Animated Guys: American Big Muscle vs. Japan Slender Dudes

[Trauma Llama]

Great point. The only American Super-hero I like is Spiderman...(maybe because he's a skinny dork.) xd

[Hitokage]

Tabatha12

Slender because they are cuter and are normal sized. I hate it when they are so muscular that they are bigger than a normal person.

Stick people scare me...

[tsukasa_is_mine]

Rinna Chan

Hmm, nice points. I like your analysis of American and Japanese body types. If choosing prefrence - DEFINATLY slender. xd So sexy.

Sexy alright XD

[Defektive Wings]

It is possible that the more slender body structure may very well be the "norm" in Japan, not because they're trying to make it pretty, but because they're making their characters as realistic as possible.

Now, I'm not overly Japanese, nor am I overly American, but the body structure of an American vs. a Japanese could be considered quite different. Asians as a whole are loosely understood to be smaller in stature and possibly much skinner whereas Westerers/Americans are understood to have a denser build/taller/bigger.

It could be because of the two cultures' diets, it could be because of anything. I'm not trying to label anyone here, and I'm just using an old, loose stereotype as my basis. It's just a speculation, after all.

[TT_Dragon]

Knives666

Great point. The only American Super-hero I like is Spiderman...(maybe because he's a skinny dork.) xd

That's a good point. Spiderman is pretty skinny, and I actually do like him also cuz he is, as you say "a skinny dork." He's kind of the anti-hero, given nifty super powers, but despite all his efforts to use them to be good, karma, for one reason or another, always causes grief for him. No matter how much he tries to make people who hate him, like him, no matter how many friends he tries to save from the dark path, they inevitiably end up becoming his enemy anyways. But he still tries.

But I digress. I don't know if any of the the skinny-anime-guy-loving girls here think that Peter Parker is "hawt". Any takers?

[Synyster the Wicked]

Slender. :3 Boy, I love my slender males. Lol, j/k! I mean, it's just more appealing, because... just because. :3

[TT_Dragon]

Defektive Wings

It is possible that the more slender body structure may very well be the "norm" in Japan, not because they're trying to make it pretty, but because they're making their characters as realistic as possible.

Now, I'm not overly Japanese, nor am I overly American, but the body structure of an American vs. a Japanese could be considered quite different. Asians as a whole are loosely understood to be smaller in stature and possibly much skinner whereas Westerers/Americans are understood to have a denser build/taller/bigger.

It could be because of the two cultures' diets, it could be because of anything. I'm not trying to label anyone here, and I'm just using an old, loose stereotype as my basis. It's just a speculation, after all.

Yep, as I stated before. For instance, I'm a Chinese born in America. guess what? I'm 6ft tall and over 200 lbs. I am quite NOT the typical short, skinny, asian guy (well, I used to be when I was like 16 y.o., but that was ages ago). mrgreen

[xBlackrosethx]

Slender. o_o Most of the bishies on my list are slender but have some muscles. <3 -hugs Ryou and Malik-

[MaikeruTX]

I kinda prefer the more realistic figures in American animation these days. Well... as realistic as superheroes can get. I don't hate the slender, fey pretty boys, but it seems so unrealistic to me.

I mean, you're not gonna find many people who look like them anywhere. Like, the only person I can think of who mimics that is T.M.Revolution... But he's a famous celebrity who, no doubt, has an army of professional stylists and makeup artists working on him to capture that effeminite look on a regular basis.

Most people simply can't pull it off. I want to gag every time I see one of those pouty, beanpole-thin, emasculated emo types on TV, personally.

...okay, so that was more about real people than animated people. Still.

[Saiyan Prince Vegita]

*Destroys your theory* Dragonball Z, Fist of the North Star, Street Fighter II . . .

Conversely: Futurama, Baby Blues, Clerks . . . .

[SexiiShadow33]

I think one has to stop and think about whether one would like these people if they were actual human beings.

For example, in cartoon characters, I have fun with both types but tend to be more attracted/biased toward the slender "bishy" type. But if there were a guy that thin and effeminite in real life, I probably wouldn't find him as attractive because really, he would just look like a girl. o_o I will admit that I don't like overly muscular/tan/"macho" guys because it really isn't my type in the least. But I know some girls totally go for the "big and strong" archetype (one of my best friends, for instance). It just so happens that a couple of my turn-ons are longish/shaggy hair and just a slight bit of scrawniness.

I really just want a guy who looks fairly normal. Neither the bulky comic-book hero nor the frail anime "bishounen" really fits that.

[xBlackrosethx]

Meh. I guess I go for both, aswell. Akila Bakura is uber-strong and things, but he's still as sexy as hell. o_o Same goes for Mariku. But Ryou is scrawny and looks like a girl. XD Malik is scrawny but has muscles. All of 'em are drop dead gorgeous. ;P

[Lord_M]

Personally, I prefer the tall, slender girly-men. They just seem so much more elegant and handsome than some overly bulky brute. ^___^;

[TT_Dragon]

Saiyan Prince Vegita

*Destroys your theory* Dragonball Z, Fist of the North Star, Street Fighter II . . .

Conversely: Futurama, Baby Blues, Clerks . . . .

As I stated in my first post stare That Japanese animation doesn't consist ENTIRELY of skinny boys. Gee whiz people, I think I'll go edit my post. I'm becoming convinced that people don't bother reading everything that's posted before replying.

Oh, and if you didn't know Saiyan Prince Vegita I think DBZ sucks xp
I swore the animators got paid by the minute of how much they can prolong an animated fight sequence. They somehow managed to turn a 30 second fight into a 5 episode long toture of one's sanity.

But Fist of North Star and Street Fighter are tolerable biggrin And Ninja Scroll was pretty good IMHO.

[Saiyan Prince Vegita]

TT_Dragon

Saiyan Prince Vegita

*Destroys your theory* Dragonball Z, Fist of the North Star, Street Fighter II . . .

Conversely: Futurama, Baby Blues, Clerks . . . .

As I stated in my first post stare That Japanese animation doesn't consist ENTIRELY of skinny boys. Gee whiz people, I think I'll go edit my post. I'm becoming convinced that people don't bother reading everything that's posted before replying.

Oh, and if you didn't know Saiyan Prince Vegita I think DBZ sucks xp
I swore the animators got paid by the minute of how much they can prolong an animated fight sequence. They somehow managed to turn a 30 second fight into a 5 episode long toture of one's sanity.

But Fist of North Star and Street Fighter are tolerable biggrin And Ninja Scroll was pretty good IMHO.

What you like somehow negates my point? And it doesn't matter if you didn't mean every series. There are enough works on both sides to disprove the stereotypess that you seem to subscribe to.

The fact that you don't like DBZ doesn't disprove the fact that Akira Toriyama used, as its staple, excessively muscled examples for the majority of the male characters, and even went so far as to find ways to extend the musculature even further via super saiyan.

The idea that the only kind of American cartoons involve muscled up superheroes is laughable to say the least. And many of those that DO involve superheroes don't use proportions that exceed typical standards (Static Shock, Teen Titans, Krypto come to mind right off the bat).