A couple of years ago, a friend lent me a book – Why Men Lie and Women Cry, authored by Allan Pease and Barbara Pease. The book deeply dives into the psychological differences between the two genders (albeit debatable).
A section of the book also talks about the anime industry, which is one of the most popular visual art mediums globally. The authors highlight the intentional morphing of character sketches to appease the opposite gender. Disproportionately long legs, defined jawlines, hips-to-waist ratio, and misty eyes are a few examples.
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While anime’s popularity cannot be solely attributed to character design, people’s response to seeing them as near-humans hints at the power of design. Additionally, anime or manga, as a cultural export, mostly centres Japan on its storytelling and aesthetics.
Powerhouse Animation Studio’s Castlevania and Nocture, The Witcher – Nightmare of the Wolf, and Blood Zeus are a few names that take anime’s demographical setup outside Japan.
On this note, let me introduce – Trio – an Indian Manga by Sourav Roychoudhury set on its maiden voyage to put India on the anime map. I never imagined reading a sci-fi-themed Manga about India’s steel city – Jamshedpur, with female characters taking center stage and an Indian tribal as one of the main characters.
At this point, it is important to note the volume of anime content and the gender of key characters in the popular shows and books. The male “Shounen” dominance and variety are apparent, and female characters are reduced to having supportive roles and are often sexualized.
The Trio – Genia, Bonnie, and Sonnie have a no-nonsense attitude. The girls are strong, witty, clever, and chill – the kind of representations you want young girls to pick when reading Manga, provided a decent volume of similar representations exists.
The currently available – Volume 1 of Trio sets the context of the Manga series, introduces the characters, and gives a small glimpse of the villain and what to expect from Volume 2
The Trio Manga is a great start for young girls of today. I wish I had something like this when I started reading comics and later learned about anime.
I met the Trio team at the Delhi Comic-Con in Dec 2023 and it was a sheer delight meeting the team and bagging lots of goodies! I wish them the best! The trailer of Trio is also out you can watch it on their Instagram handle.
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