I AGREE!
I read pochamani which has a chubby female lead character and I think they represented her fairly well. She was first insecure but now she isn't because she feels confident and knows weight isn't everything (not cause she lost any of it).
BUT the male lead i didn't like. He was obviously the 'most attractive male' in the school and every g...... 3 reply
UUgghgh I know how you feel. I read a BL manga a while ago about a cute chubby boy who was in love with his thin friend and his friend eventually did fall for him, but the chubby boy had to crossdress for the friend to make a move and then they didn't even show a sex scene until later when the chubby boy had lost all his weight........
Disappoint...... 7 reply
That one manga you're referencing is super problematic, I totally agree with you there. But I would really hesitate to call any anime or manga particularly progressive (unless we're looking at Shimanami Tasogare or Yuuri on Ice or something, and they're extremely hard to come by). The majority of BL manga at least, seem to cater to fantasy first an...... 2 reply
Like others said, it's more of a Japanese cultural and societal issue than straight manga problem. It absolutely does get ridiculous though. I want to say sending kids to weight camp like what happens to satou in his favorite wouldn't happen but minus the wild animals, it could. reply
I kind of like the svelte and average characters though, honestly.:l not invalidating other body types, but it's aesthetically pleasing to look at (just in my opinion). And as where most authors are from, their cultures don't really gear towards "body positive" and all. reply
Well, I'd say it's very typical for the whole Japanese society. On the one hand everyone is right when saying that there are very few really corpulent people and gaining weight is generally undesirable. But on the other hand, let's not forget that Sumo is one of the most popular sports in Japan and Sumo wrestlers are treated almost like male idols ...... 2 reply
It's not only a cultural thing, but it's a large issue in japan (specifically, but it's everywhere) where media and literature devalue body image (like whitewashing, for example). In the west, we are made conscious of the strides in highlighting the vicious, self-perpetuating cycles that hamper body image and speak openly about ridding of beauty st...... 4 reply
Yes, it's a cultural thing. Yes, it' would be fun/stimulating to look at different body types. But honestly I'm more inclined to think that skinny people are just easier to draw. That's it. 1 reply
I may be the only one, but I feel like manga has so little chubby representation...And then when they do a chubby character the mangaka butchers them...for example Junkos famous manga that has gotten an anime, in it the chubby character magically loses weight after her favorite character dies and the shes attractive to all the pretty boys. She then regains her weight and most of them want her to lose it again except for one guy (this is where I left off from reading because I was just so done with it)...
