Anime Related Male/Female Interests In Japan (Surprising Popularity Results)

[Kaioshin Sama]

I just found this article today that was typed up about a month ago and the results it shows for an anime popularity ranking list seperated by gender actually kind of surprised me.....if not all that much.

The surprise had less to do with what was popular and more to do more with the difference in genre interest between male and female demographics and how contrary to the way it might be in North America and other territories it is mecha that is more popular with female viewers while the shows featuring largely female casts that go for the moe/cute vibe are more popular with male viewers. Now there's some crossover and the rising popularity of moe anime amongst male otaku has been well-documented, but I never new that mecha shows had seemingly become more the domain of female viewers even if it is just for the pretty boy pilots they often feature.

What does this say about current gender specific tastes in Japan and what actually attracts people to the shows they watch? I think it might be interesting to discuss. As the author of the article posts in the comment section with a quip that caught my eye:

Originally Posted by Mattalt of AltJapan

The age of the protagonists isn't the surprise -- the content is. Back in the day, I cannot imagine boys near-exclusively tuning into shows about girls, little or otherwise. I don't want to get on a maudlin Okada-esque kick about how much more variation there was back in the "golden age," but times have definitely changed.

Have tastes in anime become more simplified? More focused? Both? It's probably more complicated (or at least I would hope), but I'd like to hear what other people think so that I can work my own theories.

[Ash Falls Town]

The only really surprising thing about that list is that there are girls who like K-On!.

Frankly it's ridiculous to be surprised by shows aimed at guys being popular with guys.

Although considering it's a poll run by a dating service possibly explains the K-On! anomaly and why girls aren't watching more fujoshi bait.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

I just found this article today that was typed up about a month ago and the results it shows for an anime popularity ranking list seperated by gender actually kind of surprised me.....if not all that much.

The surprise had less to do with what was popular and more to do more with the difference in genre interest between male and female demographics and how contrary to the way it might be in North America and other territories it is mecha that is more popular with female viewers while the shows featuring largely female casts that go for the moe/cute vibe are more popular with male viewers. Now there's some crossover and the rising popularity of moe anime amongst male otaku has been well-documented, but I never new that mecha shows had seemingly become more the domain of female viewers even if it is just for the pretty boy pilots they often feature.

What does this say about current gender specific tastes in Japan and what actually attracts people to the shows they watch? I think it might be interesting to discuss. As the author of the article posts in the comment section with a quip that caught my eye:



Have tastes in anime become more simplified? More focused? Both? It's probably more complicated (or at least I would hope), but I'd like to hear what other people think so that I can work my own theories.

That is really interesting. Well if Gundam was any indication after the what happened with Turn A (floping pretty hard) and the creation of Seed (the so call revival of Gundam, well in terms of popularity) it seems to have lead to drawing of the female audience. So as they try to be more moderate and make the show more female friendly it probably lead to more polarization and hence more female following that type of shows. Have no idea what happened to males but it could be the opposite case with the mech shows.

But men its quite funny my views are almost same the female audiences as I like mech shows and I do love Toradora! .

[0utf0xZer0]

Personally, I feel the blogger was a bit selective with his data. He uses a top five list, whereas the actual poll published a top ten list. In my opinion, the top ten list shows more diversity.

Top ten, male
1. K-on
2. Haruhi
3. Lucky Star
4. Gundam
5. Saki
6. Evangelion
7. Nanoha
8. Hetalia (WTF?!)
9. Clannad
10. Toradora

Top ten, female
1. Gundam
2. K-On
3. Code Geass
4. Macross Frontier
5. Evangelion and Toradora (tie)
6. Haruhi
7. Lucky Star
8. Clannad
9. Gurren Lagann
10. Minami-Ke

So the top ten rankings includes quite a bit of moe and romance among female fans as well. And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

[npcomplete]

it's not that surprising to me. Despite sayings to the contrary I've always thought that there is more overlap among female anime fans, especially from the female fans I see outside of Japan.
Maybe the issue is if shows targeting male viewers as defined by publishers can attract female viewers who do NOT normally watch anime...

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

So the top ten rankings includes quite a bit of moe and romance among female fans as well. And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

true, but many shounen and seinen shows in general feature bishounen characters

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

why not?

[-KarumA-]

With Gundam, Code Geass and EVA -> the yaoi doujinshi community has a wide range of support for these series. Even after all these years there are still enough circles releasing books for those shows.
Yaoi is a lot mor epopulair in Japan, specially amongst females, they support their favourite male pairings and the selling of the books makes sure that this doe not fade away that quickly

That and the fact that they might be suckers for adolescence romance X3 and pretty boys

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Ash Falls Town

The only really surprising thing about that list is that there are girls who like K-On!.

Why is that surprising?

K-On! is a show about an all-girls club engaging in activities and friendships that are probably fairly typical of an all-girls club.

Why wouldn't that resonate with a female audience?



Anyway... I would say that the popularity of mecha anime with female fans is at least partly based in how relatively strong and/or charismatic the male characters in these shows are.

Characters like Kira Yamato, Lelouch, and Kamina all have a certain strength of character and charisma to them.


I would argue that wimpy male leads are to female fans what ugly female characters are to male fans (i.e. a turn-off)... and, by extension, strong male leads are to female fans what attractive female characters are to male fans (i.e. attractive and appealing).

[brocko]

What's so wrong about Hetalia being on the male list? Sure it's got a massive fujoshi following but it's still a funny show nonetheless.

[Revenger1589]

The only surprising thing about the results is that the female list doesn't include a single anime aimed at girls, so I doubt the accuracy of this poll. The fact that Hetalia is missing from the female side but is on the male side and the lack of Kuroshitsuji and Natsume makes this impossible to believe.

[musume_no_hoshi]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Top ten, male
1. K-on
2. Haruhi
3. Lucky Star
4. Gundam
5. Saki
6. Evangelion
7. Nanoha
8. Hetalia (WTF?!)
9. Clannad
10. Toradora

Top ten, female
1. Gundam
2. K-On
3. Code Geass
4. Macross Frontier
5. Evangelion and Toradora (tie)
6. Haruhi
7. Lucky Star
8. Clannad
9. Gurren Lagann
10. Minami-Ke

So the top ten rankings includes quite a bit of moe and romance among female fans as well. And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

WTF HETALIA?! On the male ranking? Something tells me this ranking feels a little odd with Hetalia on the male ranking and not on the female ranking? Looking on Pixiv, most images are 'to-rotton'. Are we getting a larger fudanshi population? I swear 60-70% of all yaoi doujins made now is Hetalia...I am very confused.

I'm not surprised K-on being high on the girl's ranking list. As a girl, I enjoyed K-on as a cute moe show, but not exactly being my favourite. Clannad was a good romance and drama in general, I loved that show. Toradora was one of the best shows from 2008-2009.

-Edit-

男性
1位　ワンピース (One Piece)
2位　ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
3位　ハンター×ハンター、銀魂
4位　ドラゴンボール
5位　ブリーチ
6位　よつばと！
7位　ナルト、鋼の錬金術師
8位　宙のまにまに、魔法先生ネギま！？
9位　放浪息子
10位　神のみぞ知るセカイ、謎の彼女X

女性
1位　ヘタリア (Hetalia)
2位　テニスの王子様 (Prince of Tennis)
3位　家庭教師ヒットマン、リボーン (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!)
4位　銀魂 (Gintama)
5位　ワンピース (One Piece)
6位　ブリーチ (Bleach)
7位　鋼の錬金術師 (Fullmetal Alchemist)
8位　黒執事 (Kuroshitsuji)
9位　魔神探偵脳噛ネウロ (Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro)
10位　ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

I'm too lazy to translate the male list...

The website actually listed a manga ranking. The first one was just the anime ranking. This list makes ALOT of more sense. With manga, the whole ranking is practically made of fujoshis favourite. Hetalia anime ranking low on female anime ranking isn't surprsing, the anime is quite meh anyway.

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Ash Falls Town

The only really surprising thing about that list is that there are girls who like K-On!.

Don't be surprised, the show actually caused a phenomenon in Japanese schools and girls started forming their own school bands.

For girls watching mecha, some time ago Banpresto did a survey on the SRW market and found that there were 6% female players and rising, they only expected 3%.

[-KarumA-]

Now that manga list makes so much more sense

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Personally, I feel the blogger was a bit selective with his data. He uses a top five list, whereas the actual poll published a top ten list. In my opinion, the top ten list shows more diversity.

Top ten, male
1. K-on
2. Haruhi
3. Lucky Star
4. Gundam
5. Saki
6. Evangelion
7. Nanoha
8. Hetalia (WTF?!)
9. Clannad
10. Toradora

Top ten, female
1. Gundam
2. K-On
3. Code Geass
4. Macross Frontier
5. Evangelion and Toradora (tie)
6. Haruhi
7. Lucky Star
8. Clannad
9. Gurren Lagann
10. Minami-Ke

So the top ten rankings includes quite a bit of moe and romance among female fans as well. And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

That's surprisingly diverse, both the fans and fanbases. :O Though it's kinda funny to not see Gurren Lagann on the male side.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Spoiler for size:

Personally, I feel the blogger was a bit selective with his data. He uses a top five list, whereas the actual poll published a top ten list. In my opinion, the top ten list shows more diversity.

Top ten, male
1. K-on
2. Haruhi
3. Lucky Star
4. Gundam
5. Saki
6. Evangelion
7. Nanoha
8. Hetalia (WTF?!)
9. Clannad
10. Toradora

Top ten, female
1. Gundam
2. K-On
3. Code Geass
4. Macross Frontier
5. Evangelion and Toradora (tie)
6. Haruhi
7. Lucky Star
8. Clannad
9. Gurren Lagann
10. Minami-Ke

So the top ten rankings includes quite a bit of moe and romance among female fans as well. And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

Still shows a trend, there are much less mech in male side then in the female side. To be honest there are barely any and I would say that further shows change in the trend.

Originally Posted by musume_no_hoshi

WTF HETALIA?! On the male ranking? Something tells me this ranking feels a little odd with Hetalia on the male ranking and not on the female ranking? Looking on Pixiv, most images are 'to-rotton'. Are we getting a larger fudanshi population? I swear 60-70% of all yaoi doujins made now is Hetalia...I am very confused.

I'm not surprised K-on being high on the girl's ranking list. As a girl, I enjoyed K-on as a cute moe show, but not exactly being my favourite. Clannad was a good romance and drama in general, I loved that show. Toradora was one of the best shows from 2008-2009.

-Edit-



The website actually listed a manga ranking. The first one was just the anime ranking. This list makes ALOT of more sense. With manga, the whole ranking is practically made of fujoshis favourite. Hetalia anime ranking low on female anime ranking isn't surprsing, the anime is quite meh anyway.

The probable reason could be that manga is more of a general audiences and anime is more of otaku thing.

[Satomi87]

Sunrise start to fish female viewers into their Gundam franchise since the Wing one. The trend continues to its 'spiritual descendant' Gundam 00.

EDIT: So funny that Macross Frontier is more popular on girls than guys...

[Matrim]

LOL, I haven't even finished watching any of the series listed in male list, except a few Gundam series. Could I be more out of touch with the trendy picks?

[Miko Miko]

Wow..

I am a girl and K-On! Lucky Star & Haruhi come in my top 3.

I don't see how seeing K-On! in the female list is surprising, I always thought it was more aimed at girls.

Shows I don't know a thing!

[musume_no_hoshi]

Alot of fujoshis on pixiv drew Macross fanarts (usually Sheryl/Alto, Micheal/Alto is pretty rare), they usually draw shounen-ai pairings except for Macross F. As a girl I enjoyed Macross despite some of its flaws.

Where did I read this before I can't remember. But during the 90's Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon were extremely popular and established the moe trait. Both these shows are aimed at girls. Shows like K-on, which is a 'clean' moe probably attacts girls who loved CCS or Sailor Moon (come on, when we were lolis we just love Sakura who was a loli too right ?). Moe is just what girls call 'cute' really.

The probable reason could be that manga is more of a general audiences and anime is more of otaku thing.

But if it's just general audience, why are 7/10 on the female manga favourites are well known to be fujoshis favourites ? Especially Hetalia, Prince Of Tennis and Reborn, I personally cannot find a female fan of those series who doesn't at least like some of the male pairings . I don't think Hetalia is as general as the others on the list. Hetalia is not mainstream, I think its 'mainstream-ness' is about on the same level as K-on. Yet it got first on the list, I don't think the audience for this poll are 'normal' people.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

And notably... all the mecha series in the female list feature bishounen except the Gainax ones.

Actually, I'd count the two Gainax anime as having bishounen. Evangelion has Kaworu and Kaji, and even Gendou has his fangirls. Gurren Lagann has Kamina and Simon. Heck, the onsen episode had much more fanservice featuring male characters than female characters.

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

The weirdest result to me is the Hetalia one. I did not expect that to make the male ranking.

I don't have any idea why it's there, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Hetalia is a very nice and creative show that taught me a lot about history and countries. It is definitely not a show that males should dismiss just for bishounen.

[xxBANGitsaly]

meh, i don't find anything particularly weird about the lists
i know lots of guys who watch hetalia/other yaoi-bait shows, and i myself am i female fan of moe shows (k-on was cute :3)