Hanazakari no Kimitachi E

Recently I've been watching a J-drama series (yes, I do watch Japanese TV dramas, I admit it) called Hanazakari no Kimitachi E ('To those of you in full bloom'). I know the whole J-drama thing is a little foofy, and I'm not helped by the fact that Hanazakari is a reverse-harem drama based on a shoujo manga. But, for what it is, it's a damn entertaining series.

The plot centres around Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita Maki), a Japanese American girl who cuts her locks, loses the skirt and transfers to the all-boys school Osaka Gakuen in Japan on a covert mission to rescue her idol/role model/crush Sano Izumi (Oguri Shun) from the doldrums that he has fallen into. Most of the hillarity results from the strong personalities (caricatures?) of the characters and the trials and travails that a girl trying to live as a guy faces.

I'm only about half-way through the series, but after a few episodes I couldn't help but think about some of the other famous cross-dressing stories that anyone with a modicum of Asian cultural literacy will have some familiarity with.

For the sake of my whiter associates, I'll start off with a tale that almost anyone who has kids or was a kid at the relevant time will have heard of. That's right, I'm talking Eddie Murphy as a pint-sized dragon and a whole lot of talk about 'dying with honour'. Ladies and gentlemen: Mulan!



Of course let's not forget that before Disney so helpfully co-opted the story for their own diabolical purposes, it was a pretty famous Chinese tale also rendered into a film by the Shaw Brothers:



But of course that wasn't the only cross-dressing film in the Shaw Brothers catalogue. I often got home from school and found my mum watching Liang Shan-Po Yu Chu Ying-Tai, the story of a girl who dresses up as a man so that she can go to school. I bet these days a whole lot of girls would dress up as a man if it would get them OUT of school. But that's a discussion for another time.

Here's a tiny photo from the film. Best one that I could find.



All of this brings me (in a very round-about way) to the point of my post: despite being for the most part patriachal, Asian cultures have some serious gender issues. So when you see that Korean exchange student that seems to have more makeup on than his girlfriend, don't think he's trying too hard or lying to himself about his sexuality. It's just those damn Shaw Brothers movies corrupting the youth.

But, if all this gender bending is too much for you, remember when you're watching shows like Hanazakari that behind the oddly-fitting pants and shirts there is a beautiful girl waiting to be released from the bonds of...well, the selective nature of certain private schools.

Behold: Horikita Maki!



...and as for you Asian guys who spend too much time on your hair and nails? Come on guys, you're not fooling anyone.