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Animator Aimee Major Steinberger's comics travelogue,
Japan Ai: A tall girl's adventures in Japan, is a rather light (and, as others have pointed out, in-your-face-girly) read, but somewhere in amongst all of the shopping, doll-adoption ceremonies and French-Revolutionary cross-dressing, she does have a central concern, which is this: exactly how universal is fandom? If someone loves another country's fashions, theatrical traditions and pop culture, do they share a bond with homegrown enthusiasts? By the end of the book, the non-surprising (albeit entertainingly delivered) answer is: sometimes. In one sequence, six-foot-tall Steinberger and her two companions, A.J. and Judy, decide to cosplay Lolita gear (which, fashion-wise, is a mash-up of Victorian and Japanese couture) in Harajuku — a neighborhood in Tokyo known for stylishly dressed young people — to mixed responses, ranging from shocked stares to mutual admiration.
This exploit perfectly encapsulates the flavor of Steinberger's experiences, most of which were mediated by her (and her friends') fangirlness[1]; but what's refreshing about the way that Steinberger presents her geekiness is that she's confidently un-neurotic about it: she's aware of others' reactions, but she never lets that stop her from playfully having her fun. There was no sense of oxymoron when she described herself to me in a personal interview as "just a normal geek girl, you know?"
Of course, it's no wonder that
Japan Ai is preoccupied with otaku-ness: Steinberger's trip to Japan was inspired by an invitation to the offices of a doll company that she was an ardent admirer of — she had even gone so far as to help create a website devoted to it. Although her Japanese was limited — she informed me, "I knew very basic things like ‘Where is this?', ‘I'm sorry!' and ‘Thank you!'. I had several guidebooks though, and an annotated bilingual atlas (invaluable) from a friend who had gone several times, plus the friend I went with had gone to Japan previously"[2] — and she had her doubts — "before I went, going to Japan was like an unattainable goal. I didn't think I'd ever go, that it was too difficult, too expensive" — she rounded up the aforementioned galpals and together they visited historic Kyoto and futuristic Tokyo.
Steinberger has a BFA in Character Animation from the California Institution of the Arts, and it's reflected in her artistic eye. For the most part,
Japan Ai eschews crowd scenes and architecture to focus on minimalist, delicately colored portraits ("any color was colored on a separate page using a lightbox and Copics sketch markers and composited in the computer") set off against blank white backgrounds. Steinberger explained, "I do some background work in layout (professionally), but very little, and I'm so much more fascinated by character expressions and actions than drawing a whole background, so I do tend to really focus on the characters and only show what background is absolutely necessary." She used "red Colerase pencil and then [did] the final drawing over that in a 2B or 3B pencil. So both drawings were on the same sheet of paper and I never used a brush or a pen to finalize it"[3] for her cartoony figurework (a Disney element can be traced in certain drawings). Steinberger commented, "I tend to adopt partially [from my assigned work] things I enjoy, so I don't find it to be a bad thing. I actually draw most of the time, professionally, in the style of
The Simpsons and while I think it does show up a little, I don't think it shows up that much. I have to draw lots of very different styles in the field I work in, so I'd like to think that what shows up in my personal work is at least mostly due to my conscious choice. In each job (and art style) I learn something else, and so through that, my style might change some. It's a good thing! I do try to draw personal items, in whatever style I want to, as much as possible so that I'm not stuck in the style of the particular job I'm working on and so that I can keep expressing myself in the way that is meaningful to me."[4] She reiterated that
Japan Ai's drawing style was the result of "[…] drawing cute silly comics for myself and friends for a few years. The emphasis was always showing a lot of emotion and appeal with the most limited amount of drawing. These were just meant for larks. Gradually I really got rid of a lot of stuff (like the nose)."
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Aimee Major Steinberger, part two[1] When she and her two friends relax at a hot spring, one can't help remarking: "This is just like Fruits Basket!"
[2] She continued, "I do think that if you are prepared, you can easily go to Japan for the first time without knowing too much Japanese. It's very helpful, though."
[3] She added, "I found that for me this kept the drawings nice and loose and full of the original fun."
[4] Steinberger also cited a wealth of influences: "I'm inspired by a lot of different things. I'm very inspired by artist's rough sketches and I love art of all kinds that gives off a really strong emotion (through body and face) or ones that give off a beautiful feeling through colors and shape. I really love fairy tales and folklore, so I read about all I can get my hands on in that regard. I also love haute couture, dolls and studying different traditional cultures. I really like studying artwork from different time periods and countries and incorporating what I like. I really love to go outside and just sit and watch people. When I feel burnt out I like to take photos of plants. I'm very inspired by all kinds of animation and comics. My (somewhat guilty) favorites are the older Disney 2Dmovies, Pixar's Monsters, Inc., Pixar's The Incredibles, Pixar's Ratatouille, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Emperor's New Groove, Ouran High School Host Club, Gankutsuou, Code Geass, Revolutionary Girl Utena, My Neighbor Totor, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, Mononoke and so much more.... As to comics, I used to read a lot of American superhero comics like X-Men, but now I'm more into Japanese shojo manga. Some of my favorite titles are Sugar Sugar Rune, Paradise Kiss, Lovely Complex, Death Note, Tramps Like Us, Fruits Basket, Bleach, Rose of Versailles. And I will always love and be inspired by Hellboy. I also like really silly comedies like Zoolander, Kung Fu Hustle and Elf."
Bibliography:
http://aimeemajor.com/http://www.gocomi.com/index.php?module=japanai&skin=japanaiSteinberger, Aimee Major.
Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan. Go! Media Entertainment LLC, 2007
Steinberger, Aimee Major. Personal Interview. 11 April 2008.
All art ©2007 Aimee Major Steinberger
Kristy Valenti currently works for The Comics Journal and Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
Uncharted Territory is © Kristy Valenti, 2010
