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Shoujo manga
2012-12-13 19:56:10
I've been reading Ao Haru Ride (http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=60271) recently. If it wasn't clear already, this definitely confirms the formula for writing a popular shoujo manga series, at least this one certain type of it. If you're planning to do such a thing, here are some tips:
1. The Bishie. Make it so that he somehow stands out from the crowd, either by being the most popular guy of the school or some pseudo-delinquent. In the latter case it should be fairly obvious that despite the edgy surface he's really a super sweet guy inside, haunted by some traumatic experiences. In any case, he should be an impossible combination of some of these traits:
-alpha male or gentleman
-skilled and athletic (at least better than the protagonist. Wouldn't want her to feel superior to the guy she's fallen for/looks up to, no?)
-amazingly aware of and responsive for the protagonist's feelings
-cat/dog lover (why can't they ever leave stray animals alone?)
-possessive (just enough not to be creepy) and obviously incapable of developing feelings for anyone but the protagonist, rejecting all confessions by other girls (wouldn't want the readers to feel insecure, right?)
-low sex drive (just enough so that, at a crucial moment, he'll grab the protagonist by her hands and leans over her on the floor. It has that comfy feeling of the bishie being passionate but restraining himself for the girl)
2. The protagonist. Despite of a century of feminism you're gonna want to push all that aside and make her into a self-depreciating damsel in distress. Who needs equality when whenever you have a small paper cut in your finger there'll be a handsome bishie carrying you to the infirmary for it? And ofcourse it should be impossible for the protagonist to feel like she's on the same level as her precious bishie. She should always look up to him and feel bad about herself for being so inferior in the process.
3. The drama. As we definitely don't want the readers to feel uncomfortable, it should be fairly obvious from the beginning what's gonna happen in the end. Now the problem is how to fill all this empty space since the basic plot is clear from the beginning. Now there are various ways to do this:
-Insert a lot of pseudo-drama generated out of misunderstandings. Nothing is more entertaining to read than having the protagonist misunderstand the bishie's feelings towards her and sorting all this out for the next 4 volumes. This way there'll be lots of drama without anyone taking up the role of a bad guy or the reader feeling any discomfort about the general line of the story.
-Insert a rival guy to compete for the protagonist's attention. Ofcourse we all know who the protagonist is going to end up with but isn't it nice that she's so desired? Besides, as the protagonist is supposed to be your ordinary high school girl, and if you happen to belong to the target demographic of teenage girls, wouldn't it be cool to have two of the most popular guys in the school to drool over you without really doing anything for the attention?
-Stretch the story. The protagonist is usually a little bit of an idiot so you can count on her not discovering her feelings for the bishie during the first few volumes. Ofcourse the confession process should take multiple times longer.
-When the relationship between the protagonist and the bishie gets boring you can always use up some time for building some high moral ground for the protagonist by creating a contrast between her and the other gossiping and bullying bitches in the class. Besides the bishie is never shallow enough to pick one of those girls, right?
Why do I even read this stuff? >_< Does anyone have any good shoujo parody recommendations? -
AimoAio should edit more
2012-10-07 17:39:43
Emong: gimme your betas
Emong: you must have betas
Emong: D:
Aimo: i have no betas D:
Aimo: i havent been editing for the past 3 weeks at all XD
Emong: ...
Emong: YOU LAZY BITCH
Emong: D:
Emong: i thought i was the lazy bitch here
Aimo: .....D:
Aimo: BUT IVE MADE LIKE 5 VIDEOS THIS HALF YEAR ALREADY? D;
Emong: THAT DOESNT COUNT
Aimo: HOW NOT?!
Aimo: D;
Aimo: that was months of hard work i'll let ya know XD
Emong: it doesn't count because..
Emong: because...
Emong: BECAUSE I WANT A NEW AIMO AMV RIGHT NOW
Emong: D:
Aimo: D:!!!
Aimo: too lazy
Aimo: XD
Aimo: waaait
Aimo: i only just made a video for awa pro recently! D<
Aimo: and also that kurobasket fanart video
Aimo: XD
Aimo: thats 2 8|
Aimo: recently
Emong: THOSE TWO DONT COUNT EITHER
Emong: FOR THE REASON STATED ABOVE
Aimo: .............. - Starting a new project 2012-09-14 06:47:30 Because the world needs more Chihayafuru amvs :3
- It's raining outside.. 2012-09-01 13:21:15 ..and I'm editing, I'm editing like there's no tomorrow!
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My goodness..
2012-08-06 07:51:11
Sakura Gari <3 Easily one of the best mangas I've read. In fact so much that I stole some of the art for my profile pic. Now it seems I need to read some other works of Yuu Watase as well.
http://myanimelist.net/manga/1571/Sakura_Gari
JOURNAL: Emong
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