Not content with cataloguing and reviewing every manga available in the United States, Jason Thompson decides to classify manga into categories. He comes up with five:

(1) FANTASIES. Situations that the reader wants to imagine could happen to him-or-herself, or simply, wants to fantasize about. “I wish I had a girlfriend.” (STRAWBERRY 100%) “I wish I had a boyfriend.” (KARE FIRST LOVE) “I wish Japan would stop kow-towing to the U.S. and become the dominant power in Asia.” (THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF JAPAN) “I wish I was really strong and could kick anybody’s butt.” (Shonen battle manga, superhero manga, etc.) And pretty much all adult and Boy’s Love manga. By “fantasies” I don’t mean stories about dragons and wizards, of course; I mean stories consciously created to “give the reader what they want.” Tension and drama and “will it happen or won’t it?” and surprises are not the point; in fact, too much of that will irritate the reader who really wants the pure fulfillment of their fantasy. Fantasies are almost always Mary-Sue scenarios where the reader identifies with the character, so you better not let anything bad happen to that character! Once you consciously decide to depict unrealistic human behavior or straw-man bad guys or implausible coincidences in the service of fulfilling the reader’s dreams, it’s a fantasy. Obviously I’m making “fantasies” into sort of the straw man bad guy in this theory, but do I like fantasies myself? I guess the truth is that the boundaries between “fantasies” and “entertainments” is a matter of opinion. For instance, in one of Rumiko Takahashi’s panel appearances at San Diego Comic-Con, some fan praised MAISON IKKOKU for being “realistic.” Takahashi’s reply was along the lines of “Uh, actually, I consider it a fantasy.” Perhaps my own fantasy, my own wish to imagine that some college student could have a five-year crush-turned-romance with his landlady, biased my perceptions of this romantic comedy manga.

The other four are pretty interesting as well.

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