Beautiful fighting girl

'From Cutie Honey and Sailor Moon to Nausica? of the Valley of the Wind, the worlds of Japanese anime and manga teem with prepubescent girls toting deadly weapons. Sometimes overtly sexual, always intensely cute, the beautiful fighting girl has been both hailed as a feminist icon and condemned as a symptom of the objectification of young women in Japanese society. In Beautiful Fighting Girl, Sait? Tamaki offers a far more sophisticated and convincing interpretation of this alluring and capable figure. For Sait?, the beautiful fighting girl is a complex sexual fantasy that paradoxically lends reality to the fictional spaces she inhabits. As an object of desire for male otaku (obsessive fans of anime and manga), she saturates these worlds with meaning even as her fictional status demands her ceaseless proliferation and reproduction. Rejecting simplistic moralizing, Sait? understands the otakuÆs ability to eroticize and even fall in love with the beautiful fighting girl not as a sign of immaturity or maladaptation but as a result of a heightened sensitivity to the multiple layers of mediation and fictional context that constitute life in our hypermediated worldùa logical outcome of the media they consume. Featuring extensive interviews with Japanese and American otaku, a comprehensive genealogy of the beautiful fighting girl, and an analysis of the American outsider artist Henry Darger, whose baroque imagination Sait? sees as an important antecedent of otaku culture, Beautiful Fighting Girl was hugely influential when first published in Japan, and it remains a key text in the study of manga, anime, and otaku culture. Now available in English for the first time, this book will spark new debates about the role played by desire in the production and consumption of popular culture.' From Cutie Honey And Sailor Moon To Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, The Worlds Of Japanese Anime And Manga Teem With Prepubescent Girls Toting Deadly Weapons. Sometimes Overtly Sexual, Always Intensely Cute, The Beautiful Fighting Girl Has Been Both Hailed As A Feminist Icon And Condemned As A Symptom Of The Objectification Of Young Women In Japanese Society.in Beautiful Fighting Girl, Saito Tamaki Offers A Far More Sophisticated And Convincing Interpretation Of This Alluring And Capable Figure. For Saito, The Beautiful Fighting Girl Is A Complex Sexual Fantasy That Paradoxically Lends Reality To The Fictional Spaces She Inhabits. As An Object Of Desire For Male Otaku (obsessive Fans Of Anime And Manga), She Saturates These Worlds With Meaning Even As Her Fictional Status Demands Her Ceaseless Proliferation And Reproduction. Rejecting Simplistic Moralizing, Saito Understands The Otaku’s Ability To Eroticize And Even Fall In Love With The Beautiful Fighting Girl Not As A Sign Of Immaturity Or Maladaptation But As A Result Of A Heightened Sensitivity To The Multiple Layers Of Mediation And Fictional Context That Constitute Life In Our Hypermediated World—a Logical Outcome Of The Media They Consume.featuring Extensive Interviews With Japanese And American Otaku, A Comprehensive Genealogy Of The Beautiful Fighting Girl, And An Analysis Of The American Outsider Artist Henry Darger, Whose Baroque Imagination Saito Sees As An Important Antecedent Of Otaku Culture, Beautiful Fighting Girl Was Hugely Influential When First Published In Japan, And It Remains A Key Text In The Study Of Manga, Anime, And Otaku Culture. Now Available In English For The First Time, This Book Will Spark New Debates About The Role Played By Desire In The Production And Consumption Of Popular Culture. A Note On The Translation -- Translator's Introduction: Making It Real : Fiction, Desire, And The Queerness Of The Beautiful Fighting Girl / J. Keith Vincent -- Preface -- The Psychopathology Of The Otaku -- Letter From An Otaku -- Beautiful Fighting Girls Outside Japan -- The Strange Kingdom Of Henry Darger -- A Genealogy Of The Beautiful Fighting Girl -- The Emergence Of The Phallic Girls -- Afterword To The First Edition (2000) -- Afterword To The Paperback Edition (2006) -- Commentary. The Elder Sister Of Otaku: Japan's Database Animals / Hiroki Azuma. Saitō Tamaki ; Translated By J. Keith Vincent And Dawn Lawson ; Commentary By Hiroki Azuma. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Translated From The Japanese. From Cutie Honey and Sailor Moon to Nausica of the Valley of the Wind , the worlds of Japanese anime and manga teem with prepubescent girls toting deadly weapons. Sometimes overtly sexual, always intensely cute, the beautiful fighting girl has been both hailed as a feminist icon and condemned as a symptom of the objectification of young women in Japanese society. In Beautiful Fighting Girl , Saito Tamaki offers a far more sophisticated and convincing interpretation of this alluring and capable figure. For Saito, the beautiful fighting girl is a complex sexual fantasy that paradoxically lends reality to the fictional spaces she inhabits. As an object of desire for male otaku (obsessive fans of anime and manga), she saturates these worlds with meaning even as her fictional status demands her ceaseless proliferation and reproduction. Rejecting simplistic moralizing, Saito understands the otakus ability to eroticize and even fall in love with the beautiful fighting girl not as a sign of immaturity or maladaptation but as a result of a heightened sensitivity to the multiple layers of mediation and fictional context that constitute life in our hypermediated worlda logical outcome of the media they consume. Featuring extensive interviews with Japanese and American otaku, a comprehensive genealogy of the beautiful fighting girl, and an analysis of the American outsider artist Henry Darger, whose baroque imagination Saito sees as an important antecedent of otaku culture, Beautiful Fighting Girl was hugely influential when first published in Japan, and it remains a key text in the study of manga, anime, and otaku culture. Now available in English for the first time, this book will spark new debates about the role played by desire in the production and consumption of popular culture. Cover 1 Contents 6 A Note on the Translation 8 Translator’s Introduction: Making It Real: Fiction, Desire, and the Queerness of the Beautiful Fighting Girl 10 BEAUTIFUL FIGHTING GIRL 28 Preface 30 1 The Psychopathology of the Otaku 36 2 Letter from an Otaku 60 3 Beautiful Fighting Girls outside Japan 72 4 The Strange Kingdom of Henry Darger 90 5 A Genealogy of the Beautiful Fighting Girl 110 6 The Emergence of the Phallic Girls 162 Afterword to the First Edition (2000) 200 Afterword to the Paperback Edition (2006) 206 Commentary: The Elder Sister of Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals 208 Notes 212 Index 228 A 228 B 229 C 229 D 230 E 231 F 231 G 231 H 232 I 232 J 233 K 233 L 233 M 234 N 235 O 235 P 236 R 237 S 237 T 239 U 239 V 239 W 239 X 240 Y 240 Z 240 The worlds of Japanese anime and manga teem with prepubescent girls toting deadly weapons. Sometimes overtly sexual, always intensely cute, the beautiful fighting girl has been both hailed as a feminist icon and condemned as a symptom of the objectification of young women in Japanese society. This book offers an interpretation of this alluring and capable figure. The beautiful fighting girl is a complex sexual fantasy that paradoxically lends reality to the fictional spaces she inhabits A Note on the TranslationTranslator's Introduction J. Keith VincentBeautiful Fighting GirlPreface1. The Psychopathology of Otaku2. Letter from an Otaku3. Beautiful Fighting Girls outside Japan4. The Strange Kingdom of Henry Darger5. A Genealogy of the Beautiful Fighting Girl6. The Emergence of the Phallic GirlsAfterword to the First Edition (2000)Afterword to the Paperback Edition (2006)Commentary: The Elder Sister of Otaku: Japan's Database Animals (2006)Hiroki AzumaNotesIndex