not quite shower thoughts
Sometimes I feel like one of the few people on the planet who likes Nami & Robin's timeskip designs. (I liked their pre-TS designs too, esp. Robin's.) I mean yeah, One Piece isn't perfect when it comes to female characters -- though it's way, way, wayyyyy ahead of most other shounen/seinen series I can think of -- but the "fanservice" is not one of the issues IMO, at least in the manga. (The proportions in the anime are ridiculous, but the anime has shitty art all around so whatevs)
But I really, REALLY enjoy Nami being free and confident with her body. (And it says something about the series that I actually feel her clothing choices are about HER rather than about pandering to the audience.) And I LOVE her post-TS hair; it's just SO her. Likewise, Robin has NEVER been prim and reserved either despite her apparent personality -- and she pretty obviously likes dressing up, possibly even more than Nami does.
I do think it's a pity Oda didn't go with one of the short-haired designs for post-TS Robin (she rocks short hair), but honestly I really do like her current look and how relaxed she feels these days.
I guess what I find especially weird is that most of the fanservice complaints actually come from guys? Or at least, I don't remember the last time I read a series where the male fanbase actually complained about fanservice* on a regular basis (except maybe Fairy Tail when the fanservice was really starting to get in the way of serious story moments). I feel that in itself says something about our attitudes toward female sexuality and "acceptable" expressions of femininity. (see also: the grossness that ran rampant among the Naruto fanbase, esp. among certain Hinata fanboys)
* speaking of fandom in general and not One Piece specifically: female fans are used to this shit and I suspect complain much less to avoid getting hassled by "why so serious" turds, so it's especially peculiar to see so many complaints about examples that are honestly not even particularly objectifying (though again, the anime plays up that angle CONSIDERABLY, so sometimes I'm not sure if people are complaining from that perspective or if they're genuinely taking offense at the manga. complaints about the anime are ABSOLUTELY justified.)
I also don't really understand the whole "Oda always draws the same faces/body types for women" meme because uh if I were gonna pin "same face syndrome" on any manga artist, Oda would be waayyyyyyy down on the list. (And Kishimoto would be wayyyyy up there. Kishi draws the least distinctive faces ever. Also, most other series probably don't even feature nearly enough women to be making the comparison. I would've said Kubo wins this round, but his style's shifted/he's gotten lazy and he never draws "unattractive" women anyway, so why is this even a matter of debate. He may draw more "types" of women than your typical shounen artist, but it's become clear that he still does have only a limited number of types that he mixes and matches.)
(And since when was body type variation a thing in ANY mainstream manga? I mean it's basically flatchestmoemoe vs. boobs, mix and match a bit with varying heights. And Oda actually draws 1. old women, 2. ugly women, 3. freckled women, 4. Perona... also Amazon Lily and heck, even his mermaids.)
Maybe people just hold One Piece to a higher standard (totally understandable), but sheesh. Sometimes I really do wonder if I'm reading the same series.
comments at the original Dreamwidth post
But I really, REALLY enjoy Nami being free and confident with her body. (And it says something about the series that I actually feel her clothing choices are about HER rather than about pandering to the audience.) And I LOVE her post-TS hair; it's just SO her. Likewise, Robin has NEVER been prim and reserved either despite her apparent personality -- and she pretty obviously likes dressing up, possibly even more than Nami does.
I do think it's a pity Oda didn't go with one of the short-haired designs for post-TS Robin (she rocks short hair), but honestly I really do like her current look and how relaxed she feels these days.
I guess what I find especially weird is that most of the fanservice complaints actually come from guys? Or at least, I don't remember the last time I read a series where the male fanbase actually complained about fanservice* on a regular basis (except maybe Fairy Tail when the fanservice was really starting to get in the way of serious story moments). I feel that in itself says something about our attitudes toward female sexuality and "acceptable" expressions of femininity. (see also: the grossness that ran rampant among the Naruto fanbase, esp. among certain Hinata fanboys)
* speaking of fandom in general and not One Piece specifically: female fans are used to this shit and I suspect complain much less to avoid getting hassled by "why so serious" turds, so it's especially peculiar to see so many complaints about examples that are honestly not even particularly objectifying (though again, the anime plays up that angle CONSIDERABLY, so sometimes I'm not sure if people are complaining from that perspective or if they're genuinely taking offense at the manga. complaints about the anime are ABSOLUTELY justified.)
I also don't really understand the whole "Oda always draws the same faces/body types for women" meme because uh if I were gonna pin "same face syndrome" on any manga artist, Oda would be waayyyyyyy down on the list. (And Kishimoto would be wayyyyy up there. Kishi draws the least distinctive faces ever. Also, most other series probably don't even feature nearly enough women to be making the comparison. I would've said Kubo wins this round, but his style's shifted/he's gotten lazy and he never draws "unattractive" women anyway, so why is this even a matter of debate. He may draw more "types" of women than your typical shounen artist, but it's become clear that he still does have only a limited number of types that he mixes and matches.)
(And since when was body type variation a thing in ANY mainstream manga? I mean it's basically flatchestmoemoe vs. boobs, mix and match a bit with varying heights. And Oda actually draws 1. old women, 2. ugly women, 3. freckled women, 4. Perona... also Amazon Lily and heck, even his mermaids.)
Maybe people just hold One Piece to a higher standard (totally understandable), but sheesh. Sometimes I really do wonder if I'm reading the same series.
comments at the original Dreamwidth post