, but shoujo smut, otome games, BL drama CDs, josei porn, etc. are all part of the bigger picture, the defense against the common claim that Japan is a “sexist” society when compared to our “liberated” West. Japan splits its media almost down the middle so half of it can specifically be aimed at females, yet Hollywood critics seemed completely confused that Twilight did well and that female viewers come in more than The Three Types: tweens who like sparkly things, petty housewives, and bitchy career women. I think a well-rounded discussion of feminism, media, the East-West clash, etc. really needs a full exploration of girl-aimed Japanese media, and thus we’re going to write a series of essays on “the lesser-known sides of shoujo” on this site. And now I’m going to have to write the article I swore I’d never put on a PG-13 webpage: Porn For Girls. *sigh* I’ll keep it as classy as possible. And yes, Porn For Girls isn’t just yaoi (16+ link; click on MOVIE tab at the top, then take your pick)
We’ll be back soon. May Snowflake Jake shoot a cannonball of spices into your loving home, arr.