A few words on Japanese magazine covers
I have by no means seen or fiddled with the majority of Japanese magazines, but I do have made some observations. Take a look at the two covers below, what do you see?
You see boobs (to the right). And big eyes. Panties. A pretty minimalistic use of colors on the right magazine, although the cover is packed, and stronger colors on the right cover, with all focus on the image.
The left cover is Japan’s biggest magazine on videogames, Weekly Famitsu. The right is some cheap manga porn magazine called Beast.
They are not similar, and they could be closer to each other. Photo restrictions in store stopped me from nabbing good pictures of covers to further prove my point, but this style is pretty common, and it’s not always to the untrained (i.e. non-Japanese reading) eye if a magazine is games or porn. In this case, sure, and I could’ve found a better porn mag to prove my point, but frankly I don’t want to pay for drawn filth…
I find this interesting, especially since I think few Swedish, and European overall I guess, gaming magazines would sport the school girl lolita in panties on a cover.
Difference in culture is interesting. I’m not judging, I’m observing and taking it in. Expect more.
Related reading:
Yeah, Lara Croft was dodgy enough in her hay day!! ;)
As for making comments on other cultures, I know all about it. I’ve been living in Australia for the past year, and you just can’t help pointing out the differences and talking about them (especially with people who come from the same place you do), but you have to be extremely careful. People tend to think you don’t like their country, or that you’re judging it if you make any comments.
By Armen on February 20, 2008 3:03 am
This is so cool! Here you compare Japanese porn publication and promotion - the magazine cover - with a games magazine.
And the advertisement is for the new issue of Rachael Ray Magazine! Does the Rachael Ray Magazine complement more the manga porn or the gamesters .. Hmm! (The Rachael Ray ad looks more - color and presentation - like a Betty Crocker cookbook that scantily clad cartoon girls.)
What a cool way to provide something for those uncomfortable with Japanese magazine covers! Ah, really, I just thought this ad was interesting to find on this article. Good point on how prevalent this illustration style is. You can find (a few) examples here in Ponca City, OK, USA on almost any magazine rack.
By Brad K. on February 20, 2008 6:03 am