Second Spin, Shojo Beat, and Otomen
Recently I visited the Second Spin in Ontario for one of its anime days, complete with an anime trivia contest. I won first place despite some fierce competition from some anime- and manga-savy young ladies. There were questions about Cartoon Network shows like Bleach, Death Note, and Naruto. There were also some questions about older anime, like Maison Ikkoku. But, what really caught my attention was the lack of shojo questions. With 90% of the contestants being female, I expected at least one question about Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yugi, Nana, The Story of Saiunkoku, Vampire Knight, Saiyuki, or any of the hundreds of shojo titles out there. But, no. Not that it made a difference, considering the ladies took all the top spots.
But, this got me thinking about something that first came to me when Viz cancelled its Shojo Beat magazine. For those who don’t know, for a few years, Viz offered its version of the very famous Japanese Shonen Jump magazine and its own sister title, Shojo Beat. Last year, Viz cancelled Shojo Beat and finished Shojo Beat subscriptions with issues of Shonen Jump. I was bummed. Sure, I like a lot of the Shonen Jump titles, but I loved Shojo Beat and looked forward to it every month.
At ComicCon 2009, I had a great opportunity to ask a Viz rep. why Shojo Beat was cancelled. Basically, the economy was bad, Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat had some of the same advertisers, and those advertisers just weren’t willing or able to purchase space in both magazines. So, why cancel Shojo Beat? Did Shonen Jump just have more subscribers? The answer is more and less complicated than that.
Shonen Jump’s subscriber’s were predominantly male and Shojo Beat’s predominately female. No real surprise there. But, there were also a number of female Shojo Beat subscribers who were also Shonen Jump subscribers, but not so much the reverse. So, Viz decided to cancel Shojo Beat, not only because it had fewer subscribers but because Viz had good reason to believe many former Shojo Beat subscribers would be happy to have Shonen Jump subscriptions as a substitute. Basically, if Viz dropped Shonen Jump, they would just lose most of those subscribers because the guys wouldn’t want Shojo Beat. But, by dropping Shojo Beat, Viz figured they could still keep most of those customers by just shifting them to Shonen Jump.
The interesting thing is that this trend isn’t exclusive to Viz or manga. Think about it. Most TV shows, especially cartoons or teen-oriented shows, are geared toward a male audience. Even Disney, which once relied on all things princess to drive its shows and products, recently purchased Marvel to capture that boy audience. Why? Girls and women generally buy more clothes and accessories than boys and men. So, if you’re looking to sell clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, hair ornaments, makeup, etc. wouldn’t you want to advertise during Cinderella or Sailor Moon? Well, the answer is much like the Shojo Beat vs. Shonen Jump issue. You won’t catch many guys watching, or at least admitting to watching, Cinderella or Sailor Moon, but there are plenty of ladies who watch Wolverine and the X-Men, Inuyasha, and Naruto.
So, are women just more open-minded than men? Are we able to enjoy very female-oriented titles and male-oriented titles because we are more understanding and empathetic? Or, are there are plenty of otomen (guys who like girly things) out there, but society has made them embarrassed to admit it?
I don’t know the answer.
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Interesting postulate about “Otomen”.
We are usually quite concerned with emerging trends, however we must also remain aware of societal changes from one era to the next. What one may currently refer to as “Otomen” are also sometimes called “New Age Men”.
The dawning of “the age of Aquarius” had been made famous
by the “Flesh Failures” and the “Fifth Dimension” in the famous score from the 1960′s musical “Hair”. The actual beginning of this age is in about another one hundred and forty years. (Please keep in mind that an “age” is two thousand one hundred and fifty years!)
The hallmarks of the current, or “Pisces” age (circa ad 1 to 2000) are a privileged few, and the struggle and sacrifice of many. The rights of the vast majority of human beings
are marginalized for the sake of the promotion and leisure of a handful of super-opulent people.
The “Aquarius age” will bring about sympathies to humanitarianism and union. The concept of individual “nations” will fade, and humanity (as well as language and gender styles) will join and merge. Are you ready to think “Peoples Republic of United Earth?”
live long and prosper, baby.
Boys tend to be task oriented where girls tend to be detail oriented. some do not fall into either of these categories. Women do however tend to become socialized into trivial or frivolous concern due to environmental pressures. They account for greater economic revenue, and so it makes perfect sense to promote a magazine catering more to their concerns. Thank you for the fine commentary.
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