OK, so here I am at the end of the semester and all of a sudden my teacher 
informs me I have to write 4 essays by May 21st, when I thought I only had 
to do 2.  Oh joy.

So I pick up a copy of Animerica hoping to find something to do one of my 
essays on, this they can be on anything, and it's like Belldandy herself is 
smiling on me when I see their feature on anime dream girls.

I read the magazine, brainstromed and outlined, and wrote an essay.  Now I 
lay myself at your feet BEGGING for some C&C on this essay before I have to 
turn it in on Friday morning.  Please, PLEASE, let me know if there's 
anything I can do to improve this less than perfect essay.  Thanks.

Oh, and by the way, I plan on writting an essay on Robert Jordan and the 
mythology he uses in his books in case any of you WoTists are interested.

Domo arigato again!!



A Brief Study On the Anime Dream Girl
                                                                      If you 
could be stuck on a desert island with any animated girl in
the world, who would you pick?  One of Japanese animation's, or anime,
biggest claims to fame, is the habit to give you a large selection of
dream girls to fantasize about.

According to "Animerica", a top selling American magazine centered on anime 
-- thus the title Animerica --, there are seven types of dream girls most 
often found in anime.

For starters, there's the Idol, a pop-singer.  Pop-singers are a large
part of Japanese culture and tend to pop up in anime a lot.   In
Robotech, an Americanised version of several popular japanese shows
set in an apocalyptic times, Minmay keeps everyone's hopes alive with
cheerful music and a sunny disposition.  In Bubblegum Crisis, an
equally armageddon type show, Priss belts out pop-tunes with less than
happy lyrics, all the while keeping her adoring fans, and everyone else, at 
arm's length.  When she's not blowing psychotic robots to bits, that is.

Another popular type of dream girl that's found in a lot of American movies, 
such as ones staring Doris Day, is the Girl Next Door.  This girl tends to 
either eternally let her guy friend cry on her shoulder, or shrug off his 
affections.  Akane, in Ranma �, fights off boys on her way to school every 
morning, literally.  She also does her best to discourage any of her friends 
who want something more, which
happens to include all of them that are male.

Magical Girlfriends have come to be a staple of anime.  A Magical
Girlfriend is the kind that comes into the main guy character's life in an 
out of this world kind of way, pun intended. These girls also tend to turn 
their guy's life upside down.  Lum, of Urusei Yatsura, did nothing but bring 
strange people into her "fiancee's" life.  And Belldany, from Oh My 
Goddess!, brought her sisters along with her when she moved in with her 
boyfriend.  Sisters that just happened to do everything in their powers to 
cause trouble.

A type of dream girl that tends to pop up in anime on the darker
side of the spectrum, is the Unattainable Girl.  Someone for the people in 
the anime, and audience, to ponder and long after.  Sylia, from Bubblegrum 
Crisis, appears to be a cold calculating woman who's after two things, money 
and vengeance.  But every once in awhile the
audience gets a glimpse of a caring person battling with dark secrets
and searing pain.  This, of course, causes viewers to try and reason out who 
Sylia really is, and why she builds up impenetrable walls to keep everyone 
out.

A lighter dream girl, in contrast to Unattainables, tends to be The
Go-Girl.  Whether she's treasure hunting, fighting evil, shopping, or all 
three at once, this girl's always doing something.  Lina Inverse, the 
powerful sorceress star of Slayers, is a prime example of the Go-Girl.  
She's always on some sort of a quest, whether it be for the good of mankind 
or some cold hard cash.  Too bad she doesn't have a whole lot of time for 
her cute swordsman sidekick, Gourry.

The Older Woman, is another of those types that is popular in both American 
films and shows, and japanese animation.  The Older Woman is a source of 
continual fantasy for most afflicted young guys in anime.  She's someone to 
talk to and ask advice of.  And she isn't always even a love interest.  
Maetel, beautiful sage guide from Galaxy Express 999, is always there for 
the boyish Tetsuro.  Too much older
than him to be his girlfriend, she's like a big sister or even a mother.

The next and last kind of anime dream girl is found in nearly every anime.  
The Harem Girl.  A pretty girl that hangs out with other
pretty girls, who isn't usually good for anything except a nice long look.

Anime dream girls may easily fall into particular categories, but
that doesn't mean they're all one dimensional.  Each and every one of
them has her own personality and lends a new interpretation to an
often used character.  That's probably why anime fans, the male kind in 
specfic, keep coming back for more.

--
Christina Walters
spring_head@hotmail.com











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