Be a Man!

Evolving Masculinity in Post-War Japan as Seen Through the Lens of Popular Culture

Laurel Taylor

Advisor, Linda White

April 25, 2011

 Taylor  i  

Table  of  Contents  

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….pg  ii  

    Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..pg  2  

Chapter  1:  Lost  and  Found:  Identity  in  the  Peaceful  Era………………………pg  13  

    Chapter  2:  Boys  with  Attitude:  Corporate  Machines  and    

         the  Men  Who  Fight  Them……………………………………………………………….pg  35  

Chapter  3:  Pretty  Boys:  Masculinity  in  the  Post-­‐Bubble,    

         Post-­‐Feminist  World…………………..………………………………………………….pg  62  

Conclusion:  Opening  the  Field…………………………………………………………….pg  100  

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………….pg  105  

 
 Taylor  ii  

Acknowledgements  

I  would  like  to  thank  my  advisor  Linda  White,  for  all  her  support;  without  her,  I  would  not  have  

even  known  where  to  start.    I  would  also  like  to  thank  Stephen  Snyder,  for  guiding  me  these  four  years  

and  always  encouraging  me  to  push  myself  and  my  language  learning.    Thanks  are  also  due  to  Carole  

Cavanaugh  and  Nobuo  Ogawa  of  the  Middlebury  College  Japanese  Department,  for  their  continued  

support  and  insight  this  past  year.    I  am  also  deeply  grateful  to  Masahiro  Takahashi,  Kyoko  Hayasaka-­‐

Davis,  Miho  Ohno,  and  Megumi  Oyama  for  guiding  me  through  the  often  frustrating  process  of  learning  

the  Japanese  language.    Without  their  brilliant  instruction,  I  might  not  have  pursued  this  path  as  

seriously  as  I  have.    I  must  also  thank  my  dear  friends  Greg  Amioka,  Katie  Cyr,  and  Caitlin  Arnold  for  

helping  me  tame  this  monster  and  letting  me  bounce  ideas  off  them  late  at  night.    Lastly,  thanks  to  my  

parents,  who  never  said  “Never,”  even  when  I  told  them  I  wanted  to  pursue  Japanese  and  move  halfway  

around  the  world.  

 Taylor 2

Introduction

The contemporary manga and anime industry in Japan is one of the most saleable sources

of pop culture in the world. For example, Oda Eiichiro’s One Piece (ワンピース) has been in

serial publication for nearly fifteen years and has been translated into nine languages. It

currently holds the record for fastest selling manga in Japanese history, with its 57th volume

selling 2.005 million copies in its first two weeks1. In addition, One Piece has also maintained

an animated television show based on the manga content, which is now approaching its 500th

episode. Alongside the manga and anime come merchandise tie-ins, ranging from bags and t-

shirts to souvenirs and figurines. It has spawned ten movie spin-offs, the latest grossing 4.8

billion yen (approximately US $58 million) in its theater run2. Far from being one of the longest

running series in Japan, One Piece is actually relatively short compared to a manga like Golgo (

ゴルゴ), which has now been running for more than forty years.

One Piece belongs to a genre of manga collectively referred to as shounen, though within

this genre itself there is wide variation in subject matter. Shounen literally means “little boy,”

and refers to the target demographic, but as One Piece’s sales suggest, it is hardly limited to boys

ten and under. In fact, a recent poll from the chain bookstore Kinokuniya revealed that nearly

90% of One Piece’s readers are adults3. Shounen manga are the most widely read of the four

1
“「One Piece」最新５７巻、史上最速の実売２００万部突破 Oricon Style, 8 March
2010. Accessed 22 January 2011. Electronic.
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/74411/full/
2
“特殊映像ラボラトリー 第２７回 「２０１０年特殊映像総決算！！」PART １日本
映画／アニメ。 AnimeAnimeBiz, 25 December 2010. Accessed 22 January 2011.
Electronic. http://www.animeanime.biz/all/1012251/
3
ワンピース：メガヒットの秘密. クロースアップ現代 (Close up Gendai). NHK, Tokyo. 2
Feb. 2011.
 Taylor 3

large manga demographics, comprising roughly 40% of Japan’s manga market4. The other three

demographic classifications are seinen (adult males), shoujo (young girls), and josei (adult

females)5. Shounen also generally proves to be the most marketable demographic, often

creating tie-in anime or films, along with figurines, cell phone charms, and other merchandise.

Due to their target audience, shounen anime and manga most frequently concerned with

action/adventure and sports, but their content can also range to mystery, science fiction, and any

other number of genres.

Generally written by men (though recently several women have become highly respected

artists as well) shounen manga serve as reflections of Japanese society, particularly ideas

concerning friendship, identity, conflict, and self-worth as shown through the male characters.

The men who now write and serialize manga are middle-aged members of the immediate post-

war generation and are most familiar with Japan’s rapidly expanding economy and its sudden

economic depression in the nineteen-nineties. This thesis seeks to study the portrayals of men,

boys, and masculine figures in highly popular shounen manga and anime and draw connections

to the society that has shaped them. As times change, so too does the role of the male in society,

and in the post-war period, more than any other, the definition of masculinity has been reshaped

again and again.

Japan has been one of the most rapidly changing societies in the world since 1868 when

the two-century reign of the Tokugawa shogun was overthrown. From that period onward, the

role of men within society has quickly evolved, both within the private household and in the

newly formed entity of the modern workspace. Immediately following the establishment of the

4
Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. London: Laurence King, 2004. Print.
Pg. 13.
5
Ibid.
 Taylor 4

Meiji government, the samurai class was dissolved, giving way to the financially powerful

merchant classes and the bureaucratic leftovers of the samurai. Within twenty years, Japan had

crafted a capable military and begun a culture of colonialism, mirroring the West’s expansionist

policies in East Asia. From the 1920s to the early 1940s, the military became the center of the

male cultural sphere, culminating in the outbreak of World War II. Upon conclusion of the war,

Japan’s army was permanently dissolved and emphasis shifted from the military to the corporate.

By the nineteen-seventies, the Japanese sarariiman, a man who worked a white-collar position in

a mega-corporation, was the idealized identity for an adult male. Since 1991, however, the rise

of a working female class and the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy have left even this

idealized position in a state of flux6. During the economic bubble, many women only worked in

menial office jobs until they were married7, but following the Equal Employment Opportunity

Law of 1986, the demographic shifted and women began to seek long-term employment, albeit at

lesser wages then men8. “At the dawn of the twenty-first century, full-time female employees

outnumbered full-time housewives and fully half of all mothers with school-age children

worked”9. While younger men were more willing to accept a new and equal standard, for older

men, the shift in the workplace was threatening to the previous nuclear family model of a

working father and stay-at-home mother10.

6
Roberson, James E. and Nobue Suzuki. Men and Masculinities in Contemporary Japan:
Dislocating the Salaryman Doxa. London: Routledge, 2003. Print. Pg. 199-201.
7
McClain, James L. Japan: a Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc,
2002. Print. Pg.587.
8
Ibid., 615.
9
Ibid.
10
Derichs, Claudia and Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg ed. Gender Dynamics and Globalisation:
Perspectives on Japan within Asia. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2007.
Print. Pg. 81.
 Taylor 5

The period since the end of the war can be roughly divided into twenty-year intervals.

The first period is the immediate aftermath of the war, in which Japan worked to rebuild and

redefine its role in the world. Just as the nation struggled for a foothold, so too did a society

struggle to learn a new identity. Citizens who had been trained to live for a divine emperor were

suddenly thrust into a world where the emperor was simply another human being. New

questions of individualism and purpose arose amid a distinctly anti-war, anti-violence

atmosphere and a generation of military training had to be unlearned. Additionally, for the first

six years of this era, Japan was under Allied control, placing them under the influence of

American policy and culture. Even once the Occupation ended, Japan was still heavily tied to

the United States both economically and militarily.

The second twenty-year period, from 1970 to 1990, can be seen as the economic rise.

During this time, Japan’s economy not only recovered, but also expanded at a tremendous rate,

making it a new super-power in the global economy. Military might was supplanted by the

power of the purse and men strove to join the so-called “Japan, Inc.”11 in order to achieve status

and prestige. The Japanese moved beyond the influence of their American ties and came to be

viewed as rivals by the economic superpowers of the West. An Asian country that had only

decades before been completely helpless and emasculated had now transformed into one of the

most powerful economies in the world. The final twenty-year period, which encompasses the

last two decades, has seen a new age of soul searching due to economic stagnation following the

collapse of the land speculation bubble from 1989-1991; again the power of the (corporate)

warrior was undermined.

11
Snyder, Stephen. Class Lecture. Murakami and his Contemporaries. Middlebury College,
Middlebury, VT. 17 February 2011.
 Taylor 6

During these three periods following the war, the prevailing hegemonic masculinity has

been forced to change and adapt to a new societal order. Hegemonic masculinity, a theory

developed by R. W. Connel, states that at any given time there are multiple forms of masculinity

within a society, but one of these forms is a dominant masculinity, which may be exemplified by

individuals “such as film actors” or more likely by a group who holds institutional power, such

as “top levels of business, the military and government”12. Additionally, masculinity can change

over time to reflect changes in society13. For instance, in the early American frontier, the ideal

family man was one who could farm and stake out a claim on land, thus assuring that his family

was protected and well fed. However, in modern American society, the prevailing familial

masculinity is a man who works a steady job and supports his wife and children financially.

Masculinity may vary when one looks at a different sphere, such as military life or the world of

sports14. Thus in Japanese culture, one can see that from the Meiji period in 1868, the prevailing

masculinities fluctuated between militaristic and political, and following World War II,

hegemonic masculinity changed to reflect a society driven for and by economic prosperity.

Unlike American masculinities, however, Japanese masculinities have been much less

concerned with sex and body image. Where American hegemonic masculinity is frequently tied

to sexual and athletic performance, Japanese masculinity is frequently tied to social standing and

work status15. The concept of gender differences in the labor division of society is itself

12
Connell, R W. Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005. Print. Pg.
77.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., Pg. 181
15
Whitehead, Stephen M. and Frank J. Barret ed. The Masculinities Reader. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishers, 2001. Pg. 21-22.
Derichs, Pg. 33.
 Taylor 7

relatively new in Japan16. As the roles of men and women in the home and in the workplace

have changed, resulting in more households where both the man and woman work17, each shift

has had a large impact on both masculinity and femininity. Given this information, it is only

natural that hegemonic masculinity in Japan has undergone rapid change as the economy has

swollen and contracted and as the role of the male at home and at work has shifted.

Throughout the tumult of the post-war period, popular media has served to reflect the

changing society, both by projecting idealized masculinity and revealing the problems it entails.

The heroes of shounen manga are widely varied, with some reflecting a Superman ideal, as with

Dragon Ball Z’s Goku or Astro Boy’s protagonist Atom, but more often exhibiting the pressures

and insecurities that males experience, especially during the teenage development years18.

Frequently, characters struggle against society because of who they are at the very core.

Inuyasha’s half-demon protagonist, for instance, must come to terms with the racism that faces

him because of his mixed blood. Fullmetal Alchemist’s Edward Elric must contend with the

populace’s prejudices towards military personnel, and later must come to terms with his

existence as one of the last of a race of extinct people.

For each of these characters, masculinity is frequently demonstrated through fighting

prowess. In fact, all of the characters studied in the following pages are fighters. In part, this is

due to Japan’s long tradition of martial arts expertise, but it can also be attributed to the authors’

own personal experiences. Especially for the artists of the nineteen fifties, sixties, and seventies,

military education was a part of compulsory education that had been promptly thrown out with

16
Derichs, Pg. 33.
17
McClain, Pg. 617
18
Whitehead, Pg. 18-19.
 Taylor 8

the Occupation. Though trained to be warriors, they were never placed on the battlefield19. The

artists of later generations were raised to expect a different kind of battlefield: that of the

competitive school system and workplace. In Romit Dasgupta’s study of the masculinity of

sarariiman, he discovered that students believed only one form of masculinity, however small,

seemed to define the entire country of Japan. “As the students’ responses seem to indicate, the

salaryman has come to embody all Japanese masculinity”20. What exactly is Japanese

masculinity then? Films such as Kagemusha, Seven Samurai, and Shall We Dance? have heavily

influenced the romantic image of the Japanese man to include everything from ninja and samurai

to the modern day businessman. However, each of these types, as well as being grossly illogical,

only act as focal points of hegemonic masculinity. Just as the ancient samurai was expected to

be a role model for his community21, the modern sarariiman is a position to which many men

aspire, but only a select few attain22.

Each of these representations seems to emphasize the individual hero, but in reality they

are small representatives of a larger whole. Gender is created by society, and gender roles are

aspects of humanity that are absorbed through indirect learning. From a young age, children are

not explicitly taught that they are inherently male or female, but they are instead taught aspects

of male and female behavior. Even in infancy, Americans color-code children: boys with blue

and girls with pink.

Gender is a human invention, like language, kinship, religion, and

technology; like them, gender organizes human social life in
culturally patterned ways. Gender organizes social relations in

19
Louie, Kam, and Morris Low. Asian Masculinities: The Meaning and Practice of Manhood in
China and Japan. London: Routledge, 2003. Print. Pg. 120-121.
20
Ibid., Pg. 118.
21
McClain, Pg. 81.
22
Ibid., Pg. 593.
 Taylor 9

everyday life as well as in the major social structures, such as

social class and the hierarchies of bureaucratic organizations.23

Only by examining the larger societal structures that reinforce gender expectations can humans

hope to understand and eradicate inequality in society, and just as women have experienced

hardship enforced by gender norms, men too are oppressed by gender.

In Japan, even something as simple as language patterns can establish the dominant and

subordinate members of a relationship. Within the language, those who utilize casual or rude

forms on a regular basis are asserting or trying to assert their dominance over the other members

of the conversation. Such markers of power are generally characterized as “masculine” speech

patterns because men typically utilize them, while women are more likely to utilize politer

forms of speech. However, in a workplace setting for instance, younger males will often take

on the role of the “feminine” by assuming politer speech and deferring to superiors24. In this

way, Japan’s masculine representations are not necessarily dictated by sex, but they are

reinforced in a dominant/subordinate relationship that demands one partner be unequal to the

other. In this scenario, the senior male takes the masculine identity while the junior male

assumes the feminine identity25, making the younger member the weaker speaker because of his

gendered position. Thus gender identity in Japan is less about battles between the sexes and

more about battles between positions of power; this is especially true in the workplace, where

another commonly accepted term for sarariiman is kigyou senshi, meaning corporate warrior26.

By identifying these battles as inherently gendered, we are then able to begin addressing the

23
Lorber, Judith. Paradoxes of Gender. Binghamton, NY: Vall-Ballou Press, 1994. Print. Pg.
6.
24
Standish, Isolde. Myth and Masculinity in the Japanese Cinema: Towards a Political Reading
of the "Tragic Hero". Richmond: Curzon, 2000. Print. Pg. 164-165.
25
Ibid., Pg. 165.
26
Louie, Pg 118.
 Taylor 10

problems that may arise in the gendering of identities in adult life. This is not to say that

workplace hierarchies should be destroyed, but rather it is simply to draw attention to the

gendered nature of everyday interactions.

These hierarchical power struggles are also exhibited in popular entertainment, especially

in shounen manga where speech patterns typically delineate character archetypes. Nearly all

shounen protagonists speak in masculine speech, as do their enemies. Exceptions to the rule are

often cross-dressing villains, who exaggerate feminine speech styles in order to mock opponents.

By assuming a sarcastic tone towards the hero, antagonists imply that there is no need to engage

in masculine speech to assert dominance; they are so powerful they don’t need to acknowledge

opponents with appropriate speech forms. Shounen heroes often establish their positions relative

to their enemies through words and language long before the first punch is thrown. Thus the

crux of battles in action manga and anime often centers on power levels that are illustrated

symbolically instead of concretely. Goku is often depicted charging his energy levels, but the

only indicator the audience receives is a halo surrounding his body and another character’s

commentary on how powerful he has become. Similarly, Atom’s power levels are indicated by

horsepower, hardly a term that has any real meaning in his mechanized, futuristic world.

These anime and others like it can serve as reflections of larger societal trends. Isolde

Standish theorizes that popular media, such as music, film, and theatre productions, can act as a

machine to generate over-arching, cross-generational mythology. “[R]epetition in popular

Japanese cinema functions at two levels: first, it is generationally linked, that is, in terms of

genre and mise-en-scène; and second, at the level of myth, as an interpretive framework it

provides a link which binds generations by providing (imaginary) resolutions to real

 Taylor 11

contradictions, thus, in the words of Lèvi-Strauss, insuring ‘the permanency of the group’”27. In

other words, films and other visual media are capable of producing a cultural standard that is

deeply embedded in societies from a young age. Dasgupta adds to this by stating that popular

media can also encompass counter-cultural movements, especially those that rebel against

dominant ideals. “On a more serious level popular culture has always worked simultaneously to

consolidate the hegemonic discourse, and to destabilize it (or at the very least to present alternate

readings)”28. Therefore, by studying repeating and changing motifs in film, we can make

ingerences about how a culture views itself on the societal level, and analyze both what it aspires

to be and what it seeks to undermine. Standish’s cinema study focuses on the common theme of

the tragic hero and its relation to “the dominant (ideo)logic of a Japanese conception of

masculinity”29, but by following his process, other forms of popular masculinity, particularly

those that appear in anime and manga can also be utilized to look at a larger societal image of

masculinity, both as it exists, as it is undermined, and as it imagined.

With recent economic instability and another era of exploration concerning what it means

to be Japanese, shounen storylines have become less about the abstractions of power and more

about exploration of the self. Astro Boy’s peaceful future, envisioned in the nineteen fifties and

sixties, has long passed into Edward’s contemporary country, torn by civil war and a lust for

ultimate weaponry. Goku’s endless fountain of optimism, created at the peak of the bubble

economy in 1984, has since given way to the bleak view of 1995’s post-apocalyptic Evangelion,

which depicts a world controlled through fear and military might. As time passes and the

dominant masculinities of Japan shift to fit society’s changing expectations, popular culture

27
Standish, Pg. 198.
28
Louie, Pg. 128.
29
Ibid., Pg. 201.
 Taylor 12

continues to reflect this instability through its ever-changing themes and narrations. Each era

gives rise to new questions and concerns, shifting from a country searching for global identity to

a land driven and shaped by its own economic might to a society increasingly questioning the

purpose of the individual in society.

This thesis will examine the anime and manga of the major eras spanning the post-war

period, studying the models of masculinity exhibited in them to observe trends about society’s

views on the role of men who either work within the confines of hegemony or seek to undermine

it. Manga and anime series will be studied chronologically, beginning with Astro Boy, Barefoot

Gen, and Mobile Suit Gundam in the first chapter. These works, produced over approximately

thirty years, explore Japan’s recovery period and its transition into a global economic

superpower. The second chapter will explore the rebel culture that developed in the nineteen-

seventies and eighties in answer to the sarariiman doxa, utilizing Akira, Dragon Ball and Ranma

½. The final chapter will examine the post-bubble period, during which the masculinity norms

established by “Japan, Inc.” were slowly deconstructed in the wake of economic collapse.

Rurouni Kenshin, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Inuyasha, and Fullmetal Alchemist will be the

works under discussion. Like Standish, I seek to examine popular representations of masculinity

and see to what extent these representations reflect widely held societal beliefs or ideas, and

ultimately show how Japanese masculinity has changed in the post-war period.
 Taylor 13

Chapter 1:

Lost and Found: Identity in the Peaceful Era

Without Tezuka Osamu and his numerous and prolific works, the modern manga and

anime industry might not have succeeded at all. Born in 1928, Tezuka grew up in an

environment rife with propaganda and violence. Japan was increasing militarization and would

soon begin expansion in Northeast Asia. Tezuka showed talent and interest in art from a young

age, but the military authorities of the time increasingly disapproved of comics and political

cartoons of all kinds, including those Tezuka drew while at school. Though he was not drafted,

Tezuka still underwent mandatory military education and at the age of sixteen was pressed into

working in a factory in Osaka while at the same time studying to be a doctor. There he

witnessed the bombings that razed the city in 1945 and the widespread starvation throughout

Japan during and following the war. These experiences served to shape Tezuka’s anti-war stance

later in life30.

Today Osamu is called the God of Manga and one of his earliest creations, Tetsuwan

Atomu (written 鉄腕アトム and better known in the United States as Astro Boy,) is still

remembered fondly by Japanese people of all ages31. First conceptualized in 1951 and published

in 1952, Astro Boy has a deceptively simplistic storyline that traces the adventures of a fully

sentient, nuclear-powered robot. However, unlike the robots often depicted in America, Astro

Boy is not a malevolent force come to destroy mankind. Rather, he is a little boy who serves to

protect and befriend both men and robots. The manga, serialized for 14 years, is still widely read

30
Schodt, Frederik L. The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the
Manga/anime Revolution. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2007. Print. Pg. 24-30.
31
Drazen, Patrick. Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation.
Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2003. Print. Pg. 5.
 Taylor 14

today, and anime series based on Astro Boy’s adventures have been produced on three separate

occasions, in addition to the recent American film32.

Upon first inspection, Astro Boy seems similar to the traditional Pinocchio story. Set in

the year 2003, the story opens upon the roboticist, Dr. Tenma, and the death of his son, Tobio.

Thrown into despair, he decides that he will remake Tobio in robot form. The machine will be

the most advanced robot on the face of the planet, so life-like that it could be mistaken for

human. One year later, Dr. Tenma completes the new Tobio, but quickly realizes that the robot

neither ages nor matures. Disgusted, Tenma sells the robot to a circus, where Dr. Ochanomizu

finds him and renames him Atom (Astro Boy.) However, unlike Pinocchio, who wished to

become human, Atom is satisfied in his robot flesh, though still saddened by his father’s

abandonment. In addition, his body is powerful and advanced, a veritable Superman among

robots.

Atom is young even by the average standards of shounen manga, depicted as a mere ten

year-old boy in comparison to the current average age of sixteen. He matches his age

demographic well, as Astro Boy was published in Shounen, a very popular boys’ magazine that

had little competition in the immediate postwar period, because the American government

censored many artists who had previously worked in wartime propaganda33. Though he seems

young, Atom must deal with problems far beyond his age, such as nuclear weaponry, racism (in

the veiled form of robot repression,) and isolation. In spite of the fact that Dr. Ochanomizu

builds a surrogate robot family for him, Atom must often fight alone, and in one of Tezuka’s

32
Clements, Jonathan and Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia: a Guide to Japanese
Animation Since 1917. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2001. Print. Pg. 21-22.
33
Ibid., Pg. 18-19, 30-32.
 Taylor 15

most famous story lines, is cut off from all of robot-kind entirely when he’s thrust into a world

before robots were developed.

Despite being a symbol well known to young boys of the 1950s and 60s, Atom is

strangely asexual. His speech patterns closely resemble those of natural Japanese speech,

utilizing both casual and polite forms. For instance, he addresses the President using polite verb

conjugations and occasional respectful language while the thoughts he addresses to friend and

enemies are generally casual in form34. While this seems quite natural in context, within the

genre of shounen it is quite unusual for male action heroes to address even superiors with polite

conjugation. In addition to his speech is his appearance. Though Atom is most frequently

depicted shirtless, he has no nipples and his rounded, childish body is clearly not designed to

illustrate an adult gendered body. In addition, his eyes are nearly as large as his fists and are

clearly ringed with long eyelashes, a generally feminine feature. He is so androgynous, in fact,

that his younger sister is able to pass as him when stripped of clothing35. In comparison to later

shounen heroes, Atom’s doughy body and rounded, girlish face seem to mark him as somehow

more feminine. In fact, Tezuka admits that he originally intended for Atom to be a girl, and only

changed the gender because he was writing for a boy’s magazine36.

“Feminine” males like Atom have a long history in Japan, partially due to the removal of

women from Japanese kabuki theatres in 1629. Even when the kabuki theatre tradition first

began in the pleasure quarters in the very early 1600s, it was common for men to play women’s

34
Tetsuwan Atomu. Mushi Productions. Fuji Television, Japan. 1 January 1963-31 December
1966. Episode 193.
35
Tezuka, Osamu. Tetsuwan Atomu. April 1952-March 1968. Kodansha Publishing. Print.
Volume 3, “Greatest Robot in the World.”
36
Schodt, Astro Boy Essays, Pg. 51.
 Taylor 16

roles and vice versa37. In lieu of citizens who were biologically women, kabuki began the

onnagata tradition, literally the “female type.” Initially, prepubescent boys were trained

specifically to play only women’s roles. “In particular, bishounen no bi (beauty of male

youth)—the aesthetics of the beautiful boy—shaped onnagata gender acts and role types. In the

early stages, onnagata elevated the

adolescent male body into stylized

paradigm of female-likeness… It appears

that the beauty of the young boy eventually

became the ideal of beauty for both men

and women”38. Though young boys were

Atom, with his large eyes and childish body also later banned from the kabuki stage,
Tetsuwan Atomu. Episode 1.
their legacy remained as older men

continued the tradition of specializing in female roles. Even once the Meiji Restoration began,

placing tighter strictures on what could and could not be performed in kabuki and eventually

culminating with the closing of the pleasure quarters during the war, the tradition remained in the

extensive writings from the Tokugawa Period actors and the numerous scrolls and paintings

depicting men portraying women39. Thus, an androgynous hero like Atom is not necessarily out

of place in the forefront of Japanese pop culture. What makes him unique is not his feminine

appearance, but rather his masculine, warrior’s personality as compared to the femininity of

previous androgynous characters. While Mezur argues that young boys in kabuki were always

relegated to female roles because they were sexless in the eyes of their patrons, Atom seems to

37
Mezur, Katherine. Beautiful Boys/Outlaw Bodies: Devising Kabuki Female-Likeness. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print. Pg. 1.
38
Ibid., Pg. 2-3.
39
Ibid., Pg. 134-135.
 Taylor 17

combine aspects of both masculine and feminine40. He is a fighter equipped with dangerous

weaponry, but he also tries to avoid violence when possible and he is very caring and considerate

towards both his opponents and allies.

This interplay of masculine and feminine is also illustrated in the two most prevalent

themes of Astro Boy: a desire for cooperation between humans and robots and Atom’s own

search for a place to belong. The former idea reflects Tezuka’s own desires for harmonious

workings between the world powers, especially in the wake of the atomic age. Atom himself is

nuclear powered, but is depicted as an ultimate peacemaker rather than an ultimate weapon. One

of the perceived aspects of men is a culturally shaped disposition towards violence and

destruction41, qualities that are on full display in the use of atomic weaponry. Atom, then, is the

ultimate reversal to this display of masculine brutality. Rather than destroy, he saves. In

addition, he is programmed to do no harm to humans and frequently tries to avoid damaging

robots who attempt to fight him. He is Japan’s peaceful answer to the atomic threat. Rather than

using technology in a masculine way (violence), his own personal creed pushes him towards a

feminine perspective (peace)42. This perhaps mirrors Japan’s own post-war situation; with the

creation of the new constitution, Japan was banned from starting wars or keeping a standing

army, thus allowing them to focus on the more benevolent aspects of new technology.

However, even Atom occasionally yearns for power. As discussed in the introduction,

Atom measures his (masculine) power arbitrarily; famed as the 100,000 horsepower robot, he is

capable of operating for three years before needing refueling. However, in one of Tezuka’s most

famous stories, the robot Pluto is created to destroy all of the world’s greatest robots. This giant,

40
Mezur, Pg. 67.
41
Whitehead, Stephen M. and Frank J. Barret ed. The Masculinities Reader. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishers, 2001. Print. Pg. 21-22.
42
Connell, Pg. 83.
 Taylor 18

black behemoth, complete with demonic horns that discharge electricity, goes on a destructive

rampage, demanding a match with Atom. The smaller robot is unable to even dent Pluto, and

demands an increase in horsepower. Dr. Ochanomizu refuses him, stating that Atom doesn’t

need more horsepower to defeat another robot and indeed that the fighting is unnecessary.

However, Dr. Tenma, mysteriously absent this long while, returns to impart Atom with one

million horsepower. The result is disastrous, as the power levels prove too much for Atom to

handle and he partially destroys the laboratory before sinking to the bottom of the ocean43.

This story, written in 1964, is an eerie echo of the nuclear arms race. Robot after robot is

paraded out, each boasting more horsepower than the next, and all of them are soundly

destroyed. Even once Atom is freed and returns to himself, he clings to the one million

horsepower, convinced that he cannot win and that there is no other way to settle things with

Pluto. Rather than phallic envy, often a mechanism in Western machismo, Atom seems to envy

the inner strength and confidence of his adversary. In addition, the fact that Atom received the

horsepower from his estranged “father” rather than his guardian, Dr. Ochanomizu, implies that

masculinity must be something obtained through a patriarchal figure.

Perhaps this is a logical conclusion for a generation raised to consider the country a kind

of giant family that transcended blood, the emperor acting as a father-figure to the entire

population. Beginning with the Meiji Constitution, the emperor was elevated to a symbolic

position of power not seen in Japanese governing for more than a thousand years. However, the

Constitution stated that the emperor was the “Head of the Empire, combining in him the rights of

43
Tezuka, Volume 3, “The Greatest Robot.”
 Taylor 19

sovereignty”44. Though in reality he still had very little political power, the emperor was

transferred to the position of political figurehead of the new nation, and his image changed to

match. Rather than traditional court dress, the emperor’s regalia became a striking military

uniform in the style of Germanic rulers, replete with medals and a sword. The image and power

behind the emperor was shaped into one of ultimate patriarchal masculinity.

By linking filial piety and emperor-loyalty, mid-Meiji ideologues

were able to make a super family of the nation, and a super father
figure of the emperor. That is, they began by idealizing the warm
devotion that is due one’s parents (filial piety), then affirmed that
this principle found its highest fulfillment in filial devotion, or
absolute loyalty, to the “national family” and its revered head.45

Though these beliefs waned somewhat after the death of the Meiji Emperor, their basis remained

in the education system until the Occupation. Therefore, Tezuka’s generation was raised to

venerate the emperor not simply for his divinity, but also for his role as the ultimate Japanese

father.

With the Occupation, the emperor was removed from his powerful military position and

again became a mere symbol of the Japanese people. Furthermore, General MacArthur included

a constitutional clause forcing the emperor to renounce his divinity, a crux of Japanese culture

that had been mobilized repeatedly since the writing of the Nihon Shoki in the eighth century46.

The emperor, the all-powerful father figure, was in essence stripped of his virility and

masculinity by the American forces, which then occupied Japan for the next six years. Not only

was the ruler of the land stripped of his power, but many boys of Tezuka’s generation were also

44
Treat, John Whittier. “Beheaded Emperors and the Absent Figure in Contemporary Japanese
Literature. PMLA, Vol. 109, No. 1. Modern Language Association. Jan., 1994. Pg,
100-115. Electronic. Pg. 102
45
Fridell, Wilbur M. “Government Ethics Textbooks in Late Meiji Japan.” The Journal of
Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No. 4. Association for Asian Studies. Aug., 1970. Pg. 823-833.
Electronic. Pg. 824.
46
McClain, Pg. 539.
 Taylor 20

stripped of fathers all together. By the end of the long war, Japan has lost nearly two million

soldiers, and on the home front roughly 600,000 civilians47. In addition, famine, inflation,

disease, unemployment, and housing shortages plagued the six million returning soldiers and

their families, and in 1947 fifteen in one thousand died48. Thus the immediate post-war

generation was the fatherless generation. Even if soldiers returned to their families, they were

“stigmatized as losers”49, just as impotent as the deposed emperor. As Morris Low puts it, “The

sense of self for Japanese men from the Meiji period on was tied to the Emperor…In defeat,

Japanese men were emasculated”50.

Atom’s strangely conflicted existence, caught between the incredible power of his robot

body and the humanity of his artificial mind, also echoes the conflicting perspectives of Japan

itself in the wake of World War II. He is often found in conflict over his allegiance to humans

and peace and the necessity to fight for what is right. Atom is built with the machinery to fight,

including guns and rockets, but almost always reserves those weapons in favor of negotiations

and scientific solutions. He is an echo of the young Japanese male in the years following the

war. Many of whom were well trained in the use or creation of guns, artillery, and other

weapons but returned to a country that now expected scholars, democratic politicians, and

factory workers.

Though Atom presents bright hope for the future, he also illustrates that there was no

place for the traditional warrior in Japan’s new society. This contrast can also be viewed as a

duality between West and East. In the wake of the war, Occupied Japan was under pressure

from the Allied Powers to conform to Western-style democracy and market systems. Western

47
McClain, Pg 513-514.
48
Ibid., Pg 531.
49
Ibid., Pg 532.
50
Louie, Pg. 95.
 Taylor 21

technology, which had been changing the face of Japan since the Meiji Era, became even more

intrinsic and the country shifted to manufacturing. Atom is a representation of this advancing

technology, but he still clings to the fundamental post-war doctrine of peace and compromise.

Even his existence as a super computer (he is able to process any language and can do massive

calculations in his head) is a direct representation of intellect versus firepower. Rather than

simply battling with his impressive weaponry, Atom often chooses to fight with his intelligence.

If the masculinity of Astro Boy is subdued, than the masculinity of Barefoot Gen (裸足の

元) is the exact opposite, exuberant, boisterous, and fertile. Nakazawa Keiji’s semi-

autobiographical manga Barefoot Gen was published in 1972, nearly thirty years after the violent

event it depicts; the subject matter is a raw, emotional account of the atomic bombing of

Hiroshima51. The story follows Gen, a young boy living with his father, pregnant mother, sister,

and younger brother. The first several volumes begin a few days before the bombing and lead to

the morning it occurs. The second volume follows the immediate aftermath as Gen tries to

protect and feed his mother and himself, all while battling radiation sickness. Often painfully

accurate in its depictions of the violence of the atomic bomb, Barefoot Gen is the first manga

series to be translated into English in its entirety and is still widely read today, both in Japanese

schools and by scholars who study Japan.

Gen’s father is the pinnacle of masculinity in Gen’s storyline. Reflecting Nakazawa’s

own upbringing in an anti-war family, Nakaoka Daikichi happily criticizes soldiers and

policemen for their war propaganda and as a result his entire family is punished severely.

Nakaoka is thrown in jail where he is severely beaten for his defiant anti-war stance. Rather than

rescinding his beliefs or crying out to satisfy his tormentor, Nakaoka continues to belittle the

51
Nakazawa, Keiji. Hadashi no Gen. 1973- 1974. Shueisha, Cuokoron-Shinsha. Vol. 1, Pg. v.
 Taylor 22

government as the cops commence their torture52. This is a reflection of the older aspects of

manliness, especially as related to the samurai. A good samurai was a stoic man of few words, a

direct opposite of the propaganda filled officers of the war period. To further reinforce this

point, Nakaoka is generally depicted in a kimono throughout the manga, while officers wear

Western dress. Isolde Standish theorizes that this kind of silent hero conveys his masculinity not

through shows of force but through shows of restraint. “[The hero] makes his point through his

greater capacity to withstand pain; at no stage does he threaten his opponents with actual

physical violence.” This kind of “stoic masochism is a vehicle of domination”53. Though Gen’s

father is depicted as affectionately violent towards his sons throughout the manga, he never

raises a hand against army officers. His words may be disrespectful, but his refusal to act on

violent impulses places him above the officers.

Nakaoka’s character and his

unbending masculinity are immediately

associated with wheat, both at the

beginning of the manga and the anime

adaptation. Because rice is confiscated

for soldiers, Nakaoka has elected to

grow wheat to sustain himself and his

family. Additionally, the traditional

Gen and his father are juxtaposed with wheat
Hadashi no Gen
staple of rice is generally associated

52
Nakazawa, Vol. 1, Pg. 28-35.
53
Standish, Pg. 176.
 Taylor 23

with women working the fields, and thus cannot represent the masculine bonds between father

and sons54. In the very first shot following the prologue of the film, Nakaoka tells his boys,

“[Wheat’s] life begins in the coldest season of the year. The rain pounds it. The wind blows it.

It’s crushed beneath people’s feet. But still the wheat spreads its roots and grows. It survives”55.

This is all an allusion to what is to come. Following the bombing, Gen’s father, sister, and

younger brother are crushed beneath a burning house, but Nakaoka orders his son to care for his

mother, and implores them both to survive. Despite the bleak subject matter, Gen is able to be

an uplifting spirit in the ashes of Hiroshima. His exuberant running and resourceful attitude,

exhibited earlier in the film when catching a fish, remain unchanged. He goes out of his way to

help not only himself and his mother, but complete strangers, including a young boy who looks

startlingly like Gen’s deceased brother.

The culmination of the film

echoes the beginning. Gen, who has

lost all his hair to radiation sickness, is

wandering with his newfound friend as

they ponder whether grass will ever

grow in Hiroshima again. The boys

happen to notice spikes of green poking

up through the ashes and realizes that

Gen and his foster brother celebrate the return of wheat and
Gen’s hair
Hadashi no Gen they are young wheat shoots. The

reemergence of this masculine symbol as well as Gen’s returning hair, signify the indomitable

54
Cavanaugh, Carole. Class Lecture. Anime: Japanese Animation. Middlebury College,
Middlebury, VT. March, 2009.
55
Hadashi no Gen. Dir. Mamoru Shinzaki, Mori Masaki. Madhouse Studios. 21 July 1983.
 Taylor 24

spirit that Nakaoka represents. The allusion is further strengthened as the film returns to the

initial scene with Nakaoka’s speech repeated over a field of green wheat. Even the color green is

associated with resurging masculinity and strength. One of the jobs Gen takes is to nurse a bomb

victim whose family has abandoned him to rot alone in a room. This is only the second time the

audience has seen any green since the bombing. The victim’s house still has live trees, and as he

regains his health, he begins to paint pictures of healthy green flowers. He explains how Gen’s

influence has revitalized him and made him want to live again. Even Gen’s name, meaning

“root” or “source” is related to vitality and growth. Nakazawa explains, “I named my main

character Gen in the hope that he would become a root or source of strength for a new generation

of mankind—one that can tread the charred soil of Hiroshima barefoot, feel the earth beneath its

feet, and have the strength to say ‘No’ to nuclear weapons”56. Gen, though still a young boy,

holds the same regenerative power as wheat, able to overcome adversity and support those he

loves and stand as a symbol for an older, more stoic kind of masculinity.

Also, unlike Astro Boy, Gen’s central father figure does not willingly abandon him to live

a conflicted identity. Nakaoka Daikichi is very firm in instilling pacifist values in his sons and

quickly expressing anger if they show any support of propaganda. Rather than hailing the

emperor, the Japanese patriarchal figure, Nakaoka teaches his sons that ultimate loyalty should

go to immediate family and loved ones rather than distant figures and ideas. He even calls the

emperor’s accountability into question, a very daring move for Nakazawa, even thirty years after

the war. “I don’t give a damn about the emperor! We’re about to die because we don’t have

anything to eat tomorrow! I bet the emperor’s never missed a meal in his life!”57. Nakaoka is

56
Gravett, Pg. 65.
57
Nakazawa, Vol. 1 Pg. 173. 天皇陛下もくそもあるもんか／わしらあすのめしがくえな
くてしにそうなのに。。。／天皇陛下めしがくえなくて泣いたことがあるか
 Taylor 25

unconcerned with what will happen to him so long as his family is well-fed and protected. In a

time where “Luxury is the enemy” was a common propaganda message and dying for the good

of the country was an honor, his message of survival and strength is astounding. However, the

Japan of 1972, a Japan that was just managing to get footing in the world markets and regain a

respectable economy, the message of rebirth was fitting.

In the wake of the 1964 Olympics and the World Expo in 1970, Japan was at long last

reemerging from the ashes of World War II58. This is when the sarariiman first began to ascend

the social ladder and prosperity seemed attainable, especially as Japanese goods gained a

foothold in the global market. Gen’s story, printed in 1974 amidst this prosperity, reflects

Japan’s resurgence. In many ways he is the crossover between the toiling generation of war

survivors and the new generation, destined to grow up in a pacifist consumer society. The

manga reflects this move forward, its final chapter depicting Hiroshima one year after the

bombing. The streets are repaved, buildings and factories fill the background, and the city

celebrates its first annual Peace Festival. Though many individuals are still dying of radiation

sickness, Gen is doing well, stealing food from American soldiers and earning money by

chanting the nenbutsu for bereaved families. One of the women even speculates that he is

apprenticed to a priest, indicating that he should be respected for his spiritual position59. In this

new world, his resurging masculine power allows him to earn money and to care for his mother,

and as in the film, his image is juxtaposed with sprouting wheat. He now lives in a recovering

society, able to earn an income in an honorable, masculine occupation, not unlike a sarariiman.

There is no question that Astro Boy and Barefoot Gen are messages of passivism in the

face of defeat following the war, but by the nineteen-seventies, Japan was no longer a country

58
Snyder.
59
Nakazawa, Vol. 3, Pg. 237.
 Taylor 26

ravaged by war and poverty. Instead, it was one of the richest nations in the world. Thanks to

ambitious economic programs and continued demand from the US and other countries waging

war, Japan was able to export goods at a rate that was only trumped by the US itself. Starting

from 1961, Japan doubled its national income in just seven years60. Major investments in

technological development meant that Japanese companies began to get footholds in the US,

especially where electronic goods and automobiles were concerned. Economic competition

became the name of the international game, and Japanese companies, which had been regarded

with a kind of patronizing amusement until that point, suddenly became models of efficiency and

production. Even in the domestic sphere, competition was fierce and children vied for spots in

top educational institutions while white-collar workers put in long hours in order to work

towards promotions. If Tezuka marked Astro Boy with hope for the future, he certainly didn’t

anticipate that advanced technology would lead to such antagonism between countries.

The new and shining representative of this competitive age is Mobile Suit Gundam (機動

戦士ガンダム), an anime produced in 1979 just as Japan entered its the bubble economy. The

story follows Amuro Ray, tech savvy but socially challenged sixteen-year old, as he’s thrust into

a civil war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Through pure dumb luck,

Amuro, along with a crew of characters ranging from teenaged to early twenties, is forced to

pilot prototype technology in the battle against Zeon. This technology includes a huge mobile

suit, a humanoid machine utilized both in space and land-based combat, and a flying military

base in the shape of a horse. Ultimately it’s discovered that Amuro and fighters like him are a

new evolution in the human species, cryptically labeled “Newtypes.” Unlike Astro Boy and

shows like it, which concentrate on the potential of artificial intelligence in the future, Mobile

60
McClain, Pg 572-575.
 Taylor 27

Suit Gundam focuses on human relations as expressed both on and off the battlefield. Though

initially not very successful, Gundam became a cult classic that continues to spawn sequels and

spin-offs to this day. It is now so loved and well known that a life-size, 18-meter mobile suit has

been constructed in Yokohama.

Though Amuro is technically the main character of the show, Gundam has an ensemble

cast, with multiple characters playing important roles. It is through their relationships that the

young man is able to emerge as a strong warrior and masculine figure for those fighting the war.

Perhaps the most important relationship for Amuro is that to Char Aznable, his primary enemy

throughout the series. Char is a mysterious masked pilot who disappears and reappears

throughout the series, always seemingly interested in serving himself and his military career

rather than the Zeon nobility. Each time he

and Amuro clash, whether on foot or

aboard mobile suits, the fighters are equally

matched. The final battle perhaps explains

the most about their relationship, as the

men take up swords and fight each other

Char and Amuro meet in battle hand to hand. Both Amuro and Char are
Kidou Senshi Gandamu, Episode 42
wounded and as Char surges forward, the

two characters become so closely intertwined that they could be mistaken for lovers. In this

moment, they share a vision of the future for “Newtypes,” before being torn apart by an
 Taylor 28

explosion. The battle ultimately ends without a victor, as the space station they’re aboard begins

to break apart61.

The Newtype evolution is entwined with sexuality, especially as many of the virile young

men in the show appear to have this genetic mutation. Part of the show deals with Amuro’s own

sexual awakening as he realizes the women around him can be objects of desire. He is

particularly drawn to Lala Sune, a young woman who is in love with Char, but seems to share a

strange psychic connection with Amuro. When they first meet, she is a distinct contrast with the

young warrior because she is implicitly tied to the natural and the beautiful. Even later when she

flies a spaceship in combat, she continues to wear a flowing yellow dress rather than a spacesuit.

Lala and Amuro’s first encounter foreshadows their connection as Newtypes, both of them

communicating telepathically without realizing it62. She seems at once eccentric and ethereal, a

personality that foreshadows her next interaction with the young soldier.

When the two finally meet in battle, they immediately begin a psychic conversation in

which Lala berates Amuro for being too late. She implies that in truth they were meant to be

together as a couple, the first Newtypes to fully realize their own powers. In a sudden shared

vision, the two discuss that they were likely fated to meet in this way, even though one must

destroy the other. Once they’re done speaking, water fills the screen and waves crash together,

the two of them gasping from off screen. Depictions of a turbulent sea are traditionally allusions

to sexual orgasm in Japanese poetry and ancient texts, especially in the traditional creation myth

of the main islands, and the noises issuing from Amuro and Lala do nothing to hinder this

impression. At the last moment however, Char interferes and the trance is interrupted, allowing

61
Kidou Senshi Gandamu. Sunrise Studio. Nagoya Broadcasting Network. 7 April 1979-26
January 1980. Episode 42.
62
Ibid., Episode 33.
 Taylor 29

Amuro and his rival to be drawn into a battle. At the moment when the young Newtype is about

to destroy his enemy however, Lala jumps in front of Char’s mobile suit to save him. Her ship is

impaled on Amuro’s beam sword, and her helmet immediately breaks, exposing her to the

depressurization of space.

It is in this moment that we again see the waves building up, this time juxtaposed with

Amuro’s eyes. Again they have a psychic connection as Lala tells him about the impending

evolution of humanity. Their faces are overlapped, nearly kissing as the water builds up again

and again. They share a somewhat fractured vision of earth as music begins to play, the lyrics

sounding “Spread your wings, I’ll hold you. Will you be lonely tomorrow? Of course not.

We’ll be together. So goodnight, Amuro.” A floating paradise appears in space and two running

children are shown as the sugary ballad continues. The final vision of the mise-en-scène is a

giant yellow orb floating freely as white streaks of light approach and attach on to it. The

audience returns to reality as Amuro pulls his sword free and Lala’s ship explodes63.

The sexual implications here are

clear. Lala and Amuro are depicted as a

kind of Adam and Eve, or in the case of

Japanese mythology, Izanagi and Izanami.

They join with the thrusting of the phallus,

Amuro’s beam sword, and this act

culminates in a vision of children,

White streaks join with a yellow orb, mimicking
presumably their own, alongside fertilization
Kidou Senshi Gandamu, Episode 40

fertilization of the yellow orb with its white streaks, which can be read as the egg and sperm.

63
Kidou Senshi Gandamu. Episode 40. 翼を広げて、あなたを抱くわ。明日あなたは寂し
いかしら？そんなことない、私たちだからね。お休み、アムロ。
 Taylor 30

Additionally, the orb can also be read as the sun and its rays, thus tying it to Japan’s sun goddess,

Amaterasu. Unfortunately for Lala, however, she has already allowed herself to be tainted by

Char, devoting her love to him rather than Amuro, who she states is her “destiny”64. Though it is

implied that they would make a healthy viable new generation, instead, she must die for her sins,

and Amuro then holds Char responsible for her death through the remaining two episodes of the

series. His anger is represented in their final fight, where they the young man is willing to step

outside his zone of comfort, the cockpit of the mobile suit, and fight Char hand to hand.

For Amuro, the mobile suit is a way to dehumanize his opponents, placing them in

faceless machines that disguise their flesh and blood. Though Amuro does occasionally show

uncertainty or regret when killing his opponents, on the whole he does not hesitate. Rather than

seeing a human being, he sees a machine, and presumably his opponents see him in the same

way. Thus, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Char becomes an extremely personal matter.

Though lives are on the line, the combat itself is sporting in the form of fencing. Richard Light

explains that, for Japanese, sportsmanship differs greatly from Western in that spirit, the ability

to endure, and the ability to continue all out to the bitter end are valued above shows of violent

emotion or outburst and strategic maneuvering. “This tactic (of rushing a scrimmage line rather

than kicking a field goal) not only allows teams to maintain a high-paced attack but also to play

in an aggressive and physical manner through which they can test the opposition’s physical and

moral strength”65. Similarly, a physical engagement for Char and Amuro is less about

illustrating personal anger and skill, but more about understanding the opposing side’s willpower

and morality. This is ultimately displayed when the two opponents intertwine and share a vision

of peace and nonviolence. They are able to understand each other more thoroughly through

64
Kidou Senshi Gandamu, Episode 40.
65
Louie, Pg. 108.
 Taylor 31

fighting than through words, and thus both walk away from the battle satisfied in spite of coming

to a draw.

Additionally, the use of the phallus in their final fight, in this case Western fencing

swords, again seems to imply a struggle for sexual dominance. Here, however, the phallus is less

about the penis and sexuality and more societal power and dominance over one’s opponent. R.

W. Connel points out that where modern military campaigns are expressions of reasserted violent

masculinity, dueling and other martial arts “are basically a symbolic definition of masculinity

through violence”66. In other words, hand-to-hand combat is a personal expression of one’s own

masculinity while large-scale military campaigns are expressions of collective masculinity.

While each form of combat is a violent illustration of male power, the former is an expression at

the societal level (established by bureaucracy, politics, and society) while the later is a much

more individual expression (established only between the dueling individuals.) A duel is a way

for Amuro and Char to express their masculinity on a personal level where before they worked

only in the confines of society. This also ties implicitly to ancient samurai culture, such as the

battles depicted in the Heike Monogatari, which emphasized duels between individual opponents

rather than large, indiscriminate melees. Combatants take part in a strange kind of pure,

chivalrous exchange, replete at once with both homosexual overtones and heterosexual rivalries.

Both Amuro and Char are participating in this ritual, the visual closeness of their bodies

illustrating the intimacy of the connection between two battling warriors. They are reasserting

their masculinity not through robotics or large suits that obscure their faces, but rather through

the connection of one-on-one combat.

66
Connell, Pg. 192-193.
 Taylor 32

Amuro’s father, though he only appears in the series twice, is also a key player in the

series. The first time we see Tem Ray, he is one of the idealized elite, a learned scientist who

has just designed the Federation’s first mobile suit, the very suit which Amuro later pilots. In

addition, he is rarely home, leaving his son in a motherless household. However, his fate is left

uncertain following an attack on the colony where he lives. Amuro thinks of his father often, but

has no idea where the man might have fled. Being within the suit is a constant reminder of his

father’s mechanical prowess, a skill both valued and enviable to Amuro. However, when he

meets his father again, it is by chance. In the course of the episode, Amuro follows Tem back to

his new home and tries to discover what happened. Tem, on the other hand is working hard on

inventions for the mobile suit, all of which prove to be useless pieces of junk. Amuro concludes

that his father has been brain-damaged by a lack of oxygen while traveling in space. The son

returns to the military base broken-hearted with worthless pieces of metal in hand while the

father continues to live a life of delusion67. Brain-damaged to a point where he can no longer

normally function, Tem is reduced to an impotent figure, leaving Amuro completely without

fatherly guidance.

Again, there are echoes of the powerless father figure from the Occupation period

(Gundam’s creator, Tomino Yoshiyuki, was born in 1941 and worked under Tezuka Osamu) but

there are also the hints of disdain that would develop against fathers in the corporate culture.

Where before, the father of the family had been a point of emulation, in the economic bubble of

the seventies and eighties he became a stereotype of monotonous corporate life, barely a member

of the family at all. Though only a relatively small percentage of Japan’s population ever

worked as sarariiman during the bubble, those members of society were the most idealized and

67
Kidou Senshi Gandamu, Episode 32.
 Taylor 33

therefore the most easily attacked. No longer educating their children or even interacting with

them on a regular basis, the sarariiman became a source of income and little more. As Ian

Buruma puts it, “Stripped of responsibility and thus of respect, the father can no longer be a

model”68. Though Tem’s situation is more pitiable than anything, the man none-the-less seems

justly punished for neglecting his son. Amuro fights on the frontlines, risking his life, while the

father lives on a neutral territory, unthreatened by war or any other unpleasantness. While Tem’s

life is safer, Amuro is the more valorous figure, fulfilling his responsibilities to country and

surrogate military family even at the expense of his own life and happiness.

In place of a mother and father, Amuro has the crew of his military base, many of whom

act as masculine symbols for the young pilot to emulate. In particular Ryu Jose and Lieutenant

Bright Noa serve as Amuro’s role models. Ryu, another fighter onboard the base, is presented as

a kind-hearted, moral pillar, frequently reminding Amuro of his obligations to protect the crew

and his friends. Even though he’s critically wounded in a battle, he escapes his hospital bed and

boards a fighter jet, ultimately sacrificing himself in a kamikaze maneuver to save the base.

Bright Noa is nearly a surrogate father for Amuro, in spite of only being three years older than

the other boy. He is not above hitting the errant pilot for insubordination, and is frequently

severe when the young man has moral quandaries. However, unlike Tem Ray, Bright is

competent and admirable and frequently spends time with Amuro, trying his best to mentor him

and instill him with a sense of duty and inner strength.

The juxtaposition of a young group of peers who hold the hope of the future with a

corrupt and often useless older generation in the background is a recurring theme throughout

68
Buruma, Ian. Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters,
and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes. New York: New American Library, 1985. Print.
Pg. 204.
 Taylor 34

anime and manga. In Gundam, it is reflected in the use of the term “Newtype” (the English term

is used even in Japanese.) Tomino unabashedly admits to lifting “Newtype” from “new breed,”

a term that was in vogue in the nineteen-seventies and generally referred to Japan’s post-war,

baby boom generation69. Interestingly, the term shounen itself seems to indicate this preference

for young heroes over experienced adults. Shounen, while having the meaning “young boy,” is

actually composed of two characters meaning “few years.” Additionally, there is a Buddhist

homonym for shounen that means “of the right mind” or “pure hearted”70. Obviously, the most

important things for manga and anime creators is to cater to their young audiences, but given that

shounen manga are read by a large majority of the population and not simply children, there

must be another underlying pleasure in reading about young heroes. For Japan, there is a

“national consensus that Japan’s most important resource is its children”71. As such, not only is

it natural for there to be an emphasis on developing young people as heroes for the future, but

even sarariiman and housewives can look into the pages of a shounen manga and see escapist

hope for a better future in the form of young, male protagonists.

69
Clements, Pg. 159.
70
Gravett, Pg. 59.
71
McClain, Pg. 622.
 Taylor 35

Chapter 2

Boys with Attitude: Corporate Machines and the Men who Fight Them

By the nineteen-eighties, Japan was no longer a country under the wing of America.

Instead it had emerged into an economic superpower, assuming the position of second largest

economy in the world; it produced more exports than any other country save the US, and by

1987 overtook America’s per capita GNP72. The country had now assumed a new identity;

rather than struggling to recover from being stripped of its military dominance, Japan found a

new kind of power in the form of economic clout. Citizens moved to the city and embraced

middle-class life, taking office jobs and occupying new modern houses with all the latest

conveniences. By this point, the sarariiman had become the poster boy of the Japanese economy,

touted as the standard by which all Japanese should live73. However, even at the height of the

Japanese economy, sarariiman comprised less than twenty-five percent of the working

population, and by the ‘eighties, young men were beginning to question the wisdom of the

sarariiman lifestyle. Even as other work sectors such as tourism and popular culture gained

merit, the cultural opinion of younger generations turned against the middle-class mentality74.

“The new generation, critics claimed, scorned the maxim, expounded by Tokugawa period

thinker Ishida Baigan and repeated by many thereafter, that the meaning of life is found in the

discipline of work”75. “Salarymen, one high-laced official noted, ‘are no longer respected as

noble corporate warriors’ and, as a consequence, ‘have grown ashamed of their habitual devotion

to the job’”76. However, even though they rebelled against the societal norm of the white-collar

72
McClain, Pg. 572.
73
Ibid., Pg 584.
74
Ibid., Pg 619.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid., Pg. 620.
 Taylor 36

position, they did not rebel against the idea of masculinity as a whole. While other career

choices became more desirable, choosing a different gender identity remained heavily

stigmatized.

Among this new privileged generation, peace lovers or moral pillars were no longer

revered heroes. Instead, the emerging hero was one of a distinctly rebellious nature. In 1984,

Otomo Katsushiro’s Akira (アキラ) was published, and Japan was introduced to a violent,

cyber-punk future filled with cruel, corrupt authority figures, military rule, and youth gangs.

Akira follows two characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, as they become entangled with top-secret

government testing and dangerous weaponry capable of destroying an already devastated Tokyo.

Set in the year 2019, Akira envisions a Neo-Tokyo that has been rent by a second atomic

bombing. In the aftermath, the government seizes control by force and rebels walk the streets,

frequently causing violent riots and bombings. As Kaneda involves himself with the rebels,

government agents steal away Tetsuo to make him a new test subject. He emerges from the

experiments with amazing psychic powers, but the inability to control them. His powerful body

eventually overtakes his mind, transforming him into a horrifying monster before transcending

flesh entirely to embrace a new existence.

In her study on anime, Susan Napier cites Akira as an example of the “monstrous

adolescent”77. At the beginning of the film, Tetsuo is depicted as a weakling among his friends.

Though he is a member of a motorcycle gang, arguably an incredibly powerful and masculine

position, he lives in the shadow of his friends. Tetsuo is clearly unhappy in his underling

position, attempting on one occasion to ride Kaneda’s iconic red motorcycle and being told in no

uncertain terms, “That bike’s been customized just for me. It’s too wild. You couldn’t handle

77
Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary
Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print. Pg. 39.
 Taylor 37

it”78. As the film progresses and Tetsuo gains his powers, he places himself into a position of

power, stealing Kaneda’s motorcycle (equated as a phallic symbol throughout the film79),

destroying the medical facility he is kept in, and rampaging across Tokyo in a blaze of fire. He

marvels at his newfound power, but the moment it turns against him, he panics and calls for

Kaneda to save him.

Tetsuo and Kaneda’s involvement in

motorcycle gangs immediately points to a

desire to emulate adult masculinity. By

idolizing the phallus, they are reaching for a

post-pubescent expression of masculinity and

sexuality, and their homosocial environment Tetsuo covets Kaneda’s motorcycle

Akira
only encourages masculine expressions of

competition and violence. In the nineteen-seventies and eighties, the motorcycle gang

(bousouzoku) was fast becoming one of the subcultures of youth throughout major cities in Japan.

Such gangs first emerged in the 60s as lines were drawn between work-class workers and white-

collar workers; many gang members belonged to middle-class, blue-collar families, thus

separating them from the white-collar sarariiman elite. One of the most commonly cited reasons

for the emergence of these publicly violent gangs is “an expression of asobi (play) which forms

part of a rite of passage marking the change from childhood to maturity”80. In addition, Isolde

Standish argues that belonging to a bousouzoku gang was a way to gain recognition in a culture

78
Akira. Dir. Katsuhiro Otomo. Akira Committee. 16 July 1988. 俺ように改良したバイ
クだ。ピーキーすぎて、お前にゃ無理だよ。
79
Ibid., Pg. 41.
80
Martinez, D. P. ed. The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries
and Global Cultures. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Pg. 57.
 Taylor 38

that acknowledged only white-collar identity as a successful lifestyle81. In this light, both

Kaneda and Tetsuo can be viewed as actively trying to achieve adult status, but the former is

clearly ahead of the latter. “Kaneda [is a] kouha type, the embodiment of a hard masculinity to

which actual bousouzoku youths aspire. Satou Ikuya defines kouha as ‘the hard type [that] is a

traditional image of adolescent masculinity which combines violence, valour, and bravado with

stoicism and chivalry’”82. Thus Tetsuo’s actions are characterized by his desire to be like

Kaneda. Even as he loses control and goes on a rampage, he is still constantly comparing

himself to the gang leader and attempting to prove his own self-worth and “hard” masculinity.

Kouha masculinity in Japanese films is not exclusive to anime. It can also be observed in

jidai-geki (period films), yakuza films, nagare-mono (drifter films), war films, and

Chuushingura (films on the tale of the forty-seven ronin)83. Popularized by Kurosawa Akira, all

of these genres feature men who exhibit hard masculinity and pure intentions (makoto)84. These

men contrast with nanpa, “a skirt-chaser or ladies’ man”85, because rather than pursue carnal lust

or mere self-interest, they aspire to higher values. In the case of manga and anime, kouha can

also be contrasted with bishounen, young, beautiful men who embody a kind of masculinity that

relates to androgyny and homosexual desire86. While bishounen also have a kind of innocence

about them, they do not conform to the kouha demand for efficiency, loyalty, and competency87.

It is because kouha exhibit these attributes that they are portrayed as role models for men. These

81
Martinez, Pg. 58.
82
Ibid., Pg. 67.
83
Ibid., Pg. 68.
84
Ibid., Pg. 67.
85
Ibid.
86
Napier, Pg. 59-60.
87
Martinez. Pg. 68.
 Taylor 39

“hard” masculine figures exhibit a kind of morality that other archetypes are lacking, thus

making them more emotionally pure than self-interested characters.

However, other characters in Akira lack this ideal of “hard” masculinity. The audience is

presented with several adult males in the form of scientists, politicians, terrorists, and military

personnel, but noble men are only found in the fighters, not in the learned men that fill the first

two occupations. As in Gundam, the older generation is problematic even when presented in a

positive light, and many of the adults are also depicted with cruel and heartless personalities.

Tetsuo’s genetic modifications are the brainchild of a nameless character known only as the

Doctor, whose obsession with creating the next step of human evolution has blinded him to the

dangers he has created with his experiments. Even as Tetsuo begins to destroy Tokyo, the

Doctor can only focus on his subject’s amazing telekinetic powers, and he trembles in a

cowardly manner before the military personnel who interrogate him concerning the experiments.

The politician Mr. Nezu is a blatant representation of corruption in the upper tiers of society. His

name is a play on the Japanese word for rat (nezumi) and his short, round stature; beady eyes;

and buckteeth match the description well. Nezu’s nature is also that of a rat, as he acts as a spy

in politics, pitting terrorists against the army for profit. In the end, Nezu dies in the puddles of a

back alley, surrounded by dirty money and suffering from a heart condition; rather than receiving

a hero’s death (to die in battle or defending an honorable cause) he is depicted as the lowest of

the low.

Those men who are in control are militaristic in nature. The only “good” role model in

the film is Colonel Shikishima, who sits on the ruling political council. He keeps a tight fisted

control on his soldiers and seems to be the only character in the film who realizes that the Akira

experiments are dangerous and must be properly controlled. As other politicians try to shove the
 Taylor 40

project under the carpet and remove its funding, the Colonel alone argues for proper research to

prevent more rampages from happening. Eventually, the Colonel must perform a military coup

in order to take the city out of the hands of the corrupt elite. He presents proper kouha mentality

by placing the good of the state over the good of his own image, and at the same time his tight

military control allows for quick, if futile, action against Tetsuo. The Self-Defense Force has not

been a popular entity in Japan since the war, despite the numerous manga and anime

representing military men. Rather than being associated with war and violence though, the

Colonel’s character takes on a different light. Instead of connecting the Colonel with military

then, he is linked with “imagined community honour”88. It is in his integrity that he is

established as a sympathetic figure to be valued over his counterparts. Like Kaneda, the Colonel

joins the ranks of rebellion in order to pursue a pure vision uncolored by malfeasance.

Though these men offer excellent role models for kouha masculinity, Tetsuo chooses to

ignore them and thus his own quest for maturity is essentially a failure. His final mutation can

be viewed as a pubescent transformation gone horribly wrong. Though he revels in his newborn

“adult” powers and his ability to overcome Kaneda’s masculinity, Tetsuo is ultimately unable to

control himself or his body. Adolescence can be viewed through the same lens. As the young

boy grows towards manhood, he experiences changes that he cannot control, urges and emotions

that he’s never experienced before, and responsibilities that are new and terrifying.

The adolescent body is commonly experienced as awkward,

alienating, an undesired biological imposition. Moreover, although
the child’s sexuality is structured primarily in pre-Oedipal and
Oedipal development, it is only in adolescence that its sexuality
acquires social recognition and value; it is only in adolescence that

88
Standish, Pg. 74.
 Taylor 41

it becomes clear that the subject has a sexual, i.e. a genital, position,
whether this is wanted or not.89

Tetsuo must navigate these terrifying transformations in a world without a father figure (he and

Kaneda are orphans) and he must show a strong, masculine face while doing so. When faced

with this difficult road, Tetsuo puts on a good show of force and violence, but in the end he

regresses entirely. His transmogrifying body eventually becomes a horribly twisted baby-figure,

oozing and dripping while absorbing the people around it, including Kaneda and the only

positive male figure in the film, the Colonel.

In this baby state, Tetsuo

becomes repulsive, but he also becomes

sexless. His childish crying reinforces

his regression to a point where power

play and self-reliance mean nothing.

The three wise characters of the film,

children who have undergone the same Tetsuo swells into a monstrous baby
Akira
experimentations as Tetsuo, further

strengthen this point. The children have been forever changed by their mutations, taking

wizened, monkey-like appearances and never aging. Ultimately these children, alongside the

mythical Akira, defeat and free Tetsuo from his earthly body. Akira is the original test-subject,

and the audience learns that he developed much more quickly than the other children and became

a danger to himself and others. He eventually became so powerful that he obliterated Tokyo in a

flash of nuclear horror. As Akira’s ghost returns, we see him for the first time. He is unclothed

89
Grosz, Elizabeth. Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana
University Press, 1994. Print. Pg. 75.
 Taylor 42

and his young body is devoid of sexual organs. Even his haircut is unisex. These children, not

yet awakened to the horrors of the adolescent body, are the only ones who are able to contain

Tetsuo’s rampage.

And yet, entrance to this genderless state comes at a high price. Rather than glorifying

the mutated children, people often react to them with fear. Their alien appearance, complete

with blue skin and white hair, is off-putting rather than comforting. Similarly, Tetsuo’s

regression to a child state is anything but reassuring:

[T]he act of birth is grotesque “because the body’s surface is no

longer closed, smooth, and intact, rather it looks as if it may tear
apart, open out, reveal its innermost depths.” This scene also
seems to be a classic example of Kristeva’s notion of abjection in
which the (male) infant finds the mother’s body simultaneously
horrifying and erotic…[The] moist pink oozing mass that
eventually becomes the infant can be seen as the as yet unabjected
maternal within Tetsuo himself, an orphan who may at last be
finding or perhaps “creating” his lost mother.90

Rather than finding consolation in this regression to a “pure,” infantile existence, Tetsuo grows

ever more disturbing and horrifying in appearance. Akira’s only choice is to move him beyond

corporeal existence. In the end, only Kaneda and the military chief remain, surrounded by a

ruined Tokyo. Rather than subverting the gender standard, Akira only seems to reinforce it.

Boys who are unable to conform themselves to the ideal of hard masculinity are doomed to live

in the shadows as babyish adults or madly jealous spectators. Even as Tetsuo transcends his

body at the end of the film and claims his identity in his final words, “I am Tetsuo,” the audience

is still left with a somewhat unsatisfactory view of Otomo’s world. To transcend must we all

regress to the point of monstrosity? Or is transcendence truly a wonderful thing at all, given that

Kaneda lives as a hero while Tetsuo is labeled a monster?

90
Napier, 45-46
 Taylor 43

This ideal of hyper-masculinity as a prevailing gender norm is a common characteristic

of manga and anime created in the eighties. Gundam went on to spawn two more series and four

feature films during this decade, most of them centering on the continuing conflict between the

Federation and Zeon. Macross, another show focusing on large robots piloted by humans, also

emerged in the eighties, following the trend of Gundam. Koike Kazuo, who gained popularity a

decade earlier with Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼), continued to influence the manga sphere

with brutally violent works like Crying Freeman (クライングフリーマン), Mad Bull 34 (マッ

ド★ブル34), and Path of the Assassin (半蔵の門). Though each of these works is vastly

different, they share the character archetype of the kouha. But perhaps one the most important

series to be produced during the eighties is Toriyama Akira’s Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール).

Published in 1984, Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a character loosely based

on Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from the classical Chinese text Journey to the West91. Goku,

however, is actually an alien rather than a mythical creature. He comes from a race of

extraterrestrials, known as Saiyans, and is sent to conquer the earth when he is only a baby.

However, Goku has an accident in which his memory is wiped, allowing him to be raised by a

kindly human father. Like Astro Boy, Goku’s adventures are much more episodic, following him

as he develops his fighting skills and battles with increasingly strong opponents. Eventually

Goku becomes an adult and has a son of his own, Gohan. The series, which was serialized for

nine years, follows his life tale until his death; at this point he ascends to heaven and watches

over his family from a distance, occasionally returning to earth to experience the excitement of

martial arts tournaments.

91
Clements, Pg. 101.
 Taylor 44

Dragon Ball’s formula would become the template for many of the most popular shounen

series throughout the nineteen-nineties. Goku’s periodic encounters with powerful villains

allowed pages of the manga to be devoted to training and “powering-up,” which is to say,

rallying one’s fundamental body energy to both intimidate opponents and allow for more

impressive shows of force and strength. In addition to outlandish fight scenes, Dragon Ball also

happily included crude humor and bizarre in-jokes for its readers. For instance, the main female

protagonist throughout the first third of the series is named Bulma, the pronunciation of which is

wordplay on the Japanese word for bloomers; similarly, her father and children are all named

after various undergarments. Even Goku’s wife’s name, Chi Chi, is a homonym for both

“father” and “breasts,” while Gohan’s name (悟飯) is a word play on rice (ご飯), perhaps

hinting at Goku’s enormous appetite. Dragon Ball’s episodic style and carnivalesque visuals

also lend themselves well to animation, and various animated series based on Dragon Ball ran

continuously from 1986 to 1997.

At first glance, one of Dragon Ball’s most noticeable characteristics is its distinct break

from previous manga aesthetics. Where Atom and Gen are cute and androgynous and Amuro

and Kaneda are slight and youthful, Goku

and his compatriots are rounded, heavily

muscled, and monkey-like. Baby fat

defines child Goku, but as the series

develops and he ages, he gains proportions

that are not unlike American superheroes.

His hair is arranged in stiff spikes that range

Goku, with his distinctive orange costume, prepares to
fight an opponent
Dragonball Z, Episode 30 from his head in a wild mane, and a tail
 Taylor 45

grows from the base of his spine. Even the color schemes are distinctly different from previous

series. While Barefoot Gen and Akira favor somewhat washed out palettes and Gundam retains

clean, sharp primary colors, Dragon Ball embraces garish, eye-catching tones. Goku dresses

entirely in orange, while many of his compatriots favor bright purple or green.

Like Akira, Dragon Ball is a reaction against the increasingly hegemonic masculinity of

the corporate lifestyle of the eighties. Where Otomo’s characters resist conformity through

violent actions, Toriyama has chosen unusual visuals to delineate his characters from mainstream

culture. Especially during this time period, the idea of the beautiful male was becoming an

important image in pop culture again. Male singers and actors began dressing in androgynous

clothing, wearing makeup, and shaving. While the makeup remained only a superficial addition

(these men were still viewed as masculine by both women and men92) the change nevertheless

represented new societal demands on the male character. In direct opposition to these well

groomed men, Goku stands as a much more Americanized masculine ideal. His bulging muscles

are so large that they are actually repugnant, and his broad forehead and temples are somewhat

reminiscent of the Neanderthal species. Similarly, his lack of occupation throughout the series is

also a direct refusal of white-collar lifestyle. Rather than work a regular job, Goku focuses on

something he loves, which is fighting and training for the next challenge, always at the expense

of his family’s happiness.

Goku’s existence is not unlike that of a professional athlete and his feelings are very

similar. “I have loved the idea of not having to work, like a strict nine to five set job, you know,

like other people, being indoors…Five hours a day is still a lot but it is something which I enjoy

that people are not telling me what to do,” says one American iron man interviewed for

92
Miller, Laura. Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics. Berkley, CA:
University of California Press, 2006. Print. Pg. 150-151.
 Taylor 46

Connell’s study on men’s lives; the athlete’s life is similar to Goku’s, complete with daunting

training schedule and lack of focus on family life93. R.W. Connell observes that this man has

achieved a “schoolboy dream”94. Like Goku, extreme athletes are able to live out “childish”

pleasures at the expense of adulthood95. This is further compounded by Goku’s infantile

personality. At times he appears downright naïve, often laughing or breaking into jokes mid-

fight. He deliberately pulls his son out of schooling for long periods of time, an action that

drives Chi Chi insane. She insists that education is key to success in the modern world, words

that echo those of the mothers of many of Dragon Ball’s readers. The stifling maternal presence

is always coded in a negative sense. “Every failure (of the child) could be felt as betrayal of

maternal sacrifice. No achievement could ever repay her devotion”96. In the face of pressure

from Chi Chi, the only logical choice for Gohan is to abandon her entirely in favor of his father’s

woman-free lifestyle. This eternal boyhood, even as Goku and Gohan age into mature adulthood,

is one of the biggest appeals of the series, especially to a generation tightly controlled by harsh

schooling and demanding careers.

Of course Goku’s status as a Saiyan alien immediately places him outside these societal

expectations, but his monkey tail is still tied to a form of “monstrous adolescence.” As a child,

Goku’s tail proves problematic because it is tied to a terrifying transformation he makes once a

month. When he sees a full moon, he becomes a giant ape, indiscriminately killing anything he

finds97. The appendage must be removed multiple times before it stops growing back, and by the

93
Connell, Raewyn. The Men and the Boys. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Print. Pg. 71.
94
Ibid.
95
Ibid., 85.
96
Buruma, Pg. 24.
97
Dragon Ball. Toei Animation. Fuji Television. 26 February 1986-19 April 1989. Episodes
12-13.
 Taylor 47

time he reaches adulthood, Goku no longer has a tail. Gohan suffers the same problem until

Piccolo, the young boy’s mentor, destroys the moon and removes the tail98. However, other men

of Goku’s race who have kept their tails to adulthood are able to transform at will99.

As in Akira, Goku’s transformations are horrendous allegories of puberty gone awry.

The choice animal, the ape, closely resembles humans, but at the same time represents an

inherent bestial quality, embodying fears of regression and animal taboos. Everything from the

phallic representation of the tail to the excessive body hair (at once both a signal of puberty and

savagery) and the sudden growth to an enormous size see to indicate fears about sexuality and

maturity. By having his tail removed, Goku is freed of these terrifying changes, allowing him to

retain his innocence even into marriage and middle age. In contrast, his alien compatriots, all of

whom retained their tails, have entered the world of masculine awakening, but they are

monstrous because of this enlightenment. Vegeta, Goku’s main rival throughout much of the

series, is cold and harsh, bent on returning the Saiyan race to the days of glory with him as prince

and ruler. His bloodlust and indiscriminate killing characterize his interactions with earthlings;

he is simultaneously more mature and less pure than Goku because he has entered the adult

world and because he has embraced his bestial nature. It is only once Vegeta’s tail has been

removed that he is able to let go of this ultra-masculine role in favor of an effort to become the

strongest warrior alive, thus conforming to Goku’s pure, masculine ideal.

In reality, this is yet another method of rejecting the sarariiman ideal for a new kind of

masculinity. One of the quintessential duties of the sarariiman is to support his family; that he is

married is a given. Yet Goku, though married, lives in a world virtually devoid of women.

Indeed, the Saiyan race seems almost entirely male, with only one female ever shown in the

98
Dragon Ball Z. Toei Animation. Fuji Television. 26 April 1989-31 January 1996. Episode 8.
99
Ibid., Episode 32.
 Taylor 48

series. Goku’s rejection of adult sexuality has also resulted in a life free of female interference,

yet another form of fantasy for young Japanese males, who above all else are tied to the mother

figure during their maturation100. Goku, who has never had any mother figure at all (Bulma is

too young to act as a maternal figure when she first meets the boy), has grown up lacking this

fundamental connection, but at the same time, his lifestyle is depicted as incredibly freeing,

especially when his wife is portrayed as such a dominant matriarch. For the fighters in Dragon

Ball the female represents a kind of terrifying control figure, both in the role of the mother and

the role of the sex object. Males who have been tainted by her, and by the knowledge of the sex

act, are transgressors because they have embraced the necessity of the woman, which Goku has

rejected entirely, and which Gohan also rejects by choosing to train in martial arts with his father

rather than study for school with his mother. Vegeta, by his inherent mature sexuality, has in

some small way submitted to the controlling female, while Goku remains free of her influence

and happier for it.

Vegeta and his henchmen are not the only villains of Dragon Ball to represent sexual

awareness, but these other villains, rather than exhibiting the sex act, exhibit characteristics that

transgress gender norms as a whole. These creatures are viewed in a cold and unforgiving light,

and unlike many other shounen antagonists, they are generally pure evil, with few character

developments or distinguishing traits beyond their offensively gendered nature. The major

villain through the second third of the series, an alien named Frieza, acts bizarrely feminine,

utilizing polite speech patterns and womanly tones when speaking. His mocking address, o-

baka-san-tachi, is hardly a usual insult for fighting opponents101. The o is a polite indicator,

which is generally utilized by women when referring to important everyday objects like water or

100
Buruma, Pg. 19.
101
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 76.
 Taylor 49

foods. San is an honorific used to indicate respect and common courtesy in the same way mister

or miss is used in English. The American dub of the series even tried to represent this feminine

style by having a woman voice the

character. Frieza speaks in this way not to

represent his own femininity, but rather to

represent his disdain for his opponents.

By putting on the face of gentility, he is

representing his own confidence; there is

no need to act masculine if one’s opponent

Frieza in his final transformation
is already clearly beneath notice or import. Dragonball Z, Episode 78

It is only when Goku becomes a threat that Frieza treats him as an equal by switching to harder,

more masculine speech patterns.

The alien character design also features thick black lines around his eyes and purple lips,

both of which seem like makeup against his white skin, purple armor plates, and pink muscular

structures. In fact, Frieza’s color scheme is quite similar to that of many Disney villains,

specifically evil witch characters. Furthermore, like Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty or Ursula in

The Little Mermaid, he goes through several transformations, each being more monstrous than

the next. His second form is distinctly reminiscent of the creatures in Ridley Scott’s Alien, while

his third form is heavily muscled like a bodybuilder. His final form, however, is not monstrous

at all; in fact, it is child-like. In a parody of Goku’s inner purity, Frieza’s outer form is

seemingly innocent, lacking much of its previous armored carapace and being significantly

smaller in both stature and mass than any of his previous bodies. His groin, which in his

previous forms was covered by black spandex, is now exposed and lacks any sexual organs to
 Taylor 50

speak of. This smaller, more boyish appearance and distinctly feminine manner all indicate that

Frieza is the exact opposite of Goku. In a series that already has virtually no female characters,

this villain’s mock-feminine representation further emphasizes the absolute rejection of women

as a whole. He is the “other” in the equation of genders and as such must be eliminated in order

to remove his non-conformist masculinity from the galaxy.

However, Frieza is not the most transgressive villain to appear in Dragon Ball. His

successor, Cell, steps across the ultimate distinctions of gender, thus placing him squarely

opposite the masculinity Goku stands for. Where Frieza merely mocks gender boundaries Cell

steps across them entirely by representing a hermaphroditic entity. Cell is a clone comprised of

genetic material taken from Goku and his compatriots, and like Frieza, he is one-dimensional in

his villainy, his only purpose being to kill off the population of earth. However, in order to gain

the strength necessary to defeat Goku, Cell must first absorb several hundred people as well as

two androids created especially for him. In order to absorb humans, he stabs them with a needle

attached to his tail, sucking the life out of them and leaving only withered husks. To absorb the

androids, however, he must essentially swallow them whole utilizing this same weapon. The

needle opens into a cavernous purple space, and as Cell absorbs a female android, the audience is

given a first person point of view of the incoming void. The opening resembles female genitalia,

allowing Cell’s tail to act in a manner akin to a vagina dentata; his absorption of the androids can

then be interpreted as reverse birth, returning beings to a monstrous womb. Once Cell has

absorbed enough humans and androids to become complete, he then further transgresses

gendered body norms by reproducing smaller versions of himself. These creatures also emerge

from his tail.

 Taylor 51

Cell’s biological sex is very clearly

male. His actor is a deep-voiced man and he

has masculine genitalia delineated by black

armor, not unlike a codpiece. Like Goku, he

speaks in relatively rude speech, marked by

short-form verbs and elisions, yet he violates

the image of hyper-masculinity by acting in

capacities that are inherently feminine, and

what is more, monstrously feminine. Given

that the vagina dentata is commonly featured in

Japanese animated pornography, it is not a far

leap for a viewer to see Cell as hermaphroditic

in nature102. To punish this “abomination”

Goku not only refuses to fight his adversary,

but also sends Gohan in his place to finish the

job. Cell is beaten within an inch of his life

and when Goku commands his son to finish the

job, the younger boy refuses, arguing that “he

has to suffer more”103. With one punch and

one kick, Cell is made to vomit up one of the

Cell devours an android with his tail androids he swallowed, thus removing the
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 159

102
Napier, Pg 69-70.
103
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 187.
 Taylor 52

powers he gained by ingesting them. Though Cell is clearly evil, his gendered transgressions

boundaries mark him as a creature apart from Goku and the extremely strict definition of

masculinity that Goku represents. For Dragon Ball, villains are marked not by their evil

personalities, but by their representations of abnormality in the form of gender subversion. In

this universe, only those who comply with very strictly defined gender norms are allowed to act

on the side of good. This only serves to further Goku’s dominant hegemonic masculinity: a

heterosexual male free from female influence and daily labor is an existence that is desirable

while other forms of masculinity are repugnant and frightening.

Dragon Ball and Akira are both marked by fast-paced action and violence, but they

contain little comedy. However, one of the most popular titles of the nineteen-eighties was a

comedy series designed by Takahashi Rumiko, one of Japan’s wealthiest manga creators, and

also, incidentally, one of the first females to be hugely successful in the business. In addition,

Takahashi is one of the first to begin embracing series that appeal to both men and women.

Though she trained under Lone Wolf and Cub’s Koike, she broke away from seinen series aimed

at older readers to write her own lighter comedies, generally meant for wide audiences. In

particular, Ranma features both martial arts and romance, genres that since the nineteen-eighties

have been more and more frequently mixed to pull in larger audiences. Her smash hit comedy

series, 1979’s Urusei Yatsura (うる星やつら) and 1987’s Ranma ½ (らんま１／２), both ran

for nine years and remain hugely popular even now. Ranma, though classified as a shounen

series, actually had a larger female audience in its heyday, particularly in younger

demographics.104.

104
“Rumiko Takahashi Interview.” Viz Media. 2 March 2000. Accessed 25 February 2010.
Electronic. www.viz.com/products/series/takahashi/interview_01.html
 Taylor 53

Ranma’s episodic comedy centers on the title character, Ranma, and his cursed existence.

While undertaking martial arts training in China, the sixteen-year old boy fell into a magical

spring, which made him turn into a biological female. When doused with hot water, he reverts to

a male state, but cold water brings the return of the curvaceous other. To compound problems,

Ranma is betrothed to a young woman named Akane, also a martial artist set to inherit the dojo

her father owns. In addition to being violent and strong, this fiancé also hates men, who she

views as perverted and chauvinistic. This is perhaps a reasonable position given that she must

continually fend off suitors who are attracted by her beauty and claim that they can tame her

“unladylike” manner. In addition to the two main characters, Ranma stars an extremely large

cast of extras, cursed or otherwise, who commonly lust after Akane and both the female and

male versions of Ranma. Though the ultimate goal of the plot is for Ranma to find a cure for his

curse, episodes are generally unrelated and resolve not unlike American sitcoms.

In comparison to the hypermasculinity that permeates Akira and Dragon Ball, Ranma

might seem like a breath of fresh air, incorporating atypical gender roles, utilizing an equal

distribution of male and female characters, and touching on the somewhat risqué implications of

homosexual relationships and transgender individuals. In the other manga examples discussed

here, nearly all the environments were purely homosocial, establishing their ideal masculinities

with contrasting examples of other biological men. The absence of the female is hardly troubling,

because as Connell states, she is not necessary to create hegemonic masculinity; the only thing

necessary to establish a prevailing image of masculinity is an opposing minority masculinity,

generally portrayed as weak and malevolent105. However, women play a key role in Ranma,

perhaps reflecting the author’s own gender as well as the rise of women in higher education and

105
Connell, Masculinities, Pg. 37.
 Taylor 54

in the workplace. Ranma’s environment refuses homosocial relationships and instead focuses on

the dichotomy of male and female within a single individual, specifically in the title character,

who turns into a woman when doused with cold water and reverts to a man when he is dunked in

hot water. This premise seems like it should open up new doorways for viewing the relation of

the biological body to masculinity and femininity.

However, on closer inspection the show generally enforces similarly hegemonic ideals

for gender, if in a much lighter manner than the violent counter-parts of the decade. Firstly,

Ranma’s transformation can be viewed as another manifestation of “monstrous adolescence.”

Though played for humorous effect, for Ranma, the transformation from male to female is

clearly horrifying. First, the outer physical transformation results in a literal weakening for

Ranma. He becomes shorter, he is not as capable at fighting, and he loses that which defines him

as a biological male, his penis. In the female body, his exaggerated bust line only adds to the

horror, as though to say that he is more sexually adequate with breasts than without. On another

level, Ranma is weakened socially. Where the male is considered the privileged gender in

Japanese culture, the female is the subservient gender and must bend herself to patriarchal will.

For Ranma, this is a clear removal of the privileges that should rightly be his.

In addition, Ranma’s transformations speak to the maturation of the body. As a sixteen

year-old, the cursed boy is still presumably undergoing the pangs of puberty, experiencing the

awkwardness of growth spurts, voice changes, and sexual desires beyond his control. To have

added to that an involuntary change into another pubescent body must be frustrating, to say the

least. After all, female maturation is significantly different from male, entailing a much earlier

development, the beginning of the menstrual cycle, and the awakening to bodily awareness as a

sexual object and subject. “In pubertal development the genitalia and secondary characteristics
 Taylor 55

become definitive objects of consciousness and only bit by bit acquire representation in the body

image”106. In essence, Ranma must experience sexual awakening not from simply one

standpoint, but from two, and then must cope with incorporating this awareness into his

personality.

Perhaps the most telling exhibits

of the “monstrosity” of Ranma’s double

nature are exhibited when his purely

female side is allowed to take over. In

one episode, Ranma is subjected to

selective amnesia, in which his masculine Ranma happily shops for women’s lingerie
Ranma ½, Episode 49
memories are erased and he remembers

himself only as a female. This leads to feminine speech patterns (regardless of sex, Ranma

generally speaks in a manner like Goku, contracted and casual), tropes such as cooking for the

whole family, sexual shyness (he cannot bear to touch a pair of men’s boxer shorts), and interest

in shopping. Akane accompanies him through much of the episode, a clear opposite of his

suddenly “feminine” demeanor. She continues with her martial arts training and constantly

nettles Ranma when he refuses to fight in any manner. She even goes so far as to label him an

okama, a derogatory term for homosexuals and cross-dressers in Japan. Akane is not the only

one horrified by his transgressive demeanor and behavior; in one memorable moment, male

Ranma excitedly wonders if a bra will suit him as several (female) shoppers look on in horror107.

In these instances, Ranma has crossed the line of gender expectations: Akane expects the sixteen

106
Grosz, Pg. 75-76.
107
Ranma ½. Kitty Films, Studio Deen. Fuji Television. 15 April 1989-25 September 1992.
Episode 49.
 Taylor 56

year-old to continue his masculine temperament regardless of the sexuality of the body he

occupies, while society at large expects that a biological male should show no interest in female

articles of clothing, least of all underwear. Wim Lumsing phrases it as such: “Japanese disquiet

over non-normative sexuality is aimed at anything that deviates from a highly limited common-

sense discourse, which is inclusive of the heterosexual matrix”108. In other words, because

Ranma is moving outside of his gendered boundaries, he is to be ostracized and insulted. Akane

and the other shoppers make certain assumptions based on what they know or see in Ranma’s

original biological sex, and breaking out of their expectations results in rejection.

In another similar episode,

Ranma’s female half is separated from his

body entirely by way of a mystical smoke.

The red-haired girl immediately loosens

her hair to distinguish herself from the

male half, who usually wears a small braid. Ranma is seduced by his female half
Ranma ½, Episode 59
The feminine ghost then tempts Ranma

from slumber on several successive nights, calling him “Ranma-sama”109. Somewhat awkwardly

translated as “Ranma, my love,” the “sama” denotes high respect for the addressee, and in pre-

industrial periods was generally the suffix used when addressing samurai or other feudal lords.

In modern society, it is used almost exclusively in relation to customers or in sexually charged

situations, such as in Japan’s infamous maid cafes, where customers are addressed as “Go-

shujin-sama,” literally “honorable master.” “Sama” is also often used romantically in comedies

108
McLelland, Mark J, and Romit Dasgupta. Genders, Transgenders, and Sexualities in Japan.
Asia's transformations. London: Routledge, 2005. Print. Pg. 83.
109
Ranma ½, Episode 59.
 Taylor 57

like Ranma; one of his admirers is forever addressing him as “Ranma-sama.” Following

encounters with his disembodied feminine half, the young man exhibits the classic symptoms of

love sickness, but along with his starry-eyed gaze, his cheeks appear sunken and dark bags line

his eyes. Though not shown explicitly, it is implied that Ranma’s female half has become a kind

of succubus, feeding off his energy in exchange for sexual favors. In a bizarre way, he has

actually engaged in an activity that is reminiscent of masturbation.

This scene transgresses societal expectations in several ways. First, the nocturnal

activities are taking place outdoors, in view of the public. The feminine half leads Ranma from

his bedroom and they are later discovered sitting side by side in a tree gazing at the moon. Japan

is already a culture that strongly dissuades public displays of affection; kissing scenes between

actors are rarely displayed on television and couples in public generally only hold hands. To

then imply that Ranma and his alter-ego (or even just Ranma on his own unwittingly) are

committing lewd acts in public places immediately situates him on the side of non-normative

sexuality. Secondly, Ranma’s feminine half is the one doing the wooing. This also transgresses

across societal expectations in that women are generally depicted as non-aggressors in

interactions with the opposite sex, especially in shounen media. In this way, Ranma marks the

beginning of a trend by vilifying sexually aggressive women, a trend which continues into

contemporary manga. In Fullmetal Alchemist, the character Lust is a buxom woman who

personifies aggressive sexual desire, while in Inuyasha villains like Yura of the Hair and the

black priestess Tsubaki similarly engender this terrifying sexual appetite. Generally in manga,

only women who are non-aggressors, or even victims, in heterosexual relationships are

acceptable as heroines. “Women seem to fare badly, and the words they characteristically speak

(especially in sexual encounters) are ones of pain or supplication: ‘onegai’ (I beg of you),
 Taylor 58

‘tasukete’ (help me), itai, (it hurts), ‘iya’ (this is awful)”110. Ranma’s female ghost, in this

episode explicitly called an evil spirit, becomes a sexual monster that contrasts with the

normative female sex role, thereby casting her in a negative light. Furthermore, it is proof that

Ranma is stepping outside of his established gender role by hosting such an unnatural creature.

Takahashi’s story concept of the gender-switching male certainly does seem forward

thinking at face value. Ranma’s story in Japan, where stage genders are already exceptionally

fluid, resonates well with an audience used to thinking in terms of males who are better at

playing females and vice versa. Additionally, her protagonist is certainly not seeking to enter the

dominant masculinity of sarariiman or another hypermasculinity such as Goku’s. However,

beneath the unique concept, heavily stereotyped gender tropes remain. After all, the ultimate

quest is for Ranma to reverse his curse and become permanently male again. Method after

method is sought to suppress his feminine transformations, and in the meantime, the boy does all

he can to establish his own masculinity. His rough speech patterns, violent tendencies, enormous

appetite, and general assumption that his own fairer half is inferior in some way, all point to well

entrenched gender beliefs; additionally, he does all he can to avoid dressing like a girl or

adopting actions that are culturally coded as female, such as doing domestic house work or

shopping for consumer goods. Perhaps for Ranma, his first encounter with his mother is more

telling than any other as to how unacceptable it is to live in a non-conformist state.

Unlike many anime characters, Ranma’s parents are actually both still living and appear

throughout the series. Like his son, Saotome Sr. is cursed, but instead of turning into a female,

he turns into a giant panda and spends most of his time as such. He generally serves as a foil to

Ranma and the two fight constantly, generally near a water source so that sex changes may occur

110
Allison, Anne. Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in
Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000. Print. Pg. 62.
 Taylor 59

at opportune comedic moments. However, roughly halfway through the series, Saotome Nokoda

is introduced and meets her son for the first time in years, though she doesn’t know it. Saotome

Sr. insistently keeps his son in feminine guise for the whole of his wife’s visit, and his reasons

are exceptionally valid. In exchange for relinquishing her “soft” relationship with Ranma (the

mother-son relationship is generally the most treasured bond in Japanese society111) the father

promises to bring him back as a “man among men”112. Nokoda, a stickler for traditional

Japanese values, holds her husband to a contract stating that should Ranma become an

inadequate man, both father and son will commit ritual suicide. This prevents the protagonist

from ever properly introducing himself to his mother, lest she discover his cursed state and

demand his immediate self-sacrifice.

In the anime version of Ranma ½, the final two episodes center on this encounter and

remain unresolved, with Nokoda never realizing her son’s state of being. However, in the manga,

she is at last enlightened more than a hundred chapters after her first introduction. Ranma must

rescue her from a deadly fall, which is of course positioned over a sea cliff. He promptly

splashes into the cold ocean and transforms into a female before his mother’s eyes. However

after having seen his acts of bravery and violence in previous stories, Nokoda accepts Ranma,

stating that, “This child is a man…”113. It is not her son’s body she is paying heed to, but rather

his actions. Ranma’s mental stance is coded to inherently match the hegemonic masculinity he

seeks to embody, and his body language, speech patterns, hobbies, heterosexuality, and strength

all place him squarely in the realm of acceptable masculine behavior. Though he turns into a

111
Allison, Anne. Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo
Hostess Club. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Print. Pg. 136-137.
112
Ranma 1/2, Episode 160. 男の中の男に育て。
113
Takahashi, Rumiko. Ranma ½. 1987-1996. Shogakukan Publishing. Vol. 36, Chap. 7. こ
の子は男なんだもん。。。
 Taylor 60

female, his mental perception of himself is never changed to encompass a wider or different

definition of masculinity. Though masculine tendencies can exist in a body of any sex, for

Ranma it is only acceptable to be in a biologically male body. Even at the end of the manga,

though he claims that he has accepted his feminine half as part of himself, Ranma still jumps at

the chance to reverse the curse and return to a fully masculine body.

The nineteen-eighties in Japan were defined by economic transformations inextricably

inked to narrow corporate masculine culture, but boys also began to rebel against this normative

view. They turned to masculinities that while non-normative, also conformed to a highly

patriarchal society, and this is reflected in the popular media of the period. Kaneda, Goku, and

Ranma all choose unusual niches of society, but they still adhere to the idea of otokorashisa,

which is to say “manliness.” In contrast, their opponents, men and creatures who cross

heteronormative boundaries, are looked on with disdain and treated as creatures to be despised.

Villains like Frieza and the cowardly politicians who infect Neo-Tokyo offend with their sexual

ambiguity and perceived weaknesses, while creatures like Cell violate bodily norms by willingly

assuming both female and male characteristics. Ranma escapes this stigma because his

transgression is not volitional and because he tries his hardest to revert to proper societal

expectations. Though his body houses the feminine, his mind is firmly entrenched in the

masculine. In the end, the popular media of the eighties reflects the view that while it is

acceptable to refuse corporate masculinity, to refuse masculinity altogether is offensive and

unnatural.
 Taylor 61

Chapter 3

Pretty Boys: Masculinity in the Post-Bubble, Post-Feminist World

Between 1989 and 1991, Japan’s presence and self-image changed drastically. The final

year of the eighties saw the death of the Showa emperor, the very same emperor who had led

Japan through World War II and then renounced his divinity in the aftermath. For many

Japanese, his passing signified the end of an era, specifically one in which Japan had struggled

and fallen only to rise from the ashes as an economic superpower114. However, the feelings of

international success were short lived. In the very same year and continuing into 1990, Japan’s

speculative land bubble collapsed, the stock market fell nearly forty percent, and the real estate

market stalled115. In the wake of economic depression, Japan entered what is often called the

ushinawareta juunenn, or “lost decade,” a time where consumption continued even in the face of

the deflation and depression that marked the economic sector. While Japan retained its slot in

second place in the global economy, the remarkable growth that had marked much of the post-

war period was gone.

At the same time, home life in Japan began to change yet again. The eighties had been

marked by nuclear families in which the husband worked full-time while the mother remained

home to care for children, but by the nineteen-ninties women were waiting longer to marry and

have children. Additionally, feminist thought had already begun to gain momentum in the

nineteen-seventies, and ideals towards families in which men and women equally shared both

work and home life slowly came to the forefront116. Furthermore, many women began seeking

self-sufficiency and economic equality, entering into full-time positions that had previously been

114
McClain, Pg. 599.
115
Ibid., Pg. 601.
116
McLelland, Pg. 184-185.
 Taylor 62

dominated almost entirely by men. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law, passed in 1986,

called for fair wages and equal employment for women to work in jobs previously unavailable to

them. By 2000, full-time workingwomen outnumbered housewives117.

In this changing atmosphere, it is only natural that the role of men and masculinity also

began to shift. For older men, the threat of women invading the work place problematized self-

image, especially in a world where the sarariiman’s position had eroded to a laughing stock.

However, for a younger generation raised almost exclusively by women, there was no male

influence to shape masculinity. Boys began to look beyond their fathers for role models to shape

their own sexuality and identity. For shounen manga, this resulted in the dawn of the bishounen,

literally “beautiful young male.” Bishounen were by no means a new concept; until this point in

time however, they had been featured almost exclusively in manga aimed at young girls and

women, generally as romantic leads. Now the beautiful boy crossed genres and made his

appearance on the pages of shounen serials aimed specifically at young men. Along with his

frequently feminine appearance, the bishounen is an archetype that, though powerful like Goku,

is often emotionally conflicted. He has issues in his past that he still has not come to terms with,

especially in relation to his parents or parental figures. In many ways, he has much more in

common with Amuro or Atom than he does with the powerhouse men of the nineteen eighties.

One of the very first bishounen heroes to arrive on the scene is Himura Kenshin, the star

of Watsuki Nobuhiro’s Rurouni Kenshin: Romance of a Meiji Swordsman (るろうに剣心：明

治剣客浪漫譚 ). Published in 1994, Rurouni Kenshin, follows its protagonist as he enters a

romance with a young woman living in Tokyo. The twenty-eight year old swordsman is ancient

by the standards of shounen manga, but his appearance is quite contrary to his occupation and

117
McClain, Pg. 614-616.
 Taylor 63

age. Kenshin appears to be no older than twenty, and his long, outlandishly red hair, penchant

for pink clothing, and fair features often get him mistaken for a woman. To compound this

problem, when Kenshin was turned into an anime two years after its manga debut, a well-known

female stage actress was chosen to voice him. His speech patterns are also antiquated to a form

of speech utilized by samurai during the

Tokugawa Period, during which Kenshin

was born. Upon first meeting the hero,

the other characters in the manga mistake

him for a bumbling fool, clearly from the

countryside and obviously carrying a

sword only for show. When he moves

Kenshin, with his girlish looks
Rurouni Kenshin, Episode 1
into the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo, the home

of his love interest Kaoru, he is often depicted doing laundry or cooking, both of which are

traditionally women’s activities.

This fact is even more surprising given that food in pre-modern Japan, of which

Kenshin’s fictional world is a part, was nearly a taboo subject for men. “For centuries it was

considered vulgar and unmanly […] to talk about food, let alone about the pleasures of eating it

or preparing it” 118. However, since the post-war period, it has become increasingly in vogue for

men to enjoy not only food, but cooking as well. Cooking has featured prominently in the works

of several contemporary authors, including novelist Murakami Haruki and manga creator

Ueyama Tochi. In particular, Ueyama’s series Cooking Papa, created in 1984 and still ongoing,

embraces the image of a man who cooks not only for himself, but also for “The happiness of

118
Louie, Pg. 155.
 Taylor 64

everyone, including his family, colleagues, friends, friends’ friends and the reader, without

jeopardising [sic] his masculinity”119. Kenshin, who is also experiencing life in a post-war

period filled with tumultuous change, is a character contemporary Japanese readers can relate to

because of his role in the household, happily becoming the homemaker rather than the

breadwinner.

However, even though his role at the dojo is startlingly domestic, Kenshin’s primary

occupation before arriving in Tokyo was as a wandering swordsman, and before that, an assassin.

The reader/viewer quickly discovers that Kenshin is an athlete of the highest caliber and his

skills with a blade are unmatched. His codename as a killer was Hitokiri Battousai, literally

“manslayer who is master of the art of drawing swords.” Underneath Kenshin’s soft demeanor,

he is actually capable of murderous rage, but refrains from killing due to a vow of peace he took

ten years earlier. Thus the audience comes to Kenshin’s main emotional conflict: he is capable

of great violence and could easily be one of the most powerful men in Japan, but he desires a

quiet peaceful life untainted by blood and violence. Much of the tension in the series is built

around this point, as Kenshin encounters opponents who repeatedly test his resolve to uphold his

vow.

Perhaps the most captivating narrative in Rurouni Kenshin, however, is the retelling of

the swordsman’s past as an assassin in the civil uprising to overthrow the previous government.

Discovered by the leaders of the rebellion when he is only fourteen years old, Kenshin is

immediately put in the shadows, killing high profile targets anonymously. By the time he is

fifteen, the traditional age of adulthood in the Tokugawa Era120, Kenshin is depicted as one who

119
Louie., 170.
120
Watsuki, Nobuhiro. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Roumantan. 2 September 1994-4
November 1999. Shueisha Publishing. Vol. 22, Ed. 2, Ch. 255.
 Taylor 65

is slowly losing his soul to violence. He states at one point that the scent of blood has soaked

into his skin and also says, “Lately, no matter what I drink it all tastes of blood”121. Napier has

described Kenshin’s younger self as “a parody of the most extreme aspects of masculinity:

bloodthirstiness, cruelty, power, and impulsiveness”122. However, both Kenshin and his

superiors are aware that his grisly lifestyle is wearing on his wellbeing and that something needs

to be done before he goes insane.

His answer does not come in the form of a masculine mentor like Goku or Kaneda;

instead it comes in the form of a young woman who has traveled to Kyoto to kill Kenshin. The

girl, Tomoe, is a well-bred lady who was engaged to one of the assassin’s victims. In a quest for

vengeance, she seeks him out and sees him murder another fighter in the streets. Rather than

proceeding to kill the witness, as is protocol, Kenshin brings her home with him and they

become close. In the end, Tomoe stays at his side saying, “You need a sheath to help you hold

back the madness”123. In the animated version of this story, Kenshin’s superior, Katsura Kogoro,

actually requests that she step into the role of sheath for the young assassin, whom Katsura

equates to a naked blade. This metaphor can certainly be taken in the sexual sense, and Kenshin

and Tomoe do eventually become lovers, but there is also a deeper meaning behind Katsura’s

words. Kenshin is the epitome of a dutiful samurai, and arguably the epitome of manhood for

the period, but his gendered identity is a dangerous thing. Rather than being stronger for his

distinctive masculinity, he is actually hindered by it and the cure to this hypermasculinity is the

introduction of female influence. From this point on, there is a noticeable softening in Kenshin’s

demeanor. He begins to long for a simpler life, one in which there is no need for him to kill.

121
Watsuki, Vol. 15, Ed. 2, Cha 167. 最近何を飲んでも血の味しかない。
122
Napier, Pg. 132.
123
Watsuki, Vol. 15, Ed. 2, Ch. 168. 今のあなたには狂気を押さえる鞘が必要ですから。
 Taylor 66

Ultimately he vows never to use a sword for murder once the revolution ends, an action taken

because he accidentally kills Tomoe in the midst of a battle. Her sacrifice leaves him devastated

and he concludes that bloodshed can never be the answer when seeking peace, embracing a

gentler (feminine124) lifestyle. For Kenshin, a character who entered the role of a samurai from a

young age and quickly became an exemplary model of hypermasculinity, the rejection of his

own manhood is what ultimately saves him.

Following the war, Kenshin wanders for ten years, and though he still carries a sword, the

blade is reversed so that the blunt edge faces outward and the sharpened side faces the wielder.

In a way, Kenshin’s sword, his ultra-masculine stance as a young man, is inverted to show both

the influence of Tomoe and the softening of his own personality. In essence, Kenshin is

rejecting societal norms in a way that resonates with contemporary Japanese viewers, though he

has not fundamentally rejected his own masculinity. Instead he has embraced a compromise that

falls outside the societal norm but allows him to live a happier and more peaceful life. In a way,

he has subverted the traditional view of heterosexuality (coded in the form of sword and sheath)

by separating his sexuality from his gender role125. Though he acts as a swordsman and husband,

he also is a homemaker for the family, roles that recently have become realities for many

Japanese men. The historical setting also helps set the tone for a contemporary male audience as

they relate to Kenshin’s situation; the Meiji Revolution was a time of turmoil not unlike the

economic crisis following the bursting of the bubble. It was a time in which everyone

questioned what it meant to be Japanese and what would be next for the country. Similarly,

many contemporary young men are quickly learning that not only are there alternatives to the

124
Napier, Pg. 132.
125
Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. Pg. 54.
 Taylor 67

sarariiman doxy, where masculinity is equated with both sexuality and gender, but that those

alternatives might actually be preferable to the grind of corporate life.

Of course, Kenshin’s dark side occasionally rears its head as well. In the ninth chapter of

the series, before the reader has really grown to know and love the character, Watsuki introduces

Udo Jineh. Like the protagonist, Udo was an assassin in the revolution, but unlike Kenshin, he

did not choose to temper his madness. He grew to long for bloodshed and once the war finished

became an underground sword for hire. Jineh is a gross parody of the man Kenshin could have

become and everything about his appearance is repugnant and foreboding. He wears a black

rush hat, which looms low over red eyes, and is nearly always depicted with a rictal grin that

occasionally includes fangs and a corpse-like muscle structure. Later in the fight, Jineh reveals

his ability to manipulate the ki, the life force, of both himself and his opponents. At the same

time, he uses it both to freeze Kaoru’s lungs and also to enhance his own strength in much the

same manner that Goku does, his muscles and veins bulging grotesquely from his skeletal form.

This time, however, the heavily muscled figure is coded as one who is inherently evil and insane.

Jineh is indeed ghastly as he lures Kenshin into a duel by kidnapping Kaoru. The action of

involving an innocent infuriates Kenshin and he reverts to the murderous personality he

brandished in his youth. His speech reverts to a heavily masculinized pattern and his pupils

contract to pinpricks while his eyes narrow, a change that is highlighted in the anime because

they also change color. Ultimately Kenshin prevails and turns his blade on Jineh, prepared to

strike down the man in order to save Kaoru’s life. At the last moment, however, she breaks

through her paralysis to stop Kenshin. “Don’t become a manslayer again…/You can’t wield a
 Taylor 68

killer’s sword/ again”126. Her voice halts his sword stroke and he immediately reverts to his

softer demeanor. Again, it is the influence of a female that prevents runaway masculinity from

defining the protagonist.

One of the major climaxes within the story is Kenshin’s struggle to overcome his

murderous tendencies, and the resolution culminates in a confrontation with his former master,

Hiko Seijirou. He is like Jineh in many ways, though he has no intention of killing his pupil.

Hiko has a brawny physique, a cold outlook on the realities of the world, and a certain penchant

for putting Kenshin in his place. He lives a solitary life, alone on a mountain with only his

sword for company, and he is illustrated as less lucky than his student in many ways, namely

because of his lack of close relationships. However when he and Kenshin face off, Hiko’s

purpose is to imbue his “idiot apprentice” with the final technique of their sword style. Kenshin,

who lost is parents when he was only seven, is in many ways facing off with his father figure.

He was raised and trained by Hiko and eventually chose to become an assassin in defiance of his

master’s wishes. The culmination of their battle then would appear to be an almost Oedipal

rivalry between the two masculine figures, especially as their relationship is doubled in a sense

of sportsman-like competition. However, Oedipal theory is not the proper mirror for this

confrontation, because there is no mother figure present at all, meaning that Kenshin’s

definitions of the masculine and feminine have been defined only by a man, which in some ways

has actually left him open to a wider definition of gender than a character like Ranma, who has

both male and female representations127. In being raised by a master who must be father, mother,

and teacher all at once, Kenshin has no set of gendered expectations for women or for himself.

126
Watsuki, Vol. 2, Ch. 13. 人切りに戻らないで。。。／殺人剣を振るったら／だ。。。
め。”
127
Butler, Pg. 120.
 Taylor 69

Instead he simply does what is necessary, whether that be cooking a meal or fighting an

opponent.

The altercation between Hiko and Kenshin is simultaneous parental and fraternal because

of this non-gendered relationship. They can be viewed as men who are cut from the same cloth,

follow the same belief system, and practice the same life style (living aloof from society.)

However, each man has come to a radically different conclusion about the ultimate use of

swordsmanship, which is to say masculinity. Where Kenshin believes that sacrifice is necessary

to attain peace and safety for his loved ones even at the expense of his own sanity, Hiko believes

that a higher road must be taken, one in which a swordsman works apart from society for the

betterment of it. Fundamentally Hiko believes that one cannot live for ideals established by

government entities because they are abstract and inconstant. In their final battle, he readily

attacks Kenshin with intent to kill, but the younger swordsman comes to an epiphanous moment

in which he understands his master’s lesson. Rather than dying for an ideal, Kenshin chooses to

live to protect his loved ones, essentially making them his ikigai, or purpose for living128.

According to Gordon Mathews, Kenshin’s affirmation of life over death and family over

duty is also another caveat of modern Japanese masculinity. Where the male generations that

prospered in the bubble economy freely embrace work over family, men of younger generations

increasingly question whether devotion to the corporate machine is everything. “Men in their

fifties and sixties in 1989-1990 tended to hold work as their ikigai, but men in their thirties and

forties in 1989-1990 were often unwilling to make that commitment to work”129. Similarly

Kenshin’s previous philosophy, devotion to political ideals, can be coded as the former mentality

in which a man considers prosperity in the corporate/political machine to be the most important

128
Watsuki, Vol. 9 Ch. 96.
129
Roberson, Pg. 110.
 Taylor 70

thing in life. In contrast, Hiko advocates living for people, and Kenshin also learns to live for his

friends and family. Similarly, this mentality is reflected in recent movements in Japanese media.

“There has been a growing movement urging men to become more than just ‘corporate drones’,

and live not simply for their companies but for their families as well; and this has increasingly

been framed as an argument over what it means to be a man”130. In this then, we can see that

Kenshin’s masculinity, coded towards work and political spheres, is inferior to Hiko’s

masculinity, coded towards human and familial spheres.

The nineteen-nineties also saw a rift in the nuclear family that had been considered so

normative during the nineteen-eighties. Divorce rates rose and increasingly children felt

alienated by either one or both parents. Voluntary unemployment rose among youth and elderly

neglect also became an increasingly pressing problem131. As the image of the Japanese family

was slowly shaken apart, one of the most popular and controversial anime ever created appeared

on television screens. Aired in 1995, Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン )

still remains hugely popular even sixteen years later. In 2009, the second of a two part, feature-

length film adaptation was released and the opening theme of the original show, which has been

ranked as one of Japan’s most popular songs consistently since it was written, remained in the

top five of most requested tunes in karaoke bars132. Evangelion’s story of teenagers listlessly

floating through a post-apocalyptic world clearly still speaks strongly to Japanese audiences.

Lost in their own emotional conflicts, the show reminds the viewer all too strongly of the

fractured modern family.

130
Roberson, Pg. 115.
131
McClain, Pg. 617, 620-622.
132
“2009年 年間カラオケリクエストランキング。 Daiichikosho Co., Ltd., 2011.
Accessed 4 March 2011. Electronic.
http://www.dkkaraoke.co.jp/news/press/091204.html
 Taylor 71

The fourteen year-old protagonist, Ikari Shinji, is a boy who is perhaps one of the most

unique shounen characters ever produced by an anime, if only because he is so dislikable. He

first appears amidst chaos as a huge monstrous creature attacks Tokyo-3; he is trying to meet

with Katsuragi Misato, an employee at a huge military company called NERV. Misato takes

Shinji to company headquarters where his father, Ikari Gendo, urges him and another staff

member to pilot a giant robot called an Eva. The first half of the series is devoted to Shinji and

his copilots’ struggles against these giant monsters, translated as Angels in English133. The

second half of the show, however, becomes an in-depth psychoanalysis of its main characters,

occasionally becoming almost incomprehensible in its content. The final two episodes of the

show were released as a film one year after the end of the TV series, and were generally received

with reviews that praised the visual styles and taboo subject matter while at the same criticizing

the lack of coherent plotline and characterization134.

An entire book could likely be devoted to imagery, symbolism, and psychological

meaning in Evangelion, but the driving force behind the story is Shinji’s struggle with his peers,

parents, and his own self-doubt. Within ten minutes of meeting him, the viewer realizes that

Shinji is poor at communicating with others and that he has a negative relationship with his

father, in spite of the fact that he is obeying Gendo’s orders when he first enters NERV

133
The Japanese term for the monsters is shito (使徒) meaning apostle or disciple. However as
each creature is named after angels that appear in religious texts such as the Gospel and
the Kabala, the English term is perhaps more fitting.
134
Crandol, Mike. “Review: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.” Anime News
Network. 24 September 2002. Accessed 4 March 2011. Electronic.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/end-of-evangelion-dvd;
Beveridge, Chris. “Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. Mania, Beyond
Entertainment. 30 September 2002. Accessed 4 March 2011. Electronic.
http://www.mania.com/neon-genesis-evangelion-end-evangelion_article_74851.html;
“Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.” THEM Anime Reviews. 2003-2004.
Accessed 4 March 2011. Electronic. http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=141
 Taylor 72

headquarters. Shinji’s anti-social behavior and questionable people skills are elaborated on

throughout the series. “He’s just like his dad. The unfriendly part that is”135. And yet, he is

nothing like his father; where Gendo appears self-confident, assured of both his power and his

goals for humanity, Shinji wavers at everything. His trademark phrase is “I must not run

away”136, a sentence he utilizes as he struggles with his own cowardice. Over and over other

characters belittle him for his unwillingness to pilot the Eva and his attmpts to both hate his

father and receive Gendo’s praise.

At the same time, Shinji has a problematic relationship with women in general, whom he

simultaneously views as mother figures and sex objects. In episode fifteen, Shinji’s giant robot

is swallowed whole into an alternate dimension created by an Angel. While in this dimension,

he is forced into stasis as he tries to preserve the Eva’s battery power. Suspended inside the plug

around the cockpit, Shinji returns to a fetal state. A liquid referred to as LCL surrounds him; it is

colorless when active and works as the

conduit that allows pilots to breathe oxygen

while simultaneously mentally linking to the

robot. However, as the systems break down

in the Eva, the LCL takes on a golden hue and

flecks of pollution float through it, reminding

the viewer that Shinji is actually suspended in

Shinji, suspended in LCL
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episode 16 liquid rather than in air. The fluid is

essentially placenta, further embellished by the fact that Evas are connected to their power

135
Shin Seiki Evangelion. Gainax, Tatsunoko. TV Tokyo. 4 October 1995-27 March 1996.
Episode 1. これまた父親そっくりなのよ。かわいげのないところとかね。
136
逃げちゃだめ。
 Taylor 73

supply via huge power cables codenamed “umbilical cords.” Additionally, the cockpit in which

Shinji sits is inserted into the back of the robot via a long phallic tube, emphasizing the idea that

pilots are experiencing a kind of reverse birth each time they take control of the machines. As

Shinji lays suspended in the cloudy fluid, he begins to panic, stating that he can smell blood,

which is yet another indicator of amniotic fluid. Panicking, he beings to call for the women in

his life, his peers Ayanami Rei and Asuka, as well as Misato, who has become his guardian. He

is clearly longing for a comforting motherly presence in the face of the unsettling motherly

presence of the Eva. Curling into the fetal position, he awaits death137.

It is at this time that Shinji experiences one of the first psychological analyses sections of

the show. Within his own mind, he encounters another version of himself, which claims to be a

reflection of his own self-perception. They have an inner monologue examining his relationship

with his father.

Who is bad? Father is. The father who deserted us. No, I’m the
one who’s bad. […] I thought I hated my father, but now I’m not
so sure. […] My father called me by my name. I was praised by
my father! Will you spend your life regurgitating and re-digesting
those few pleasant memories? If I trust their words, it’s enough to
keep me alive.138

He remembers the moment his father left him when he was six, as well as the accusations that

Gendo killed Shinji’s mother. Eventually his own arguments leave him feeling useless and

depressed and he decides to give up on living as the failing cockpit grows colder and colder.

However, a ghostly female figure appears before him, reaching out to embrace him as he

suddenly finds both himself and the woman naked. “Mother?” he wonders. She asks him “Is

137
Evangelion, Episode 16.
138
Ibid., 悪いのは誰だ？悪いのは父さんだ。僕を捨てた父さんだ。悪いのは自分だ。嫌
いだと思う。でも今は分からない。父さんが僕の名前を呼んだんだ。あの父さん
にほめられたんだよ。その喜びを反訴して、これから生きていくんだ？この言葉
を信じたら、これからも生きていけるさ。
 Taylor 74

this enough? Well, that’s good for you,”139 though whether she means of his time in the alternate

dimension or of life itself is ambiguous.

Immediately following this, the Eva self-activates, though it has no battery power, and

begins ripping through the alternate dimension to return to Shinji’s world. The black shadow

indicating the Angel ripples with red cracks and the robot punches through the side of the

creature, red blood spewing from the hole where the hands emerge. Eva stretches out headfirst,

roaring monstrously as it rents its opponent in half. At last it lands, covered in blood and detritus.

Misato immediately rushes to the cockpit and throws her self on Shinji, inadvertently mirroring

the ghostly feminine figure that appeared while he was preparing to die. His other mother figure,

Rei, also impersonates the ghostly woman by repeating her words: “Well, that’s good for

you”140. This unequivocally ties the mother figure to both Misato and Rei, a connection that is

confusing for Shinji as he feels attracted to both of them as well. Though he is unaware, Rei is

also a clone of his mother, which leads her to have protective feelings for the boy due to residual

memories from the original woman. Misato is also similarly characterized, at least towards

Shinji, as a motherly figure, trying to offer him guidance and kindness as best she can while

maintaining an air of authority over him. Ultimately, however, both of these relationships fail

due to the women’s own personal faults, and neither can properly measure up to the

overwhelming motherly presence of NERV’s monstrous robot.

Shinji essentially experiences reverse birth and rebirth as Eva endeavors to save him.

This is not the only time the robot moves of its own volition to protect the boy. His first

experience with the large machinery occurs amidst an Angel attack when, as debris falls from the

ceiling, Eva raises a hand to shield Shinji from the cement. Its appearance also suggests a

139
Evangelion, Episode 16, もういいの？ そう、よかったわね。
140
Ibid., そう、よかったわね。
 Taylor 75

feminine presence; with its bright purple armor, waspish waist, and lanky limbs, it shares more

character design elements with bishounen like Kenshin than with typical shounen protagonists

like Goku and Ranma. At another point later in the show, a fellow Eva goes wild and attacks

Shinji’s robot. His motherly Eva moves to

attack as Shinji’s entry plug begins to crack

and she becomes sentient, absorbing the boy

into her body in the immediate aftermath.

For nearly thirty days, he is one with the Eva,

his body dissolved into the LCL liquid in

what one character describes as a Shinji equates Gendo with the enemy
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episode 20
“primordial soup”141. Again he has

psychological monologues as he struggles to determine who his real opponent is. The word

“enemy” is repeated over and over as images from the show flash before the viewer’s eyes until

eventually Gendo appears. Shinji envisions a world in which his father is his tormentor and the

women in his life are simultaneously mothers and lovers. As each woman leans into him, their

breasts bare, they urge him to become one with them, just as he has become one with the Eva. In

the real world, Shinji’s liquid self is freed from the cockpit and Misato cradles his clothing,

calling out to him to return. In his own mind then, he smells the scent of his mother, which he

conflates both with his guardian and with Rei.

While women represent comfort and safety, Gendo remains menacing. The

representations of Shinji and his father can be viewed as opposing sides of masculinity. The

father appears to be the epitome of manhood. He is broadly built and deep-voiced, self-assured

141
Evangelion, Episode 20. 生命スープ。
 Taylor 76

and powerful. A beard adorns his chin, further emphasizing his adulthood and inherent maleness.

No matter the situation, he is cool and controlled, clearly in a position of power, even when other

officials and entities feel they’ve stolen command from him. Nearly all the women in the show

are romantically tied to him, including Shinji’s mother, Dr. Hakagi Ritsuko and her mother, and

Ayanami Rei. He is desirable, successful, and distant, all of the hallmarks of triumphant

masculinity in the nineteen-eighties, and yet the audience views him as villainous and cruel. His

heartlessness towards his own son and his determination to achieve his goals no matter the cost

are viewed as indicators of evil, not of accomplishment. The drive to succeed in work-oriented

goals rather than familial ones, a stance that reflects the work ethic of the sarariiman, is

portrayed entirely in a negative light. Similarly the conditions he has placed on his son, forcing

the boy into a world of violence and loneliness, are not viewed as educational actions, but rather

as needlessly malicious ones.

Shinji, in contrast, is simultaneously repulsive and sympathetic. His refusal to take action

as others die is frustrating, but the audience understands that his upbringing is at fault. He never

had a proper role model, and realistically, any fourteen year-old boy would withdraw when

forced to carry the fate of humanity on his shoulders. Gundam’s Amuro, with all his inherent

abilities and endurance, was the exception and not the standard. Shinji, though he shows

amazing ability to synchronize with Eva, is not made for combat. His apathetic attitude is

wearisome, but understandable, especially when pitted in competition with a man as detestable

as Gendo. He must even compete for his mother’s love, both in the form of her original body

and in the form of Rei. Ikari Yui, the audience is told, died in an accident while testing Eva for

Gendo. They are also told that while she knew the dangers, she did so willingly because she

loved Shinji’s father so much. Similarly, Rei ultimately sacrifices herself for Gendo’s
 Taylor 77

“Instrumentality Project,” though she simultaneously rejects him by murdering him. Unable to

attract even motherly love from either woman, Shinji remains withdrawn and miserable. Even

when Rei ultimately returns to him in the film, he rejects her (overtly sexual) love and chooses to

live alone and apart from humanity rather than overcome his father’s masculinity by claiming his

mother as a sexual partner.

Shinji’s own apathy and lack of willpower speak to a generation of youth disenchanted

with the commercial lifestyle so very available to their parents. In modern culture, the growing

problems of hikikomori, NEET, and bullying are ever on the minds of the Japanese public.

Hikikomori are people, generally young men ranging from high school to middle aged, who have

completely withdrawn from society142. They don’t hold jobs, they rarely emerge from their

rooms, and they only socialize via the Internet. NEETs represent a similar situation, the acronym

standing for “not in education, employment, or training”143. The rise of bullying has led to

children who withdraw from society, refusing to go to school and occasionally committing

suicide144. In particular, the psychological stance of the hikikomori resonates with Shinji’s own

situation. “Yuichi Hattori, a psychologist who treated 18 patients with the disorder, believes that

hikikomori is caused by emotionally neglectful parenting. Hattori argues that none of his

patients have been sexually or physically abused, yet they all show signs of posttraumatic stress

disorder”145. In this line of thinking Shinji’s condition seems perfectly natural; he shares no

emotional connections with anyone in the world, and when someone reaches out to him, their

142
Kary, Tiffany. “Total Eclipse of the Son: Why are millions of Japanese youths hiding from
friends and family?” Psychology Today. 1 January 2003. Electronic. Accessed 7
March 2011. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200301/total-eclipse-the-son
143
Robertson, Jennifer E. A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan. Blackwell companions to
anthropology, 5. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2005. Print. Pg. 136.
144
McClain, Pg. 621.
145
Kary.
 Taylor 78

kind actions have a huge and frequently negative impact on Shinji’s psyche because he is does

not know how to return their kindness.

Gendo praises Shinji only once in the entirety of the show even though the boy defeats

the odds again and again. “Well done, Shinji,” he tells him, the only non-disparaging word the

boy ever hears from his father146. These words return whenever he retreats into his inner

monologues. Shinji is simultaneously ecstatic that his father expressed affection and troubled

because he still feels great animosity towards him. Even when the young pilot has become

confident that the only emotion he feels for his father is hatred, he still cannot forget these words

of praise. One of the Angels exploits Shinji’s desperation for affection. The Angel Kaworu

infiltrates NERV disguised as a human, a new Eva pilot. “Your heart is as delicate as glass,” he

says, “and that earns my sympathy. In other words, I love you”147. Just as Rei and Misato serve

as substitutes for a mother, Kaworu serves as a substitute for a father in Shinji’s mind. The

interchangeability of the parental figure means that Shinji never has a clearly defined idea of

what it is to be an adult in society. His distant relationship with his biological father leads only

to hatred and desperation, while his confused romantic feelings towards Rei, Misato, Asuka, and

Kaworu mean that he can accept them neither as parents nor sexual partners.

Shinji’s own troubled view of himself reflects his troubled adolescence. Is he

homosexual or heterosexual? Does he crave a parent or a lover? Does he long for human

contact or shy away from it? These are things that the character increasingly considers,

especially in the last two episodes of the series, as the plot line is abandoned completely in lieu

of a detailed psychoanalysis of Shinji’s character. Ultimately Shinji has an epiphany that he may

146
Evangelion, Episode 12. よくやったな、シンジ。
147
Ibid., Episode 24. ガラスのように繊細だね。特に君のここらは。そう。好意に与えす
るよ。好きってことさ。
 Taylor 79

become anything he wants to be without being shaped by his father’s machinations. This world,

however, also comes crumbling down in the film as humanity is returned to the primordial soup

state, while Shinji remains behind with Asuka. The ending of Evangelion is completely

ambiguous, asking far more questions than it answers while ultimately isolating Shinji from the

rest of mankind. The viewer is left with the disturbing image of the boy as he strangles Asuka,

her eyes full of disdain. “Disgusting,” she calls him, before the screen blacks out148. Essentially,

Shinji is alone in the world, and miserable because of it, but this all stems from his inability to

take his life into his own hands. His longing for paternal praise and maternal love shapes his

self-image so much that he believes he is worthless without these things.

Shinji’s masculinity is not even a question because he is too immature and too apathetic

to reject or accept the male example that Gendo has presented. While Evangelion’s symbolism

is fascinating, its incomprehensible plot offers no real solace for the post-bubble generation.

Though boys strive to follow the patriarchal example of the previous generation, they become

more and more aware that corporate life is not necessarily desirable, perhaps not even feasible.

Their connection with their mothers is also troubling, walking a fine line between familial and

incestuous. Allison states: “Her [the mother’s] special mothering is considered beneficial to her

son’s progression into socially respectable and successful manhood yet as also (possibly or

absolutely) detrimental to his sexual and emotional maturation into a man who can separate from

mother and home and form interpersonal relationships on his own”149. Parenting from both the

mother and the father is flawed, and as such the child (in this case Shinji) is incapable of forming

normal social relationships. He is a clear contrast to Kenshin; the swordsman is presented with a

148
The End of Evangelion. Dir. Kazuya Tsurumaki and Hideaki Anno. Production I. G. and
Gainax. 19 July 1997. 気持ち悪い。
149
Allison, Permitted, Pg. 135.
 Taylor 80

similarly atypical childhood, and while he has problems as a youth, he is eventually able to

create his own personal identity by embracing a postmodern form of masculinity. Shinji,

however, cannot move into maturity at all. He remains conflicted and frozen to the very end of

his lonely existence, unable to move forward.

The manga of the nineteen-nineties are filled with varying forms of masculinity like this.

Shinji’s dislikable apathy returns in other shounen mega-hits like X and Gundam Wing (新機動

戦記ガンダムW), while Kenshin’s millennium man style is evident in Rumiko Takahashi’s

work and the cult hit Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビボップ). Some shows even remained in the

nineteen-eighties mode, relying on ever more powerful fighters and limited animation budgets:

Yu Yu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書) and Naruto (ナルトー) are two of the more famous examples.

Takahashi’s next hit, series, however, manages to blend all three modes of masculinity, pacifist,

kouha, and contemporary family man, smoothly into one storyline. Her manga series Inuyasha

(犬夜叉） was first printed in 1996, just a few scant months after Evangelion began airing, and

this time the tale aimed to embrace a multi-gender audience. Published in Shounen Sunday, the

series ran for twelve years and became a hit both in Japan and overseas. Like Kenshin and

Evangelion, Inuyasha’s adapted anime aired on Cartoon Network and occasionally still shows on

late night blocks.

This drama is also a period piece, dated to the Warring States Era during the 1500s,

which like the Meiji Revolution and the post-War period was a time of great upheaval. There

was no centralized government and samurai and other landholders vied for power over strategic

areas and agricultural production. The show stars Kagome, a young woman in her final year of

middle school in the modern era, who is thrust into the Warring States Period when she

accidentally falls through a magical well. She discovers a land where demons and spirits still
 Taylor 81

thrive and she herself holds great spiritual power; in addition her body houses the famed Jewel of

Four Souls, a crystal capable of granting wishes, but also capable of wreaking havoc on the

world. Only she is capable of purifying this jewel to prevent its malevolent powers from

escaping. She meets the title character, Inuyasha, a half-human, half-dog demon who lusts for

the Jewel’s wish-granting capabilities. However, the mystical stone is accidentally shattered and

Kagome and Inuyasha must set out together to gather the shards and reform the stone.

Inuyasha shares a marked similarity to his predecessor, Ranma, insomuch as he has an

inherent dual nature. In many ways, however, Inuyasha’s situation is far more dire than Ranma’s.

Where the latter’s transformations are played for comic effect and lives are never at stake, the

former’s very existence as a half demon marks him as a target for the rest of the world. Each of

his rivals points out Inuyasha’s mixed blood and reminds him that he is considered weak and

pathetic because of the circumstances of his birth. Because he doesn’t wish to continue this

“tainted” existence, his ultimate goal is to make a wish on the jewel to become a full demon.

In terms of the construction of masculinity in InuYasha, the

protagonist’s desire to be a demon may be seen as a far more
extreme version of Ranma’s desire for simple masculinity as well
as to be “normal.” In InuYasha’s case, the demonic is connected
with transcending the normal and with notions of power and
control, traits usually associated with the male. […] These traits
are also associated with his dead father.150

Inuyasha’s father was a fearsome dog demon, a lord over other demons who, it is implied, ruled

in the Kansai region of western Japan before his demise. For Inuyasha, his father’s mythology is

a lasting legacy, one that he inherits in the form of a sword forged from the dog lord’s fang.

In addition to the phallic implications, the audience is told that the father intended this

sword to protect his half-blooded son, knowing that the boy would have a difficult time surviving

150
Napier, Pg. 127.
 Taylor 82

in the world. As further proof that the sword is meant for the younger son, Inuyasha’s older

brother Sesshoumaru, who is a full demon, cannot even touch the sword because he lacks human

blood. The elder brother covets the sword, however, because of its inherent ties to their father

and its ability to defeat one hundred demons with a single stroke if wielded properly. For the

first two-thirds of the rather long narrative, there is animosity between the brothers as they war

over who will inherit and properly wield their father’s legacy.

Inuyasha is clearly longing for a form of masculinity that, like Goku’s, is defined by

battle prowess, something the half-demon feels he lacks on his own, though the audience can

clearly see that he is deadly with only his clawed hands. At the same time, however, Inuyasha is

like Kenshin in that he discovers there is a darker side to the powerful masculinity represented in

demonic beings. Another function of the sword is to seal his demon half in his body because this

tainted blood can overwhelm his human half in life-threatening situations. Inuyasha’s body is

simply not made to handle the raw power of his father’s blood, and becomes a murderous

monster when it takes control. “What is this feeling?” he wonders. “I haven’t killed enough”151.

Even more terrifyingly, the second time he loses control, Inuyasha turns his claws on humans,

something he has never done before. When he awakens, he can’t remember attacking, but he can

smell the blood clinging to his claws. His own demonic nature is suddenly frightening to him.

“The demon I wanted to become, the strength I wanted to have, it’s not supposed to be like

this!”152 For Inuyasha, his own power is in conflict: the energy stored in the sword is his father’s

and therefore drawing on the extreme masculinity of the demon nature, but at the same time, his

own inability to control this power in his blood is terrifying.

151
Takahashi, Rumiko. Inuyasha. Shogakukan Publishing. 13 November 1996-18 June 2008.
Volume 16, Chapter 157. なんだ？。。。この気持ち。まだ．．．殺し足りねえ。
152
Ibid., Volume 19, Chapter 187. 俺がなりたかった妖怪は、俺が欲しかった強さは。。。
こんなのじゃねえ！！
 Taylor 83

This is compounded by the fact that during this scenario, the sword is bitten in half by a

malevolent monster. Left with no way to control his blood, Inuyasha brings the sword to a smith

and demands to have it repaired. Because it was originally made with dog fangs, one of his own

teeth must act as a supplementary material to reforge the blade. Upon attempting to use it again

in battle, however, Inuyasha finds that the

blade has become unbearably heavy and

he cannot wield it as easily as he once did.

The smith explains, “The unbroken sword

was made only of your father’s fang.

When you need him, you relied on your

father to protect you. Now that’s not

A transformed Inuyasha contemplates his bloody claws
enough. You have to use your own fang Inuyasha, Episode 43

and protect yourself”153. In essence, Inuyasha is being weaned from his reliance on his father’s

hypermasculine power, and being trained to also embrace his humanity, a gift inherited from his

mother and therefore implicitly tied with the feminine154. His demon form can be seen as

another extension of the father’s influence in his life, even more terrifying than the power of a

sword that can slay one hundred demons. The young half-demon continues to cling to his

father’s strength for the next arc of the story, never able to fight with the sword because it is

simply too heavy for him.

Though Inuyasha draws heavily on Japanese mythology, his predicament tale seems to

indicate classic Oedipal conditions. Inuyasha is rejecting the feminine side of himself, found in

153
Takahashi, Inuyasha. Volume 17, Chapter 163. 折れる前の鉄砕牙はおまえのおやじどの
の牙。要するに、おまえはおやじどのに頼って守られてたんだ。だが今度の鉄砕
牙はそうはいかねえ。おまえは自分の牙を使いこなして自分を守るんだ。
154
Napier, Pg. 127.
 Taylor 84

his humanity, and embracing the masculine, which is inherently tied to the father. In addition,

the power granted to him by his demonic nature will be manly, and therefore infinitely more

acceptable than his dual nature.

The boy’s sexuality will now come to resemble the sexuality of his
father[…]—menacing, predatory, possessive, and possibly punitive.
The boy has come to identify with his oppressor; now he can
become the oppressor himself. But […] the terror that the young
man will be unmasked as a fraud, as a man who has not completely
and irrevocably separated from the mother.155

Here then we can see Inuyasha’s fear to embrace his mother’s humanity as fear also of being

revealed as lacking masculinity. However, unlike boys who willingly inherit the father’s

“menacing” sexuality, such as Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha is simultaneously rejecting this form of

gender as well. His demon half, coded as belonging to this extremely violent form of dominance,

is a part of himself that he also dislikes. No longer desiring to rely on the father, Inuyasha must

relinquish his fear of his own humanity (femininity) and embrace a more balanced form of

existence.

In order to truly lighten the blade, however, Inuyasha must prove his own hybrid powers

to be superior to his father’s. To use the sword again and prevent any more transformations, he

must defeat the one creature his father could not, a giant dragon sealed in eternal sleep by one of

the dog lord’s claws. Here again there is another symbol inherently tied to gender roles, as

dragons generally represent masculine energy in Asian lore, the long coiled body of the beast

inherently implying the male sex organ. When the claw is removed, the dragon rises and

proceeds to easily punish Inuyasha’s body, forcing the half-demon to drop his sword early in the

fight. Naturally he loses control and quickly transforms into a monster, which is stronger (he

able to knock back the massive dragon’s body) but at the same time bestial and frightening. His

155
Whitehead, Pg. 273.
 Taylor 85

attacks are mindless and instinctual and he is completely lost in the thrill of the fight, but

Kagome’s voice is able to reach Inuyasha even through the pull of the demon blood, and he

comes to his senses long enough to grab the sword and regain control. Here again it is the

influence of a human female, a creature that at surface value seems inherently weaker than a dog

lord, that is able to reach Inuyasha’s mind and turn back his demonic transformation. As soon as

he resolves to use the sword to finish the dragon, it becomes lighter and he is able to wield it

again. In consciously choosing not to rely on his father’s blood to defeat his enemy, he is able to

embrace his own unique masculinity and ultimately surpass his paternal lineage.

It is through Kagome’s love and guidance that he learns to accept the balance his blood

encompasses: equilibrium between masculine and feminine. She is inherently tied to humanity

and femininity and therefore to Inuyasha’s mother and his own softer nature, but her voice,

embrace, and love are all able to qualm his monstrous masculinity in the same way that Tomoe

tempers Kenshin’s masculine power. Kagome gives Inuyasha someone to protect and also

teaches him to accept himself. Even when he’s filled with self-loathing following his murderous

transformation, Kagome stays resolutely by his side, hugging him and telling him that she

understands his frustration and fear. Ultimately, her kindness and understanding allow

Inuyasha’s body to experience complete equilibrium between both sides of his heritage.

The culmination of this balance between human and demon occurs when Inuyasha and

the group he travels with are trapped in the stone belly of an ogre. Inuyasha’s sword is unable to

pierce the walls and stomach acid is slowly suffocating his human companions. In desperation,

he embeds a shard of the Sacred Jewel in the blade in hopes of strengthening it. His plan,

however, backfires as the Jewel takes over and begins affecting his demon blood, his control

slowly slipping. He urges his companions to run from him, but Kagome rushes to his side and
 Taylor 86

embraces him, thus allowing the Jewel to

be purified while at the same time

strengthening Inuyasha’s demonic blood.

In this moment he is perfectly balanced

between his father’s power (masculinity)

and his need for Kagome’s love and

Kagome supports Inuyasha, purifying the jewel and acceptance (femininity.) “Help me…just
allowing him to control his demonic blood
Inuyasha, Episode 167 for a bit…”156. It is notable that the word

Inuyasha chooses here is sasaeru, a verb that can mean both “to support, to sustain, to prop” and

“to hold at bay, to stop, to check.” His word choice seems to indicate that Kagome, with her

feminine nature, is at once both a pillar of support and a necessity to keep his demon blood in

check. At last he has let go of the idea of becoming a full demon in favor of accepting an equal

balance between the legacy of his mother and father.

Ultimately, like Kenshin and Shinji, Inuyasha is able to entirely reject his society’s hyper

masculine norm. However, Inuyasha shares more in common with Kenshin in that he is able to

come to a more modernized style of thinking, implied by influence from Kagome’s

contemporary home life. Both protagonists reform their hypermasculine identities into

something that seems to balance both male and female sides, and both characters experience a

measure of peace because of this. Kenshin is able to function as both a protector and swordsman

while still maintaining a home life in which he acts as the domestic force while his romantic

interest, Kaoru, is the breadwinner. Similarly, Inuyasha stops seeking the Sacred Jewel selfishly

and instead chooses to collect it to protect others. He is also able to let go of the shadows of past

156
Takahashi, Inuyasha. Volume 33, Chapter 355. もう少しけど。。。支えててくれ。。。
 Taylor 87

lovers and parents in order to move forward in his own individualistic narrative. His triumph

over the forces of evil at the end of the manga exhibits his final struggle and conquest over his

own tainted blood, upon which he is able to rescue Kagome and share in an emotionally

fulfilling relationship with her. She becomes his wife, allowing her feminine softness to

influence his masculine violence for the rest of their lives.

The outside world also continues to reflect this shift in masculine thinking in Japanese

society. Even in the decade following the millennium, economic and employment hardships

continue to plague the country. The marriage and birth rates remain low, something that

promises to continue as Japanese youth search out more individualistic identities in a changing

world. Introspective narratives like Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin, Neon Genesis Evangelion,

Cowboy Bebop, and Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊), all reflect this inner search. Where older

manga like Akira, Astro Boy, and Gundam were nearly almost always concerned with society at

large, contemporary anime and manga seek to understand the self and its place within the world.

No contemporary manga better reflects this than Arakawa Hiromu’s Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の

錬金術師.) With a plotline conceptually closer to a manga aimed at adults rather than children,

Fullmetal debuted in 2001 in Monthly Shounen Gangan and continued for nine years. It has had

two successful anime adaptations as well as a film. Arakawa herself is now an extremely

successful artist with another series due in April 2011, and she cites Inuyasha’s Takahashi

Rumiko as a major influence in her own work157.

Unlike many other shounen manga, which are primarily episodic even when following an

overarching storyline, Fullmetal strictly adheres to a linear plotline with forward motion and

occasional flashbacks. It also establishes physical and scientific laws that limit the powers and

157
Wong, Amos. “Equivalent Exchange.” Newtype USA. January 2006.
 Taylor 88

magic shown in the serires. Set in a land with technology from the nineteen-twenties and thirties

the country, Amestris, seems analogous to America, with an oligarchical government and a large

range of races within the country. Additionally the show features a rebelling faction set on

overthrowing the military and establishing a democracy in order to end the constant war the

country has experienced for the past several hundred years. In the midst of all this war and

fighting are the alchemists, scientists and warriors who have mastered the art of manipulating

matter in order to achieve seemingly magical feats. The law of equivalent exchange, which

states that in order to achieve anything, something of equal value must be sacrificed, rules

alchemy and limits scientists’ power. Like the lore surrounding European alchemy, the ultimate

alchemical object in Arakawa’s world is the Philosopher’s Stone. With this stone, it is possible

to achieve alchemical transmutation without any sacrifice on the part of the scientist.

The story follows Edward Elric and his little brother, Alphonse, in their quest to reclaim

their lost bodies. Edward is an alchemical prodigy, able to grasp concepts at a genius level.

Alphonse is also very good at the scientific formulas required to transmute matter. However,

when they are ten and nine years old respectively, their mother, Trisha, passes away, leaving

them in the hands of their elderly neighbor, Pinako Rockbell. The boys’ father is also absent,

having left when Ed was only three. Angry with their father and determined to bring back their

mother, the boys study under a master alchemist and decide to utilize the mystical science to

bring their mother back to life, in spite of the laws that forbid human transmutation. The attempt

fails horribly, and Edward loses his arm and leg while Al loses his entire body. The elder sibling

is given prosthetic limbs called “automail” while the younger brother’s spirit is bound to a large

suit of armor, unable to sleep, eat, or feel anything. Having been humbled by their experience
 Taylor 89

with human transmutation, the brothers join the military in order to learn more about the

Philosopher’s Stone and find a way to return their bodies to normal.

The series opens when Ed is fifteen and Al is fourteen, two years after the eldest brother

has established himself as the youngest military alchemist in history, known throughout the

country as the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist. They embroil themselves in the heart of the rebels

by working under Colonel Roy Mustang, a savvy war veteran bent on becoming the ruler of the

country and establishing a democracy. At the same time, they learn that the key to creating the

Philosopher’s Stone is live humans, and ultimately discover that the government is conspiring to

use the country’s citizens to make the legendary stone. In an effort to prevent mass genocide, the

boys fight fantastical alchemic creatures and ultimately face a terrifying being known only as

“Father.” At the same time, they go on a journey of self-discovery and finally reunite with their

biological father, joining with him to better understand the nature of “Father” and alchemy in

general.

Ed and Al are often depicted as stunningly independent and brilliant, but the story also

makes a point of demonstrating how immature they are, relatively speaking. Though many

anime and manga often star protagonists who are only fifteen or sixteen, these boys and girls

seem wise beyond their years, rarely faltering in confidence or self-assuredness (with the distinct

exception of Shinji.) However, they are often shown as having much to learn about the world,

especially in a country where violence and death are common results of the frequent wars. Very

early in the series, they are exposed to the deaths of several of their closest friends, including a

young girl sacrificed in an alchemical experiment, a woman infused with snake DNA to make

her a more effective spy, and a military friend from the intelligence branch, Maes Hughes.

Unlike the war-hardened Roy Mustang, the boys have extreme difficulty coping with these losses,
 Taylor 90

often finding personal fault in themselves for being unable to save their loved ones (a theme

which stretches back to their mother.) In particular, the case of a young girl, Nina, only proves

to demonstrate their awareness of their own powerlessness. “Even if they act like adults,” says

Mustang, “they’re still children. […] Isn’t that right, Fullmetal?” To which Ed replies, “We’re

human. We couldn’t even save one little girl. We’re just insignificant humans”158. The younger

man is prone to blaming himself for the things that happen around him, and as a result he is

frequently drawn into situations that cause him immense personal trauma.

Furthermore, the boys are unsure not simply of what it means to be a man, but also of

what it means to be “insignificant humans.” Alphonse, trapped in his giant metal body as only a

spirit with no corporeal form to relate to, is distinctly unsure of his own existence. Already, his

name connotes questions about his existence. The pronunciation of Al in Japanese, Aru, is

phonetically the same as the verb aru, “to exist, or be.” Each time Ed shouts his name

questioningly, he is simultaneously asking if his brother’s soul or body even exists. In order to

shake Al’s confidence further, a villain asks him whether or not there is even any proof that he

ever existed in the first place. “A ‘soul’ is an abstract object that can’t be seen. You can’t even

prove it exists. Where’s the proof that you ever even existed in the first place? Where’s your

body?”159. This point is elaborated even further in the first anime series, where Al is debilitated

following a fight and can only sit around contemplating his own humanity. “Was I ever really

human?” he asks himself160. Eventually the two brothers fight on the topic and Al comes to his

158
Arakawa, Hiromu. Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. Enix Publishing, Square Enix Publishing.
August 2001-June 2010. Vol. 2, Ch. 4. 大人ぶってはいてもあの子はまだ子供です
よ。そうだろう、鋼の。
159
Ibid., Volume 3, Chapter 12. 魂 なんて目に見えない不確かな物でどうやってそれ
を証明する？そうだ！おめェという人間が確かに存在していた証は？肉体は？！
160
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. Studio Bones. Mainichi Broadcasting System, Tokyo
Broadcasting System. 4 October 2003-2 October 2004. Episode 23.
 Taylor 91

senses, but following this, he begins to lose control of his huge armored body, moving into a

liminal space where his real body is stored. His inability to control himself or be of use to those

he loves continues to wear on his soul, especially as the boys prepare to confront “Father.”

In the same way that Al questions his humanity, Ed constantly questions his own

decisions and the reliability of his body, with his prosthetic limbs and his inability to save those

he loves. Though trained from a young age as a fighter, Ed is constantly bested in fights with his

enemies, which is another unusual characteristic for shounen storylines. Goku may be knocked

down, but inevitably he will rise again, stronger and better able to face his opponent. Ed on the

other hand, must frequently rely on his brother, allies, and superiors to get him out of difficult

situations. His short stature and automail limbs are also frequently verbal fodder for his enemies

and comrades alike, and Ed takes great pains to hide his false arm. He exhibits symptoms of

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phantom limb syndrome, frequently waking with

nightmares and then clutching his leg or his arm, muttering, “It hurts”161. His reactions to

comments on his height are frequently comedic, but serve to illustrate how desperately he wishes

to be viewed as mature, manly, and equal to the adults around him. Ed, from a young age, has

been the man of the house, having to care for his brother while his mother wasted away from

sickness. In doing so, he took on a huge responsibility while loathing his father. This has left

him with a deep-seated mistrust towards all masculine authority figures and insecurity in his own

abilities to act as a proper protector and role model for his younger sibling as well as his

childhood friend and love interest, Pinako’s granddaughter Winry. In summary, Ed’s mental and

physical scars make him a far more vulnerable character than most other shounen heroes, even

those who experienced trauma at a young age.

161
Arakawa. Vol. 2, Ch. 6.
 Taylor 92

Alphonse and Edward are unique in their bodily circumstances. Other heroes previously

discussed rarely exhibit the same kind of handicap that the brothers do. Kenshin is the only other

character who bears a scar, and his plays

more for emotional impact than for a truly

debilitating liability. Ed and Al’s bodies,

however, are vulnerable not only to violence,

but to breakdown. Just after Nina dies, the

boys face one of their constant enemies

throughout the series, a man from an ethnic

Scar blows Ed’s arm apart
minority determined to avenge his people Fullmetal Alchemist, Episode 14

following the genocide enacted on them by the military. The man, Scar, manages to damage

Al’s body and completely destroy Ed’s prosthetic arm, leaving them both completely helpless

against him. Without both hands, the elder is unable to perform alchemy, and the younger is not

even able to stand. Following the fight, they sit in the pouring rain together, and Ed comments

on their sad state, mentioning that they’re both literally falling to pieces162. All of this

information in only the second volume of the series simply serves to illustrate how very

vulnerable both of the boys are, not only in body but also in mind.

While claiming that their lost bodies are symbols of castration fears may be a bit extreme

(the accident happened in relation to the mother, but both boys were pre-pubescent and largely

associate their bodies with humanity rather than with gender) it is undeniable that Edward does

use his prosthetic arm as a bladed weapon throughout the series, evoking the phallus in the same

way that Kenshin and Inuyasha’s swords do. However, rather than lacking power, what the

162
Arakawa, Vol. 2, Ch. 7. ボロボロだな、オレ達。
 Taylor 93

eldest Elric brother seems to fear lacking is humanity itself. Grosz points out that, “The phantom

limb is the narcissistic reassertion of the limb’s presence in the face of its manifest biological

loss, an attempt to preserve the subject’s narcissistic sense of bodily wholeness”163. In other

words, Edward’s PTSD is related to his desire to be a whole human being again, and indeed this

is what drives him throughout the series. It is also a pointed divergence from his peers and

superiors, many of whom are mentally scarred but whole in body. These men (and a few

women) are damaged in much the same way Shinji is damaged in Evangelion, but rather than

fleeing societal expectations and confrontation, the characters of Fullmetal Alchemist rush

headfirst into rebellion and redemption.

Edward lives in a world that is largely shaped by hegemonic masculinity in the form of

the military, especially because the organization is so pervasive in dominating the country.

“Militaries around the world have defined the soldiers as an embodiment of traditional male sex

role behaviors,”164 yet Ed, perhaps because of his age, largely rejects this masculinity. He talks

back to superiors, deliberately disobeys orders, and frequently works on cases and research in

secret. Similarly, Mustang and Hughes, though clearly martial men with veteran war records,

have networks largely unconnected to the military structure. Both men are able to discern the

corruption within the upper echelons of the oligarchy and both readily plan a rebellion in the

name of justice; in all actuality, they are just as rebellious as Ed, if a bit more subtle in their

methodology. In reality, these men are creating a new masculinity, a minority form based not on

military obedience and subservience to the state, but rather based on loyalty to one’s self and

immediate comrades, a sense of justice, and a belief in the common good. Like the government

163
Grosz, Pg. 73.
164
Whitehead, Pg. 77.
 Taylor 94

officials in Akira, the highest echelons of the army are depicted as corrupted and self-serving,

while men who work in the field like Ed, Mustang, and Hughes are shone in a positive light.

The military in Fullmetal Alchemist is not really the same as sarariiman, though they are

frequently depicted performing menial office tasks. Instead, these characters, both men and

women, seem to be reflections of citizens who lived immediately before World War II, a feeling

compounded by their elaborate military uniforms and the technology that correlates with the

1930s and 40s. In truth, the overall anti-war, democratic message of this manga has much more

in common with Astro Boy and Barefoot Gen then it does with a work focused on individual

rebellion against the establishment, such as Akira. This may have to do with the political scene

in Japan, which for the past ten years has been bloated at best and chaotic at worst. Japan has

had five prime ministers since 2006, almost all of whom resigned office due to scandal and

disgrace165. In addition, monetary corruption continues to be a problem in both of the leading

political parties. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, Japan has returned to more conservative

party lines, although only radicals suggest a reinstitution of the military at large. Even from this

non-violent stance, Japan has increasingly embraced a conservative agenda that emphasizes

things like celebrating war dead, instilling patriotism in a younger generation, and returning to a

position that is less dependent on the United States166. Though this political shift is not

particularly frightening, especially for someone from Arakawa’s generation—she was born in

1973—it perhaps is unsettling in a country where many people still staunchly support the Anti-

165
“Archives.” Prime Minister of Japan and his Government. 2011. Accessed 9 March 2011.
Electronic. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/archives_e.html.
166
Ryu, Yongwook. “The Yasukuni Controversy: Divergent Perspectives from the Japanese
Political Elite.” Asian Survey, Vol. 47, No. 5. University of California Press.
September/October 2007. Pg. 714-715.
 Taylor 95

War Article in the constitution. Thus the citizens who rebel against Amestris’ oligarchical

government seem to be a wake-up call for a country that no longer has strong political leadership.

Additionally, Fullmetal Alchemist shares with early predecessors the search for the father

figure. The absence of Ed and Al’s father, Van Hohenheim, is a constant point of friction

between the boys. The younger brother is too young to remember his father and thus doesn’t

share in Ed’s animosity towards the man; the elder brother blames Hohenheim for abandoning

his family, and thus also blames the man in part for his mother’s death. When they reunite for

the first time, the son is completely antagonistic towards his father, even in front of his mother’s

grave.

“How dare you show your face at a time like this, you ass!”
“Should you really call your father an ass?”
“You’re an ass so I’ll call you an ass! If we weren’t in front of
mom’s grave I’d beat the hell out of you.”
“Trisha, why did you die?”
“What the hell do you mean ‘why?’ She died because you made
her suffer!”167

Edward’s efforts to differentiate himself

from his father are extreme, even to the

point of his own appearance. When

Hohenheim points out that they both wear

their hair in the exact same style, Edward

immediately takes out his ponytail and

Edward confronts his father braids it. In a strange way, the

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Episode 20

167
Arakawa, Vol. 11, Ch. 42. てめぇ今頃どの面下げて戻って来た！／親にむかっててめ
ぇとはなんだよ／てめぇなんざてめぇで十分だ！母さんの墓が前じゃなかったら
殴ってるところだ／トリシャ。。。なんで死んだ。。。／なんでもクソもある
か！てめぇが苦労さえてせいだ！
 Taylor 96

relationship is not unlike Shinji’s to Gendo, and yet Hohenheim clearly does not want his son to

hate him. He does his best to be a role model to the boy as the series continues, though he goes

about it in an awkward way. As the story progresses, he strives to aid his Ed and Al in saving

the country, utilizing his considerable alchemical prowess to fight their enemies.

This tale of rivalry with the father is compounded by the involvement of the villain,

Father. In addition to his ambiguous name, he is the exact likeness of Ed and Al’s biological

father. Late in the story, the readers discover this is because Father and Hohenheim utilized

forbidden alchemy over a thousand years ago to create a Philosopher’s Stone, killing off an

entire country in the process. While the Elrics’ father was tricked into committing mass

genocide, the creature named Father willingly used thousands of lives to gain immortality. Here

again, the Elrics rivalry with paternal figures comes to the forefront, as they meet the evil

mastermind for the first time and discover the circumstances behind Hohenheim’s immense

alchemical power. Though the Oedipal complex is a theory firmly rooted in Western mythology

and psychoanalysis, it is indeed fitting in this situation, where the sons strive to overcome the

Father, literally. In this scenario, however, the Father is not the biological patriarch, but the

shadowy figure controlling the country’s military and politics. In essence, the boys are in

competition with the creature that established their homeland’s violent culture, oligarchical

society, and the hegemony represented by the military. Thus the complex expands to encompass

less a rivalry within family and more a rebellion against society. While another group of men,

the oligarchs, have been complacent with Father and indeed collaborate with him, men of

character like the Elrics, Mustang, and Hohenheim, fight against the culture’s originator.

The character of Father is in fact transgressive in the same way that Dragon Ball’s Cell is

transgressive. In addition to committing mass genocide on multiple occasions, an action that

 Taylor 97

immediately allows the audience to appropriate him as a kind of Hitler stand-in, Father also

produces offspring. His minions, the homunculi, are artificial humans created from the extreme

aspects of his personality. In a particularly unsubtle choice, each villain is named after one of

the seven deadly sins, which they each embody in personality as well; the audience is informed

that Father chose to purge these creatures from himself in an effort to become a perfect being, a

creature capable of overcoming “God”168. This is yet another form of transgression, given that

the ultimate power in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe is a being known as the “Truth.” The

Truth governs alchemy and equivalent exchange, and it knows any alchemist who dares to try to

bring a human back from the dead because they must all pass through Truth’s Gate169. Father’s

existence in all this, his ability to surpass Truth and ignore the laws of alchemy, makes him a

transgressor because he lusts for power that should be beyond anyone’s reach.

Additionally, in the final battle of the manga, when Father has achieved a renewed

Philosopher’s Stone, he begins to birth humans from his abdomen. Formed of his flesh, they

crawl forth naked and moaning in pain, their skin dripping as though they are melting. The

echoes of the atomic bomb are not lost, especially because Father has also proved that he is

capable of nuclear fusion170. At once he is both the establisher of hegemonic masculinity and the

transgressor of it. As he tries to devour the country, the only option seems to be to destroy him

altogether, which is precisely what the Elrics do. This is also the first time where both boys

willingly work with Hohenheim, though Al has also fought alongside him on other occasions. It

is Ed’s willingness to forgive the patriarch his transgressions, both against Trisha and against

him and his brother, that ultimately allows them to defeat Father. It is also in this battle where

168
Arakawa, Vol. 24, Ch. 26.
169
Ibid., Vol. 5, Ch. 21.
170
Ibid., Vol. 26, Ch. 106.
 Taylor 98

Ed regains his flesh arm, thus renewing his sense of humanity. However, he elects to keep his

prosthetic leg as a promise not to forget everything he experienced in his battle against the

country’s sinister leaders.

Ultimately, Fullmetal Alchemist is at once similar to and different from its predecessors.

It shares the rebellion against militaristic masculinity, which was a characteristic of immediate

post-war manga. Ed, though temperamental, truly longs for a country where his fellow citizens

can live in peace, their safety unthreatened by unnecessary military campaigns and wars. It also

shares an absent father, followed by a rivalry with a father figure. In this sense however, rather

than focusing on the individual, Fullmetal focuses entirely on the struggle against a society that

has evil at its heart. The society has superceded the individual as a standardizer for norms and

gendered perspectives, but Ed and his comrades rebel against this, establishing a country that is

inherently individualistic because of its democracy. His final struggle is less about finding

personal identity that relates and works within societal bounds and more about simply finding

himself, which is to say his own humanity and peace. Though the overall story sends mixed

signals about masculinity (rebel against hegemonic masculinity, but at the same time do not

transgress it in the way that Father does) Fullmetal’s themes are ultimately less about masculine

power and identity and more about self-sacrifice, friendship, and justice. These themes are not

particularly gendered. Rather they are aimed toward society as a whole.

 Taylor 99

Conclusion

Opening the Field

The economic and societal instability of the past two decades has continually caused

Japanese identity, both domestic and national, to transform and to change. With the revolt

against the hegemonic sarariiman identity, young boys are given a wider spectrum of choices in

masculinity. These boys and their new alternatives are reflected in newer anime and manga that

embrace characters who do not necessarily fit the bill of a fighting hero like Amuro or Goku.

Rather these men and boys are vulnerable, expressing self-doubt, fear, and helplessness. Edward

Elric, with his damaged body, is by far the most extreme case, but at the same time, his

characterization is a coded message that sometimes it is ok to be less than manly. He does not fit

the kouha stereotype, or even a more general typification, such as the man who “[suppresses]

feelings such as fear and feebleness in order to appear strong and virile”171. In fact, Edward is

frequently depicted crying in sadness or desperation, powerless against the military who

manipulates him, but unwilling to give in even at the cost of his own life. His ultimate stance at

the end of the story is one of balance, in which he retains the reminders of his past in the form of

his automail leg, and yet has finally found peace with himself, enough to separate from his

brother and travel alone to see the world. Kenshin’s story ends much the same way, with him

finally overcoming personal tragedy and at last compromising between hypermasculinity and a

softer, more purposeful life. Inuyasha is able to embrace a self that encompasses equal halves of

the mother and father. Even Shinji, though his storyline ends in tragedy, is technically able to

choose an identity apart from his father, rejecting the collective humanity and instead choosing

to remain alone.

171
Derichs, Print. Pg. 37.
 Taylor 100

Each of these characters is able to establish a new, personalized kind of masculinity built

on the ashes of larger societal expectations. The rejection not only of the biological patriarch,

but also of the larger collective father, in other words hegemonic masculinity, plays large roles in

each of their story lines. The male ideal of the previous generation, the cog in a well-oiled

corporate machine, has ceased to have meaning in the lives of Japanese youth, and these

characters seem to reflect this shift. Additionally, they seem to be aware that other options are

available to them, ones that do not necessarily require a business suit. In the nineteen-nineties,

young workers continually demanded better pay and more leisure time, an action that horrified

many members of the previous generation. In addition, many workers quit jobs after only three

or four years, an action unprecedented in the post-war period, with its orientation towards

lifelong employment. Additionally, the sarariiman is no longer the desirable position, “having

grown ashamed of their habitual devotion to the job”172. Many young men yearn for lives that

include things like romantic love and child rearing173.

For Japan, perhaps this is less a new development and more a return to a time when

gender divisions were less strict in the working class. Before the Meiji revolution and the

opening of the country to Western influences, Japan’s men and women, save the samurai class,

largely were not divided in labor. Work and home life were shared equally among the working

and peasant classes, and in some ways women occasionally had advantages over men, as in the

case of the female divorcees who frequently received custody of any children a couple shared174.

In the face of this, it is interesting to see that many Japanese men aiding in modern child rearing

do not refer to themselves through the lens of gender, but rather through the lens of personhood.

172
McClain, Pg. 620.
173
Roberson, Pg. 201.
174
McClain, Pg. 96-97.
 Taylor 101

“These men consider what they do as providers and caretakers part of their ningen rashisa

(humanity) rather than of their ‘masculinity’ or ‘femininity’. This is perhaps similar to the

slogan of women’s and men’s movements to live free from gender expectations”175. While

society may not necessarily be moving towards a gender neutral (indeed it is questionable

whether that is a desirable end result) perhaps it is moving toward a point where gender matters

less than simply being a good human being, capable of interacting on equal terms with peers,

regardless of differences.

Recently, two manga have debuted that seem to indicate that Japan is indeed moving in

this direction. While neither Wandering Son (放浪息子) nor Jellyfish Princess (海月姫) appear

in shounen publications, they have both reached a wide readership and have been adapted into

anime, particularly Wandering Son, which is published in a seinen monthly. Seinen is the adult

version of shounen, generally aimed at men in their teens and above. Both of these series deal

extensively with gender and self-perception, each handling subjects that likely would have been

taboo in the nineteen-seventies. Jellyfish Princess stars a young man who dresses in women’s

clothing not because he is homosexual or identifies as a female, but simply because he likes

fashion and feels closer to his estranged mother when he dresses as a woman. He is beautiful

and desirable, regardless of his clothing, and has a wide circle of female friends who look at him

as a potential boyfriend. His cross dressing habit, rather than separating him from them or

placing him in a weaker position of masculinity, seems only to make him personally strong and

happier than his older brother, a politician who is depicted as a stuffy workaholic who is

hopeless with women. Here, the brother who has rejected the sarariiman masculinity in order to

175
Derichs, Pg. 212.
 Taylor 102

embrace a more artistically oriented lifestyle is coded as the more desirable of the two. He is

kind, caring, and thoughtful where his elder brother is cold, fussy, and business-minded.

Wandering Son is a considerably more serious series, its subject mater concerned with a

young boy who wants to be a girl and his best friend, a young girl who wants to be a boy. Both

of them are twelve-years old, on the cusp of puberty and horrified by the idea that the appearance

of developed sexual organs and other markers of biological sex, such as pubic hair and changing

voices, will soon gender their bodies. In particular, the young boy, Nitori, is alienated from his

family by his habit of putting on a wig and going out in public dressed as a girl. His older sister

derides him and becomes furious when she discovers that he has tried on one of her dresses.

However, his best friend Takatsuki accepts him precisely as he is, perhaps because she too would

rather be the opposite sex. She expresses rage and fear when a girl on her volleyball team tells

her she needs to start wearing a sports bra to practice. The series, still ongoing, explores the

deep entrenchment of gender roles in Japanese schools and the effects these have on children

who are just learning what gender and sexuality are. The gentle and contemplative tone of each

character’s story is not judgmental; rather it is exploratory and accepting, perhaps emphasizing

that the ideals of “male” and “female” are actually two extremes of gendered possibilities rather

than the norms.

Japan’s concepts of gender in the post-war period have continually changed, particularly

as the economy has shifted and buckled, and for men their place in the world has been

overturned multiple times. In the immediate aftermath of the war, men lost their ultimate

masculine role model, the emperor, and were forced to search for new identities while at the

same time rejecting the warrior culture that had been instilled in the years leading up to the war.

The rise of the sarariiman in the nineteen-seventies and eighties, however, proved problematic in
 Taylor 103

its own way, dividing men from their families and requiring them to become smaller entities in a

larger, economically defined society. However, in the post-bubble economy, the sarariiman has

lost all potency and meaning. Increasingly, Japanese men are embracing identities that allow

them to explore not only sexuality, but also their own individual roles within the Japanese

cultural sphere. Masculinity has diversified to include not just the sarariiman, not just the

warrior, but also many different identities that are not necessarily gendered towards masculine or

feminine, including those that have previously been marginalized. And while many of these

minority identities remain in an unequal status when compared to heterosexual, white-collar

workers, they are slowly becoming more acceptable, a shift that is reflected in the modern media

that Japanese citizens consume, read, and watch.

 Taylor 104

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