Abstract:
Exploring the nature of manga from the early 2000's to current day. The main manga analyzed was Sukitteiinayo with references to Hot Gimmick, Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Knight, and Rose of Versailles and others. I contended that Sukitteiinayo was feminist in its approach to building relationships and allowing the main characters to openly express their sexuality in ways that subvert the virgin-whore binary of female sexuality. Sukitteiinayo has many other characters that I could have incorporated in my discussion of feminist elements, but I chose the main two characters and used images from volumes 1, 3, and 10 of the series Sukitteiinayo. My final thesis statement can be distilled as: Sukitteiinayo is feminist part of current popular manga that exhibit trends moving away from appropriating male power, attributes, or attire, and has taken to using a feminine perspective and voice to talk about female issues as related to coming-of-age stories as they are set in modern day Japan. I focused on a manga that deals with the everyday life of a school girl as opposed to other genres that could incorporate fantastical elements.