stuff anime fanboys like: #1 genderbending
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Tagged: haruhi suzumiya:kyonko
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Today a topic to kick of our discussion of anime fanboys. A most grave and serious topic indeed.
Stuff Anime Fanboys Like: #1 Genderbending
There’s no doubt that anime fanboys are inhabitants of the fringes of pop culture society. One has to have a certain outlook on life to view two dimensional cartoons as anything other than funny Elmer Fudd antics or moronic auto insurance advertisements. While the sexual deviance of lusting after scantily clad 14 year old cartoon characters is a topic of concern in itself, anime fanboys don’t necessarily care which gender that 14 year old drawing represents. In fact, for most anime fanboys, ambiguity is not just a diversion, it’s a way of life.
Life to them is not about characters being “male” or “female” but characters that can break the line that exists inbetween. It’s almost like knowing the gender of the character itself destroys the perception of the anime fanboy, so they would rather not know. They would rather be shot than know the truth.
Besides genderbending characters that have appeared in anime, anime fanboys have even been known to manufacture such characters out of characters that do not have any original sexual ambiguity. For example, the time that anime fanboys have spent writing, drawing, and posting online videos for a minuscule anime series of only 14 episodes in length has well surpassed a quarter million words and thousands of drawings. A quarter million words is already the length of War and Peace. Imagine if someone re-wrote War and Peace just to swap the genders of Anna and Pierre. That’s what these fanboys have taken to themselves. There’s no reason to believe why they would embark on such an undertaking if they didn’t like it.
It is not clear why exactly anime fanboys exert such energy to promote gender confusion. It might be worse than just the perception of the character: the anime fanboy might use the uncertainty in gender roles as a prop to exist in real life and use it as an escapist route. Nonetheless, it is what anime fanboys like.
97 Responses to “stuff anime fanboys like: #1 genderbending”
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Hmm, should I say “First” at this point?
Lawl…. crap, did anybody else look at that picture and immediately think “Ponytails turn me on”?
This site is messing me up. Fanboy thing number 2 better be Melonpan, or else the fanbase is going to be all warped and broken.
Oooh boy, I just can’t wait until the Haess, Crusader, and the usual folks read this. I’ll get my power armor and bolter. Best be prepared…
Hmmm, and what day is today?
gonna stay in the land raider till this crap blows over…*i should finish painting my mk II some time this century*
My first thought after reading this was…
Gosh War and Peace was ONLY 250,000 words? I read A (keyword singular) couple of Fanfiction that was EACH way over that… (A love hina and a Negima) I’m actually more scared of the power of fandom because of that.
Well I really like genderbending anime/manga but usually only from male to female, MoHS is the only exception.
Why? just imagine any series with bigger harems and/or more Yuri. Isn’t that enough to switch out some chromosomes.
So, wait. Genderbending is a moe mode or something now? Not sure how to react to that…
Because boredom and ennui from the long wait hath driven us to such visions. It is as our lady intended for we have now all committed the first 14 to memory that we must now await her new prophet. We have wandered the deserts of Clannad and though the oases are abundant they do not slake out thirst to see our revered Lady once again. Time and again we have found nothing but meisters and they do little for us. The gospel of Mako-cakes is almost at an end and the stars have still not foretold the second coming. Kyon-ko has brought us a message of hope that we need not watch our DVDs until they melt to remain faithful. The Coming of Kyon-ko the Reclaimer was foretold in the Mikuru-ran scrolls. Kyon-ko will blaze the path in which Our Lady will return, we must follow if we are to preserve the records of the first coming and survive another 40 years of wandering the Anime Wastes until Our Lady deems it time to bring us back to the club room with St. Nagatochi, St. Tsuruya, and St. Mikuru with Kyon Imouto in a bag will greet our worn and weary souls and give us a helping of Mikuru tea.
The answer to question 1 is quite obviously: Rumiko Takahashi + Ranma 1/2.
A starting point for many a (younger) anime fan, and it featured bouncing boobies.
On a guy-turned-girl.
It was the strangest kind of innocent: here was a series which knew that it was full of half-nude fanservice, yet it was not disgustingly pervy about it (though I’m sure the most conservative of
the mediaus would disagree) — you could show it to your little sister or girlfriend, and they wouldn’t be as grossed-out as by, say, porn.… just as an FYI though, Shampoo was better.
I think the point you made about how some characters can break the line that exists inbetween the male and female gender is an interesting proposition. It suggests that their characters are so awesome that they transcend the regular rules of sexuality – even if they’re male or female, it doesn’t matter.
To stretch the point further, if Kyon was even reimagined as a different type of species (e.g. a cat is fine too) his character is as such that it wouldn’t matter because which ever form he takes.
Kyon’s character is unique because his character is appealing to both sexes: we find him interesting as an anime male character because he isn’t whiny, weak, excessively kind, or stupid male character that we often see in harem or action shows. Kyonko has that slight ‘girl next door’ look but she doesn’t have the sweet or nice, dependable personality one would associate with that archetype.
When we reimagine Kyon as a female, Kyonko becomes the ideal girl that most anime fanboys like: smart, sassy, and not too assertive, yet can crack a wiseass remark when the situation calls for it. Her plainness ironically makes her uniquely different when so many other female characters today come in a rainbow of hair colors and clothing styles.
TL;DR – Kyonko is HOT
I think everyone above me summed it up nicely, except for the fact that everyone just made it complicated as hell.
Is it?
I think that Jason hit some major points about the movement that has gripped Haruhiism (that Fat Cat Lim then explained rather nicely), although I’m still baffled by the perceived gender confusion. Kyon-ko, in her recent inception, has always been a girl, and indeed, actually looks like one now, unlike earlier tries at this concept. I think the only regular poster on Jason’s blog that has still any lingering doubts is Haesslich, who still seems to have difficulty differentiating or, indeed, letting go of the idea that Kyon’s compelling personality (and indeed it is compelling) could be transfered to well to a female medium.
Darned it, I meant ‘transferred so well into a female medium.’ Stupid lack of a spellchecker…
No time for long post as I have to get moving, so I’ll make it quick:
This post was an excuse to use the Kyonko tag. Happy first.
Hmmm so we take a common male personality (about 20% of highschool and collage underclassmen or anyone who has worked in the fast food industry. (Sarcastic, jaded, indecisive, has-a-problem-with life-but-little-to-no-motivation-to-change-it-drastically-so-just-ends-up-bitching)about-it) and transpose it onto a female, with similar physical characteristics. I don’t understand what the big deal is. It seems just like normal fanboyism saying “This girl who looks like this with this guy’s personality is the perfect girl for me!”. Or is it special because of the fanatic following said guy’s show gets?
And not to mention Kyon is whiny (Read the novels, ugh sometimes his tirades are so damn hard to read.) So perhaps I just think that personality transposed onto a female would end up just like my two sisters (DO NOT WANT) so that is probably my bias. Thats just my two dollars on the subject
Gender confusion? Heck, try species confusion — where a cat is fine too.
Fat Cat Lim summed up things pretty nicely.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s the #1 characteristic fanboys like – there are plenty that are against the movement – but it’s a big one, I’d have to agree.
Kyonko, especially. Do we go so far as to blur the line where Kyon is not male? Pictures as above and such will remain as such. Doujins/fanfics as well – but I for one do not confuse where Kyonko is just a fictional non-canonical character created by 2channers that were bored waiting for the second season.
Kyonko is just another cog in the wheel, and I assume the wave will pass over, just like all the others. I figure it’s best to just enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Yes, more pictures for the Kyonko-folder~! /o/
Well, not the first thing I would think of. But if it´s well made then all is good. Kyonko is well made so gung-ho for her!
Nobuharu: “‘This girl who looks like this with this guy’s personality is the perfect girl for me!’. . . . . So perhaps I just think that personality transposed onto a female would end up just like my two sisters (DO NOT WANT) so that is probably my bias. Thats just my two dollars on the subject”
Er, if you don’t want them…..are your sisters moé?
Check that… knowing this blog, are they legal?
I don’t care if Kyonko has a penis, I’ll slam her backdoor with the strenght of a mod of raging Tsukasa’s deers in rut.
4 magical words.
Fap First
Worry Later.
The last link sums up the argument for me
Nice one, Jason. I admit, you really got me with that one. Damn me and my uncontrollable curiosity.
Cage: I hate April Fool’s Day.
I’m scared.
Dammit, that’s three rickrolls today.
Kyonko looks really hot in that picture. Argh.
Tamer than most April Fool’s jokes.
I was expecting a fake announcement about Haruhi 2.
The last link may be a Rick Roll, but the rest of the discussion post does have some merit on gender bending…
I came. Thank you.
never gonna give kyonko up, never gonna let kyonko down, never gonna run around and desert youuuuu la la la……
We really need to rename it Rickroll Day.
Ubu: Hmmm… the older (and legal) sister is a downright Asian bitch. Imouto actually started wearing ponytails right after I started reading this blog. So I though “Ponytails are ho- OH GEAS NO!”. But yes, people think she is moe, specially middle aged men. And I have crammed her into a duffel bag before. Too bad for everyone she is illegal. (Not like that would bother most of this blog’s audience anyway.)
I for one can’t understand this madness called genderbending, why is there need to twist perfectly good characters like this? Not enough melonpan around without? Some people just don’t satisfy with anything… Some people try to justify gb’ding by saying it’s done for both sex alike, but why then 99% of attention and fanart is on male-to-female characters? Female-to-male ones are done just to justify other way around! Not that i have anything against melonpan, but keep your benders far away from my Kyou-sama and forget all this nonsense!
I like how we’ve progressed from traps to actual gender changes, as well as the continuing worry that some fans have as a result. Just relax. :P
April Fool! It’s only RmX and his merry friends who do really.
At least we don’t have to worry about traps when going through the fap material of kyonkoxitsuko yuri.
… son of a bitch, this thing ate my thousand-word post.
Okay, time to try to reconstruct my argument, thanks to a fateful encounter with one of the links above.
I SUSPECT part of the appeal of genderbending stems from both historical roots in both Japanese and Western traditions of storytelling as well as the way gender roles and behaviors are/were-up-till-recently defined in both societies. Part of it has to do with the way that anime and manga started, being derived from older storytelling traditions and fused with Western-style animation before it developed its own flavor and feel upon taking off as a medium in Japan. Some of it probably also has to do with sexual mores and values in Japan regarding acceptable pairing types and activities.
Genderbending is an old, old story device (as is crossdressing) in human culture – there have been gods and spirits who literally went both ways (see the one that Tieria’s Gundam in 00 was named for), and stories where men pretended to be women to accomplish a goal (we have Achilles in Greek myth, various tales of men pretending to be women to avoid capture or steal things, etc). There are others where women pretended to be men, to escape marriage or whatever roles they were locked into by traditional gender views existed in the society of the time. It’s often played for comedy… and it’s not exactly a LONG jump to go from ‘looking like a girl’ to ‘being a girl’.
Plus, as one of the Tieria pictures in a previous post showed, what would be considered squicky or unacceptable by some people becomes perfectly normal and fine otherwise once you switch one member’s gender. That need to protect one’s self-image and gender preferences may have contributed to the genderbending movement among otaku as a means of self-defense; especially given how homosexuality among men has been viewed, especially recently, as something that involves a ‘feminine’ component to it given the mechanics of such acts, and the stereotypes perpetrated by media both here and overseas. This way it’s much easier to accept that you’d like the character as a girl/guy rather than their ‘true gender’, without compromising one’s sexual self-identification.
Kyonko’s appeal comes because of the fact that someone imagined her as a little, slightly-built girl rather than a tall, slightly-built girl… and more in the personality, as Fat Cat Lim pointed out. HOWEVER, as Nobuharu notes, Kyon’s personality type isn’t unique among guys – and things that would make him a normal guy, when fitted to a girl with the same personality and behavior, would be considered ‘tsundere’, which is a common ‘moe’ type among otaku at the moment. What is admirable in one gender is considered ‘normal’ in the other, or potentially negative – an example being Mikuru’s passiveness and easily-intimidated manner (moe if it’s a cute girl, wimpy and spineless in a guy). Another such example is Nobue in Ichigo Mashimaro – her oyaji personality and lolicon tendencies are creepy in a boy her age, but are seen as amusing because they’re so against the ‘normal’ preconceptions one has regarding a teenage girl’s behavior and likes.
And part of the draw comes from reverse sexism, IMO – things that would be unacceptable behavior from a man (Mikuru being force-stripped and cosplay-pimped out by Haruhi would be seen negatively if Suzimiya-san was male; ditto Mako-chan being bullied similarly by Kana in Minami-ke if their genders were swapped) are a source of comedy because appalling behaviors gain acceptability if it’s two members of the same gender or a reversed situation… since it’s ‘against role’. Maybe it’s just the need to find things that are different that drives trends like genderswapping and Kyonko, taking humor and pleasure out of things which would otherwise be seen as mundane if they were in another context/setting. In other words, the source of fun for many slice-of-life shows. ;)
Or the God-Empress is screwing with us all as she plots to unleash Alt-Nagato on the world, to the consternation of Kyon and the barely-suppressed glee of Yuki.N fanboys everywhere.
PS: I am still appalled at the heresy which Kyonko represents, but am resigned to it at the moment, since we’re still awaiting the God-Empress’ triumphant release from the Golden Throne in which KyoAni has sealed Her, so She may never truly die or grow mundane.
Also, one other thing to note – androgynous characters in anime and manga are nothing new… which means we’ve other influences to look at, regarding genderbending. The sudden explosion of bishounen outside of shoujo manga and shows, however, may have had an impact on recent shows and their traps… which in turn also has an impact on genderbending characters, although the latter makes a greater conceptual leap than the traps do (the former LOOK like girls, but need a bit of help, while the latter take characters – any characters – and make them girls/boys even if they had almost no physical characteristics that would translate over).
Kyonko reminds me of a Haruhi with a normal ponytail, from when he first met her… which is quite possibly part of why she’s drawn the way she is above. Especially given that she’s a second-year and should have the white serafuku instead of the Nagato-black first-year one I normally see her in.
…….kyonko trap is imba…..
no way theres a peen on this one.. i won’t accept it -.-
seriously (s)he is disturbingly attractive in this pic ….. must download wallpaper
@ferfie: Don’t worry. There isn’t. Continue your business.
>> Haesslich: Especially given that she’s a second-year and should have the white serafuku instead of the Nagato-black first-year one I normally see her in
The black isn’t year-dependent serafuku, it’s the cardigan. See Someday in the Rain set in the winter where both Yuki and Haruhi wear them (and the hot pot party scene in the ED where Tsuruya does), and Mysterique Sign set in the summer, where Yuki doesn’t.
Neriya: My mistake, then. Still, I -think- part of the reason to put Kyonko in that is to visually differentiate her more from Haruhi, who was almost always seen without it… and perhaps because the long sleeves go with the more ‘elegant’ look that I usually see Kyonko artists put on her.
“The black isn’t year-dependent serafuku, it’s the cardigan”
I’ll assume this is correct since Kyon’s first thought was that it was Mikuru’s. If the cardigan’s color was year dependant, he would not have thought this since both cardigans were the same color ( Yuki, Haruhi, Kyon, and Itsuki are first year students at this point), where if second year student Mikuru or Tsuruya-san had different colored cardigans, he should notice (as should we).
That said, aside from the blue and red field outfits, does North High have different items to destingish there first, second, and third year students?
>>till, I -think- part of the reason to put Kyonko in that is to visually differentiate her more from Haruhi, who was almost always seen without it
Actually, the real reason is that it’s because they used Yuki’s body as a base in early pictures…
In-verse, however, she probably wears it to draw less attention to her lack of melonpan.
Yuki probably wears hers for the same reason.
>>That said, aside from the blue and red field outfits, does North High have different items to destingish there first, second, and third year students?
Indoor shoe sole color. It’s the same as the field outfits: Blue for first year, red for second, green for third.
The shoe color originated in the anime, but has since migrated to the light novels.
Kaisos: I don’t think Yuki minds it much. She just… wears it. And it’s not like a lack of melonpan has stopped her supporters, or most doujin artists. As Konata said to Minami in a certain episode of Lucky Star, ‘You’re still in demand!’
And thank the gods I didnt’ mention the Zuka troupes above, or the Noh and Kabuki troupes…
>>And it’s not like a lack of melonpan has stopped her supporters, or most doujin artists. As Konata said to Minami in a certain episode of Lucky Star, ‘You’re still in demand!’
Did I say that it did?
I also fully expect her popularity to skyrocket after the second season… mmm, Alt-Yuki…
I would like to take this time and say that i have watched all 13 minami -ke, have observed all this gender bending…. etc etc and am Still un-broken…
I am going to be opening a therapy clinic for those of you who wish to follow my 10 step program to regain what sanity you once had and become whole again… For many of you, who would rather horde Kyonko pics and create Kyonko tags OTL…. it is already to late for you…. but for the rest I offer salvation so that once again you can live trap and reverse gender free. I can be contacted at ‘live-Kyonko-free@gmail.com’ Plz ask about our mako-chan special…..
disclaimer…. i can not guarantee 100% renewal of your former self.. especially if you are influenced by this blog… :-)
Remember money-grubbers cannot be broken, for they have no heart or soul. The more drone-ish types don’t even have brains. They just follow the trend of the day. :)
Another Jason: You, sir, sound more broken than the rest of us put together.. and that’s saying something. ;)
As for Minami-ke Okawari 13… at least they kept some things intact.
Kyonko a tsundere? I thought she’s the newly termed darudere. I can’t imagine her as a tsundere.
Fat Cat Lim: I termed her that because the original Kyon was initially a little cool to Haruhi due to the latter’s outrageousness and general weirdness, even if Kyon did grow to appreciate her lust for life, and warmed to her after a while even as he maintained his skepticism. In a girl, that’d be something I’d call tsundere.
@Another Jason: You’re what we call “pre-broken”, which makes you immune to any more brokenness than you’ve already previously experienced.
@FCL and Haess: ダルデレ. <- Darudere.
This is the term that has spring up to addresss Kyon(ko) or similar character traits. Unlike tsundere or Yangere/Yangire, Kyon isn’t much of a proactive individual even when it comes to love interests, thus warranting this term. It would associate with those with a weary attitude, and like Kyon, goes on bouts of ranting, instead of the usual tsun behaviors (which are much more common).
Ithekro “…..The more drone-ish types don’t even have brains. They just follow the trend of the day.”
I think that sums up the popularity of kyonko quite nicely … thank you :-D
Also Haes i would love for you to be my first client… if i can bring you back then no one can doubt my services XD…
Fun times….
I believe I was also one of the people who coined Kyonko as a tsundere, but I think i agree more with the darudere description. The original character… original… even now doesn’t seem that warm or outgoing to hauruhi. The re-iteration shouldn’t all of sudden be flirting and affectionate.
Hmm… darudere would also apply to Haruhi so far as love-matches go, no? She’s gotten pissed off and jealous, but never really acted upon those feelings. Of course, that term applies to Hayate Ayasaki too… I think.
@Haess: I would agree. I remember the big debate on whether or not Haruhi was a tsundere, and I was in the camp that thought she wasn’t. She never really had the whole tsuntsun/deredere act going at all, and now that darudere is on the table, I’m inclined to go with that.
Although I’m really not sure what to think of Ayasaki Hayate…
darudere =?;;
>>darudere =?;;
Haruhi Fujioka with a sex drive.
Kaisos I must say now that i think about it…. Kyonko and Haruhi Fujioka are pretty much the same arc-type …. thats almost a to perfect correlation… Ofcourse one is a perfectly wholesome and pure choice… and the other is ‘delicious wrong and tempting’ choice. which one would should you choose?
@Another Jason: Which one’s which? I see nothing wrong with choosing either of them.
Hayate has little interest in girls, doesn’t actively pursue, but does notice their charms (especially Hinagiku’s). Upon further thought, he isn’t a darudere but a normal teenage boy… unlike, say, Haruhi Fujioka.
i wish to be the little girl
I like gender bender … not Genderbending … there are key difference on that.
That is why Manshiro works as a possible Genderbending into Manshiro would not.
Manshiro just LOOKS like a girl – and acts like one. :P Slightly different story, there…
Manshiro is a man … Nagi was attracted because he did not act as a girl, also Mai seen Tate reflected on his attitude.
Also there are those blood nose moments.
The only point about him “acting as a girl” was his ability to sew.
If you attracted to Manshiro Haesslich … you are just like Negi …
Kyonko is hot.
And I checked the date of the article after reading it. Personally, I wonder what Jason’ actual opinion is.
Sorry, not actual opinion but Jason’s opinion as he would normally phrase it.
No, Manshiro’s not quite to my tastes. Erstin, on the other hand…. or Arika, for that matter. Heck, Nina’s quite nice. He’s a little effeminate, or at least acts in a way that many see as ‘girly’ in his passiveness and meekness – it’s just when he gets sick and tired of seeing others mistreated does he start acting the part of a King/Queen… and in doing so, draws all three girls to him. That’s also what Dark Mai saw as being Tate-like, when she went emo and declared that he needed to be removed ‘like that man who played with my heart’.
Nagi liked Manshiro because of the same things that drew Nina and Arika to him… and he was into S&M, as the Arashi manga reveals – any ‘girl’ who could hit him like that would be an instant ‘hit’ with him, pardon the pun.
Yes … Manshiro even cured Erstin from her phobia.
I keep away from the Mai series because looking at the anime images and episode summaries it seem nothing but “My-Yuri”, something I have a strong dislike so I was amazed how the manga is so … addicting and I will never understand why Sunrise decided to cater to the yuri fandorm instead of using the manga (its really bad how My-Otome is amazing as a manga and seems to be nothing but a trainwrech plot with Yuri teasing in the anime).
But anyway, that is the reason of my dislike of “Kyonko”, its just artwork … there is no context besides “this is Kyon as a female”.
Context is important, even gender bending a character is a risk … Haruhi only escapes being beaten to death because she a girl, if her gender is reversed but keep her personality her “gender shield” would be gone and we would be left with what? a Bully.
That is why I put that out, Manshiro works because there is a context … its not genderbending for the heck of it.
>>But anyway, that is the reason of my dislike of “Kyonkoâ€, its just artwork … there is no context besides “this is Kyon as a femaleâ€.
What?
There is an entire fan project on AnimeSuki. I personally am rewriting the entire novel series, with help from several editors.
It’s not “just artwork”.
>>Context is important, even gender bending a character is a risk … Haruhi only escapes being beaten to death because she a girl, if her gender is reversed but keep her personality her “gender shield†would be gone and we would be left with what? a Bully.
Haruki escapes being beaten because he’s GAR and awesome and basically gives out an aura of “don’t screw with me”.
Sure, he might be a bully, but that’s the point of genderbending. To see how things are different, to explore the concept of gender. In other words, you’re wrong
Drakron: She wasn’t cured of her phobia – it’s more that her ‘love of Manshiro’ let her work around it… if it were Manshiro’s elephant, rather than just any guy’s. Look at what she did to that Schwartz agent.
And yes, context is important.. as I think I pointed out earlier. Haruki may be GAR and awesome.. but yes, he’s still a bully, which means he’s probably not the most admirable of people. That’s the risk you play with genderbending – if you transpose the genders, the situation goes from humorous to possibly tragic.
The vibe I’m getting from Drakron is that he prefers the brokenness of genderbenders in the context of a plot rather than the reimagining of the characters as the other sex, in which case suit yourself.
And Haruki instills FEAR into the souls of his victims. It’s incredibly GAR, and great for humor purposes, as is the case with the Fujoshi Computer Society, who tremble in his presence following the revised version of the extortion.
I am sorry but I am not seeing Gar in a bully … and saying that he “instills FEAR into the souls of his victims” is broken, you are forgetting the simple fact that for most part Haruki is “normal” and not a Super Martial Artist as she gets away with what she does only because she is a girl.
You want to make Kyonko somehow “holding back” Haruki but keep in mind a large part of why Kyon is able to do it is because he is a man and CAN dominate her by strength … opposite, you have Haruki raping Kyon because he can.
He’s GAR because he can get away with these things without ever having to resort to getting physical. He’s not some evil overlord. We even have Kyonko trying to punch his face in on a number of occasions, and he never fires back. Instead he gives the dirty work to Itsuko, who as a RAGING LESBIAN is more than willing to cosplay rape Kyonko.
So being able to bully people into submission through others makes it all better? If this was a guy using another girl to force her into submitting to his whims in real life, that’d be kinda scummy. I don’t think we can use ‘GAR’ for Haruki yet – we MIGHT be able to use bastard in the admiring way… but that’ll depend on how the story’s written.
i think that you guys are over feminizing kyon. was just reading the baka tsuki genderbender version of shny and well. eh i don’t really know how to put it. perhaps i just felt that kyon in his behavior and thoughts was originally RELATIVELY closer to a middlesex and u guys are taking kyon as a girl now farther out
oh and i love yuuki’s character design though it seems a ripoff of some show i watched before… can’t quite remember which
Have any of you guys actually gone on Baka-Tsuki and read our stuff?
Sure, Haruki’s a douchebag. Haruhi’s an overactive, slightly emo and often angry bitch, but we all still love her.
Haruki may be scummy, but that doesn’t prevent him from making GAR speeches about manliness and being awesome in general.
81st comment 4tw! I think.
>> And I checked the date of the article after reading it. Personally, I wonder what Jason’ actual opinion is.
No one figured it out by the writing style? Or have people just stopped reading my posts and just blindly right-click save the Kyonko pic? It’s not often I write in the objective narrator voice, so that should be a big hint.
I actually enjoyed this change-up. I might make this category (stuffanimefanboyslike not Kyonko) a weekly series if I can think of something good for #2. And, no, #2 will not be Mako-cakes.
>> Remember money-grubbers cannot be broken, for they have no heart or soul. The more drone-ish types don’t even have brains. They just follow the trend of the day.
Money-grubbers, by definition, are already broken. Just not the good kind of broken.
Oh, if you want really broken, scroll down to see Penny Arcade’s image of the day.
>> Nice one, Jason. I admit, you really got me with that one. Damn me and my uncontrollable curiosity.
Talking about being lured into the world of Kyonko or the YouTube video?
It could just be the RmX and Kaisos are using poor choice of words to describe Haruki here. I was thinking charismatic, yet hot-blooded. Tends to act without thinking things through. I could be off as well however. They are only through chapter 5 of the first light novel right now, with parts of the other novels floating around for inspiration and clarification of personality and characteristics in an effort to be internally consistent. I’m waiting for it to be finished to make a read at it all at once to see how it works as a unified whole
Oh yeah. GAR speeches of manliness. How’d I forget to mention that?
@Ithekro: Charismatic works, but people don’t flock to him like he’s the messiah. He’s still quite the douchebag. If people did start listening to his preachings on hot blooded spirit, guts, and passion, we’d all be in deep shit.
http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/.....nsing.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200.....MRmcle.htm
Some scholarly writings on the subject, above.
But here are my thoughts: Aside from the whole “female worship” and fetishization of women in Japanese culture (and arguably Human culture in general, though we are focusing on the Japanese at the moment) this so-called “fad” is really nothing new. There have been genderbending manga aimed at a male audience for many, many years now, and many male otaku, with their love of cute women, take it upon themselves to dress and act like the characters they adore. In anime, at times the point of cross dressing in shows aimed at males is to give them the fantasy of entering a “woman’s domain.” Most of the time, the character in question is sufficiently androgynous in face and voice, and thus “becomes” a girl with ease, entering their world and granting the viewer with all of the perks of such on screen. Secondly, when that character enters the “woman’s world” he in effect, becomes part of the fetish, and is lusted after and treated as any other girl within the series. It’s pretty much that simple.
Here is another site devoted to the art of “trapdom” in anime and manga as a whole. http://personal.telefonica.ter...../index.htm
You’ll find that this sort of thing has been going on for a very long time, and actually, the sudden “explosion” of characters such as these were fueled by men, and not women. However, shows such as “Josou Paradise,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiauIJKEMLY where pretty boys are dressed as girls in front of an audience of adoring fangirls suggests there is a constant war among the sexes to control the image of the “feminine.”
If you can’t be at least nice to each other, be civil.
– jason
If you can’t be at least nice to each other, be civil.
– jason
RmX and Kaisos: How does ‘magnificent bastard’ strike you? He doesn’t have to be admirable, so you want to be like him or go gay for him the way ‘GAR’ suggests, but you can like his style and his panache even if you think he’s a douchebag. He can be evil, but you still can’t help liking the zest with which he does things, and can reluctantly admire how he pulled it off.
As in the old “Rommel, you ,magnificient BASTARD!” sorta way.
Ryuukyu: I think I mentioned something along those lines (this being around a long time and having precedents), but I didn’t have any links like those you provided. Thanks for the extra data. :D
>>RmX and Kaisos: How does ‘magnificent bastard’ strike you?
That makes some kind of sense– I’ve written Haruki constantly going on about a “Master Plan” of his… except that there is no master plan, and he’s making everything up as he goes and taking credit for every bit of good fortune that strikes the brigade.
He’s an opportunist.
I’ve described him before as the lovechild of Kenji Harima and Haruki Hanai, of School Rumble fame… as odd as that may sound, it fits well.
Sure, our Haruki is a douche, but he’s a likeable douche. Not quite a Magnificent Bastard, not quite Kamina-level GAR, not quite a Harima-level moron. He’s an interesting character, to me.
oh and why the hell is shamisen a dog now? wtf..
Where is he a dog? All material I’ve seen so far has him as either a regular female calico cat, or a female tabby cat (slightly rarer than males).
bakatsuki seitenkan project
Unfortunately, reality is surprisingly cruel… No magical prince came to sweep me off my feet. I’ve never seen a UFO. My dog never talked, even when I fed him alphabet soup. Two hours of intense staring didn’t make my pencil move a single millimeter, and glaring at my classmate’s head didn’t reveal her thoughts to me either. I couldn’t help but get depressed at how normal everything was. I began to stop watching for UFOs and paying attention to magical girl cartoons because I finally convinced myself it was impossible. I even reached a point where I only had a sense of nostalgia for those things.
pretty fail imo .. shamisen as a dog
Isn’t that Kyon’s introduction from Book 1? Shamisen hasn’t been picked out out yet by Haruhi (Haruki) for the movie since that is Book 2. The project is not finished with Book 1 yet.
oh ok then nvm. thought it was diff my bad
Actually, that raises a question…
Why the hell did I give her a dog again? I guess I’ll have to mention that it died in her last year of junior high at some point.
Although the reference is hilarious, if anyone actually gets it.
where’s my next chapter -_- FINISH VOLUME ONE BY THIS WEEKEND!
Please don’t mind if I copy that Kyonko pic… ok done… I actually find the genderswapping business very intriguing and mind-boggling… Well, that’s how they like it