The Recession's Edge: LOTGH, The Bubble Economy & 90s Fujoshi

 

(The front cover of Fire's Secret (ほのおのていとく) a Legend of the Galactic Heroes doujinshi published March 21st of 1991 by the Golden Circus (黄金曲馬団), illustrated primarily by Yuki Washio. This book would be one of the many in the post-Bubble economy that signified changes in the visual and sociological landscape of the 1990s fujoshi's attitude towards SF. Personal collection, courtesy of Tarukun of Sannomiya Ekimae.)

I met Tarukun as they are a shopkeeper of the Sannomiya Ekimae used book shop. Having had run into them while in Hyogo last year, they were one of the few who were helpful during my quest to source texts to archive properly. While there is no one way to go about preservation methods, Tarukun (as they will be called) was helpful in directing me to other used book shops. I already had bags of books, bromides and paper goods under my arm, and while I'm not a light shopper whatsoever, I was finding myself at my wits end trying to locate anything. After exchanging contact information, me and Tarukun began conferring, and thankfully, some new insights were laid bare about a month ago. 

To say that there is an nearly inexhaustible amount of BL & yaoi Aniparo works is to say that the sky is blue. Many were produced, sometimes in droves, while others were strictly made to be passed about small university friend groups. I've covered this phenomenon time and time again in the breadth of speaking about the P.L.O, or the Perfective Latent Organization, and what a select, closet-kin group of collaborators were able to produce not only for themselves, but several older, oftentimes queer fans during the Showa era. I don't tend to like rounding back on particular topics, but even so, such an affinity for self publishing in this matter cannot be lost on what became of the scene post 1985. 

Comiket, the mecca and holy land of all things doujinshi, proved to be limiting all the same for the men and women alike who wanted to expand their horizons. Be it the advent and staunch presence of heterosexually geared parody works or the sudden sense of restriction that other Otaku simply didn't receive on the sales floor, many fujoshi and fudanshi alike turned to the realm of self publishing via mail order. Ranging from niche to semi-global operations, authors deviated from the sudden shifts being made ahead of their reach. 

Where others adapted to the burgeoning Comiket demographic slant, others simply took the reigns into their own hands. This proved effective even into one of the largest financial collapses that still, in some regard, affects the Japanese socioeconomic landscape to this very day.  

Though the term fujoshi (腐女子, nee “rotten girl”) wasn’t popularly used until the 2000s to describe the subculture itself, the thriving realm of artistic and consumer influence that these young women had were backed by a contingency within a booming workforce. Japan's bubble economy boasted millions of dollars in yen worth of subsidies and cash flow to both the industrial sector as well as that of the 'substrata' - publishing houses, game development and education sectors blossomed outright, whereas many working class women were able to throw themselves headlong into both the production and purchase of BL and yaoi works. By the time of its crash, however, opinions and attitudes changed vastly over how BL would later come to be produced. 

This isn't the exception that proves the rule, however. Nuances during the pre-crash era signaled a shift in how Otaku and fujoshi alike were being viewed among their own peers. While publishing companies saw the subculture at times as a means of a financial end, it goes without saying that the descriptors for what made the BL community thrive pre-internet still clung to the advent of highly organized mail order services. By the 90s, having evolved out of the Aniparo yaoi and shōnen-ai boom of the 1980s, the core for both image making and image consumption changed rapidly post the crash.

(Released on October 12th of 1992, Doujin Manga Encyclopedia (同人漫画大百科) offers us insights on the rise and proliferation of doujinshi as both subculture and artistic phenomenon. Manga critic, historian and c-founder of Comiket Yonezawa Yoshihiro (米澤 嘉博) interviewed the artist Morino Usagi (森野うさぎ) about both Comiket and manga influences. 

Translated by Taruby, the following situates the positionality of Shoujo and BL works from young women at the time on the Comiket salesfloor as well as outside of it. 

 Yonezawa: The recent book creation has become prettier than those made for men, but isn't that largely due to the influence of girls?

Usagi: Yeah, it's completely the influence of girls. I've gotten to know more girl Circles, and started buying lots of books by girls. Then I found out their designs were so beautiful, you couldn't compare them to other books (laughs). Even if men didn't care about such things, I wanted to make something nice... but that meant the printing expenses costing about twice as much as Shinda Mane-san's (新田真子) place. Girls think if they have to pay printing costs, they can add that amount to the final product, but with men, they won't buy anything that costs more than 1000 yen.

Yonezawa: It seems male readers have a psychological wallet that makes them unwilling to spend more than a 1000 yen.

Usagi: It seems that way. It feels like there's a big difference between 3000 yen for 3 books and 4500 yen for 3 books. Girls probably buy them even if they're over 1000 yen because they already decided which Circles to buy from. Guys tend to want to buy from over there and buy from over here, you see... We'd also gladly buy a bunch of cheap books, you see... But in the past, people would say our books were expensive, but they haven't been saying that recently. I guess people are finally starting to understand that point. )

I often cite the crash of Japan's bubble economy with the oversaturated OVA market prior. Oversaturation, quite frankly, kills moods. While there are many direct to video films that are poorly preserved and even lost, this can be said for doujinshi as well. Many key players of the 80s Aniparo scene moved on to greener pastures or absolved their interests in yaoi all together. Where others dropped the romantic grandiosity of the Robot Romance Trilogy or even the dramatism that Mobile Suit Gundam offered, there was favor to be found outside of niche groups to engage with a new set of young women and men alike who appreciated works such as Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Samurai Troopers and Saint Seiya. 

These works, while all operating under either the mecha or SF, appealed to a new demographic that wasn't already in their mid to late 30s at the time - gone but not forgotten were the tales of Ken and Joe's perceived romance from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman; fujoshi's wanted to see Phoenix Ikki in the throes of passion with a male paramour. One series, however, proved to be an enthralling point of visual intrigue. 

("He has a go-go-go personality, so I thought he was definitely an O blood type. I was surprised when I thought he was a stubborn Leo because he was a Pisces! Well, O blood type Pisces are romantic (Haha) and emotionally fickle, so I guess it's still okay. But Pisces is a sign with two sides, just like its symbol, so there must be a hidden side to him somewhere.... Ah! That's right! He was born on February 29th, so his birthday only comes around once every four years... Which means... There's no double standard for children...!! He's so cute! Bicchan!* Love Love." Yuki Washio gives her opinions on Bittenfeld, calling him Bicchan. From Fire's Secret.)

There's no hiding that Legend of the Galactic Heroes is not lost on the horizon of what fujoshi were offered upon its initial release. With the rise of its narrative sophistication, the emotional complexities and social mores within LoTGH  appealed with its explorations into themes of war, duty and romance in the backdrop of an epic military space opera. Where others agree to disagree, the queering of otherwise canonically platonic relationships from a science fiction series isn't brand new - be it Goshogun, Mobile Suit Gundam and its earlier predecessors such as Space Battleship Yamato, connectivity between the male leads, friend or foe, was always advantageous.

One's appreciation of LoTGH became an anchor for a variety of works, many of which were given especially important treatment in their publishing. Gone was the pre-teen focal and financial constraints that were once solved by the cheaply produced copybook - young women, even during the post-bubble economy, drew everything into producing highly detailed, well produced texts that could stand the test of time - from holographic foiling, enameling and professional grade papers, many fanzines rivaled that of those already on the commercial manga market.

LoTGH, with its massive male cast, high-stakes politics, and intense displays of male bonding, became a prime target for fujoshi reinterpretation. Reinhard and Kircheis' dynamic, in particular, drew and continues to draw fans close with their displays of emotional intensity - to say that tropes or themes of idealization and tragedy were ignored would be a missive, and as a constant in yaoi as is. LoTGH enjoyed the rather brilliant positionality of being a novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka (田中 芳樹)  in its inception - many young women voraciously devoured similar titles published by Kadokawa Shoten, and once the series was optioned to be aired in 1988, LoTGH enjoyed a wellspring of blossoming interest that straddled the tail end of the bubble economy into its crash. SF, for better or worse, couldn't have had a better lynchpin in garnering interest during an economic downslide.

Originally airing from 1988 until 1997, the concurrent air dates  drew attention for the emotional intensity displayed through some of the best animation one could ever ask for, feeding joyously, and oftentimes innocuously, into the fujoshi lens. 

("However, Taketoshi Hozu sensei, please treat me well this year too. How many books do you want to make next time?! Will it be a book about Walter von Schönkopf after all?! Anyway, please treat me to a Roy-san book. Hello, where's the Legend of the Galactic Heroes book?! Sob sob... It's fine, even if you're all sulking, as long as you draw it in my book... Please look forward to the Legend of the Galactic Heroes book!!!!!!" Yuki Washio relaying answers to letters received about the publication's future and general correspondence. Lots was slated!)

LoTGH’s long OVA run (1988–1997) allowed it to build an enduring female fanbase, many of whom were literature-minded and politically engaged. The series became a semi-academic object of discussion within fujoshi communities as well, as demonstrated in several pages of Fire's Secret in particular. Published by the mangaka Yuki Washio, who had previously produced Saint Seiya related works, Yuki digs into the queer subtexts behind Fritz Josef Bittenfeld. From theorizing about his birthdate and its implications to his political prowess to offering editorials about Rudolf von Goldenbaum. 

Produced during the height of the bubble crash, Yuki's work boasts gorgeous risograph-esque printing on high quality paper with art to match - akin to big publishing houses, similar fujoshi editors became more conservative in their approach to works created in a series, focusing on safe hits and sequels. This in turn lead to a period of stagnation in some genres, though gave rise to manga magazines that aimed at more narrowly targeted demographics. As these works were all self published and oftentimes self funded in part, many 90s fujoshi could appeal to their own demographics, even of a particular age, by creating works that aligned with the aesthetics and praxis' of LoTGH. Gone were the shoddily stapled fanzines of buoyant junior high youth - fujoshi and fudanshi alike proved that quality boasted longevity. 

Limited to about 300 copies roughly, Fire's Secret offers another eye into the realm of 90s publishing as well as other LoTGH fan groups and zines alike. Collaborative efforts, or side by side circles, often supported one another on the basis of reaching more fans and to bolster membership orders. 

(Yuki's advertisement of the sock available as well as publishing dates for some of her LoTGH doujinshi published under Golden Circus, some of which debuted November 11th of 1988. Published nearly at the year's end of 1988, LoTGH was first broadcast February 6th. Many copies of texts made between 1990 to 1991 boasted a shipping fee of 500 to 700 JPY.)

Despite the recession, Comiket grew dramatically in scale. Its numbers climbed from about 20,000 circles in the late 1980s to nearly 30,000 by the mid-1990s. Much of this growth came from women-led circles, particularly yaoi creators, returning back to the salesfloor, some with their newly minted LoTGH wares in tow. The loss of would-be and prolonged economic optimism fed into darker, more introspective storytelling. This was evident in both josei manga and in doujinshi circles, which began focusing more on tragedy, obsession, and moral ambiguity—an aesthetic that LoTGH already exemplified in both print and OVA form. 

(Advertisements for Legend of the Galactic Heroes related works by Golden Circus and other collaborators. Texts such as RIPPIE and Storm Bringer are advertised alongside preparatory texts to further advertise their inclusions. Guests are invited to submit manuscripts and other documents, such as fan mail and photographs. An advertisement for a Dragon Ball Z related work that was to be sold as a copybook for only 200 yen. As stated as to why? "There are people with better personalities than Reinhard. Damn brat.")

The financial collapse created a sense of disillusionment with mainstream futures. For many young women, fujoshi culture and alternative storytelling offered spaces to question gender roles, patriarchy, and norms in a way that was otherwise socially repressed. The early '90s were a formative moment: fujoshi culture deepened its emotional and narrative complexity, women became increasingly central to SF via professional-level self publishing, and the collapse of Japan's economic dream made these works ever more essential counter-institutions for creativity. These years, in some essentiality, laid the foundation for the later mainstreaming of BL and yaoi, the rise of its proliferation on the internet, and the broader acceptance of female-driven fandoms. A serious work, such as LoTGH, proved pivotal in its very own way among a new caste of fandom authors.