Age/Demographic stereotypes

[Shadow Kira01]

First of all, you are posting in the wrong section. This should be in the General Anime section.

http://forums.animesuki.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

[MCallahan]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

First of all, you are posting in the wrong section. This should be in the General Anime section.

http://forums.animesuki.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Oops, sorry about that. Should I re-post over there, or can this be moved?

EDIT: I re-posted the thread at General Anime. This thread can be closed. Thanks.

[MCallahan]

Hello everybody.

I just wanted to know your thoughts on how you view a male anime fan who is into girly shows?

When it comes to my everyday personality, I consider myself to be quite masculine, but for some reason I really dig shows like Sailor Moon and Pretear. On the flipside, I'm not really into stuff like mecha or any of the ultraviolent anime that's out there.

It's odd that I would take a magical girl show like Cardcaptor Sakura or Ultra Maniac, over something as "edgy" as Afro Samurai or Ghost in the Shell. But somehow the shoujo bug has bitten me over the years.

Do you think there something strange about this, or are there any other male fans that can relate?

[Echoes]

I don't think there's anything too strange about that. I think a lot of male fans venture into shoujo-land from time to time. You're certainly not alone.

I'm not too big on it myself, but there have been titles I've enjoyed here and there. There are much stranger things in the anime world one could be into than shoujo, rest assured.

[Rawgers]

Yea, not strange at all. I watch plenty of shoujo/josei shows without feeling any less masculine. I try out pretty much anything as long as the show has a good story and great character/character development.

At the moment, I have read more shoujo mangas than shounen/seinen.

[Triple_R]

I find that in anime it's the female characters that tend to have the more compelling back-stories, character designs, and personalities. This is especially true of female lead protagonists like Card Captor Sakura, Nanoha Takamachi, Shana, Haruhi Suzumiya, etc...

What I find with many shonen male lead protagonists is that they're strong 100% of the time - they're perpetually manly men, so to speak. Or, in the case of harem anime male leads, they're perpetually wimpy men. Either can get a bit dull after awhile.

Lead female protagonists are very strong for the most part, but the anime usually lets them have a soft feminine side, making them well-rounded (in my opinion, Nanoha Takamachi is one of the most well-rounded characters in all of anime, if not in all of fiction). A character with out any emotional vulnerabilities tends to not be an interesting character to me.

So, long story short, I can totally understand a male fan digging shoujo anime.

[Theowne]

I think I prefer josei (young women), some of my favourite series come from there (Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile). It's usually a bit deeper or more involving than Shojo.

Then again, I used to be a Sailor Moon fan when I was younger, and these days I still think Kare Kano is one of the best mangas written so....

...I guess I don't put too much in the demographic. There are a lot of good shojo and a lot of good bad ones, same goes for any other demographic.

[Hs Vi Germania]

If you are a guy and watch Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach whatever, I have a strange feeling about it. I would advice not to tell it anyone else.
I don't see any problems if you watch Haruhi Suzumiya or something like this, but if it's a really kiddy and pinky-cute anime, haaah .... not simple. xD

Probably I also don't know what I should think about it. Don't know anyone who does this. Maybe simply nobody wants to tell it.

[xris]

Other threads on this topic (or similar topics). I'm sure there are more.

Are the tags "shounen" and "shoujo" still valid?
Do you drift from Seinen/Shonen into Shojo
Seinen anime that girls like
Is it wrong for me to like this?

[tripperazn]

It's not strange at all, in Japanese otaku circles, you'd be called an otomen, after the main character in the famous manga. Martial arts master and pimp on the outside, candy loving softie on the inside. Sound familiar?

Here is one of your fellow compatriots. He references himself being "otomen" in pretty much all of his blog posts.

Openly feminine guys are actually pretty well accepted in Asia, mostly in Japan right now. But it seems that where ever Japan is going, the rest of the continent follows.

Personally, I wouldn't say I'm "otomen", but I do love me some Shoujo from time to time. Ouran High School Host Club, His and Her Circumstances, Honey and Clover, are all great anime/manga, who says guys can't enjoy those?

[Thingle]

I dig KouKou Debut and NANA. There's a forum dedicated to shoujo manga which I used to frequent.

[CeDeR]

there is definitely something wrong with you, you should go to the doctor inmediately...jk
while not my favorite genre,i think its pretty normal.BTW i cried watching nana hahaha

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by Hs Vi Germania

I don't see any problems if you watch Haruhi Suzumiya or something like this,

Suzumiya Haruhi is targeted at a male demographic.

[Archon_Wing]

Good shows can often transcend their genre and reach out far beyond their intended audience. Hey, Cardcaptors is great!

I'm of the opinion that you can make almost anything compelling as long as the will and creativity is there. I mean Akagi was about friggin mahjong and that was a really good show even though I had no idea how that game was played (This is no longer true. )

They're just labels in the end. Useful, but not binding.

[Chaho-Chi]

Hey I think it kinda cool.
I don't meet much guys that like shoujo unfortuantly, the only manga I can talk about with them is just bleach other kinda of popular anime and my other firends that like shoujo I don't get to see them a lot.

Also I LOVE Ultra Manic, it was one of the first shoujo I've ever read.

[chikorita157]

Does it really matter if a anime is Shouen or Seinen anymore? It's just demographics a series target and it doesn't prevent anyone who isn't in the age group or gender to watch it.

People should consider more on the content of the series and genre than just demographics. A female can watch something like Lucky Star or K-ON! even though it's in the Shouen/Seinen demographic or Full Metal Alchemist. It's just demographics, it doesn't actually mean much or prevent you from seeing it. However, the content rating (PG13, R, etc), genre and the short synopsis should be the deciding factor whether or not you want to watch it.

[yezhanquan]

On Lucky Star and K-On, it can be harder for female watchers to identify with characters like Konata or Ritsu.

Anime-wise, most seinen series are OVAs. Seriously, the Hellsing and Berserk animes are rather watered-down adaptations of the manga, which goes way beyond.

[npcomplete]

Originally Posted by MCallahan

Hello everybody.

I just wanted to know your thoughts on how you view a male anime fan who is into girly shows?

When it comes to my everyday personality, I consider myself to be quite masculine, but for some reason I really dig shows like Sailor Moon and Pretear. On the flipside, I'm not really into stuff like mecha or any of the ultraviolent anime that's out there.

It's odd that I would take a magical girl show like Cardcaptor Sakura or Ultra Maniac, over something as "edgy" as Afro Samurai or Ghost in the Shell. But somehow the shoujo bug has bitten me over the years.

Do you think there something strange about this, or are there any other male fans that can relate?

Welcome to anime, lol

The GI Joes, manly shounen, seinen are there to stroke our manly egos. It's sort of like getting high on the action. When we don't such stimulation we turn to the shoujo-esque stuff. Why? Because opposites attract, I say. If you've enough masculinity in yourself, why would you need to seek out more?

[Theowne]

Let me also say that some people, particularly Americans I must say based on my experience, seem to have a lesser tolerance level for something being "girly" than the Japanese clearly do. I've seen people describe something like Love Hina, a shonen show which panders to boys, as a girl's show, presumably because it has a romance plot as it's main focus.

[Triple_R]

...Ok. Lucky Star, K-On, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Love Hina! are all meant for guys?

I find that very hard to believe... especially in the case of Lucky Star and K-On. Lucky Star and K-On are almost entirely devoid of prominent male characters - who exactly is the touch-point for guys watching these shows? The male co-host of Lucky Channel?

I would definitely say that Haruhi Suzumiya has cross-gender appeal, but, if I was female, I'd absolutely love how almost all the strong, powerful characters in the anime are female (Koizumi being about the only exception).

Same with Love Hina!, only to an even greater extent. As a guy, I'm turned off by Love Hina! in that there's not a signal half-way decently strong male character in the entire show. Meanwhile, much of the Love Hina! female cast kicks serious butt, especially Motoko.

For me, a key element to whether a show appeals to me on a gender-basis is if it features admirable and/or likable characters of my gender. If it doesn't, that's a major knock against it as anything with an appeal for males in particular.