...he's every woman...

[reenka]

You know what lets you know you're reading a Japanese comic? Throw-away introductory lines in Yamato Nase's manga like, "I'm a pretty ordinary member of the masses". (Um....)

Come to think of it, the Japanese seem to have a fixation on ordinariness (and extraordinariness too, but always in contrast). The 'common man', the uber-ultra-normal guy, the brilliantly average student, the girl with barely-noticeable looks, barely-there cleavage and barely-discernible personality. I keep coming across these types, always portrayed as the shoujo heroes-- in a really positive way. Well, this is if you leave out the 'magic girl'-type shoujo where the uber-normal kid gets a make-over with sparkly wands and fragrant shampoo.

The thing I don't get is-- do these super-ordinary people really exist? It really makes me feel like I'm painfully American, with my typical focus on individualism, strong will and perseverance. Come to think of it, it's just that in manga, it's these 'common' types who persevere, while remaining quite group-oriented-- that's usually their one outstanding quality. No matter what happens, they 'never give up'! They have their dignity and moral center! They know right from wrong!

In Western-type ideal, we usually try to have the protagonist be both 'common' and extraordinary, right? Like, Harry Potter grew up 'common', but was secretly extraordinary. Does he persevere because of his 'everyman's resilience' or something deeper and more mysterious? It's just resilience, isn't it. Plus, he's both self-reliant and works well in (small) groups. He's sort of like an everyman except he's forced to stand alone, and therein lies his angst. Where am I going with this again...?

I just think it's cute how in manga, there's all this ordinariness being used as a badge of specialness that makes one stand out as genuine and true in a field full of arrogant, uptight assholes (well, or a private High School). That's sort of Harry's bone to pick with Malfoy, as well, isn't it? It's the ultimate common-boy-with-a-good-heart vs. uptight-uber-glib-rich-kid showdown. Except in manga, the common boy would show the uber-rich-loser-kid the One True Way, so that in the end the rich loser could open his heart and realize he should become kinder and play better with others. (Nevermind that Harry's the one with the bigger issues playing with others).

I think what it all comes down to is that I totally understand why so many HP doujinshi have Harry be with Ron and Draco have an unrequited crush-- the archetypes sort of line up that way in the Japanese sense, don't they? Of course Harry'd pick Ron since one always picks one's best childhood friend. But if it wasn't for the Friend, then one could start reforming the rich and disaffected....

Comments

We are all individuals! - No, I am not!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Rather unhelpful comment ahead *g* - once upon a time I read that with all the pressure of conforming and being calm and normal, the Japanese allowed much more freedom inside, of the mind, the hidden. With the very real pressure in the Western world of having to be special and agressivley asserting an individuality, there was an unexpected freedom hidden ... uhm, somewhere behind the uniforms. I apologise for the vagueness, I am aware of the perversion and the oppression and all that stuff, but that thought which I so badly explain here has cheered me up a few times.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that-- I mean, you can't really judge a culture's mainstream by its artistic subculture, but there's so much insanity and weirdness and er, perversity... it's definitely clear that there's tons of things bottled up beneath the surface of homogeneity and control. It's hard to remember that there's so much censorship, even, 'cause of this duality between such freedom and such repression. On the other hand, I sort of like that -.-