Meanwhile, one more backgrounder thought about Madarame and Hato, in the wake of the suspense over Chapter 120 and beyond.
What if one of the meta-reasons for Madarame’s gradual, growing attraction to Hato Kenjiro, even for Hato’s existence was Kio Shimoku’s response to a decades-old torrent of ridicule directed at manga fans by the man who coined the term “2D complex” and first used “otaku” as a pejorative against them?
Akio Nakamori’s second article in the July 1983 issue of Manga Burriko (see Galbraith below) asked: “Do Otaku love like normal people?”
“No, otaku do not love like normal people because they are attracted to fictional girl characters”
Read the nasty origins of Madarame’s 2D forever complex for yourself, in: “Otaku Research and Anxiety About Failed Men” by Patrick W. Galbraith www.academia.edu/12327055/_Otaku_Research_and_Anxiety_About_Failed_Men
Oh snap! That’s inconsiderate towards those who read Hato as a trans-person. Kio Shimoku goes out of his way to make Hato blurt out Otoko otoko otoko every so often to muddy the waters. Read the article and think of Madarame and his character development, stretching back to chapter one of the Genshiken.
Long game Shimoku-sensei, long game…
LATER. much later:
Here is Matt Alt’s 2008 translation of Nakamori Akio’s first derisive work of “otaku-ology”: “This City is Full of Otaku” on Neojaponisme
https://neojaponisme.com/2008/04/02/what-kind-of-otaku-are-you/
PROGRAM NOTE: Please check out the previous post, including the comments. It has been updated and added to; on January 30, 2016, (and again, more on Feb 01, soooo tired!) to more fully thrash out wither MadaHato. Lots more mulling over it all. Don’t be shy, please read and weigh in! Fan-mind assemble!
HEARTS OF FURIOUS FANCIES 