[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Please give me the opportunity to broaden my knowledge by asking you a few questions.

Are these flaws really limited to anime and manga or are they widespread problem that exist in every visual or animation genre out there? If exist something that doesn't have any of these flaws you mention, are they the norm or the exception in their respective genres? As in, do they make the bulk of the creations in that particular genre?

I'd say it has to exist in EVERY genre. If you look at the Disney heroines, ALL of them (human ones) have the same body type: regular/large bust size and tiny waist. Comic book women are the same too-they always have big breasts and big hips.

But, a lot of people can tell the difference between different artists' artwork. Shouldn't that be impossible if they suffer a lack of detail and variety?

Exactly! While it's common for characters from the same genre to look similar (it's most noticeable in dating sim-based anime, there is no "set" style for any of the genres. Shounen manga artists draw pretty men AND women, shoujo ones can be plain and more shounen-esque-looking. If you flip through a manga magazine, each artist has their own style that differs at least a little bit from the others.

Does the lack of distinction really mean bad body proportion? If anything, I think it shows that it is what is generally viewed as the perfect body proportion so it gets overused.

I agree. Sex sells (it ALWAYS does) so the artist draws sexy or moe-ish characters so people will buy their work. It's not just Japan but a great deal of the world's ideal image is "thin and beautiful". At least it's like that now. A very long time ago, this image was not valued as much; the evidence is shown through artwork from the era of Michelangelo and DaVinci. Paintings of women were actually a bit on the chubby side, yet very natural looking. And the people loved it. I'm not quite sure when the "thin with boobs" image became popular but since the corset was common during the Renaissance period, I'd imagine it must have been around then. Of course, corsets were actually made for men first...but that is still promoting a "I must look thinner!" image. They were made to correct your posture too but I should think there would be a way to do that without literally squeezing your body into an hourglass shape!
Maybe a history buff can provide some input on this? It's not really my area of expertise...^^;

By the way, everything you hear about corsets is true. You cannot breathe or eat in them with ease but damn will you look fantastic. Even a girl with Izumi Konata's bust-size will suddenly have the image of a B-cup if she puts on a corset!