#shounen anime women

[summergoodwife]

"If you want well-written women/queer representation/nuanced character arcs/less wish fulfillment/etc. just consume something other than shounen" completely misses the point of the original complaint. Like no, I don't just want representation. I want representation in shounen, the genre that I otherwise love but that never seems to respect people like me. And shounen can have representation. The idea that there's somehow a contradiction between those two things may come from a different place when it's shared by underrepresented people themselves, but it ultimately arrives at the exact same conclusion as anti-woke dudebros who think trans people and women existing is an assault. I have had too many other marginalized folks recite anti-representation, anti-diversification, pro-identity-based-gatekeeping arguments to me word-for-word without seeming to realize the logical end of what they're saying.

[shannonsketches]

I can't forgive Super's anime for a lot of reasons but I especially can't forgive them deciding Vegeta's casual wear is Costco Dad when the manga clearly said Gym Dilf

[grimlock]

I'm being SO brave (resisting the urge to be nitpicky and pendant over a post where i otherwise understand the point)

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Beefleaf isn't canon. Mxtx has said she doesn't like to write another gay ship different from the main (she struggled with svsss)

I have heard about this! The content I saw was just so insistent about Beefleaf that I wondered if maybe I was misremembering and the "no same-gender side couples" thing applied to MDZS only. (I have gotten similar vibes from Moshang and from whatever Yue QIngyuan and Shen Jiu's ship name is, but I've now obtained Vol. 1 of SVSSS and plan to read it, so if those two aren't actually canon, don't tell me! It can be a surprise!)

The "no side couples"--or, in MDZS's case, "no queer characters AT ALL besides the protag, his love interest, and the disgraced goth weirdo who annihilates himself to resurrect the protag"--thing confuses me, because... I guess I don't get the point of it? I totally understand not having the bandwidth to develop more than one couple. The challenge of adequately building up other relationships fully independent of your main couple without detracting from the exploits of your protagonist and his love interest could be daunting, as would expanding the story's focus and juggling multiple equally-prominent lead characters for an effective ensemble piece. But here it seems like people picked up a vibe between the characters from what was already there in the text and then MXTX was like, "oh, no, they're not a couple! there's just the one couple!" and THAT I don't get. If she's disinterested in writing women, but has a cast of attractive men who are all obsessed with each other, why not toss a romance in there between some of the guys? Again, you can keep it entirely as-is and just toss a kiss in there or confirm in interviews that yes, they were in love, and you're so happy readers picked up on that even though you didn't get to tell their full story on the page.

I am extrapolating based on the Xiyao situation specifically, so maybe this doesn't apply to her other works! But it is a choice that confuses me. A couple doesn't have to be that developed; Xuanli certainly aren't, but their existence is a major plot point. I should think that the presence of other m/m couples would bolster the main couple, if anything, because it sets a precedent for them existing in their world. There are situations where adding an expressly romantic element would change something fundamental about the relationship, but there are just as many where the addition of a romantic element changes nothing or makes it make more sense (case in point: Xue Yang's freakout after killing Xiao Xingchen).

Like I said, I get not wanting to devote energy to it, and I also get that sometimes a work or performance is received by the audience in ways the artist didn't intend (this is the Destiel website, after all), but to make it a conscious choice to have One M/M Couple Only? Based on what I currently know, this perplexes me.

[tariah23]

Is it true that Deku’s friends stopped talking to him after he became quirkless or are incel dudebros just making exaggerating as always and being weird about ships…

[agnesandhilda]

thinking about my male blorbos that I sincerely believe are heterosexual and how the common thread uniting them all is that they have compelling relationships with fleshed-out female characters

[mbg159]

What Your Favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Girl Says About You

[Main Girls Only][DM][GX]

Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski (likes the second half of the series): You are pretty chill, and almost definitely a Faithshipper. You’re very fond of doing all kinds of scenarios of their first meeting. You write at least one thing per day appreciating her development. You really, really like the rollerskates episode. Even if it could have been better, you still love Yusei giving her Stardust. You get really sad during the ending, but you know in your heart of hearts that they definitely kissed offscreen.

Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski (dislikes the second half of the series): You got the taste of a girl who was straight-up unhinged, and you've been chasing that high ever since. You find bondage jokes incredibly funny. You have at least one very strong opinion about Crow. Despite your feelings on the second half (most of which can be described as "seething"), you have a soft spot for Sherry. To this day, her battle theme still generates a Pavlovian response of swooning tears in you.

Ruka/Luna: Your soul aches every day for her wasted potential. You started reading the manga the moment you saw scans of how it did her. You were very surprised when Ancient Fairy Dragon got banned. You have edited characters to be wearing flower crowns at least once. You’re still not quite sure what to think about her brother, but you definitely wish Life Stream had showed up earlier. You spent eighty episodes waiting for a followup for the end of Ep. 67, and are still waiting.

Carly Nagisa/Carly Carmine: You are a Scoopshipper, with no questions asked. You were utterly horrified when you found out about the cult thing (even if your source may have been somewhat inaccurate). You refuse to rewatch the second half of the series, and have devoted lengthy fanfics to what really happened afterward. You aren’t sure if you like nerds or goths, and you’re glad you don’t have to choose. You have tried to do Fortune Fairy-based readings in real life.

Misty Lola/Misty Tredwell: You may be into Isolationshipping or you may be into Omenshipping, but regardless of where you fall, you are certain she loves women. You saw that bit where she cradles Carly’s face and went “god, that girl is lucky.” Your favorite part of the whole DS arc was when she has Ccaryhua swallow Divine whole. You are very, very angry she’s not in Duel Links yet. (Like, I wrote this in 2021 originally, and she's still not in it? What?)

Sherry LeBlanc: You actually don’t hate the second half, but it’s largely due to her. You have either watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, or have been told several times that you should watch it. You may not be a Roseknightshipper, but you definitely have an LGBT headcanon. You have mixed feelings about how her arc ended, and would have preferred if the entire season was just her running around kicking stuff.

Martha: You hate every single other parent in every other series because you have seen her episodes and beheld a standard none have yet lived up to. She takes no shit, she's a rain of sunlight in a land of misery, she sacrifices herself tragically. Why the fuck did she barely appear after Dark Signers? You just want to talk to the person who made that decision, you say while loading a shotgun.

Mikage Sagiri/Mina Simington: You may be a Careshipper whose favorite arc is Fortune Cup, or an Ushio/Mikage shipper whose favorite arc is Dark Signers. Either way, you just really, really like office ladies, okay? You either think she's cute, relate to her beleaguered nature, or both. Also, did you know there's no ship name for Ushio/Mikage? I didn't until recently, but you definitely do.

Stephanie: Man, you picked the biggest third wheel in the entire franchise and a woman who only appears in the second half to be your fave, huh? That takes a lot of guts. And to my immense surprise, despite her entire existence being "waitress" and "one-note obsession with Jack Atlas", you have decided your OTP with her is Carly. Rock on, Stephanie fans, you make the world brighter.

Misaki: You decided to go dumpster-diving in the video games and found a gem. You understand that the only thing that could have made Bruno's arc better is if he was also Rei Ayanami. The bit at the end where she finally smiles melted your heart like butter in the sunrise. You insist Watts are underrated. You sadly know deep down that there's a reason the only female Yliaster member is non-canon.

[whamss]

anyways top two tips for finding media with well written female characters! 1) consume media written by women and 2) stop consuming things written for adolescent boys!!!!

[thenntrewrite]

I've been thinking and I want to yap about this: The main catalyst for the entire story—Meliodas and Elizabeth's connection and being cursed by their parents—is in the rewrite. But execution wise, it's different. They sort of go from enemies to lovers to friends by the end.

I wholeheartedly feel Elizabeth didn't really have a chance to live her life out and flesh herself out as a character beyond the main character's love interest. I know she's empathetic, kind, very forgiving, but what about her life before Meliodas? I still think about the Bloody Ellie incident and how there's been absolutely no showing of Elizabeth being beyond the 'empathetic healer that used the power of kindness to drive the demons out' (As far as I can remember. I am overdue for a manga reread). The most damage she's done was to Meliodas the one time he was being a dick and forced her to slap the shit out of him with Arc (And one of the DK fights, but since they all fought him THREE TIMES, it's hard to recall if Elizabeth pulled off the gloves or not. The last time I read that ending was in 2020). Hell, the games do her more justice by giving her a staff. Nothing against healers, they sure do a lot as support for the fighters, but if you're going to insinuate that your character is beyond a healer, than at least show it. I just want Elizabeth to be a properly written character that stands strong on her own and have her backstory written, y'know?

And, well, I'm not the biggest fan of Melizabeth. I can respect Meliodas spending 3,000 years fighting for their love, and Elizabeth being his rock, but when you throw in a curse that bounds you for life, being by your reincarnated love's side when she's a baby/kid, knowing she's destined to fall in love with you again, it feels a lot less romantic. Especially when you look at the first episode in isolation without knowing the backstory, like you really didn't think twice on groping that teenager! I think they could've been super cute if, again, execution was better. But alas, it was not and it's left a terrible taste in my mouth.

[popuplee]

hiding this on the side but like. not to sound pretentious but if ure doing a top 10 characters & there’s not a single gal in sight thag is a red flag. to me

[vilsoo]

male jjk “fans” on twitter are so fucking weird and annoying and this applies to every male shounen fanbase out there 🙃 just a cesspool of incels that love hating on women that genuinely enjoy the series

[tazzertopia]

something that’s always bothered me in anime (mainly shounen) is when the female characters will train to the same extent that the male ones do, undergoing extremely physically taxing regimes- as well as being skilled in combat (on the same level as their male counterparts) yet they’ll have zero muscle ???????? like the male character who’s been training for two months will be fucking ripped, yet the female character who’s been training for ten years will be built like a stick. maybe it’s my love for buff women talking but battle anime needs more buff women NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[hopeworth]

“stop making lesbian headcanons about male characters” i’ll make gay man headcanons about female characters as well you can’t stop me. shout out to riza hawkeye fr.

[hanzajesthanza]

obsessed that the one time dandelion ever actually felt guilt in his entire life maybe was not for the cheating, not for the cucking, not for the drinking, not for the whoring, not for the cheating (reprise), not for the avoiding paying his tab, not for the petty and minor theft, but he felt bad because he felt like he was not that good of a friend to geralt

[arosnowflake]

I think we'd all be better off if we stopped pretending that the popularity of m/m in fandom is because of queer suppression in mainstream media or female sexuality or whatever and just admit it's because fandom is misogynistic and the vast majority of ppl who participate in it just can't get themselves to care about female characters.

[franeridan]

you'll think you've gotten better at dealing with the way women are written in anime or that maybe anime have gotten better at writing women and then you'll realise the only thing that got better is your ability to pick shoujo over shounen