Comments on: Gyabo and Kiss! The evolution of shoujo romance? http://m3.dasaku.net/gyabo-and-kiss-the-evolution-of-shoujo-romance/456/ Finally living up to its name Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:14:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: What is in a moment: On the semantics of Moe and GAR « In Search of Number Nine http://m3.dasaku.net/gyabo-and-kiss-the-evolution-of-shoujo-romance/456/#comment-747 What is in a moment: On the semantics of Moe and GAR « In Search of Number Nine Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:40:16 +0000 http://m3.dasaku.net/gyabo-and-kiss-the-evolution-of-shoujo-romance/456/#comment-747 [...] Okay so I won’t lie this post is largely inspired by this post and this post and this post, even though that last one doesn’t really have anything to do with the topic it got me [...] [...] Okay so I won’t lie this post is largely inspired by this post and this post and this post, even though that last one doesn’t really have anything to do with the topic it got me [...]

]]> By: Owen S http://m3.dasaku.net/gyabo-and-kiss-the-evolution-of-shoujo-romance/456/#comment-746 Owen S Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:01:10 +0000 http://m3.dasaku.net/gyabo-and-kiss-the-evolution-of-shoujo-romance/456/#comment-746 The more you specialise, the more you alienate. My guess here is that elements like bishounen and moe both cater specifically to the shoujo/shounen demographic and "specialises" more, as opposed to both Nodame (haven't seen this one though) and kimikiss, which have a very common denominator in their realism, so much so that regardless of target audience, you can't help but like it? I mean, Honey & Clover was a josei series, and look how well it was received by both genders. Regarding shoujo specifically I think the reason for Fruits Basket and Ouran being so successful with the guys was how it was hilarious -- the strong comedic bent of both ensured that regardless of how many bishies were thrown at the heroine, you didn't blink an eyelid because.. one would be a pseudo-homo, another a crossdresser, another a maniacal genius, and so on. Ultimately the shell, or setting in which characters are placed don't matter so much as what's inside the shell or setting. That, at least, I think, is what Key bases its characters on, and which also fails quite badly till Clannad, where they've sort-of got it right. Key fails in that respect for making both the shell <i>and</i> the character so foreign that you can't identify with either -- a huge contrast from soft sci-fi, where despite the presence of aliens (or time-travellers, or ESPers) or settings so far removed from the present you still can relate to them due to the elements of humanity presented by the characters themselves. The more you specialise, the more you alienate. My guess here is that elements like bishounen and moe both cater specifically to the shoujo/shounen demographic and “specialises” more, as opposed to both Nodame (haven’t seen this one though) and kimikiss, which have a very common denominator in their realism, so much so that regardless of target audience, you can’t help but like it?

I mean, Honey & Clover was a josei series, and look how well it was received by both genders. Regarding shoujo specifically I think the reason for Fruits Basket and Ouran being so successful with the guys was how it was hilarious — the strong comedic bent of both ensured that regardless of how many bishies were thrown at the heroine, you didn’t blink an eyelid because.. one would be a pseudo-homo, another a crossdresser, another a maniacal genius, and so on.

Ultimately the shell, or setting in which characters are placed don’t matter so much as what’s inside the shell or setting. That, at least, I think, is what Key bases its characters on, and which also fails quite badly till Clannad, where they’ve sort-of got it right. Key fails in that respect for making both the shell and the character so foreign that you can’t identify with either — a huge contrast from soft sci-fi, where despite the presence of aliens (or time-travellers, or ESPers) or settings so far removed from the present you still can relate to them due to the elements of humanity presented by the characters themselves.

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