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The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All: Queerness, Gender, and Maureen Murdock's Failure

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Continuing with my streak of only covering Japanese media (I swear it is not intentional) I will be analyzing The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All . This recent manga hit follows the friendship/love story of main characters Aya Oosawa (girly girl) and Mitsuki Koga (androgynous nerd) and deals with a lot of gender presentation stuff.  As you can tell from the very specific title, Oosawa mistakenly thinks Koga is a guy due to her masculine appearance wearing casual clothes while part-timing at her uncle’s music store. Eventually Oosawa realizes the guy she is crushing on is actually her female classmate Koga and chaos ensues. Okay, not actually. Oosawa is upset at first because Koga didn’t tell her and it was lowkey trickery but they get over it and go back to being friends…  So here comes my argument: the heroine's journey simply does not work for women who, either purely in terms of fashion or within their lifestyle, lean more masculine/androgynous. By framing mas...

Whisper of the Heart: A Young Writer's Heroine's Journey

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The illusion of the perfect world: Living in a small Tokyo apartment with her parents, 14-year-old Shizuku Tsukishima spends her summer break ignoring high school entrance exams and burying herself in books... even when she should be sleeping. She spends much of her time engaging in side quests and feels lost in her future. She eventually befriends a classmate (who she realized checked out a lot of the same books as her) named Seiji Amasawa.  Betrayal/disillusionment: Shizuku learns that Seiji (who by now is more of a love interest than a friend) is leaving for Italy to pursue his dream as a violin maker. She feels aimless compared to his clear passion and sense of purpose. Overall, she realizes she has no direction.  The awakening: Shizuku turns her depression surrounding Seiji’s departure and drivenness into a challenge as she promises herself she will write a novel within the two months he is in Italy. This marks a shift within her to become her more authentic self, produ...

The Hero’s Journey and Video Games: What is it Like to be the Hero?

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On the remote Spanish island of Valdelobos, government agent Leon S. Kennedy, escorted by two local police officers, begins his mission of rescuing the president’s daughter. His journey is as follows: Act Campbell (1949) I. Departure The Call to Adventure The president’s daughter is kidnapped and brought to the remote Spanish island Valdelobos. Leon is dispatched there to rescue her. Refusal of the Call The police escort taking Leon to the village goes pee in the forest. He stays in the car as he had just been told about missing people in the area.  Supernatural Aid He steps out of the car after hearing screams, guided to the village by a trail of blood. The Crossing of the First Threshold After being attacked by a random man, Leon comes to a village square where the ritualistic burning of the police officer is taking place. Belly of the Whale The zombie-like villagers make their way into the church after the bell toil allowing Leon to explore the area. Eventually he comes across ...