2011-12-13, 04:30 | Link #1 |
Pretentious moe scholar
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 37
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A thought exercise for the board's moe fans
Two parter:
1) What do you think a college aged version of a character like Sengoku Nadeko, Kuroneko, or Azusa Nakano would be like? 2) How much of the original appeal of the character is retained in that version? What new appeals are added? Not going to give much in the way of my own thoughts until I'm done with exams, but I'd be very interested to hear what people think.
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2011-12-13, 07:18 | Link #2 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 42° 10' N (Latitude) 87° 33' W (Longitude)
Age: 45
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Y'know what? Looking back at Nanoha. I'd take Adult Nanoha over LOLI Nanoha anyday.
1. Too old for most of the fans in Japan. 2. Original appeal? Appeal is appeal. I suppose; I'll use the word "initial". But really. For me, appeal for a character can happen immediately; but more often than not, the appeal of a character happens throughout the series. Sometimes, that "initial" appeal for a character may end up going in the opposite direction. For a "new appeal". Oh, certainly. To use the college K-ON example, do these characters act more "mature"? If not, then there would be the issue of consistency. Certainly, some real people may act younger than their age (like myself). But, I wouldn't expect that happening to all the K-ON girls. On the physical level... I'd expect them to have a more reformed "womanly" shape. If you know what I mean... === Nevertheless, the conditions asked in the question happens rarely. Sequels do not focus on... characters in more "grown up" stages. So, for the most part - it's all a What-IF.
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2011-12-13, 07:18 | Link #3 |
Princess or Plunderer?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: the Philippines
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> Nadeko might not reach college at the current flow of events in Bakemonoagatari. In the chance that she survives, I think that she would be an "unreachable Yamato Nade(shi)ko", perfect in looks and personality, but she still has her eyes on someone else (i.e. Arararararagi-kun).
> Kuroneko might take up a course in writing and end up with very few friends due to her abrasive personality and insecurity. Her insecurity might lessen based on her relationship with Kyousuke, but I'm pretty sure that her sharp tongue will persist. > Azusa's personality is clearly changed from her kouhai days to her sempai years. If Azusa would just end up with the personality cycle she had in high school (submissive -> slightly dominant -> probably submissive again), I think that she might only get friends who truly understand how she gets along with others. Among the three, Azusa's the one I see as the least appealing of the three. Yes, she does possess some moe traits, but it's just on the surface. College Kuroneko might remind me of Hitagi, blunt and sharp-tongued, but is just as loving. Just my two cents.
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2011-12-13, 09:24 | Link #5 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
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2) I think most of the appeal can be retained. Characters like Sengoku, Azusa en Kuroneko don't really possess stereotypical teenage personality traits. The social awkwardness and naïveté of these characters can easily be retained till their mid or late twenties without seeming silly. Contrast these characters to say the cast of AnoHana who do possess the typical elements of puberty. As long as the "blossoming" aspect can be retained I see no problems. I'm sure the biggest obstacle would be the loss of a high school uniform. |
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2011-12-13, 11:10 | Link #6 |
✘˵╹◡╹˶✘
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Australia
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I only watch the anime of Bakemonogatari and Oreimo S1. But i agree that Nadako gonna be a Yamato Nadeshiko, or simply a very kind and perfect in every way girl. Kuroneko and her fake pride probably will hook her with a guy and turn her into typical tsundere character (remember that i haven't watched S2 or read the novel). Azunyan? I have a college friend who is probably really close to her, so my guess is very dependent, very social and be a leader of all round, but always will require (and have) helps from friends.
On the appeal questions. I think only Azunyan appeal will slightly change,as she shift from a younger (kouhai) figure, to a more independent one. I never look at Nadako and Kuroneko for their childish, immature sides, so i don't think they will lose much appeals for me New challenge: Ika Musume at college ages (~20-ish, assume that she's only at middle school age atm,)
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2011-12-13, 14:03 | Link #7 |
Senior Member
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This is a good thought exercise.
As I give some thought to it, two ideas occur to me. 1) I don't think they'd change much. For some reason, I get the idea that each would be a bit more mature, and a bit more well-rounded perhaps. Physically, they might be a little bit taller, but probably no major change there (two of the three 0utf0xZer0 mentioned are naturally short, I think). I think you could easily carry each of the three into College and maintain most of their initial appeal. 2) However, I can kind of see where there might be an issue with introducing characters as College-aged ones, if the goal is moe appeal. This is because the maturation process is more or less complete by the time of College-age, and so that "blossoming" effect that is so commonly valued in moe could be trickier to convey in a College-aged character. I think that a lot of the appeal of moe is in watching adolescence in motion, almost akin to a "coming of age" narrative (and the two do overlap sometimes, with an example being Hanasaku Iroha's Ohana). In real life, one's adolescence (ages 12 to 19) are the most formative, and often the most transformative, years in a person's life. I think that such gradual formation and/or transformation is often a lot of the appeal of moe. It's in getting to watch naturally heightened character development due to the changes wrought by adolescence. All of the above being said, it would be nice to have more Colleged-age characters for simple variety. But I think a good way to get there might be to age existing characters to that point. I should note that one of my favorite aspects of the Nanoha franchise is in getting to see Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate, grow from little girls to young women. One final note is that I agree with Bri on the high school uniform point. I think that might in fact be part of the reason why high school-based anime are so commonplace: moe fans loving the aesthetics of the high school uniform. From an artist's perspective, it can also make your job easier as you don't necessarily have to come up with a realistically varied wardrobe for your characters to wear.
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2011-12-14, 02:49 | Link #8 |
On a mission
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1.) Nadeko grown up would be nice. Currently she is just pedo bait anyways so it can only improve my impression of her. Would be a nice tease.
Kuroneko would probably grow up to be a bit less shy and more confident. But she might have put aside her bitter sarcasm and hate, so she will be a different person by a bit. Maybe wear less black and less emo. 2.) I'm biased, so older while maintaining the essentials of the same character is always more awesome. Fate Testarossa is the ultimate example of this where you could appreciate her character in every incarnation. :P (Unless you're a lolicon that hates grown women, ofc)
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2011-12-14, 03:32 | Link #9 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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I don't see either Kuroneko or Azunyan changing much in college.. they're going to be small, petite women. At the time of their series, they're pretty much as tall as they're going to get ever (15-17ish in yrs).
As far as I'm concerned, both will have just as much 'moe' appeal when they're 20, 30, or older as they did at 15. They're going to be nnnnngh cute their entire lives. Nanoha and Fate.... I quite enjoyed the series but didn't mind at all seeing them grow up. So-called fans of characters need to stop freezing characters in age and time. "moe" is not age-related... and we've got Honey&Clover with a couple of examples of 'moe' college-aged women. Nadeko... hmmmm, have to think about that one.
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2011-12-15, 09:58 | Link #10 |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Azunyan will always be a loli. Unless she changes her VA.
Kuroneko isn't really a loli, she is just petite. And she dresses like a loli and as long as she dresses as one SHE'S MINE. Appeals-wise, I don't think much will change. Cuteness in character is always cuteness is character - especially how Azunyan's overaged thought processes is always undermined by her cuteness (as shown in the Mio fanclub episode where she seems to misinterpret "cleaning the bath" and "eating taiyaki at gill cover" as *ahem*). And I don't think my waifu and favourite loli characters' VAs won't change much in the future - I still think Kana-tan and Ayanyan's girls are adorable, along with Nana-chan's Ricotta from Dog Days. And the two 1989 loli-voicing VAs (Ayanyan and Kanatan) proved that having a default claim on their characters bags me cute waifus, a recent example being Guilty Crown (Ayase and Tsugumi). ...
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Last edited by CrowKenobi; 2011-12-15 at 14:39. Reason: Waifu wars (and shipping in general) are off-topic in this thread. :) |
2011-12-15, 17:25 | Link #11 | |
=^^=
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 42° 10' N (Latitude) 87° 33' W (Longitude)
Age: 45
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To think, the Sailor Scouts would be like... in their 30's now. And maybe some of 'em may end up as MILFs. How's THAT for a thought experiment?
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2011-12-15, 18:59 | Link #12 | |
Ass connoisseur
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Florida
Age: 37
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Interestingly enough, that's when loli fans stop being reasonable, and go straight to annoying.
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Last edited by Demi.; 2011-12-15 at 19:29. |
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2011-12-15, 19:43 | Link #13 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Age: 66
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2011-12-16, 19:18 | Link #14 |
On a mission
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Kemono no Souja Erin has a great example of a lead being naturally moe throughout her growth from a young girl to a very elegant and competent women.
Natural moe as in it permeates through her personality, not by some stupid contrived gimmick to force it in by shoving it in your face like many a modern title.
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2011-12-16, 22:41 | Link #16 | ||||||
Pretentious moe scholar
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 37
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That said, I do think that Nadeko and Kuroneko are at their bests when they can use their devastating “onii-chan” or “senpai” attacks on their target, so age relative to others is a factor. Ironically, it’s actually the eldest of the three – Azusa – that I think would be subject to the greatest change. I think she’d still be cute, but the character of her cuteness would change. As a teenager, she’s pretty high strung and I think she’s mellow out given a few years. Quote:
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Kana and Ayana themselves are pretty cute, and I’d actually say that Kana looks better now in her early 20s then she does in the pictures I’ve seen of her as a teenager. Quote:
I keep getting this mental image of an adult – and very beautiful in an elegant sort of way – Nadeko introducing herself with “remember me, onii-chan?”. Given how popular the three characters are I kept wondering why it was so hard to find fanart of them as adults, given that I can find artwork of a character like Ever 17’s Coco as an adult… then I realized the Coco picture was drawn by the artist who did the CGs for the original game and hence isn’t really fanart in the strictest sense.
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2011-12-17, 03:49 | Link #18 |
Stupidity is Bliss.
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: In Hancock's Heart
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Adult versions of those mentioned characters, i would take any day over their loli counterparts. Fantasizing over loli characters is just so wrong in so many levels, for me atleast. That's why i'll never understand these lolicons' taste LOL.
Kuroneko's adult self would be so win btw!! |
2011-12-17, 04:39 | Link #19 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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Since the K-On manga has been continuing up to this point, we get to see Azusa in her senior year at high school. She's likely not growing much more after that. She's still short...short to the point the first years mention it (interally). They tend to mention cute as well. She has mellowed out a little bit since shes taken over the light music club. She doesn't have to deal with Ritsu, Mio, Yui, and Mugi anymore, so she's not required to hold anyone above her in status. Well aside from Sawako...who is generally not treated like an elder. Azusa has her own band to form, which has been most of the plot so far...well that and getting to know everyone, since Jun and Ui needed more personality, Azusa's mellowing needed to be addressed, and the new band members needed time as well.
If the manga continues, we may actually see Azusa in college since this manga does not seem to keep the characters young forever.
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2011-12-17, 15:10 | Link #20 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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