"Her face and figure are far from perfect, so why do you waste your time with her?"

[aquahaute]

Warning: total geekery ahead that involves combining an English degree with an anime that was never meant to be analyzed.

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I love Falc, partly because we had a conversation tonight that started with:

How was [watching] SMJ Again with John?

And somehow grew into:

[The Saber Marionette franchise deserves a good hard feminist reading]

Comments

[mindelemental]

*raises his hand*

As someone else who IS prone to analysing fiction -- though not to the same extent that "serious" critics/English students/English academics do -- I can sympathise.

I haven't watched the series in question, but all the same, the issue of subtle sexism in anime that you described did sound familiar to me. I remember a certain anime in which the heroine's friend had become somewhat unhinged and, deciding to step into the shoes of the masculine hero-type, set out to kill the heroine. At the end of that arc, upon their reconciliation, the friend declared (IIRC) that she would seek a husband and plenty of children, and when we next see her, has adopted a much more feminine style of dress and appearance. Huh?

And then we have the whole fanservice phenomenon.

[philsov]

Shut up? Aqua, it's a TV show. Take it seriously.

[aquahaute]

*anti-hit*