Articles by Antoni Matteo Garcia

This demotivational poster is highly Anti-Rumiko Takahashi. Sit back, relax, and revel in the evisceration I have in store for this so-called “Queen of Manga” (Bah! Yeah right!). For those of you who adore Rumiko Takahashi, please take a chill pill and take what I have to declare with the finest grain of salt. What I say is going to be quite controversial, but I do my best to back up my arguments with reasoning. I do not wish her any ill as a person and as an artist, but her flaws as an author are more than sufficient to make her valid for the criticism I have in store for her. Rumiko Takahashi, we meet again. If you know me, I have the most formidable love-hate relationship with this particular mangaka. The other mangaka that trail behind her are the likes of Akira Toriyama, Lynn Okamoto, Go Nagai, and Ken Akamatsu because there are occasions where I can spot some misogyny and other gender role flaws in their works, Toriyama-san your Dragonball franchise is not remotely immune to the misogyny I have spotted, especially when it came to how Chi-Chi was developed in Dragonball Z. However, my sentiments towards Takahashi-san lean towards a strong dislike to her as an author because of how she fails at writing healthy relationships for her characters, does not let her characters develop so well, making a good number of men perverts, an equal number of men jerks with hearts of gold who have justifiable reasons for why they show disgust at other characters even though they are in the wrong, Karma Houdinis who get away with their crimes and escape unscathed, certain child characters who end up as nothing more than punching bags for the jerks with a heart of gold, and, worst of all, women who act like horrible, manipulative, abusive shrews who inflict animosity and physical pain on the male protagonist just because they cannot perform to their every whim let alone their petty demands. Even with this proverbial final nail on the coffin for why I find Rumiko Takahashi rather appalling as a writer, she at least knows how to write women to varying degrees, but that is not saying much. Among all of Rumiko Takahashi’s works, the ones I find guilty of these failures, especially on misogynistic and misandrist level, are Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha. Not even a fine piece of work such as Maison Ikkoku could escape the criticism it was bound to have. Before I delve into the sexist agenda I have found completely disgusting in several of Rumiko Takahashi’s works, especially the most popular ones, I would like to delve in the problem I have with how she writes interpersonal relationships, which tie in nicely with the sexism that encroached the potential her works have to be great and not just rather decent at best and below mediocre at worst. A lot of her characters have found themselves in horrible, dysfunctional, and toxic relationships. You need not look further than Ataru’s atrocious treatment towards Lum and Shinobu, both the Tendo and the Saotome households filled with animosity just for the sake of some laughs, Akane’s physical abuse against Ranma, Kuno, Ryoga, and Mousse displaying as much animosity towards Ranma for petty reasons, Ginta and Hakkaku sticking by Kouga, even though he himself is a horrible friend to these wolf yokai brothers and despite Hakkaku and Ginta far more confident of Inuyasha’s strength and not Kouga’s, Shippou being used as nothing more than Inuyasha’s punching bag even though he is a young kitsune, Sesshoumaru’s and Inuyasha’s constantly bloodthirsty bickering which tends to get very old after a while, and, the moment you have been all waiting for, Kagome abusing her sit commands towards Inuyasha if he did not obey her. I am specifically calling out Inuyasha and its series of problematic relationships because, despite Miroku aka Daddy Dunderhead and Sango aka Mommy Dunderhead having one attribute in common with Inuyasha which is how Naraku manipulated them to lead lives full of loss and trauma, all Daddy Dunderhead and Mommy Dunderhead ever did was stay by the sidelines, not listen to Inuyasha’s side of the story of how he was still traumatized after Kikyou’s loss, and even restrained Kagome. However, they did not, and they just saw Inuyasha was always in the wrong while giving Kagome free reign to sit him to her petty heart’s content. Shippou aka Baby Dunderhead is just as complicit in not being such a good friend to Inuyasha and always siding with Kagome. Every time I re-watch Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, and Urusei Yatsura, I cannot help but cringe at the absolute frigidity and putridness I have seen in a lot of the relationships to the point where I believe that some characters deserve better and some deserve much worse. Seriously, Takahashi’s idea of healthy relationships makes DiMartino’s, Konietzko’s, Murakami’s, and Timm’s ideas of healthy relationships seem more like magnum opuses because at least in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Teen Titans, and Justice League the camaraderie is not steeped with animosity nor the putrid scent of toxic relationships. The misandry found in Rumiko Takahashi’s works leave me feeling very ill and disgusted with how men tend to be portrayed. Male characters are often casted as jerks with a heart of gold who are very stubborn yet wonderfully formidable, the romantic rivals who are usually all talk and barely any action and sometimes get away with far too much than they should, and perverts who pleasure themselves with the idea of fondling different women but also objectifying them. I may love Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to my heart’s content, as they are strong fighters, courageous souls, and brothers who love a good battle. However, these two dog yokai brothers fall in the category of jerks with a heart of gold, with Inuyasha taking that title to a tee and Sesshoumaru starting out as an egotistical jerk but eventually develops slivers of not being as…