Quote:
Originally Posted by TJR
I don't think anyone's denying that. However, by saying that Kimikiss changed demographics, you're employing that they started targeting women, which isn't true.
They may have misunderstood the intolerance for multi-character romances among otaku. They may also have downplayed the sexual atmosphere (which isn't usually a problem, given the success of shows like Kanon or AIR).
However, Kimikiss was always geared toward the same audience, which is why it failed. Most likely, the director wanted to present a different angle to a typical harem formula to make it more refreshing for fans. Nevertheless, making it "josei" was never the intention. Rather, they added a few twists to the standard shounen formula (inspired by female-oriented romances) that otaku couldn't stomach for reasons they didn't anticipate.
You can also think back to Kannagi and the uproar (fortunately, that occurred after the series already won so many fans. However, if they'd established it from the start - in fact, throw in some recurring confirmation that Nagi had slept with several guys in the past but present the same show otherwise - who knows how things might've turned out?). Being able to read the audience and understand their way of thinking is crucial.
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I think the bolded sentence hits it on the head. The primary audience for the source material is very comfortable in their very deep rut. This is sad because it punishes innovation -- and frankly, there's some real shallow stories in that deep rut. Its probably one of the reasons I'm liking the subversive undercurrents recent authors are throwing in that the rage-otaku are missing on their "no innovation allowed" radar. I'll just keep searching for the exceptions amongst the usual.
On the positive side, it looks like each "parallel universe" is going to get sufficient time budget to tell an interesting story about each "heroine".