Warning: spoilers for “Norwegian Wood” ahead.
“Manic Pixie Dream Girls”, henceforth referred to as MPDGs, are a character archetype that is defined as female characters which “exist[s] solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.”.
Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood” depicts a established and blatant MPDG character: the protagonist Toru’s outgoing and vivacious classmate Midori Kobayashi. Midori is a classic portrayal of the MPDG and is often cited as an example in non-Western MPDG. In this article, however, I will first argue that all of the main female characters, to some extent, fit into the archetype of the MPDG, and secondly show how Murakami manages to create a new dimension to the MPDGs in his story, despite the notoriety surrounding the trope.
Now, the main issue with MPDGs is that they represent women that are catalysts towards male protagonists’ character development, yet have close to little development, characterisation, or goals themselves besides being infinitely and eternally interesting and beautiful.
This description seems relevant towards Midori throughout the book. Our first impression of Midori is her overwhelming extroversion — Midori starts a conversation with Toru despite the fact that they’re merely classmates and he is practically antisocial. Throughout the book, Midori displays more and more “manic pixie” signs — such as her sexual liberation juxtaposed against Naoko’s reluctance for sexual intimacy, as well as her steadfast willingness to stick by Toru despite the fact that for most of the novel he clearly did not have the romantic capacity for her at all.
Most notably, though, is the scene where a fire starts precariously near Midori’s house, and instead of escaping, Midori chooses to sit at her balcony with Toru, playing the guitar, drinking, singing, kissing, and watching the fire burn. One of the most defining traits of MPDGs is shown here — going against all reason to make the main protagonist learn a life lesson, to the point where it is ridiculous and almost unrealistic.
However, Midori lacks one of the main defining characteristics that most MPDGs have — their one-dimensionality. In fact, it can be said that Midori is the highlight of the entire novel because her “manic pixie” traits make her interesting enough to enamour not only the protagonist, but the readers as well — something that many other MPDGs fail to do. Midori is a character that shines not in spite of the fact that she is an MPDG, but because she is one. Her quirks and witty dialogue, rather than make her seem completely unrealistic, make her endearing, especially contrasted against the more morally questionable characters like Naoko, Reiko, Nagasawa, and even Toru himself. This is why even though she is a classic MPDG to the point of blatancy, her sheer loveability elevates her above the trope.
This cannot be said of Naoko. Naoko is introduced from the start as someone that Toru has taken romantic interest in, but throughout the book, Naoko does not seem to have or develop solid personality traits other than being demure, fragile, emotional, and devoted to her romantic partner. Naoko has the aforementioned one-dimensionality, and functions very much as a device to push Toru’s personality evolution forward as he falls for her, tries to figure out the best way to lead out of her darkness and mental illness, and eventually comes to the realisation that he cannot. Naoko never undergoes any character development or deeper characterisation. Yet her one-dimensionality is, to some extent, captivating, because most of the book is not devoted to her. Despite Naoko being Toru’s main romantic interest for most of the book, her appearances are limited, and her presence is often dominated by the other characters, especially Midori and Reiko.
Therefore, Naoko being this one-dimensional leaves room for the possibility of Toru’s unreliable narration — that he is smoothing over the edges of Naoko’s personality and his experiences with Naoko so as to retain his idealistic view of her especially in the face of Naoko’s eventual fate (since the novel is written as a recount). Even Toru himself admits that his “emotions get in the way” and he “can’t see her clearly”. This forces readers to look in between the blurred lines of truth and what Toru wishes to be the truth, to put focus on individual events rather than Toru’s perspective, to see Naoko’s characterisation that goes beyond her Yamato Nadeshiko, MPDG exterior.
The last main female character with MPDG traits would be Reiko, Naoko’s roommate at the hostel. Reiko plays the role of an older sister to both Naoko and Toru, and is generally a wise figure. However, she once again displays the MPDG trait of being the one to show Toru the pleasures of life against all reason, as well as being a catalyst of his character development without much personal growth of her own. Even her discharge from the Ami Hostel, arguably one of the most radical changes the female characters go through in the novel, is fuelled by the need for a plot point to teach Toru how to move on from losing Naoko.
However, Reiko is still a very integral and fascinating character due to two reasons. The first would be her accounts of her past. Her accounts are incredibly vivid and confusing because of both their disturbing subject matter, and because they go through both her and Toru’s perspective (once again prompting the possibility of unreliable narration), that it paints a very complex picture of her personality.
The second is her role in the book. She is an advisor to Toru and Naoko, and is technically a secondary character — yet she advances to fill the position of a sexual interest, almost a surrogate for the physical relationship Naoko and Toru did not have. This brings a darker undertone to both her relationship with Naoko and her relationship with Toru, because the entanglement between the relationships between the three becomes unclear and even more complex. Where Reiko’s character development lacks, Murakami makes up for it by extending the expectations of her characterisation — because ultimately in retrospect Reiko having sex with Toru in Naoko’s place and makes complete sense, but it definitely comes unexpected.
Murakami often invites ambiguity into his books, yet encourages acceptance of surface-level truths. In that sense, while it may be true that Murakami takes traits of the MPDG and applies it very liberally to his female characters in “Norwegian Wood”, by giving his readers a comprehensive and engaging premise alongside much room for interpretation, Murakami creates new, even unspoken dimensions to his characters.
