REPRESENTING GIRLS AND ROMANCE IN SHŌJO MANGA ACROSS TIME AND GENRES

Abstract

This thesis compares how shōjo manga represents girls and romance across three different series from different periods and subgenres. As much of the shōjo manga scholarship tends to focus on the subversive, there is less discussion surrounding more normative titles. Fujimoto critiques the portrayal of romance and girls in shōjo manga. I build on her argument and existing shōjo manga scholarship to examine how different series depict romance and whether external influences from boys’ culture affect the portrayal of their heroines and romance. To explore the portrayal of romance and heroines in shōjo manga, I look into three representative shōjo manga: Glass Mask by Miuchi Suzue, Maid Sama by Fujiwara Hiro and Hamefura by Yamaguchi Satoru. Despite the differences in these series, they are part of the changing representation and experience of girlhood. From afar, it may appear that shōjo manga would change alongside women’s slowly improving position in Japanese society. However, I argue that shōjo manga in the 1970s was more exploratory in representing romance while newer titles from the 2000s had more sexist portrayals of romance.