Marginal (manga)

Marginal

Cover of the first volume of Marginal as published by Shogakukan
マージナル
(Maajinaru)
Genre Science fiction, Yaoi
Manga
Written by Moto Hagio
Published by Shogakukan
Magazine Petit Flower
Original run 19851987
Volumes 5

Marginal (Japanese: マージナル Hepburn: Maajinaru) is a Japanese science fiction manga written and illustrated by Moto Hagio, and serialised in Petit Flower between 1985 and 1987.[1] It is a gender-reversed take on science fiction stories that Hagio had read where women disappeared, leaving an all-male world.[2]

Plot

The Earth has suffered a biological disaster, and by the year 2999, the Earth has become a wasteland. There is only one woman on the planet, revered as "Mother", who gives birth to all the boys of Earth, and is herself reborn like a phoenix.[1] Prior to the beginning of the story, the amount of children from Mother has been decreasing, leading to anxiety among the men. At the beginning of the story, Mother is assassinated by a cult. The setting of the world has been described as "strongly reminiscent of Arab culture",[1] "with horses and camels, swords and arrows, the world feels more medieval than futuristic."[3] The men of Earth only live to about 30 years old due to "defective genetic traits" It is later discovered that Earth is an experiment run by humans who live on Mars, who have men and women, and that Mother is also a man who has his mind controlled and has had organ transplants. Mother is a ruse by the experimenters to camouflage the true source of the boys, they are genetically engineered on Mars.[4]

Characters

Media

Manga

Serialised in Petit Flower between August 1985 and October 1987,[6] Marginal was collected and released by Shogakukan as a series of five volumes from July 20, 1986 to November 20, 1987.[7] Marginal was reprinted twice in 1994 and 1999 in three-volume editions.[8]

No.Release date ISBN
01 20 July 1986[7]ISBN 4-09-178041-5
02 20 February 1987[7]ISBN 4-09-178042-3
03 20 April 1987[7]ISBN 4-09-178043-1
04 20 October 1987[7]ISBN 4-09-178044-X
05 20 November 1987[7]ISBN 4-09-178045-8

Audio drama

Marginal was adapted into a radio drama.[1]

Stage production

In 2008, Marginal was staged by Studio Life,[9][10] an all-male theatre troupe which had previously staged Hagio's Thomas no Shinzō twice.[1]

Reception

Matt Thorn has described the manga as "simply the best shojo sci-fi manga ever".[11] Midori Matsui regards Marginal as a negative Thomas no Shinzou, which deconstructs the logocentrism and idealism Matsui detects in that work.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 conducted by Matt Thorn. "Hagio Moto: The Comics Journal Interview". Matt-thorn.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  2. "Moto Hagio Focus Panel - San Diego Comic-Con 2010". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  3. "Moto Hagio article by P. Duffield". Mindspring.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  4. 1 2 Matsui, Midori. (1993) "Little girls were little boys: Displaced Femininity in the representation of homosexuality in Japanese girls' comics," in Gunew, S. and Yeatman, A. (eds.) Feminism and The Politics of Difference, pp. 177–196. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Genders OnLine Journal - Japan's Feminist Fabulation: Reading Marginal with unisex reproduction as a keyconcept". Genders.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  6. Thorn, Matt. "Moto Hagio Bibliography". The Comics Journal (Fantagraphics Books) (269): 176. ISSN 0194-7869. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "マージナル" (in Japanese). www.hagiomoto.net. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  8. 小学館 (in Japanese). Skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  9. "舞台 マージナル 公演情報". Studio-life.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  10. "少女漫画原作 男だけのSF劇 : 演劇 : 舞台 : エンタメ : YOMIURI ONLINE(読売新聞)". Yomiuri.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  11. "Girls' Stuff-Wonderland Recommendations". Matt-thorn.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
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