Do ugly anime characters turn you off to a good anime?

OtakuMan22 · Post by **OtakuMan22** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:58 pm

They have a face only a mother could love, and often have attitudes that don't attract the ladies. They are gross, ill-mannered, but have lots of good qualities too. They are the ugly characters of anime.

From exaggerated features of Kinsankaku to the pug-faced Kazuma Kuwabara, and even Kinnikuman, oh I'm sorry, "Ultimate Muscle" lead characters.

I find that quite a number of people will judge an anime character by his looks. Take the Clamp fangirl...

"OH MY GOD! I LOVE KAMUI FROM X!!! HE'S SO KAWAII!!!"

Alright, fair enough, he is a dashing character, but now for another example let's take Jotarou Joestar from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure...

"WHAT'S WITH HIS FACE?! HOW COULD HE BE SO UNCOOL LOOKING! HE AND THE OTHERS ARE ALL SO UGLY! I DON'T LIKE HIM!"

What the fangirl DOESN'T know is that when this particular series was being run, the CLAMP ladies thought JoJo was the COOLEST guy ever, and even did a professional-fan rendition of him in their anthological music video "CLAMP in Wonderland".

Frankly, people are dismissing anime simply because of the looks of the characters and not for the redeeming qualities they have. Anime like Zatch Bell have some characters that look really awkward, yet the stories and plotline are deep and enjoyable.

Guys are guilty of the same thing by basing their love of an anime solely on the looks of the female characters. If this were NOT true, then Eiken would not be as in demand as it is now. (You know who you are!)

So I'm here to see if you are guilty of loving or hating an anime based on the character design on not by the story... judging the book by its cover more or less. Note, I'm not talking QUALITY of animation... I'm talking the DESIGN!

Note, I am NOT taking into account animation produced outside of Japan. I'm sticking SOLELY to Japanese anime, and that alone!

Alright, now... DISCUSS!

~Otaku-Man

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:00 pm

My favorite anime is Monster, and my all-time favorite character is Wolfgang Grimmer.

Any questions?

bum · Post by **bum** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:10 pm

This reminds me of the girls in akira, who arent exactly "pretty". I find that too often girls in anime are drawn too perfectly, and theirfor attractive to a point where they all feel the same. Its like looking at superlodels and pop stars. They're all sp "perfect", but you've seen them so much that they dont feel real anymore. Personaly I'd prefer more realistic girls. Girls who are less than perfect and dont automaticaly appeal to our hormones.

Solaria735 · Post by **Solaria735** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:18 pm

While I personally do like "pretty" character designs, I try not to let the prettiness or lack thereof of the characters influence whether I like an anime, although thinking about it, I must admit that my favorites do feature pretty characters- but that is not the reason I like them so much.

For example, I didn't really care for the character designs, especially for the females, in Trigun, but still thought it was a great anime. I also wasn't too crazy about the character designs for Paranoia Agent, but I still liked the show. Conversely, I loved the designs for GITS: Stand Alone Complex, but thought that the show could have been done a lot better (wasn't enough character development for me). :-\ And while I like the designs for Ah! My Goddess, I simply can not stomach too much Belldandy.

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:25 pm

Yea, I have to clarify my stance a bit -

I LOVE well-designed characters, don't get me wrong. Aesthetically, I really like the shiny 'perfect' designs, which have only been getting better in recent times. I'll be the first to admit that bishoujo characters were a notable part of what sort of attracted me to anime. I'll also be one of the rare straight guys to admit having some notable sympathy towards many bishounen-type designs (so long as they're not taken too darn far to no longer be recognizeably male...).

On the other hand, as my above statement illustrates, when it really comes down to it - good looks aren't all that makes a character.

bum · Post by **bum** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:34 pm

Solaria735 wrote:Conversely, I loved the designs for GITS: Stand Alone Complex.

I was so tturned of by motoko's "new look" the first time I saw gits:sac that I couldnt bare to watch mroe than 5 minutes of it. I felt that Motoko's look in the original GITS movie was much more reprasentive of the mature adult charactre that she was. The motoko in the series is much too cute to play such a serios role. Then again, sac had thoughs tank things that sounded like little girls.................

O-Kagachi · Post by **O-Kagachi** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:50 pm

If its something like "Ghiblies" with butt ugly character designs, then i wont watch it. (or if it contains gayness) but things like Gravitation with good character disigns but lots of gayness are animes i wont watch either

RamonesFan2020204 · Post by **RamonesFan2020204** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 8:41 pm

It depends on how ugly they are...

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 8:51 pm

Look at it this way, would you have enjoyed the Tomb Raider movie if an ugly woman played the lead? Be honest boys. How many girls would even have watched Interview with a Vampire if the main guys were ugly?

I like pretty people in movies because half the point is the eyecandy. I don't want to look at overweight drooping woman showing off the newest clothing on the runway... Blech. Or a sagging flabby man playing superhero. Double-blech.

Sure, I'm shallow, but the looks catch your 'eye' first, the story has to hold you after that. Kuwabara (YYH) was mentioned - I love his character. It took six episodes to make it happen, but they developed him well. The looks caught the eye first, but good characterization can pull a viewer in as well. On the flip side, Aya (Weiss Kruess/Knight Hunters) is gorgeous. And he's overly melodramatic and nauseating - I hate him. The looks caught me, but the characterization drove me away.

Looks aren't everything, but they are what non-blind people "see" first. Take Akira. I've heard about that anime for years, but they're all so darn ugly I'm not paying to watch that. Ew... I'd sooner watch Ninku - at least they're ugly in a realistic way.

If I were reading a book, yes, the story would matter more than the character 'looks' as they're described in text. But give me a poster and...well...yeah. Looks matter - that's all you see in a picture - looks. Until anime advertisements show a black screen and have voice overs telling the story to get attention, looks are going to be what draws viewers in.

Note - viewers = people who look = visuals matter.

Rini210 · Post by **Rini210** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 9:25 pm

Well, I do think that Kuabara is pretty fugly, but that's now why I hate Yu Yu Hakusho. I'm just not a fan of the fight-'em-all-with-a-weak-plot animes.

I will admit, however, that character design will affect what I think of an anime. I'd much rather watch an anime with all 'pretty' or 'perfect' characters than one with really ugly ones.

Though I'm sure many people will prefer nicer looking characters, so I'm probably not alone on this. And I will watch plenty animes without the georgous bishounen males.

As for female characters - I like the girls who are more average looking and without uberhugefomgz breasts. They just kickass =D