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Week Seven

Today was seinen and shounen day! I presented on 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa, as was familiar with Full Metal Alchemist and read some of Oyasumi Punpun.

I was inspired by Macy's presentation on FMA to discuss the female characters in 20th Century Boys. I think the girls in FMA are spectacularly fleshed out and presented, especially for how many there are.

In 20th Century Boys, there aren't nearly as many important women compared to the men; however, I think they are all well developed and important. They aren't stereotypes of women.

Our first woman, Yukiji, is a very strong female. Both literally physically strong and mentally. She is still feminine, however. She prefers to wear feminine clothes, typically attractive clothing. She complains about her love life, and she has an obvious crush on Kenji. She's both a tomboyish but also feminine character. She has her own personality and concerns beyond relying on the other characters. She's concerned for her friends, she tries to be the rational member of the group, etc.

Kanna is a typical tomboy, but she has her reasons for being one. She doesn't start off as a tomboyish kid. She's actually rather feminine and cute as a child. However, Kenji's death causes her to sober up fast to the chaos and life that surrounds her. It is out of necessity that she is a tomboy, but she isn't really a tomboy honestly other than her sense of style. She's just preoccupied with more important matters.

Kyoko is a more typical female high school student character--until she isn't and becomes the Bowling Queen. If she were in another manga, she'd be a hilarious side character. However, since this isn't a typical manga, she really grows and becomes an important character. She's the most typically feminine of the characters I'm discussing, aside from her obsession with rock. However, her curiosity gets her into trouble with the new Friend government. She's preoccupied with typical teenage high school girl stuff in the beginning, but as she gets deeper into the plot, she develops and becomes much more interesting as a character. She's also hilarious comic relief.

I feel like Naoki Urasawa is just all around great at writing characters, though he prefers to write men. He's just a talented storyteller. I think one key thing to writing well rounded females in shounen is to not just make them a trope and only revisit them a few times. Write a female who has a presence and has impact. Someone who has a key role. Don't just write a female character for the sake of having a female.

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