From 1993 to 1995, I wrote an on-again-off-again column for the magazine ANIMERICA. At first the topic was simply manga, but at some point ANIMERICA Editor-In-Chief Trish Ledoux and I agreed that my column should focus on shôjo manga, which were all but unknown among North American fans of anime and manga at the time. I came up with the tongue-in-cheek title "Girls' Stuff." The title was intended to poke fun at the juvenile attitude of some fanboys towards anything created for girls or women. (They reminded me of third-grade boys who worry that exposure to anything remotely feminine may result in contracting "girl germs" or "cooties.") The title was cute and funny, but it was also intended to be a challenge: "Yeah, it's for girls; get over it or read something else." Finally, the ironic contradiction between the title and the fact that the column was written by a boy (I was still in my twenties, so I guess I could claim to be a "boy" ^^; ) was intended to point out the fact that boys could enjoy this genre, too, just as many girls enjoy so-called "boys'" manga and anime. Trish and I were afraid that some women might be offended by the title, but we never heard a complaint.
The columns presented here were salvaged from my computer archives. I believe they are in chronological order, but I'm not certain. Since moving to Kyoto, I haven't been able to dig out my old ANIMERICA issues, so I can't verify either the dates or the content. Note that my three-part history of manga was also written for this column, though it's not included in this list. Also note that within the columns, Japanese names are written in the English order, surname last. (Below they are presented in Japanese order, surname first.)