I've watched a lot of anime and played a lot of Japanese video games and I've noticed something about the central male characters that I see. A lot of the male characters that're supposed to be attractive, either in a deliberately attractive way or in an adorkable way, all seem to be men with pretty faces but lack muscle. I find it kind of odd because it seems like in the West, we typically view hot men as studs with well built bodies. Of course, plenty of people find skinnier guys attractive too, but when someone is portrayed in the media as desirable, they're usually pretty built. But when I see muscular characters in Japanese media, they're not muscular because girls will find it attractive, but they're muscular because their strength is a defining characteristic of them. They have muscle because they're super strong, but they aren't meant to be seen as attractive. They're also not usually the main character that we're supposed to pay attention to. There are of course some exceptions like DBZ and Street Fighter characters for example, but the characters that I see fangirls swoon over and draw questionable fan art of are the skinnier pretty boy type characters. And in a lot of cases, I feel like the designers purposefully made these characters like this because they knew they'd be popular. Even pretty boy characters that are ridiculously powerful remain skinny even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You could have an attractive male punch a boulder and make it explode, but his arms are like twigs.
Look at Cloud. One of the most popular pretty boys in RPG history. Now how in the heck can he carry that giant ass sword with those tiny ass arms?
![[Image: 20120120061032!Cloud_Strife_KHANG.png]](http://images.wikia.com/kingdomheartsfanon/images/archive/e/e8/20120120061032!Cloud_Strife_KHANG.png)
Compare him to super heroes like Batman, Superman, Captain America, etc. They're usually drawn with a lot of emphasis on their muscle, because they're super heroes, they're supposed to be super powerful. But they're also the main characters and plenty of girls find them attractive and they're portrayed as such.
These are just my observations, I haven't done any research on the matter or anything, but does anyone else see what I mean? Does Japan view attractiveness in men differently than we do? What do Japanese heartthrobs look like? Are they also pretty skinny or muscular? Are there some examples I missed that may contradict my observations? I'm sure DBZ and Street Fighter aren't the only series with popular male characters that're also muscular.
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All the different parts of the world have different popular standards of what is 'beautiful' i guess.
I'm not entirely sure... but I think there's a concept called Bishounen which I think is what you're thinking of.
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basing what an entire nation finds attractive on their animation would be like saying that all american people find geeky heroin addicts hot because that's what shaggy from scooby doo looks like.
much like every other country , japanese people have different things they find attractive . some people like guys with a lot of muscle . some don't . crazy.
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Yes well the average height for a japanese male is 5ft7. The average height for a American male is 5ft9. This isnt so hard to believe
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Japan is the slimmest industrilized nation in the world, there is a government imposed waistline standard. Rather than problems of obesity, they have problems of leanness, particulary in younger woman. And they are big on metabolic fitness, which requires low fat diet and flat stomach.
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Hey hey hey now! Some of us skinny boys can kick a man with a build's ass any day all day ;p
Maybe in the west, its cause of the history of the culture, like primarily living off the land or in the woods or whatever, which would obviously give most men a build. Whereas Japanese people may not have done so or needed to do so.
Who knows? I find men in general attractive, however I will admit I like guys who are pretty,much cause I find Male beauty to be a fabulous thing.
Having muscles and square jaws and thick eyebrows and gorilla hands just seems over rated :I
And also, as any true Final Fantasy fan would know, the reason Cloud can do what he does, including carring his multi-blade with ease, is because he has some Mako and Jenova cells in him, like Sephiroth, as many of the 1st class S.O.L.D.I.E.R people used it as a way of enhancing their over all abilities ,by order of Shinra and then Hojo, including power.
You forget, Yuffie is the most dainty looking person in the game/anime, and yet she can jump and scale buildings with ease and wield Ninja stars nearly her size.
Most times, in anime, skinny powerful characters either use outside influence(such as clouds Jenova cells) or some sort of inner ability/enhancement to achieve feats sometimes even the most muscular men couldn't. It's a testament I think to the empowerment of those strong people, who don't always look or act strong, unlike Captain America or whatever, cause not every one looks like him.
Dont underestimate the skinny peeps :p
#FinalFantasyNerd
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I guess they like slimmer men...not too bulky. Just based on my observation.... but we can't generalize since people have different preferences, including them
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Sylph Wrote:Most times, in anime, skinny powerful characters either use outside influence(such as clouds Jenova cells) or some sort of inner ability/enhancement to achieve feats sometimes even the most muscular men couldn't. It's a testament I think to the empowerment of those strong people, who don't always look or act strong, unlike Captain America or whatever, cause not every one looks like him.
That is very true. There's always some kind of magic or force that they use to make themselves powerful even if they themselves aren't physically powerful, like how Naruto characters use chakra. And you're probably right, a lot of Japanese media wants to relate to the person viewing it. Since, like the others said, many Japanese people are very slender, they wouldn't feel as connected to a muscle bound super hero and would rather see the smaller guy rise victorious.
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As like everywhere else, Japan would have its own "standards" for what is beauty.
sure, Japanese folks or at least the ones portrayed seem to be more lythe, but this is not always the case.
You also need to consider the psychology involved behind animated stuff and the time it was created in, it's not really comparable..
Captain America was created in the Middle of World War 2 when the US was fighting Nazi Germany on one side and Japan on the other..(would you create a weak non-musclar dude to imprint "victory" in the psychology of Americans?)
All of the super-muscled dudes you mention where created a while ago too and follow the American psychology on what is strenght, or what it was back then.
Also there's the thing of the mega gigantic round eyes that manga and anime have for it's characters..that's a Japanese thing (never been sure if it's because they would see it are more appealing than their own narrower eyes?). But whatever the reason, it's something that they want to portray.
See what I mean?
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^^
I've always thought the big eyes of anime were to help them express emotion better, that seems very important to they style and they convey feelings in so many subtle and overt ways.
As for the thread...I don't keep up with anime that much, but it seems to me that when gay men show up outside of anime meant to have gay men that they are very masculine, especially thick body hair, and muscled...as if "they're so manly they have to screw men who are women to them (and perhaps women too fragile)." At least that was an impression I got of it many years ago, that could've changed since then, and it could just've been what I had the luck to run into.
And another thing that might play into it is that generally speaking the Japanese aren't as big, burly, or prone to being overweight like Europeans, and especially Americans. There are ethnic groups within Japan who are (like extra hairy, for example) but I read that they tended to be looked down upon (not for their appearance as much as their ethnicity), though that info may be decades old and no longer relevant today (though many who were raised with that attitude may still be alive and working today).
Oh, and don't judge Japan too much by its entertainment...sure, you can get glean clues about a culture from its stories and media, but they do market a lot of what they make (at least what you personally see) to a global market. And think how absurd it would be if say someone from Japan came here wanting to get into car chases, gunfights, and become a vigilante hero (sometimes one the cops call on for help!) blowing up buildings of bad guys simply because that's what happens in a lot of our media. Or even just thinks everyone lives with minimal work in nice homes because so many live in big, comfortable homes on so many of our shows (on top of that, things break all the time in fights and by next episode, all windows are repaired, lost items replaced, etc, it must be cheap and easy to replace, and don't forget our advanced medicine where characters who took a pummeling don't show any signs of abuse a week later!). And as for our cartoons...hate to think the Japanese believe our dogs and babies are smarter than the adults and that we consider the kids of South Park role models for what we want our own kids to be like (or are like). 
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