I half listened to about five minutes of one show- I was typing out a blog, and was so disgusted by the vapid stupidity of what I heard I had to stop typing and get up and find the clicker. Gah! It makes the worst Naruto anime filler episode sound like Shakespeare!
It never ceases to amaze me that a Japanese anime (from a manga) targetted to 10-15 year old boys has some the most positive portrayals of strong, intelligent, self-reliant girls and women without making them into faultless "sues" of anything I've ever watched. The manga/anime series Naruto. Especially the second part of the anime (not here in the US yet, but the manga translations of part 2 started at the beginning of the year. Even in part 1 of the anime/manga I didn't feel like my intelligence as a reader was being insulted, nor that the female characters were sexist stereotypes- in fact, especially in the manga- trying to play the stereotypical subordinate role was portrayed as a bad choice for girls. But you didn't get the thing you often get in US and European shows when guys do write "tough chicks". No, the strong women in Naruto act more like real women do, they aren't male sex toys- far from it! They expect respect from their male companions, and if they fall in love they don't become the guy's hot to trot girlfriend. I've seen manga and anime even written by guys trending this way for some years, but Naruto is the best so far.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-06-08 01:13 am (UTC)It never ceases to amaze me that a Japanese anime (from a manga) targetted to 10-15 year old boys has some the most positive portrayals of strong, intelligent, self-reliant girls and women without making them into faultless "sues" of anything I've ever watched. The manga/anime series Naruto. Especially the second part of the anime (not here in the US yet, but the manga translations of part 2 started at the beginning of the year. Even in part 1 of the anime/manga I didn't feel like my intelligence as a reader was being insulted, nor that the female characters were sexist stereotypes- in fact, especially in the manga- trying to play the stereotypical subordinate role was portrayed as a bad choice for girls. But you didn't get the thing you often get in US and European shows when guys do write "tough chicks". No, the strong women in Naruto act more like real women do, they aren't male sex toys- far from it! They expect respect from their male companions, and if they fall in love they don't become the guy's hot to trot girlfriend. I've seen manga and anime even written by guys trending this way for some years, but Naruto is the best so far.