CB: Seeing as we’ve both been involved in the anime industry in different capacities over the years and interacted with a lot of people, what’s been the best experience you’ve had in general?
GM: One of my absolute favorite memories in this industry came from after New York Anime Fest 2009. A lot of us were staying at the same hotel, so after the con we all just sort of wound up at the same bar (the hotel’s). I was at Anime Vice at the time, and there were folks from Bandai (like Robert Napton and Toshi Yoshida), ANN, Yen Press, convention staffers (I think they brought some of the leftover cake from Yoshiyuki Tomino’s birthday party?), just a really great group of people, and we just sat around chatting and drinking—some of us more than others –and having a lot of fun. There are plenty of competitors in this field, but it’s also a pretty small industry, so we all know and respect each other. I can’t think of anyone in anime or manga that I actively dislike (though I have favorites I guess). The camaraderie in this field is strong, even between competitors. It’s sort of a friendly sibling rivalry. Which I guess makes anime fans like our parents, whose love and adoration we’re competing for?…I’m gonna stop on this metaphor now.
CB: One of the things that has been pretty visible for a while, and has changed quicker than some other industries I think, is the number of women involved in it, both on the fan side and working within various companies. Coming from more of a comic book background myself during my formative years, it’s been interesting seeing the slower growth there that suddenly boomed in the last ten years, especially as the cosplay side ballooned up which I still think owes something to the numerous anime conventions and growing popularity of cosplay there internationally being so acceptable. That’s brought in a lot more fans all around. Obviously I’m a male anime fan, but what kinds of things have you seen over the years as a woman that have been positive for the anime/manga fandom?
GM: You know, I never used to think of myself as “A Woman In Fandom” especially, but over the last maybe three years I feel like more and more issues have been popping up—although I realize, of course, that they’re not new issues, they’re just being talked and not taken for granted as somehow the natural way things are, which is so important. It may not seem like a “positive” move since it involves an awful lot of bickering, but I think in the long run it WILL be positive because it makes us sit down and address these issues. I actually just recently got into an argument with some friends who were laughing at an article about the “Grope Crew” from A-Kon—they were saying that a woman working as a “booth babe” who is quoted in the article should just go find a different job if she doesn’t like being looked at (though she put it as being “eye-raped”) and although I understood where their logic stemmed from, I was also kind of horrified that guys I know and interact with on a regular basis somehow think it’s okay for any adult to take actions (like extended leering) without considering the feelings of the subject of those actions…when is it ever okay to be so completely inconsiderate of others, male or female, street clothes or skimpy costume?
I don’t think I really changed any of their minds, unfortunately, but it’s so important that we’re at least having this conversation. Maybe I didn’t change their minds, but it’s always possible that I planted a seed in their brains that, when they’re exposed to some other aspects of the issue. Having those conversations is a positive move even when, like in this scenario, the results aren’t what you hope for yet. It’s a step.
I think the more important step is less about what women need to do and more about shifting the expectations we put on boys and men. Male sexuality is not the problem, societal expectations about how male sexuality works is the problem. Men are not somehow innately predatory but a lot of our media—even shows I have to admit to liking! –propagate this idea. And so many guys I know like to fall back to the idea that well, duh, all men want or think about is sex…when the reality is, of course, that women think about it (and make both good and bad decisions about it) every bit as much. It’s a terrible way that people shut down the conversation about situations like the ones that have been coming up in the cosplay world: boys will be boys, and girls should just accept that and dress accordingly. That attitude isn’t good for women OR men, in my opinion, and the more we question the reality of that societal expectation, the better.
CB: Are there specific challenges in marketing and bringing women into buying anime? I had been told anecdotally over the years that while there are a lot more women watching and purchasing goods related to shows, acquiring the actual shows themselves was always something of a challenge.
GM: There seems to be something of a spate of shows for female audiences coming up in Japan, which is an interesting trend, especially when you’re talking about importing it back here. Traditionally the thinking is that the women will watch guys’ shows and guys won’t watch women’s shows, but I think we’re increasingly learning that this isn’t strictly the case. So many of the people I know who watch, say, Kimi ni Todoke and Chihayafuru are guys, and I know a lot of guys who are surprising even themselves by how much they’re enjoying Free!. Ouran also had a lot of male fans, as I recall. The moral of the story is, really good shows will appeal to people and it doesn’t necessarily matter if they’re male or female.
Of course, not all shows are created equal, and I think a lot of the past shoujo series that have done well—your Nanas and your Nodame Cantabiles are sort of the pick of the litter. Lately we’ve been having more niche shows that don’t have as broad an appeal, like UtaPri, Amnesia, Karneval, and Brothers Conflict, but women in Japan seem to be buying those DVDs. I think it still remains to be seen how these shows will perform in the U.S. but we’re definitely working hard to connect the ones we’ve licensed with their fans!
An interesting note, currently the brand management team at FUNimation is predominantly female, maybe for the first time ever.
