I am The Compendium
Cogent Dream
I haven't watched it in a long time but I swear there was an outfit where the dress was really short and that every time she transformed, her skirt would billow out behind her, showing a lot of thigh.
So? That's a short skirt. It doesn't mean it's mean to be sexy. Putting a tutu on your dog doesn't mean it's sexy. It's a poofy short skirt that shows no underwear.
Cogent Dream
If Bakuman has taught me anything, it's that manga authors are constantly judging their audience and trying to incorporate things that will boost ratings. Hence the existence of fan service. Hence no ugly heroines.
There aren't ugly men in LOTR and that's not based on fanservice. Why should manga be any different?
Cogent Dream
It's not that sexualisation is the focus of the show, it's just that it exists and you
know somewhere there's otakus going crazy over these girls.
Where's your proof? A short skirt that's functional or pretty? A short skirt when girls at that age already wear short skirts?
Cogent Dream
Admittedly, you could argue that almost everything is arranged for a reason and hence almost anything can be a marketing tool.
You can argue the sun goes around the moon. Doesn't mean it does. doesn't mean CCS is representative of a huge umbrella trope, either.
Cogent Dream
More on topic though, would you watch CCS if Sakura was a boy?
This is actually a case where marketing is relevant and did take place. 4kids tried to advertise it to boys. It failed. There are plenty of male who pick up the manga and unbutchered version of
the anime for non-hentai reasons. Just put the DVD on at a con.
Cogent Dream
Example isn't so good because CCS was a good show.
So bad shows are about sex now?
Cogent Dream
How about Sailor Moon then?
It was a good show. The skirts are functionally short. The heroines are chaste. The closest you get is the occasional 'accidental compromising position' joke or a toddler trying to steal someone's towel. It's called artistic nudity and you'd have top prove every single naked picture in an art gallery is there for to be sexualised too.
Cogent Dream
If the MCs were a boy group?
You mean the starlights, who were boys who became girls? Those aren't sexualised either.
Cogent Dream
I wouldn't, and that's probably one reason why magical males are less common, it doesn't sell as well.
Magical males? You mean magi-rangers? The popular power rangers season where the girls and boys both had magical transformations and used magic? Or do you mean Kamen Rider Kabuto, where men changed into mech suits that was hugely popular among girls? Or are we talking the thousands of magical girl shows that boys like for the plot?
1. A short skirt on a girl is different to one on an animal - which is nude all the time. The social stigma on this has lessened over time, but isn't the purpose of short skirts, heels, makeup, etc. to sexualise the wearer (by making them physically look more attractive in some way)?
2. I dunno ... how's Gimli? The hobbits? That elf girl's father (my memory is failing me at this point)? Also, I was focused on anime since the discussion was revolving around Sailor Moon and CCS.
3. Prepubescent girls usually/hopefully don't wear short skirts (although I'm beginning to see it more and more). Can't find specific picture of a CCS otaku, since any search involving the words "Cardcaptor Sakura" end up with too much other stuff. Nanoha (another magical girl) has quite the older male otaku following.
4. How would you argue the sun goes around the moon? Maybe it's because of my commerce background, but I believe market forces would have resulted in more magical males if it were profitable. As it stands, there's more magical girls (I think this was the point of the thread, if not I apologise for going off in the wrong direction) and that's because magical girls are more easily marketed. My point is a lot more valid than the sun revolving around the moon.
5. No, CCS is a good show for either gender so it doesn't really matter if Sakura is a boy. Also, the crux of my argument isn't the sexualisation, it's the marketability. Sexualisation is just a part of it.
6. 7. 8. Again, the focus isn't sexualisation, that was just an example of marketability. Also, I wasn't aware mechs and power rangers fell into the category of magical males.