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What is shojo manga


            As I remember, the word "manga" used to mean animation (anime) also before. For example, the animation film festival produced by Toei every summer used to be called Toei Manga Matsuri. Manga in the sense of animation used to mean cartoons for kids, I think. Doraemon (animation) was manga. So was ObaQ. But Gandam was anime. I guess. From the early 80s, certain kinds of animation have been specifically "anime" in the sense that they entailed some kind of fetishism. Now that the term anime seems to mean animation on general, Toei Manga Matsuri is also renamed Toei Anime Matsuri. As of differences of media, I will discuss later when I have time. or someone else will do :-P.
             Is Manga Different from Literature? .
             Manga tends to be taken as disposable commodity. In that sense, manga has not gained the same level of authority as artwork as literature. But it is also true that many manga have shown deep insights in human relationship, love, culture, society, etc. like serious literature. As a comparative literature major, I think that some manga are worth comparing with literature, and even better than many literary works. Unfortunately, manga industry is very conscious of readership, so when many readers say that "this manga is boring," that manga can be forced to quit, or to modify the story. Novels were treated like this in the 19th-century Britain. Who knows if manga will be a subject of serious study in literature in the next century? .
             Note: Many contemporary Japanese writers (of "serious" literature) have read manga, and their writings are surely influenced by it. As I quote John Treat in the discussion of Shajo below, Banana Yoshimoto's works are very manga-like. Also, Haruki Murakami has said before that one of his most favorite manga is Yumiko Oshima's Banana Bread Pudding (see History section for details on Oshima.) It seems that they care a lot about bananas. Ha ha.
             What is Shajo? .


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