Quote:
Originally Posted by ellessarr
hi guys here's a good news who i get from a japan friend in another site about anime's ending...
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With my rough Japanese, I translate those katakana/hiragana to "tsu zu ku yo." Tsuzuku is the Japanese verb for "to continue" but what most amuses me is the yo on the end. That's generally used by females to add a "sassy" attitude to a word or sentence, heh. That said, I don't know if we should take it as gospel. Has Mashima had a history of adding in secret meanings to his twitter messages like this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MechR
I don't think complexity or females are the issues. This isn't Death Note; complexity is basically on par with the Big Three. For instance, Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is roughly comparable to Erza and Gerard's, minus the sexual tension (arguably  ). Or look at Unohana and Kenpachi's unusual relationship, although Bleach is well past its peak these days. (If we step further back, there was Gin and Rangiku. Or Byakuya and Rukia.)
As for female fighters, personally I found Rogue, Chun-Li, the Pink/Yellow Ranger, etc. *cough* very interesting as a kid, despite going "ewww" and turning away at Disney kiss scenes. |
I think you hit at it right there. You never saw Goku kiss Chichi, did you? It is important to keep romance out of shonen, because it makes the little boys go "ewww" and make it less likely they want to keep watching. The Jellal/Erza kiss was zoomed out probably for this very reason. Probably why any kind of Lucy/Natsu has been absent (other than a small comedic arc), and why there has been no real explanation or dealing with the Lisanna/Natsu thing. Also why main characters of shonen tend to be very child-like, even if they are older. They want the kids to identify with the main character.
So when I say complex, it has more to do with romantic feelings, which little boys in general won't get. That is why Bleach hasn't dealt overtly with any romantic feelings (hairpin girl's feelings towards Ichigo was the only overt one). I'd hazard a guess that One Piece doesn't really have romance, at least not with the main cast. In DBZ, getting a wife was just a way to pop out more fighters, thus why Bulma was suddenly with Vegeta instead of wolf-fang-fist guy (I really need to start looking up these names that slip my mind; must be getting old, heh). They needed another Saiyan.
Naruto is more interesting in that it does have romantic feelings, in several characters, though there is no real development along those lines(it has reduced Sakura to just pining endlessly over Sasuke). But Naruto's popularity, I think, has more to do with the fact that it is about a bunch of ninja, which are equally idolized in Japan and in the west, so it can overcome the little romantic feelings that do pop here and there (as long as they don't kiss!). It does have the odd, amusing effect of making Naruto's feelings for Sasuke appear stronger, and thus more gay, heh. But little boys can take the idea that a girl might like a boy; just any real follow-up to that, such as Erza and Jellal's more adult moment, make them uncomfortable. I think that is the reason why Naruto has never responded to Hinata's declaration.
It's important to note the difference between overt and subtle, too. You can hide romantic feelings in the subtle for older viewers to pick up; just don't make it too overt and physical or you risk turning off the kids.