The sequence of pages is:
2 1
4 3
Within each page, the frames go right to left:
3 2 1
6 5 4
| 2 | 1 |
|---|---|
|
|
| 4 | 3 |
|
|
I include this excerpt from a Japanese comic only because of the nifty sex machine it depicts. Without the entire story, not to mention my inability to translate much of the dialog, I am in no position to describe what is supposed to be taking place. Even so, I think that when viewed from a distance it offers several insights into some of the ideas that permeate this kind of story.
The young male character is visually reminiscent of the kind of characters that appear in stereotypic regularity in manga series such as Dragon Ball Z. Small in stature and obviously cartoonish in appearance, this is the male reader not taking himself too seriously. The girl is much more "realistic" looking, save of course for the signature goo-goo eyes, her body hovering somewhere between fourteen and twenty-four. The mad scientist is Merlin - knowledge and authority gained by old age, capable of doing anything in the name of science. These three could be Flash Gordon, Dale, and Prof. Zarkoff.
There is a patina of rape surrounding the action, but this is quite common in Japanese adult literature. Where we (Americans) are in the post-women's lib era, the Japanese never really went through the liberation movement, not enough to dampen the male belief that women will love sex, or some peculiar aspect of it, after they've tasted it. At the bottom of page three the girl shouts "No!," which only the greatest stretch of the imagination could be taken as an exclamation of joy at having an orgasm.
The changes in both her appearance and behavior on page four suggest that some time as elapsed, and that her sexual awakening has lead her to become a submissive sex toy. Quite the stuff of male fantasies, Japanese or otherwise.
Whatever the artist's intentions were, the mechanized phallus, the high-tech control console, and the girl's loss of control through bondage are key elements that define what I call MekSex.
Sandy Beach
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