Description
Book SynopsisFrom Nausicaä to Sailor Moon, understanding girl heroines of manga and anime within otaku culture.
Trade Review"A foundational book illuminating the phenomenon of cool Japan, Beautiful Fighting Girl explains the global desire for images of little girls that kick ass. Sait ’s uncomfortably deep understanding of the particulars of this Japanese phenomenon allows us to finally begin to answer questions about the far-reaching implications of the now nearly universal fetish, of our atomizing technologies of interactivity, and of our obsessions with new media. Its place in contemporary letters is nearly unparalleled and I wouldn’t be surprised if this book gives that once a decade jostle leading to the n-th wave of feminism or a complete reconfiguration of our understanding of male desire." —Jonathan E. Abel, Pennsylvania State University
Table of ContentsA Note on the Translation
Translator’s Introduction J. Keith Vincent
Beautiful Fighting Girl Preface
1. The Psychopathology of Otaku
2. Letter from an Otaku
3. Beautiful Fighting Girls outside Japan
4. The Strange Kingdom of Henry Darger
5. A Genealogy of the Beautiful Fighting Girl
6. 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 (2006)
Hiroki Azuma
Notes
Index
