Archive for Maria-sama ga Miteru
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The Structure of Yuri: the Shift from Female to Male Audiences
Yuri, shoujo-ai, girl’s love, cute anime girls getting it on with each other – no matter what you want to call it, these names refer to entertainment that contains romantic and/or sexual relationships between women. Yuri first developed as a genre mainly targeted towards women, much in the same way that lesbian literature in other societies began growing as homosexuality became an issue in developed nations. However, it seems that a large volume of yuri being produced is now marketed towards male audiences rather than ones composed of females. Why is this?
At first, the answer may seem quite simple. Perhaps men simply enjoy entertainment with themes involving female same-sex couplings; after all, plenty of guys have been interested in “Sapphic erotica” (girl on girl pornography), so to say. But there’s an interesting fact about the consumers of lesbian-themed anime, manga, or novels that one should note: namely, that while pornography is purely sexual, non-erotic yuri still seems to draw customers, particularly male ones.
NHRV Editor’s Choice Awards – April 2009
Today, a new tradition at The Nihon Review is starting: the NHRV Editor’s Choice Awards. Every six months from now on, in the months of April and October (to coincide approximately with the start of a new major season), each of the NHRV Editors will pick one anime that has recently aired and been added [...]
Natural moe
In anime, moe is so rammed down our throats sometimes that it is easy to grow tired of it. It’s become a successful component in anime, to the point now that (to pull a number out of my ass) ~90% of anime use the moe art-style for character designs, but like all successful things, it [...]
Five Memorable Themes From the Winter 2009 Season
…and a few thoughts on the current season. Mild spoiler warning for the tagged anime.
Winter 2009: First thoughts
Northern hemisphere seasons always stuff me up, since I’m writing a post titled “Winter 2009″ despite the fact that it’s over 30°C outside. I’m not watching all that much this season, for two reasons. First, other than the slew of sequels (again), there’s not too much that seems interesting. Second, I’m too busy right now [...]
