YOUR MANGA MINUTE: BLUE, PINK, AND OFF COLOR
by Troy Brownfield

We’re going to open this installment of “I can’t wait for someone to try and correct me this week” with a trip in the Not-So-Way-Back Machine. Those of you who were old enough to be teens in the halcyon days of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s should try to remember their earliest exposure to video store anime. I’m not talking about the watered down versions of Battle of the Planets or Robotech that we saw on local cable. I’m talking about the sections that were often labeled “Japanimation” and featured titles that were suggested for mature viewers.

This was the province of a couple of series that ended up defining what anime was in many minds. In much that same way that the Batman TV show really has nothing to do with Batman as he was then or today in the comics, certain anime series that people believed to be representative really only spoke for a small part of what was available. Many have been the times where I’ve had to explain that manga and anime aren’t just about schoolgirls getting buggared by tentacles. However, that certainly does exist, and prominently. That’s right; we’re gonna talk La Blue Girl.

Boasting the warning label Absolutely Not For Children, La Blue Girl and Urotsukidoji are the immediate preconception that some people have of anime as a whole. Of course, that’s ridiculous. Anime is a form, not a genre (just like American comics), with room for all the varied philosophies under one loose-fitting roof. We’ve watched to our sorrow that certain segments of our society can’t deal with the notion of adult anime and comics, most famously involving Demon Beast Invasion and a certain case in Texas. The irony, for those who a) grasp irony and b) take the time to look into it, is that all three of those series are the creation of one individual: Toshio Maeda.

In addition to doing Adventure Kid, Maeda made his reputation as the forefather of erotic anime and manga in Japan. Maeda didn’t just craft suggestive tales; he went for blunt-force shock. It was this over-the-top approach that got the notice of producers who animated La Blue Girl and Urotsukidoji: The Legend of the Overfiend. The influence and reach was staggering; Overfiend is still considered the most recognized adult anime title on the planet. At the video store in Terre Haute, Indiana, where I was a customer in high school and worked in grad school, it was impossible to keep them on the shelves. In fact, they were stolen on more than one occasion.

Now, as Dylan might say between underwear commercials, time to bring it all back home. This is a manga column after all, and we’ve got some manga to discuss. Those who guessed La Blue Girl, move to the front of the class. Our focus will be on volumes Five: Sinful Wrath and Six: Bestial Beauty.

La Blue Girl has U.S. distribution from Manga18 (www.manga18.com). It’s an off-shoot of Central Park Media that exclusively deals in adult titles (with the recommended ages all being 18+). Their companion company is Anime18, which is handling the film rights for this and other series. Manga18 knows they’re in a tenuous cultural position; they take great pains to carefully label all of their material as adult fare, and they indicate inside the front cover that readers who aren’t down with graphic sex and violence should read elsewhere. They even go so far as to note that all characters in the books are over 18 themselves (which should be obvious, since Miko’s in college, but again I give the squares too much credit).

For those that think that the series functions with only a skeletal plot to get from series of sexcapades to another, I’d have to disagree. That label certainly applies to the famous Emmanuelle films, but there are actually some plot and character concerns at play in the La Blue Girl manga. Granted, there’s a lot of sex (a good chunk of which is uncomfortable) and a lot of violence (ditto), but Maeda actually seems to be doing something beyond the story.

The basic plot is that Miko Mido comes from the mixed heritage of a female ninja clan and a Shikma demon father. Trained by her grandmother in ninjitsu and sexcraft, she’s apparently Earth’s last line of defense against evil incursions. Of course, nearly all of these battles turn on sexual situations involving monsters, thugs, or monstrous thugs. To say that humiliation and submission play a role would be an understatement; there’s a lot of interesting psychology at play here, not least of which is the notion of Miko often allowing herself to be raped in order to destroy her opponents. It can occasionally make even the most cynical or open-minded reader cringe, mainly due to the fact that it’s a direct assault on our mores.

In fact, I believe that’s Maeda’s ultimate point. True, there’s a definite note of prurience to the whole affair, but Maeda seems to acknowledge that the genre itself is difficult and barrels full steam into taboo territory. He’s definitely all about shattering boundaries.

I do think that the series occasionally sends mixed messages. Miko is certainly a powerhouse, both in her ninja prowess and her sexuality. She actually believes that she maintains a certain innocence, as her sexual activities are often used in defense of her friends and her planet. However, the constant notion of rape and how some of the female characters react to it can be troubling. Still Maeda includes such gestures as Miko’s powers convincing an all-male gang that they’re having sex with her when they’re really rodgering each other; it’s played a bit for comedy, but clearly demonstrates that Miko had the power from the beginning of the situation.

Some of your reaction to the individual stories may depend on your own culture and background. This is obviously not for everybody, and certainly for no one under 18 (or too immature to deal with it). The art is terrific throughout, and there are some interesting contradictions in character (Miko is no delicate flower when it comes to sexual battle, but she blanches at the idea of working for her sister’s porn film company).

Whatever you or I say, La Blue Girl will continue to be popular. I’m glad I took a moment to look at it beyond the reputation to see what’s at work on the inside. And frankly, getting people to put aside preconceptions and check out the work will always be the point of Your Manga Minute.

Fuente: Newsarama