Gender and Relationships in Anime, Manga, and Hentai MSTing by the Last Orbot Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends! We're so glad that you could attend! Come inside! Come inside! Another anti-anime rant written by some wacko on the Net. Contact me TheLastOrbot@email.com with any C &C. ----------------------------------------------------------------- On the bridge of the SOL, Mike Nelson was busy playing the classic quest game "Adventure" on his Atari 2600. As he manuevered the little dot to grab the sword, he looked up and noticed that he was on. "Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Satellite of Love," he said with his hands on the joystick, "I'm Mike Nelson and right now I'm enjoying a game on my Atari 2600. It's a classic called Adventure and it's technically the first RPG." Just then, Crow and Tom Servo entered the bridge. "Afternoon, Mike," said Tom, "Enjoying your Atari, I see?" "Yep." "Adventure? Hmm, I never quite understood why the dragons resemble ducks." "Mike, I've got a new game for you," said Crow, holding up a black Atari cartridge. Mike eagerly took it, removed "Adventure" from the console, stuck in the new game, and hit the power switch. He started playing. "This is a fun game, Crow," Mike said, "What's it called?" "Flying Pies." Mike looked questioningly at the screen and was literally creamed in the face with a pie. (Commercials.) Back on the Satellite of Love, Crow and Tom Servo were trying out another home-brewn Atari 2600 game. As they wiggled around the joysticks, Mike couldn't help but wonder what game they were playing. "What game is this?" Mike asked, looking at the TV. "It's called Surf City'. Servo and I worked all last night on this one," Crow said, "You control surfers and have to catch waves on your board." "Totally gnarly," Servo added in a California surfer voice. Without warning, water splashed onto Mike and the bots from the television. "Well, Crow," said Tom, shaking water from his hoverskirt, "I think we just wiped out." "Good thing Atari didn't release a game like this," said Mike, taking out a towel and drying himself, "Otherwise, it would really have hurt them during the Video Game Crash of 1984. Oh, the Mads are calling." Down in Deep 13, Dr. Forrester rubbed his hands in anticipation at testing out his newest invention. "Hello, Nelson, robots. I couldn't help but overhear that you were wondering why the dragons in Adventure look like ducks. I'll tell you why. Because I'm going to use them to conquer the world. That's right, I'm going to bring them out of the game and right here. Is everything ready, Frank?" TV's Frank checked the connections to Dr. F's machine and then inserted a cartridge of the Atari game "Adventure" into a slot. He then nodded. Dr. F laughed wickedly and threw the switch. From the machine game three hovering duck-like dragons, a green one, a yellow, and a red. They promptly rushed at TV's Frank. Screams echoed throughout Deep 13. Dr. F's look of brooding turned to one of sourness. "Well it still needs some fine tuning. Anyway, your experiment this week is a little piece from an overzealous social scientist about the evils of anime and why it degrades women. It's called Gender and Relationships in Anime, Manga, and Hentai'. It won't go down well. Frank..." There were some video game sound effects and the red dragon, Rhindle, floated over to Dr. F. From a square window in its stomach, TV's Frank peeked out. "Dr. F, the dragon ate me." Back on the SOL, Mike and the bots screamed as the lights flashed and klaxons blared. "We've got movie sign!" exclaimed Mike as he headed into the theater. (6,5,4,3,2,1) (Mike and the bots enter the theater and take their seats.) >Gender and Relationships In Anime, Manga, and Hentai Crow: You know, I think the gender and relationship factor in hentai is pretty obvious. Mike: This sounds like something John Gray would write. >By Wendy Koenigsmann Servo: Koenigsmann! He came from the Enterprise to do battle with the Amazing Rando! >"God, I hate my anime club... Crow:(booming voice) I created humanity to be free. You are welcome to depart whenever you want. >it's full of sexist losers that won't watch anything that doesn't >have naked chicks floating around in the opening theme!" >Quote by female anime fan Mike: Hey, what is this female anime fan describing, anime or the opening to a James Bond movie? >To begin with, Japan is a culture very different from our own. Crow: The rice-paper houses, wearing of kimonos, removal of shoes upon entry into a house, and the difficult language may reinforce this viewpoint. >I can say this, not because I haven't been to Japan, Servo:(Koenigsmann) But because I've read about Japan in big, colorful books full of photos. >but because one of my close friends is from there, and I know other >people from Japan as well. Crow:(Koenigsmann) The little voices in my head that keep telling me that anime is evil. >Gender relationships and issues are also very different than in America. Mike: In America, I have yet to see any unwilling couples go through the wacky adventures of Ranma and Akane. >First off, even though the Japanese do have a lot of kinky whorehouses Servo:(Koenigsmann) And I do mean "kinky"! >and the like, their society is different in that men and women follow >much more traditional roles. A Japanese woman, for example, who Mike: Mixes grape jelly with mustard and tuna fish on a sandwich will get an angry response from her husband. >behaves like a supposedly liberated American would be ostracised, for >one. Crow: Ostracise! The new fitness fad that's sweeping the nation! Servo:(Richard Simmons) Okay, let's burn that flab! One and two, and one and two... >This blending of "East meets West" has been causing "a growing >controversy over gender roles in Japan. Mike: Yeah, if you think of people like Ukyo Kuonji, Ryuunosuke, Sailor Uranus, Kontasu, Tsubasa, and Fish Eye. Crow:(singing) Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it's a mixed-up, jumbled-up, shook-up world with my Lola... >An American friend Servo: In London. >recently complained bitterly over the pervasiveness of sadistic, Mike: Video game designers? Crow: Makers of those little packets of ketchup? Servo: Cartoon coyotes who constantly hurt themselves to catch a meal? >(heterosexual) male-oriented Japanese pornography in Japan. Servo: Not that she has problems with the OTHER type, mind you. >She says that the message that women are sexual objects has become >almost epidemic in Japanese culture, Mike: But aren't women supposed to be sexual in order to keep the human race going? Crow: Epidemic? Should the World Health Organization know about this? >and that male chauvinism is everywhere. Servo: This is starting to sound more like a rant about the Freemasons. People believe that they're everywhere. Mike: Or more like a bad acid trip. Crow:(stoner) I'm freakin' out, man! There are male chauvinists all over the place and they're pointing and laughing at me, man! >Many career women in Japan seem to be so Servo: Obsessed with why hot dog buns come in packages of ten while hot dogs are packaged in eight. >disgusted with things that they refuse to marry." [Izawa] Mike: What? She's referring to males as "things"? Crow: I think she's repressing her own prejudice by projecting her feelings onto males and accusing them of hating women. Servo: Well, Crow, I've see you are brushing up on your Freud. Crow: Thanks, Tom. >This is just a brief example of how women deal with such issues >in Japan. Servo: So they don't have their own version of "The View"? >In Japan, mangas are targeted either towards boys or girls; Mike: The market targeted for orangutans dried up after six months. >"boys' comics are told from a male perspective, and vice versa. Crow: Hence the term "boy's" comics. >Also, girls' comics tend to focus on human relationships more than >the boys' comics; Servo: They're not comics! They're graphic novels! Mike: Tom, knock it off already! Crow: Hey, what about the works of Rumiko Takahashi? They were published in "Shonen Sunday" which was a magazine for boys and they emphasized human relationships. Mike: Nitpick, nitpick. >the latter focus more on competition or contests of will. Servo: Will's many contests were victorious thanks to his hard training and effort. >Lastly, girls' comics tend to have artwork that is dreamier and softer, Crow: Hence the term "girls" comics. Mike: Dreamier and softer? Is Koenigsman talking about girls' comics or Downy Fabric Softener? >while boys' comics tend to be brasher and flashier." Crow: Again, that's why they are called "boy's" comics. >Also, the theme of 'men ought to be stronger than women' "is a >pervading theme that can sum up a lot of gender relations in manga >and anime. Crow: Men are stronger than women in terms of physical strength. Mike: Well, what about the weak-willed males still bordering on adulthood like Ataru Moroboshi? Crow: Mike, have you been reading that "Wimps from Outer Space" essay again? Mike: Yep. Servo: Mike, she's making stuff up now just like the Anti-Pokemon Grrrls. Mike: You know how these people are. >The idea is that women, no matter how strong or independent they are, >are actually looking for someone who they can depend on and who will >protect them." [Izawa] Crow: So male-female relationships are evil? Mike:(Captain Kirk) Everything Harry Mudd says is a lie! Servo(Mudd) Now listen to me very carefully...I'm lying! >My criticism of such role-modeling is that it sets women back into the Ice >Ages once again. Crow: So if this sets women back to the Ice Ages, that means that women will wear animal furs and live inside of caves, battling feral mammals for survival? Mike: This is starting to sound more like "One Million B.C." > Remember, in America, we are far beyond Japan in our gender role >adjustments, Mike: Yep, if a woman punches a man, women applaud and say it's "Girl Power". If a man punches a woman, he's hauled off to jail for violence against women. Servo: Our society's really come far, hasn't it, Mike? Mike:(sarcastically) Oh yeah, compared to Japan... >Japan is just beginning to get out of its chauvinistic mindset (and >to think Crow:(Koenigsmann) Really hurts my brain. > that many women in our own country still complain about men >being chauvinists!) Crow: Yeah, you know how those men are, thinking that they own everything. >Izawa also goes on to conclude that most anime and manga portrays >unequal relationships. Mike: Yeah, since when does 1+1=5? >Women are usually damsels in distress, "cheerleaders," "sacrificers," Crow: There's a manga about women conducting sacrifice? >and men "bring women down" Servo: To put in their pillows. >constantly in the storyline. Crow: Seeing as how they run out of pillows every five seconds. >Izawa also claims that in one adult manga, the hero "observes that >women concentrating in the officeplace look Mike: Constipated? >ugly, while men in the officeplace look good and handsome. Servo: Um, is this Izawa...a guy? Crow: I think so. (Mike is silent.) Mike: I ain't touching that with a ten-foot pole. >Where do women look their best? Crow: Well, we've got two choices... (Mike clamps his hand over Crow's beak.) Mike: No. >In the bedroom. Servo: The body was found with several slashes to the wrist. Police suspect foul play. >The message seems to be that women ought to become a societally >accepted notion of "a woman"; Crow:(singing) She's a woman, yeah, she's a woman... >otherwise, they're unnatural in some way; men should help them reach >that state." Mike: Where, Kentucky? >Now, we haven't even gotten to the exploitative contents of anime and manga, >as there is a "growing pervasiveness of sexual themes in manga Servo: You know, male-female sex being evil and immoral. >--- all types of manga. >This has seemingly gotten worse in recent years. Crow:(Koenigsmann) The clap, I mean. I caught a bad case of it from some sailor in Macao. >Female nudity is everywhere in manga and anime, Servo: Not that she has a problem with male nudity, mind you. > even children's manga, Crow: I can see it all now, "A Children's Edition of the Kama Sutra". (Silence.) Crow: Mike, you didn't say anything. Mike: I've given up. >and it's expected (almost encouraged) that boys will drool at and try to >look at naked girls." [Izawa] Servo: Mike, isn't that normal for boys? Doesn't this happen when they go into puberty and begin to think about girls? Mike: Yeah. Crow: So in other words, this woman is saying that a male's genetic programming is evil? Mike: Yep. Crow: Hmm... >Izawa, in his closing note, Servo: Said "Good-bye, cruel world" as he threw himself from his office building's roof. Crow: You're dark today, Servo. >observes that this sexist and degrading trend may be changing just a bit. Mike: Yeah, maybe females will stop hitting males for little or no reason. >He feels that perhaps in time, anime and manga may show relationships >as equal, and women will be portrayed less as sex objects; Mike: Maybe that will mean that males will bash females too with mallets for little or no reason. >however, something disturbing arises from this suggestions. Servo:(Koenigsmann) Yeah, there's a little troll living in that suggestions box, I tell ya. It stole my cupcakes last Tuesday. >Take a look at our own culture. Crow: Let's not and say we did, okay? >We are supposedly so advanced, Mike: No, we're not. My Pentium II computer still takes three minutes to boot up. >our women are "liberated" and would never (so they claim) take any b.s. >from men, Crow: B.S.? Beef sausage? Servo: Ben Stiller? Mike: Biting sharks? Crow: So why wouldn't women take beef sausage from men? >yet, our country is the purveyor of most pornography, which is directly >linked towards violence against women and children. Crow: Well, the U.S. has a lot of criminals too, but I'm sure that's totally unrelated. >As a closing statement, a reflection of what we value most in life tells a lot >about who we are. Servo: I value my bottle cap collection. Crow: I personally prize my used gum collection. Mike: And I prize my collection of Wonder Woman and Vampirella comic books. Crow: And you wonder why you're such a lonely man, Mike. Mike: Hey! >Do I find anything dirty about nudity? All: Absolutely yes! >No. Not if it's depicted in real artwork. (Mike and the bots chortle and then break down laughing.) Mike:(Pee Wee Herman) Now, boys and girls, today's secret word is "hypocrite". We know what to do when someone says the secret word, right? Servo and Crow: Scream real loud! >But when it's children and young adults are looking at such stuff like >anime and manga (not to mention hentai)? Yes. Servo: Hey, not all anime and manga are hentai. Mike: You know, how these people are, Tom. No anime is good anime. >The question I have is whether anime and manga may not actually become >MORE sexist and exploitative with time, Crow: What, they'll be more sexist and exploitative with Newsweek or U.S. News and World Report? >as Izawa also noted that the influence of Western ideals is the reason for >such "busty" and stereotypical anime characters and the influx of more nudity. Servo: Let's recap so far everything that Koenigsmann said. Mike: Males are evil. Sex is evil. Crow: Nudity is evil, in spite of what the hypocrite author said. Mike: Male-female relationships are evil. Anime is evil. A male's genetic makeup that drives his reproductive instincts is evil. Any female who dares to associate with a male is evil. Servo: Yep, that about covers it. Mike: Good, I don't think we missed anything. >And those reading and watching anime/manga are not usually adults, but >young people. Crow: Lonley nerds with oily faces and black t-shirts. >Not to mention that hentai (x-rated animation for those who don't know) Mike:(Dick Martin) I did not know that. >is also becoming very popular. Servo: Yeah, among pervs and lonely, horny teenage males. >If one does a search online for anime, many sites come up featuring "anime >sex bitches in action" and so forth. (Mike punches anime up on his laptop.) Mike: Strange. I'm getting ads and pop-ups telling me to buy anime merchandise when I do an online search for anime. Crow: Sounds like Koenigsmann here is employing doublethink. Servo:(Koenigsmann) Remember, we are at war with Eastasia and we have always been at war with Eastasia. >Like I said once before, Crow: Males are evil, sex is evil, and male-female relationships are evil. >this cannot ever be appropriate for young people neither young boys. Mike: But aren't young boys young people too? >Remember this the next time you hear about a woman getting Servo: Some double chocolate ice cream at 7-Eleven. >raped or even if a woman complains about being objectified in some way. Servo: Um, how do you exactly objectify a woman anyway? Crow: I dunno. Maybe turn her into a table or chair with a ray gun. >Rape has also been directly linked to pornography, Mike: What? Crow: I thought it was directly linked to sick and twisted criminals. >and if young boys are reading and watching anime/manga, this certainly >DOES have an effect on them as well. Servo: So does having the caps lock key on your keyboard jam up. >(Let's not also forget Crow: The Alamo. >the way most men objectify women, that counts as abusive >behaviour in itself!) Servo: What? Anytime a man thinks a woman is pretty, he's abusing her. Crow: Yeah, why do women complain that men don't pay attention to them? Mike: Who knows? (Mike picks up Tom and exits the theater with Crow.) (6,5,4,3,2,1.) Back on the Bridge of the SOL, Mike and the bots were discussing the sanity of the ranter as Mike played a relaxing game of Missile Command. "Mike, are all people on Earth like this?" asked Crow. "Yeah, how can people put out all this faulty information?" Servo added. "I don't know, guys," Mike said, moving his joystick around, "On Earth, quite a lot of people are messed up." Unbeknownst to the trio, a white line was slowly coming down towards Tom Servo as the red robot offered a guess. "Well, Mike," Tom started, "This person leads a rather dull life as one might guess from the ferocity of her posting and she is trying to get attention. Positive or negative attention, it doesn't matter. She just wants to be heard. Quite frankly, we have a classic case of a person who never made it past the..." Tom's speech ended abruptly as the line touched him and he exploded. "Thank you!" said Mike as he got back to his game. "Yeah, he was starting to bore me," Crow added as he watched Mike's game. Down in Deep 13, Dr. Forrester was counting a wad of bills he had. "Well," he said, "It seems my plan to use the Adventure dragons in my plot to rule the world didn't work out. But I did make a pretty penny selling those dragons. In fact, the buyer is on the phone right now." TV's Frank pushed a speaker phone towards him and Dr. Forrester pressed the button on it. "Yes, is that you Ms. Wendy Koenigsmann?" "Call me miss, you sexist pig!" screamed the voice on the other end of the line, "Gloria Steinem fought long and hard to crush the evil habits of the misogynist patriarchy and I should..." "Fine, MISS Koenigsmann," Dr. Forrester replied, "Did you get Grundel, Yorgie, and Rhindle?" "I did. Now that I have some muscle backing me up, I can go after those sexist males who degrade women with anime. Now listen, I want you to eat up every last...wait...what are you doing?" There was an ear splitting cry as there were the sound effects of the dragons eating Koenigsmann. Dr. Forrester just shrugged his shoulders but Frank looked shocked. "Frank, press the button." Frank shut off the speaker phone. "No, Frank. The other button." (End.) Credits MSTed by Mark "the Last Orbot" Wiesner Special Thanks to MSTies everywhere Atari players everywhere Keep circulating the fics. Again this was for fun and is not meant to infringe on the rights of the essay's author, Wendy Koenigsmann. She can keep her rights for all I care. Viva la anime! >Do I find anything dirty about nudity? >No. Not if it's depicted in real artwork. 7/23/02