I’ve always loved comic books. In my early teens, I read only manga (a.k.a. Japanese comic books). Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time rereading and reviewing them on Goodreads, and I’ve noticed a weird trend.
It sucks to be a woman in shonen manga.
“Shonen” is a genre of Japanese comic books with plots such as sports, sci-fi, fantasy, action/adventure, etc., featuring male leads. It’s usually marketed to boys, much like the US’s action genre.
So what’s the issue? Having a male lead isn’t a problem, though ideally, the spread between male and female leads in action series should be more even.
The trouble is that female characters get sidelined. Continue reading
