Manga author isn’t so sure about stereotypical image of the timid girl who loves reading books

https://ift.tt/3f4kMv7 Casey Baseel

Bookworms are also warriors, he says.

The image of the demurely beautiful bookworm, a young lady who only speaks when spoken to, and even then in a faint whisper, is a common archetype in storytelling, and especially so in anime and manga. So you might expect Japanese manga author Rootport (@rootport on Twitter) to be especially quick to see those traits as a set that are always bundled together.

However, while Rootport is well aware of how many literary ladies in functional narratives have a shrinking, introverted personality, when it comes to real-world women with a love for reading, it’s often a different story, he says,

「読書が好きな大人しくて控えめな美少女」というのが1つのテンプレとして存在するけど、俺の知るかぎりリアル世界の読書好きの女性って知恵は回るし弁は立つし大人しさとも控えめさとも縁遠い人が多いよな…っていつも思う。どちらかといえば文明社会における戦闘民族。スキタイの女戦士に近い。

— Rootport 𝄇 (@rootport) April 29, 2021

“’A young girl who’s quiet and reserved, and likes reading books’ is one existing template. The real-world girls I know who like reading, though, are clever, shrewd, and eloquent, not at all reticent or timid.”

Rootport goes on to describe women who love reading as being “warriors of civilized society” and likening them to the ancient Scythians, in whose armies women fought shoulder-to-shoulder with men on the field of battle.

His observations prompted responses from other Twitter users including:

“Real book-lovers put a lot of energy into practically applying the things they learn from reading.”
“Reading probably makes you mentally tough.”
“’Knowledge is power.’”
“When I worked part-time at a library, most of the kids who were enthusiastic readers weren’t the quiet types.”

★お知らせ★
くらげバンチにて『神と呼ばれたオタク』連載中です！ #神オタ

神と呼ばれたオタク - 原作：Rootport 漫画：臼井ともみhttps://t.co/BnbmcL4M4i pic.twitter.com/GAHGBv3jvM

— Rootport 𝄇 (@rootport) April 29, 2021

Speaking of reading material, if you’re interested in checking out what Rootport’s writing these days, his series The Otaku Called God (Kami to Yobareta Otaku) is currently being serialized online on website Kurage Bunch, with the first chapter free to read here.

Source: Twitter/@rootport via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
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