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Anime art style games with no sexualized characters?

PsionBolt said:
I can't agree with this at all, though. [Precure] is a wholesome series for kids. They don't even wear swimsuits at the beach.
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Consider that domestically, Precure is pretty much the Japanese analogue to My Little Pony in terms of the fandom... There's gotta be areason why. I keep telling myself perhaps it's the character design?

ULTROS! said:
You must have missed the pantyshots.
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Then try the original retro version of Corpse Party. It doesn't have those (as well as having less moe character designs).
 
Pyscho_Mantis said:
CorpsePartyCharacters.jpg



Corpse party seems to fit the bill.
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You made me remember this

GxFmv.png
 
dude said:
No. She is not.

I also really liked how you put the word sexualized in quotes , because everyone knows it's a made up phenomena and there's no problem with the way women are presented in media today! Nope, those damn feminists just don't understand it's all in good fun, right? Also, what about the men.
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He puts it in quotes because of how ridiculously over the top people are taking the subject. According to the metrics people are using here yes she is sexualised. She has all those very same traits.

Just because the girl is in a state of undress does not make it sexualised.

Pole dancing/stripping is sexualised, pole fitness is not. They look very much the same, and the both require the person to wear less clothing than usual but there is a marked difference between the two.
 
dude said:
It's usually cited as a female empowerment symbol by gamers. I mean, I won't deny she represents some progress with the very fact that she is a female protagonist, but she is designed to look more like a playboy model than a "smart, capable, independent" woman. And the "protect Lara" fiasco just shows that even the design team doesn't treat her as what you're implying she symbolizes.
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Well, of course gamers would comment on a video game character. Someone else's perception of the character is worthless.

You're right in that her strengths are largely due to the fact that she was a female protagonist in a time where there were few, but I also think your being dismissive of what she represents simply because you're looking at it from the perspective of a male gamer.

Again, if you've never played the games, you shouldn't evaluate them without context. Lara Croft is certainly represented as a no-nonsense and very capable individual. Just because she's "beautiful" doesn't change the fact that she goes exploring by herself in lost tombs, and takes on the wilderness and armed guards by her lonesome.

The "protect Lara" was a poor PR line, and I personally feel it was blown completely out of proportion. I don't think that one line encapsulates the design teams' intentions with Lara Croft, but even if it did, that's a different Lara Croft than Classic Lara. It was this very change that was infuriating to people. Lara Croft of old was a very strong character, and they were reducing her to a vulnerable little girl (or so the thought at the time was). It only serves to emphasize the fact that people perceived Lara, at the very least, as a capable, independent character and the reboot allegedly undermined that.

Again, sexualization does not make for a weak character. And a sexual character can still be empowering.
 
Lombax said:
it has its moments, but for the most part I would consider the game tame.
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Maybe if you look strictly at the design of the party members, yeah. Now for the dialogue, uh...

Also, there are quite a few sexualised Personas and Shadows.

And obviously, Ms Kashiwagi.
 
_Keiichi_ said:
I like everyone cites P3-4, the games with maid costumes and swimsuits contest, but completely ignore 1 and 2 (or the other megaten).
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image.php


sorry! I couldn't resist (one of these days I will play Persona 2, I swear)

I think Persona 3 and 4 are good for the most part. I don't think that neither game is a 100% from sexualization (Though to be fair, its mostly seen in stupid shit like the battle panties or bikini alt costumes in P3/P4)but for the most part, I wouldn say the main characters aren't sexualized in the main story.

Then again.....................

images


LOL
 
PK Gaming said:
image.php


sorry! I couldn't resist (one of these days I will play Persona 2, I swear)

I think Persona 3 and 4 are good for the most part. I agree with you that neither game is a 100% from sexualization (Though to be fair, its mostly stupid shit like the battle panties or bikini alt costumes in P3) and I wouldn't say the main characters are sexualized in the main story. (for the most part)

Then again.....................

images


LOL
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To be fair, she's a skank that even registers the class at a sleazy motel while on a field trip.

And gets drunk.

Amazing teacher.

On the subject of silly outfits, even the characters have objections against wearing those, IIRC.
 
Of course it was gonna be that way Keiichi, sort of obvious ya know. I find it odd you are even bringing up 1, since you hate it son!
 
Hix said:
Outside obvious examples, such as selling your game solely on the premise of underage lolis with heaving bosoms (Hyperdimension Neptunia etc) or borderline pornographic gameplay mechanics (Ar Tonelico Qoga), it's difficult to say for certain if a majority of anime style characters were sexualized with intent by developers.
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I've only played the last game but I don't remember seeing anything like this.
 
I can see where you're coming from OP.
The fact is, when people are arguing "Well, name a Western game that's not a shooter", that's the problem. The Western game market is criticized for basically having nothing but shooters, so when your comparing it to sexualization in Japanese games, you can see where the problem lies. It is a generalization, but it's not unfounded.

No joke; when I told my friends I was reading the manga Vagabond, they bet I was solely reading it for the "big tits", obviously under the impression manga/animu = big tits.

Sure, there are a ton of anime games that are tame, but I bet there's more that aren't.
 
Most of the older SMT games, or at the very least, when Kaneko was doing the art. That said, Soejima's designs aren't bad either. As for sexualized, I guess that depends on what you mean. Sexualized as in the sense of being sexually objectified, or sexualized as in the sense of being sexual. They are pretty different.
 
Cyrano said:
Most of the older SMT games, or at the very least, when Kaneko was doing the art. That said, Soejima's designs aren't bad either. As for sexualized, I guess that depends on what you mean. Sexualized as in the sense of being sexually objectified, or sexualized as in the sense of being sexual. They are pretty different.
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Exactly. Most people don't see the difference for some odd reason.
 
Lombax said:
points taken.
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Hanako and Kashiwagi are objectified far more than most of the other characters. Persona 4 in general is one the more poorly written games, and doesn't really match up with the pedigree of the rest of the series. That said, it's been far more popular and successful than the rest of the series... so I'm not sure what that says, exactly.
 
.JayZii said:
Like a few have said already--context, context,context.

Criticizing Rise's sexuality in Persona 4 is actually really funny if you have played the game. Her entire character arc is about coming to terms with being a pop idol and people's preconceptions about her. The bathing suit picture is from a commercial the very beginning of the game when the main character walks past televisions all around town (a strong thematic element of the game). Her dungeon, a physical structure embodiment of her insecurities is a strip club.
8DqjC6j.jpg

Her shadow, the personification of her insecurities.
fSWXfS3.jpg

So yes she is sexualized for her job, but the point of her character is to overcome her lack of a personal identity and her self hatred caused by that. After defeating her shadow, she gets her persona

I'm all for criticizing overbearing or creepy sexualization, but when it's thematically relevant I don't see it as a problem. That applies from Persona 4 to Bayonetta. Pick your battles, because criticizing things too casually ends up devaluing your overall argument.

As for finding nonsexualized anime-style game characters, I can't think of many. So let's just go with Persona 3 and 4. Golden added in a few cutscenes that crossed the tackiness line for me though.
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Golden does go a bit more into fanservice territory then the original but even at its worst it is quite tame and makes up for it with the main games mature approach to sexuality. Neptunia or Senran Kagura it is not.
 
mattp said:
xenogears, for the most part i think fits this, no?
Xenogears_.jpg
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Xenogears is one of those unfortunate third-act games... though unsurprisingly, given that they were forced to finish it before it was ready.

Mortimer, although I will agree that you could do far worse than Persona 4, calling it mature when it comes to how it approaches sexuality is a little naive.
 
Cyrano said:
Hanako and Kashiwagi are objectified far more than most of the other characters. Persona 4 in general is one the more poorly written games, and doesn't really match up with the pedigree of the rest of the series. That said, it's been far more popular and successful than the rest of the series... so I'm not sure what that says, exactly.
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That not everything has to be on par with Shakespeare to be popular.
 
Pikawil said:
Consider that domestically, Precure is pretty much the Japanese analogue to My Little Pony in terms of the fandom... There's gotta be areason why. I keep telling myself perhaps it's the character design?
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One of the original main target audiences of Precure was Tokusatsu fans; it airs right after Kamen Rider in Japanese TV. To get said older males watching, they added a lot of action scenes. The action in the first few seasons was specifically inspired by Dragon Ball. Later seasons became more "magical", but they kept the super-strength/martial-arts motif.
 
Reminds me of powerpuff girls, although I'm not sure that was intentional. IIRC PPG was always aimed at the male crowd.
 
I might as well post the entire cast of each Persona game (since i'm in a good mood)

Persona 1
tumblr_inline_mkvlu5VDER1qz4rgp.jpg


Persona 2
tumblr_inline_mkvlvuJEXg1qz4rgp.jpg


Persona 3
tumblr_inline_mkvnqg0zEv1qz4rgp.jpg


Persona 4
tumblr_inline_mkvmnbfyQU1qz4rgp.jpg


Aren't they just lovely to look at ♪
 
PK Gaming said:
image.php


sorry! I couldn't resist (one of these days I will play Persona 2, I swear)

I think Persona 3 and 4 are good for the most part. I don't think that neither game is a 100% from sexualization (Though to be fair, its mostly seen in stupid shit like the battle panties or bikini alt costumes in P3/P4)but for the most part, I wouldn say the main characters aren't sexualized in the main story.

Then again.....................

images


LOL
Click to expand...

.JayZii said:
Like a few have said already--context, context,context.

Criticizing Rise's sexuality in Persona 4 is actually really funny if you have played the game. Her entire character arc is about coming to terms with being a pop idol and people's preconceptions about her. The bathing suit picture is from a commercial the very beginning of the game when the main character walks past televisions all around town (a strong thematic element of the game). Her dungeon, a physical structure embodiment of her insecurities is a strip club.
8DqjC6j.jpg

Her shadow, the personification of her insecurities.
fSWXfS3.jpg

So yes she is sexualized for her job, but the point of her character is to overcome her lack of a personal identity and her self hatred caused by that. After defeating her shadow, she gets her persona

I'm all for criticizing overbearing or creepy sexualization, but when it's thematically relevant I don't see it as a problem. That applies from Persona 4 to Bayonetta. Pick your battles, because criticizing things too casually ends up devaluing your overall argument.

As for finding nonsexualized anime-style game characters, I can't think of many. So let's just go with Persona 3 and 4. Golden added in a few cutscenes that crossed the tackiness line for me though.
Click to expand...

Right. A sexual character and a sexualized character are different things anyway. A sexualized character is when they stick giant bare tits on a character where it makes no sense, just to give the viewer/player/whateverer something to look at. (It can also happen with a giant man-bulge but that's a lot rarer.)

Bayonetta and teacher lady are sexual characters. It's part of who they are. Teacher lady wants you to be looking at her boobs. She wants you to think she is attractive. She wants attention. That's well established in the story. Bayonetta is sexual and she knows it. It's a huge part of her personality, not just her design. An example of a sexualized character would be like Sophitia in SoulCalibur IV, where she has her boobs hanging out with a top made of white tissue paper and no bra and it serves no purpose and she seems to be completely unaware of it. Her boobs are only relevant to her personality and story insofar as she's a mother and she probably used them to feed her children at some point.

juTbeNh.jpg
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That's clearly not what a real-life soldier-of-the-gods, warrior-woman would wear if she set off to destroy an evil sword. She'd want to wear something more like what she wore in Soul Blade. (At least on top. She probably could have used some tights.)

UH0mlgP.jpg


Side note: the fact that her boobs grew so much between her first and last appearances is just another way in which she's been sexualized.
 
Roto, you're missing it. Kashiwagi is objectified because of how she acts relationally to other characters. There are no other characters quite like her, unless you count the nurse, and even the nurse has a considerable amount more propriety in her work. None of the other female staff at the school look like that, and it's jarring to see a teacher like that at all. The idea that she wants attention isn't difficult to figure out just through her VA's mannerisms; the visual image doesn't add to that in any way. The clothes don't fit the context. The same is true of Hanako, though it's for a different reason. She's the only overweight character in the entire game, and worse, she's a caricature at that! Again, it's jarring because there's no context for one person (in an entire school no less!) to look like that. What makes it worse is that they are both derided by the main characters and shamed. Though this isn't too surprising of high schoolers, this is also an imaginary world where characters don't have to be jerks to one another (and given that they are fighting against themselves being jerks, you would think they would have a little more empathy and respect for others asides those in their group).


As for fighting game characters... well yeah, they're almost categorically bad. If you look at them as caricatures and not characters (because most of them are virtually void besides the prevalence of finishing quotes), you can begin to get an idea of why they are so ridiculous.
 
Cyrano said:
Roto, you're missing it. Kashiwagi is objectified because of how she acts relationally to other characters. There are no other character quite like her, unless you count the nurse, and even the nurse has a considerable amount more propriety in her work. None of the other female staff at the school look like that, and it's jarring to see a teacher like that at all. The idea that she wants attention isn't difficult to figure out just through her VA's mannerisms; the visual image doesn't add to that in any way. The clothes don't fit the context. The same is true of Hanako, though it's for a different reason. She's the only overweight character in the entire game, and worse, she's a caricature at that! Again, it's jarring because there's no context for one person (in an entire school no less!) to look like that. What makes it worse is that they are both derided by the main characters and shamed. Though this isn't too surprising of high schoolers, this is also an imaginary world where characters don't have to be jerks to one another (and given that they are fighting against themselves being jerks, you would think they would have a little more empathy and respect for others asides those in their group).
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To be fair, Hanako is kind of a jerk, so that has to do with it somewhat. It does feel odd, especially when Persona had Toro and Persona 2 had
Eikichi
and Hanakoji.
Though even they get out of being fat.
There was also a fat student NPC in 4, though he has nothing to do with obesity, his dialog is all about how his parents are assholes to each other and how he worries about his grandmother.
 
buddha0991 said:
*snip*
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Sure, but their treatment is fairly uneven. Though, again, to be fair, there is a possibility space here, simply because we don't get much of an image of him. He's an in and out character, who we are aware of twice throughout the entirety of the game, whereas Kashiwagi and Hanako are recurring through multiple scenes in the game.
 
^Yo can you edit the quote to cover up some tiny spoilers por favor?

I would love an obese character to be a party member in 5, I feel that diversity is sorely needed.

Thanks bro
 
buddha0991 said:
^Yo can you edit the quote to cover up some tiny spoilers por favor?

I would love an obese character to be a party member in 5, I feel that diversity is sorely needed.
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Fixed. Yeah, I would love to see more character variety at the very least. Maybe a black character, or a latino character. Not that much of the writing I've seen for those characters from Japan turning out well, but I could at least give them props for trying.
 
Roto13 said:
That's clearly not what a real-life soldier-of-the-gods, warrior-woman would wear if she set off to destroy an evil sword. She'd want to wear something more like what she wore in Soul Blade. (At least on top. She probably could have used some tights.)

UH0mlgP.jpg


Side note: the fact that her boobs grew so much between her first and last appearances is just another way in which she's been sexualized.
Click to expand...

God you can just... feel the sexualization process. A perfect example of having a design ruined because they had their dicks in their hand.

Roto, you're missing it. Kashiwagi is objectified because of how she acts relationally to other characters. There are no other character quite like her, unless you count the nurse, and even the nurse has a considerable amount more propriety in her work. None of the other female staff at the school look like that, and it's jarring to see a teacher like that at all. The idea that she wants attention isn't difficult to figure out just through her VA's mannerisms; the visual image doesn't add to that in any way. The clothes don't fit the context. The same is true of Hanako, though it's for a different reason. She's the only overweight character in the entire game, and worse, she's a caricature at that! Again, it's jarring because there's no context for one person (in an entire school no less!) to look like that. What makes it worse is that they are both derided by the main characters and shamed. Though this isn't too surprising of high schoolers, this is also an imaginary world where characters don't have to be jerks to one another (and given that they are fighting against themselves being jerks, you would think they would have a little more empathy and respect for others asides those in their group).
Click to expand...

I dunno

I wouldn't expect the group to suddenly start respecting/liking Hanako even after they're life altering ordeals. After all they're still human (and teenagers for that matter!). She's a morbidly obese, arrogant and overall unpleasant person who breaks scooters and snores extremely loudly. It would be incredibly unrealistic to have the group suddenly respect her.

As for Kashigawi (and Hanako I guess), I didn't really look into their characters much. They're strictly comic relief characters, with practically no depth, so their portrayal doesn't really bother me.

I wouldn't mind a Hanako social link, ala Gourmet King from Persona 3
 
PK Gaming said:
I wouldn't mind a Hanako social link
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Actually, this is exactly what I was hoping for when they first introduced her. I felt pretty let down.

PK, also, respect is different from liking a person. I don't like quite a few people, but there are people I do respect. I don't like Roger Ebert terribly much, but I can respect his work.
 
Real talk (and I hate using those stupid words together like that.) I would rather hang out with Hanako than with the Gourmet King in 3.
 
Cyrano said:
Roto, you're missing it. Kashiwagi is objectified because of how she acts relationally to other characters. There are no other characters quite like her, unless you count the nurse, and even the nurse has a considerable amount more propriety in her work. None of the other female staff at the school look like that, and it's jarring to see a teacher like that at all. The idea that she wants attention isn't difficult to figure out just through her VA's mannerisms; the visual image doesn't add to that in any way. The clothes don't fit the context. The same is true of Hanako, though it's for a different reason. She's the only overweight character in the entire game, and worse, she's a caricature at that! Again, it's jarring because there's no context for one person (in an entire school no less!) to look like that. What makes it worse is that they are both derided by the main characters and shamed. Though this isn't too surprising of high schoolers, this is also an imaginary world where characters don't have to be jerks to one another (and given that they are fighting against themselves being jerks, you would think they would have a little more empathy and respect for others asides those in their group).
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be jarring to see a teacher like that. Her tits-out design is absolutely on message with her character. I don't know how you can deny it. The issue is never that she's realistic or not, or that she'd be able to get away with looking and behaving the way she does in real life. Of course none of the other teachers in the school are like that. None of the other teachers in the school are attention whores, either. She doesn't *need* to be dressed like that to be the character she is, but it helps establish her personality a LOT.

Also, Hanako is the main character of P4. In my head.
 
Roto13 said:
It's supposed to be jarring to see a teacher like that. Her tits-out design is absolutely on message with her character. I don't know how you can deny it. The issue is never that she's realistic or not, or that she'd be able to get away with looking and behaving the way she does in real life. Of course none of the other teachers in the school are like that. None of the other teachers in the school are attention whores, either. She doesn't *need* to be dressed like that to be the character she is, but it helps establish her personality a LOT.

Also, Hanako is the main character of P4. In my head.
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Dude, we get the same impression with the Nurse S. Link and there is nothing that implies it other than her tone and expression. The way she dresses is wholly unnecessary for us to get this impression of Kashiwagi.
 
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