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Old 2007-04-17, 16:40   Link #61
Vexx
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I had to resort to the Urban Dictionary to even understand what the term "intellectual whore" meant.... sounds kind of mysogynist (as if it were impossible for people of opposite sex to have platonic friendships).

Despite having quite a number of attractive friends of the opposite sex (whom if I were stuck on an island castaway and we were there for months... yeah it'd happen) -- I think calling someone that because they don't *need* to frolic with someone just because they're of the opposite sex or because the social context isn't there or because the name-caller can't comprehend such a relationship ... is a bit off-key.

I suppose Canvas 2 offers the kind of person you're suggesting though. Hideki is surrounded by girls but treats them all as simply people for 99% of the series.
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Old 2007-04-17, 18:32   Link #62
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I think if anybody like Kouji Kabuto or Ryouma Nagare challenged a harem guy to a fight they would probably run away screaming for their mother.

Even then when they are not getting humiliated by a younger sister or childhood friend with a 8-Dan Black Belt they are usually just not doing much. I would say for the most part in anime they are just kind of boring and not really wusses, but this is because usually they come from games where they are left intentionally blank on the personality front so the player can inject himself into the characters shoes and situation (lots of girls to pick from).
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Old 2007-04-17, 23:18   Link #63
Zu Ra
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Originally Posted by DanielSong39 View Post
I think he meant that anime women are attracted to losers. Unfortunately it seems to be true more often than not.
Thats exactly what I mean was stating some anime cliches ^^
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Old 2007-04-18, 01:58   Link #64
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Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
I suppose Canvas 2 offers the kind of person you're suggesting though. Hideki is surrounded by girls but treats them all as simply people for 99% of the series.
That's not what an intellectual whore is. The difference between Hideki and an intellectual whore is that Hideki had two girls who wanted him. Someone who's an intellectual whore is a nice guy who first tries to become friends with the girl he likes but he sees friendship as a natural and intermediate step towards a romantic relationship, while the girls view him only as a close friend most of the time and don't want to have a closer relationship with him. Why you could call them toys for the girls' entertainment is because deep down inside girls know what an intellectual whore is aiming for but they keep themselves intentionally ignorant about it.

Now that I think about it, the "nice guy" characters from anime could as well serve as intellectual whores in real life, and vice-versa. The only difference between a nice guy from an anime and a nice guy from real life is that the former pulls the relationship through while having a nice palette of girls to choose from. The palette probably isn't that important anyway, what's important is that his nice attitude serves him justice in the end.
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Old 2007-04-18, 02:16   Link #65
DanielSong39
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Those who lament spineless harem males are barking up the wrong tree... you guys might want to check out some shoujo, where you generally have bishounen, and not generic losers, as the male leads. And several of these guys do have multiple girls running after them.

I suggest Bokura Ga Ita or NANA for starters - but if you insist getting your fill from shows like SHUFFLE! or Love Hina... you only have yourself to blame.
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Old 2007-04-18, 09:21   Link #66
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Originally Posted by DanielSong39 View Post
Those who lament spineless harem males are barking up the wrong tree... you guys might want to check out some shoujo, where you generally have bishounen, and not generic losers, as the male leads. And several of these guys do have multiple girls running after them.

I suggest Bokura Ga Ita or NANA for starters - but if you insist getting your fill from shows like SHUFFLE! or Love Hina... you only have yourself to blame.
Actually even the shoujo animes have a-sholes there. I dont get my fillings from there too. I blame creators who relate themselves to idiots.
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Old 2007-04-18, 21:09   Link #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielSong39 View Post
Those who lament spineless harem males are barking up the wrong tree... you guys might want to check out some shoujo, where you generally have bishounen, and not generic losers, as the male leads. And several of these guys do have multiple girls running after them.

I suggest Bokura Ga Ita or NANA for starters - but if you insist getting your fill from shows like SHUFFLE! or Love Hina... you only have yourself to blame.
Yeah, but in that case they often end up being to perfect like Chiba Mamoru, Yukito Tsukishiro or Allen Schezar (Wait I like these characters). It's still kind of true.
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Old 2007-04-18, 21:23   Link #68
rooboy
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Someone who's an intellectual whore is a nice guy who first tries to become friends with the girl he likes but he sees friendship as a natural and intermediate step towards a romantic relationship, while the girls view him only as a close friend most of the time and don't want to have a closer relationship with him.
I'd just like to point out that "intellectual whore" is a gender neutral term, it is used to refer to both females and males. I know because I've had some, though at the time the phrase "cuddle b**ch" was more commonly used.

Either way (to address Vexx's point that it's misogynistic and doesn't allow for friendship between men and women) it isn't intended to refer to all male/female friendships. Only those specific ones where one partner is obviously trying to make it into something more, and generally it's the other person who first coins the term. As in, "X likes you, do you want to go out with him?" "No, he's just my intellectual whore." (I still think cuddle b**ch sounds better, but I like to curse for no apparent reason also ).
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Old 2007-04-18, 23:17   Link #69
archanfels
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Here's the law:

Shonen love manga(aka Harem) = bunch of beautiful girls fall for a spineless wuss for no apparent reason.

Shoujo love manga = legions of perfect guys fall for a flat-chest idiotic chick for no apparent reason.


They follow the same pattern, and can be annoying just the same.

For me, while the male leads being losers can definitely be annoying, the real damage comes in when the female characters start falling for him. Girls who fall for spineless wusses lose my respect and interests in them far too fast than any of their "moe" elements can earn them.
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Old 2007-04-19, 05:24   Link #70
Honey_and_Cleaver
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Originally Posted by archanfels View Post
Here's the law:

Shonen love manga(aka Harem) = bunch of beautiful girls fall for a spineless wuss for no apparent reason.

Shoujo love manga = legions of perfect guys fall for a flat-chest idiotic chick for no apparent reason.


They follow the same pattern, and can be annoying just the same.

For me, while the male leads being losers can definitely be annoying, the real damage comes in when the female characters start falling for him. Girls who fall for spineless wusses lose my respect and interests in them far too fast than any of their "moe" elements can earn them.
You said it.
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Old 2007-04-21, 23:14   Link #71
asaqe
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At least in shoujo manga the girl doesnt look too pathetic.
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Old 2007-04-21, 23:18   Link #72
Xellos-_^
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Originally Posted by asaqe View Post
At least in shoujo manga the girl doesnt look too pathetic.

Have you seen sailormoon and fushigi Yuugi
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Old 2007-04-22, 00:26   Link #73
kujoe
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Toua (specifically, his first post in this thread) and archanfels hit the proverbial nail on the head.

As far as harem anime goes, I don't mind if a bunch of girls fall for the lead (what else am I suppose to expect?) as long as the guy earns the adoration of his admirers. Sadly, I'm not so sure if that happens regularly nowadays.

npal made a point earlier of having too many girls in a story, and that also deserves to be thought about more in my opinion. Just how can you expect the male lead to be nice to everybody while maintaining his "normal guy" status without crossing the line into womanizer/heartbreaker territory? The balance is sort of tricky, and the characterization must maintain a certain sense of growth and consistency. (Another vote here for Makoto of El Hazard. Preferably, from the OVA.) Perhaps the story can also shift its focus and legitimately show why a certain girl falls for the hapless, nice guy next to her. With all those characters, the writers should think about focusing on them more once in a while.

Someone mentioned Ataru Moroboshi earlier, and indeed, that's what I call a true harem lead! That lecherous bastard had the intention since day one, and his hilarious attempts for scoring with every hot woman in the universe never gets old. Then again, Urusei Yatsura is too much of romantic comedy with a greater emphasis on the comedic part of the equation, so I suppose that's why the whole premise works.

I'm also surprised that Yang Guo is mentioned in a discussion such as this by the way. I expected the usual suspects—such as Keitaro or whoever. But Yang Guo's harem..? Now, there's a thought. I admit, I haven't seen it that way before.

Last edited by kujoe; 2007-04-22 at 01:09.
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Old 2007-04-22, 09:25   Link #74
Nightengale
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Originally Posted by kujoe View Post
I'm also surprised that Yang Guo is mentioned in a discussion such as this by the way. I expected the usual suspects—such as Keitaro or whoever. But Yang Guo's harem..? Now, there's a thought. I admit, I haven't seen it that way before.
Personally, in such discussions, I prefer to bring in unconventional variants. It's so easy to rip on the "wusses" even when most of them really aren't that pathetic of human beings, but what's the fun in that? Not to mention guys like Yang Guo and Wai Xiaobao (( from Deer and the Cauldron/Duke of Mount Deer ))predate these typical anime/manga archetypes far as harem leads.

In my opinion, Yang Guo is argubly one of the examples of a lead that for all his deeds in maintaining the "balance" so to speak, it clearly creates a painful situation. His affection to his one true love is no secret to anyone, but because of that, his strong but not-of-romantic-thoughts interactions with other girls and his devotion to his love makes other girls still love him despite all that. And clearly, they, and himself suffered from it. He's not oblivious to the other girl's feelings, but that itself doesn't make things better.

As for the other "Jin Yong novel wuss"...I dunno. He clearly wins where so many other fail in the respect of a harem-winner, but he himself clearly is a shame as a human being. It's tough to blame him for his choice since choosing means sacrificing half of what made him who he is, but it's hard to respect him too for he brought that all to himself.
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