Patrick W. Galbraith: A Queer Sort of Reality: “Otaku” and Same-Sex Desire in Genshiken

Lecture Announcement (in-person and online):
A Queer Sort of Reality: “Otaku” and Same-Sex Desire in Genshiken
5:15–6:45 pm (JST), Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Yoneda Yoshimori Memorial Hall (1F)
Kanagawa University—Minatomirai Campus
Minatomirai 4-5-3, Nishi-ku, Yokohama
Access

Speaker:
Patrick W. Galbraith
Associate Professor, School of International Communication, Senshū University

Participation:
Zoom: Pre-registration is not required. Please login with the Zoom Meeting ID: 914 2973 5049 and Passcode: KUMMC
In-person: Kanagawa students & staff do not need to pre-register. All others are requested to preregister online at least a day in advance (https://forms.gle/hgrahG5k5csVT5Lt7).

Abstract:
While the diversity of sexual expression is regularly noted in discussions of manga, there is a tendency to assume that “otaku,” or those most attracted to and involved with manga, are heterosexual men. In his monograph Beautiful Fighting Girl, which inspired a generation of Japanese scholars, psychiatrist and public intellectual Saitō Tamaki bluntly states that, “There are few homosexuals among otaku.” This presentation raises questions about such “otaku” discourse through a reading of Kio Shimoku’s Genshiken (2002–2006, 2010–2016), which is the story of group of fans of manga and related media and material culture. While not officially based on actual people or events, the series was widely praised for its realistic depiction of characters and relations between them. Simply put, Genshiken appealed to manga fans with characters that they could see themselves in. As the story progressed, however, Kio increasingly introduced elements that unsettle the straightness of the characters, including the most popular one, an uber-fan who finds himself reading boys love manga and attracted to a younger club member transitioning from male to female. Although the characters go unnamed in Kio’s Spotted Flower (2009–), it clearly follows the same group of people later in life, including the uber-fan and trans-woman, who have an explicitly sexual encounter. Given that the uber-fan is a character that readers identify and empathize with, Genshiken is a remarkable example of how manga ostensibly for male readers can complicate gender identity and sexuality.

This talk is organized by the International Japanese Studies Course in the Department of Cross-Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Cross-Cultural and Japanese Studies at Kanagawa University, Minatomirai Campus, with the support of the university’s Society for Humanities.