By Neurogal
I know that most of the men’s right movement concerns are within Western world, but as women universally are the same, I would like to share what women typically desire in the Japanese subculture that I have been a fan of for 10 years now: the anime/manga culture. As Japan is now in the headlines, and we are all wishing them well in the midst of this disaster, maybe it is appropriate to give some thought to Japan’s culture.
So what kind of men do Japanese women want? The anime/manga culture can provide some insight as currently more women than men are fans of this culture, and the industry has changed accordingly to meet the demands of the female readers base.
Let’s take one of popular fictional guys in manga. Hibari Kyouya, from the manga Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn (literally means Home Tutor Hitman Reborn), is a leader of the middle school discplinary comittee. Yet he beats a guy to a bloody pulp if said guy broke one simple rule. He is also involved in blackmailing, extortion, underground crimes and underage driving. Later Hibari Kyouya is said to be the strongest guy within the characters.
Hibari Kyouya is also the No 1 Character “I Want To Be My Groom” for both years in two annual Japanese surveys.
Yes, he is the epitome of what Japanese women want. They don’t seem to mind that if this were real life, Hibari Kyouya would be arrested for his violent tendencies. Granted, Hibari Kyouya is not a player; he has little interest in women, and he has a soft spot for animals. But nevertheless, he is violent. His catchphrase is “I’ll bite you to death.”
But how about the No 1 Character chosen as “I Want To Be My Bride?” The first year was won by Hinagiku Katsura from Hayate The Combat Butler and the second is Akiyama Mio from K-On. The similarities between these two? They are what fans love to call “tsundere”.
Tsundere is the type of girl one would call “independent.” They are top students in academics, excel in sports and are often the student council president. But then the hero appears. Suddenly, this independent girls is rendered to speechless. They stutter, blush and wanted to get the attention of the hero as subtle as she can. She somehow become more feminine, cared how she looks and shy around the hero. This type of girls are a hit with both male and female readers.
Why is that? From my observation, tsundere fulfills the fantasy of both the men and women. In modern society, more women became like the tsundere. In the manga, the hero will eventually fall in love with the tsundere. In reality, no, guys usually pay less attention to these kind of girls. The female readers used this as sort of escapism from reality, where they projected themselves to the tsundere.
For the men, they love these kind of girls (as the survey shows) because it shows no matter how independent or amazing that girl is, she will be submissive to the guy she likes. She could kick a guy over to the moon, but with the hero she eagerly wanted to please him. This, I suppose, gives a great boost to the men’s ego because the hero successfully tamed the girl (usually with no effort from the hero).
As tsundere are well-liked, female fans really hate any normal, childish and non-assertive girls as potential love interest. These female characters are hated simply because she is plain with average grades and suck at sports. The girl is shy all the time and always support the hero in the background. Many female characters who fall into this category are hated and female fans wanted a girl with ‘more backbone’ and as strong as the hero to be the female lead.
Another genre that is popular with female fans is “yaoi”. Yaoi is the male homosexual love anime/manga. Interestingly, in this subculture, the female fans accept the submissive-dominant relationship between the two guys, giving the guys the title uke( submissive) and seme(dominance). Ironically, this mirrors the heterosexual relationship between a girl and guy as the uke actually acts like a girl/feminine. Research papers on yaoi admit this is another projection of female readers to the uke. Acting feminine as a girl is seen as dependent, but if it is a guy he is still seen as independent even though both act the same. It is said the Japanese perception of women has contributed to this.
Whether feminism contributed to the above situation is something uncertain. However as I read English comments, this has held true for Western women as well. There are still many of my observations in this culture about female fans and their expectations, especially in fanfictions.
