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Women: A Cultural Review ISSN: 0957-4042 (Print) 1470-1367 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rwcr20 Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’ Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana yori Dango and Fruits Basket Kukhee Choo To cite this article: Kukhee Choo (2008) Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’ Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana yori Dango and Fruits Basket , Women: A Cultural Review, 19:3, 275-296, DOI: 10.1080/09574040802137243 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09574040802137243 Published online: 10 Nov 2008. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 3915 View related articles Citing articles: 3 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rwcr20 Download by: [Tulane University] Date: 15 January 2016, At: 06:03 KUKHEE CHOO w ....................................................................................................... Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’ Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana yori Dango and Fruits Basket URING the later months of 2005, a live-action television drama entitled DHana yori Dango (the Japanese term for ‘Boys over Flowers’) aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in Japan. This drama was based on a Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 06:03 15 January 2016 record-breakingly popular sho¯jo manga (the term for girls’ comic books; no italics henceforth) that was serialised from 1992 to 2004, and which resulted in a series of thirty-six books, a television animation that aired in 1 Two drama series were Japan from 1996 to 1997, and two live-action television drama series produced in Taiwan, (shown in Taiwan).1 The Japanese television drama was such a success from 2001, under the title Meteor Garden. that the sequel aired on TBS from 5 January 2007 to 16 March 2007. Additionally, the four Additionally, in a TBS weekly report on 23 February 2007, Hana yori male characters (F4) featured in the Dango topped the charts with 26.3 per cent of viewer ratings (on the Taiwanese drama O¯ sama no Buranchi television programme). What is significant about this maintain their popular example is that many of the current Japanese live-action television dramas entertainer status in Taiwan under the are being adapted from popular comic books, mostly sho¯ jo manga, and same group name. this trend has gradually increased since the early 1990s. .................................................................................................................................... Women: a cultural review Vol. 19. No. 3. ISSN 0957-4042 print/ISSN 1470-1367 online # 2008 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/09574040802137243 276 × WOMEN: A CULTURAL REVIEW ....................................................................................................... When a series such as Hana yori Dango is continuously reproduced, over a fifteen-year span, in various media such as anime (the Japanese term for animation; no italics henceforth) and live-action television drama, one may wonder what elements attracted such unprecedented popularity. Analysing such texts, as John Fiske states, is to ‘Expose their contra- dictions, their meanings that escape control, their producerly invitations; to ask what it is within them that has attracted popular approval’ (1989: 105). The emergence of the sho¯ jo manga industry during the 1960s to 1970s may have provided female artists and their viewers with a sphere where they could openly resist, subvert and reappropriate the limited social participatory roles to which they were confined. However, since the 1990s there has been a shift towards a more domestic portrayal of femininity that seems to suggest a new formation of gender relationships. By scrutinising the trends of popular Japanese sho¯ jo manga, I hope to provide a broader understanding of the gender dynamics in contemporary 2 Anime adapted from Japanese popular culture and media. This article will examine the manga series may portrayal of idealised femininity as depicted in contemporary popular sometimes differ in sho¯ jo manga and anime texts in order to better understand how Japanese narrative content * 2 which may highlight females construct their own concepts of femininity. violence that was not In 2005, the four highest-grossing sho¯ jo manga were Nana (2000), depicted in the original Hana yori Dango (1993), Fruits Basket (1999) and Peach Girl (1998). I have manga (as in the case of Fruits Basket). selected Hana yori Dango (1993, 1996) and Fruits Basket (1999, 2001) However, the overall manga and anime series because of their vast popularity in both the portrayal of idealised domestic and global market. Spanning over eleven years, Hana yori Dango femininity does not change very much has been the highest-grossing sho¯ jo manga series in Japanese history. when manga is cross- Fruits Basket has occupied the annual top-ten sales position in Japan since produced into anime its first publication in 1999. Most importantly, the series is the highest- (Hana yori Dango is 3 identical in terms of grossing Japanese sho¯ jo manga series in the US market. This paper narrative content). All examines the narrative content of such highly popular series to illustrate the images provided in what kind of femininities are being produced, consumed and appropriated this paper are from the Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 06:03 15 January 2016 anime series. in Japan and the global market. Both Hana yori Dango and Fruits Basket 3 According to the feature a female protagonist who enters into the male protagonist’s Tokyopop website, household as a housekeeper or maid. Through exhibiting domestic the official US devotion to prove themselves worthy of acknowledgement by the male distributor of the series, Fruits Basket is protagonists’ families, the females endure domestic drudgery and even the top grossing sho¯ jo violence inflicted upon them. To analyse this pattern in the popular sho¯ jo manga title sold in the manga plot structure, I will raise the following questions: How are these US. Furthermore, among the USA Today female protagonists portrayed within the gender relations in the 150 Best-Selling Books narratives created by female authors? How do the texts construct ideal Database, Fruits Basket femininity and how is it manifested in the texts? And how is the ranked at #93 in 2005 and #96 in April, relationship of domesticity and social independence negotiated within 2006. these narratives? As more and more Japanese anime, television live-action GIRLS RETURN HOME × 277 ....................................................................................................... drama and manga series continue to flood the global market, tackling these questions may not only give us insight into the representation of gender relationships in Japanese culture, but also contributes to a geographical feminist resistance against gender stereotypes on a global media scale. The Popularity of Japanese Manga According to the Japanese 2005 Information Media White Papers (2004), manga publication reaches up to forty per cent of the entire Japanese publication industry*a statistic that makes manga a medium whose scope and social influence cannot be ignored (Fukushima 1992: 29). Manga is divided into various genres in Japan, and the division between genders is the most prominent: sho¯ nen (boys), sho¯ jo (girls), women, young men, boys’ love and so on. Furthermore, sho¯ jo manga accounts for approximately thirty per cent of the entire manga publication industry. The majority of authors are female and the readership consists mainly of females of all ages.4 Although sho¯ jo manga mainly targets adolescent girls, women in their twenties, thirties and forties may well continue reading popular sho¯ jo manga even when beyond the targeted age group. Gender stereotypes may be strengthened through simplistic narratives aimed at children, and the fact that readership continues on into adulthood may have an internalising, recycling effect. It might be difficult for people who are not familiar with Japanese culture to grasp the domination of manga as a print media industry. With annual publications of over 20,000 titles, many of the manga titles are serialised in weekly, bi-weekly and monthly magazines, ranging up to 300 magazines per year (Figure 1). Furthermore, the average annual manga sales figure in Japan is approximately $4.5 billion, accounting for forty Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 06:03 15 January 2016 per cent of the entire publication market share (Information Media White Papers, 2005). Manga magazines are divided into various sub-genres with approxi- mately thirty-seven per cent (GirlsWomenBoys’ love) aimed at female audiences of all ages (Figure 2). However, this number excludes 4 Although sho¯ jo manga Hobbies/Sports and Adult-oriented manga magazines, providing an includes male estimated additional three to five per cent, which adds up to a total of authorship and readership, it is still forty to forty-two per cent (my estimation). considered less Although the Japanese government launched a fully fledged interna- acceptable for a male tional promotion of anime and video games into the global market after to openly associate himself with the passing the Contents Industry Act in 2004, there was a lack of emphasis female genre in Japan. on promoting manga

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