My current plan in terms of what I'd like to do for the seminar presentation involves briefly covering the evolution of "gender bender" or gender based manga. I think this topic would be best suited to present on week 8 since its covers gender and sexuality diversity. I'd like to present a minimum of 3 different mangas/animes from 3 different decades that most accurately address the gender bender genre and its presentation for the time it was originally released. My current list of manga that I think fits this concept includes Ranma 1/2 (1987), Cheeky Angel (1999), Ouran High School Host Club (2002), Maria Holic (2006), Princess Jellyfish(2008), and Magical Girl Ore (2012). I'd like to state the culture difference when it comes to American vs Japanese acceptance of changing gender roles, both good and bad. For personal bias I do love and admire Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi, however for the time it was written the series does allude to some homophobia when it comes to addressing Akane and Ranma's relationship since he transforms into a girl sometimes. Lines of dialogue address their interactions as "two girls being together is wrong!" and it dates the manga in terms of how unheard it was to present a homosexual relationship. However, despite this Ranma 1/2 is an important staple in the timeline of the gender bender genre and pushed the boundaries for its time.
Moving on to this weeks reading...
This week the class read Ayako by Osamu Tezuka. Currently I've read up to chapter 6 of the manga and would define the experience so far as a situational tragedy. Tezuka held no punches back when it came to creating a chaotic interlaced family dynamic. I think the first moment that the tragic theme hit me was when Jiro tries to interogate his father as to who Ayako's parents truly are, which is eventually followed up by the sex scene between Jiro's father and Ichiro's wife. Not to mention in that scene Jiro's father originally thinks it's Ichiro who was spying and speaks to Ichiro as if they've made a prior agreement to allow the father to essentially rape her. Ichiro's Wife, Su'e, really strikes a pang of sympathy when it comes to the situation she is permanently stuck in. From my basic knowledge of Japanese culture it's a society that heavily idealizes honor in family relationship and hierarchy. In this time period Su'e doesn't really have a choice other than to stay within the family unit she married into since running away from it would be shameful and make her a complete social outcast. She knows this and it troubles her severely even driving her to the point of trying to commit suicide.
I'd like to update my overall opinion on Ayako once I've finished the series, but in terms of current opinion I find that I like this historical drama considering it's not something I would normally read.
