/ffs/ - Fujo Fandom Sperging

>>3664
Honestly. It depends on the kind of story you want to make. I'm not against realism and making the gay moids in bl more "realistic" as long as I can still follow an interesting story. But the thing about BL is that it is supposed to be built upon fantasies and escapism so something that is fully pandering to the gay male demographic (a bit like bara) would not interest most fujos.

I frankly don't notice shit.
What do you want, for character to hook up on grindr and get aids or some shit?

You should have posted this in /bl/ imo. But to answer your question, I don't really have an opinion, I'd say it depends on the story itself.

I like escapism more, if I want something more realistic or relatable I'd rather read or watch a story about female characters, whether it's about romance or something else. I tried to read a manga long ago, I don't remember the title at all but it was a biography or an autobiography of a gay guy in Japan who got "married" to another guy in Japan and had a traditional wedding or something like that and the main guy was so retarded I wanted to punch him in the face. Sure, it's realistic because it's basically about things that actually happened to a specific guy irl but I can't relate to some guy who's having an existential crisis over losing his virginity on grindr to an ugly old man just for the sake of it, nor do I feel bad for him. Most BL are short so it can be hard to convey these realistic situations in just a few pages anyway. As for fanwork, I like a few pairings that would have been considered canon by everyone if one of the guys were a woman, and I think I would have shipped them too if they were straight pairings anyway so I don't have a preference at all.

No. If you change one to a woman, it does change more often than not because many writers, including those who are female themselves, are incapable of writing good female characters even if they're able to write men just fine. Not to mention how "toxic" and violent the dynamics get in BL. Making both of the characters in such relationships male can reduce potential power imbalances somewhat, and more importantly, it makes them less relatable to female readers and thus easier for them to swallow.

A lot of the time it's just something spouted by bitter het/yurifags out of envy or tifs because they idolize gay moids.

I mean… I do find it hot when they act like gay men, and I do like bara and gay erotica which overlaps with my own tastes.

I wouldn't have found it hot when I was younger, and I get that different strokes for different folks. But I like it when they act 'like men I could know irl' and this includes doing dumb shit like losing virginities on grindr.

Some BL is very introspective, and I find that a bit hard to relate to. The gay men I know are not that much into drama, and I share their tastes to some extent. I still like -some- drama, but most of the time, I want the guys to be fighting an outside force and having a kind of straightforward love story, which slashfic does better than BL manga imo.

Depends on the story and context, but there's nothing wrong with BL being unrealistic. It's ultimately a work of fiction, and the hand-wringing about 'realism' has always felt disingenuous to me. Most BL stories are not trying to pass themselves as a depiction of real life, and I don't believe most people who create and consume them are under the impression the genre is reflective of reality. Sure, if you're aiming for a grounded story, you should make your characters realistic, but realism is not always the author's intent. If men are allowed to have their unrealistic harems of 4-7 hot waifus with one defining personality trait who fawn over the most bland protagonist I've ever seen, then women can consume and write stories in which the male characters are a bit too emotional or feminine. The whole, "if you replace one or two of the main leads with women," thing is also a moot point, as changing the sex of the characters often DOES alter their dynamic by virtue of the themes and setting. I read visual novels, and for some, the plot would flat-out not work if one or both of the leads were female. For example, Hashihime of the Old Book Town's story is contingent upon both of the main characters being male (it could not work if the characters were the opposite sex from one another); even if they were both female, major plot and character details would have to be changed. Likewise, sweet pool derives some of its horror from the affected characters being male; making them female would lessen its impact. I could go on with other examples, but my point is that there's often a reason the characters are male.

I'm in the "BL doesn't need to be realistic" camp. I only have a problem with male characters being 'feminine' in BL if it's a case of a doujin for example turning a guy into a soft weepy shoujo princess even though he's not like that at all in canon just because he's the bottom. I'm not interested in real gay men or gay male culture at all.

I do like a little bit of realism in my bl for variety, in some cases it makes the scenario more erotic. As for an example of realism that I hate, it's the regurgitated ass coming out stories in western gay tv/movies it’s sooo overdone and boring to me, I do like some western “bl” but it’s too preoccupied with representing instead of actually telling an interesting romantic story, I hope those tropes stay in western gay stories but i’ve already seen it in some eastern bl unfortunately. So in the end I think the most important thing for me is that the plot is interesting and somewhat unique.

>If you'd replace one or two of the main leads with women, nothing changes
That’s not true, they wouldn’t have the ‘but we’re both boys…’ autism for the majority of the story if it was.
>>3670
Hashihime is a good example of the trope I just mentioned kek. Tamamori’s still pretending to be straight even after he fell in love with another man.

>>3682
AYRT and yeah, he IS an example of that trope, but my point is that the plot itself wouldn't be identical if they were the opposite sex or if they were female due to the actual setting/plot (not character writing). As in, life for a woman in 1920s Japan probably had a different focus from life for a man at that time, and the story would be forced to address different topics if they were female. Some details about the setting and characters' backstories would have to change if they weren't male. This wouldn't even be a bad thing necessarily, but in order for the leads to be female, you'd have to swap more than just the use of "he" for "she" and the character designs. Even if their personalities are clearly written by a woman and way more feminine than an actual man (which I wasn't saying they weren't), the setting and plot structure as they are currently written necessitate that the characters are male.

>>3683
>>3682
This reminds me of something Moto Hagio said recently, during an interview for the comic festival in Angouleme. Something about how she was drawing BL because she felt that the male characters would have more freedom than the female characters, and that she would feel limited with female love interests because of the point you both made but also because of her own personal bias (for instance her parents didn't want her to be a mangaka at all, I wouldn't be surprised if it were partially because she's a woman, and given her age she must have seen some shit while growing up in general).

A lot of people don't know how to write so they assume you can just swap characters with other characters and call it a day but they don't take the context, the story's tone and the setting into account. I haven't read Hashihime yet so I'm going to ignore that part until I start it though but this applies to storytelling in a very general sense. The reverse can be true, if you took some random shojo manga about a het pairing and wanted to change the female character into a male character a lot of things would be very different.

Aren't there a lot of realistic BL nowadays anyway?

>>3685
I feel like there's more realistic BL now compared to the past (as in more dynamics beyond stereotypical seme/uke) when looking at original works, but in the fanfic/fanart realm every ship gets forced into the daddy dom/crybaby uke dynamic even if it goes against canon. It's weird

>>3684
to assume good character writing is "changing their race/sex wouldn't change anything" does disservice to character design as a whole. You couldn't tell half the stories you want if the mc was a quadriplegic, autistic, black woman because each identity comes with its own set of challenges. I read yaoi for perspectives different from my own (besides the mandatory butt fucking) because I find male minds to be intriguing. Even moreos if they're not beholden to certain standards which might get in way of one's vision. It's why lez and hetbending seems weird as you're taking what drew me into bl and tossing it on it's head. Don't get me wrong, I don't care either way. Just consider certain factors like different backstories, personalities, and circumstances when changing the slightest of details.
>>3685
>>3686
Honestly, I prefer works geared towards BL than cocktease shows where the fanfics consist of poorly disguised het porn. Idk why, but it's almost always the shonens and male-dominated shows, rarely bl unless it's has a habit of attracting tifs like moths to a flame.

>>3666
Lmao same boat. To me the only blatant "realness" BL lacks is that there is more promiscuity (/condom use) IRL.

>>3669
>I want the guys to be fighting an outside force and having a kind of straightforward love story, which slashfic does better than BL manga imo.
Fics/doujins is how I prefer romance. BL manga provides a dopamine hit but does not give me brainworms like fandom does. Danmei is also pretty good at writing m/m romance as the side dish to a plot.

>>3684
You're right, and you said it much better than I could. That's actually a big reason I cannot get into a lot of VNs where you make your own self-insert, doubly so when it's in a historical setting or there are no significant changes to character interactions. I think it's easy for people to overlook how much seemingly small alterations can impact a narrative.

I'd be so bored if BL featured men who "act like gay men." No realism in my BL, I don't want them giving themselves enemas and hooking up on Grindr or whatever it is gay men do. And even setting aside sexual logistics, BL as a genre has its roots in shoujo, hence the idealized, femgaze romance/sex and accompanying tropes. BL is very detached from reality, and that's how I like it. I don't really overthink it, I just don't care about the sociopolitical implications of "feminized ukes" or unrealistic anal sex.

"If you'd replace the main leads with women, nothing changes" I don't see what's wrong with that, even if it were true (which admittedly it's often not)
The reason they're both male in BL is because it's erotic to those who are into that. There doesn't need to be some deeper reason or justification. This concept is so bizarre to me, it's like being in an italian restaurant saying "you could replace this pasta with sushi and nothing changes because it's still food", like i literally came for the pasta sir

Who gives a fuck. They are anime/manga characters, not real people. Who even came up with this autism ?

>>3743
SJWs me thinks

>>3743
>>3746
Yes, SJWs, and their points tend to be one of these
>you'd rather see men being a gay pairing over seeing a plot relevant strong and independent female character because you're sexist
>you'd rather see men being a gay pairing because you fetishize MLMs, if you changed one of the guy to make him a girl it wouldn't change anything so you should ship straight pairings and stop taking our representation away from us

Either way, these people care too much about fake people that are lines on a sheet of paper or on a screen.

>>3747
>you'd rather see men being a gay pairing over seeing a plot relevant strong and independent female character because you're sexist
I hate this one the most and in recent years I've seen SJWs mix racial politics into it, like they expect you to prioritize interracial M/F over M/M of two white guys or else you're racist. I only like animanga so it doesn't apply to me but who gives a shit? These people need to stop overfixating on the identities of their blorbos. Every day I get more convinced these made up rules/standards forced on fujos is just hetfags and yurifags being mad they have no fancontent so turning it into some woke thing is their way of taking it out on us.

>>3754
I hate this argument because it's not even accurate; a lot of BL manga and VNs have great female characters. The female characters' roles are expanded beyond generic female love interest, and they often serve the plot in more interesting ways because their purpose in the story is expanded beyond being someone's girlfriend or wife.

Not that it matters regardless. It's just a way to push out content people don't like under the guise of moral superiority.

As a straight woman I fetishize the shit out of men.

>>3759
Gay men exist for my amusement

I've observed the way gay men act and their mindset and lifestyles are very far removed from heterosexual and gay women. There seems to be a general acceptance of open relationships and certain gay men will live for months or years, depending on whatever fetish they pick. One really interesting thing is how much gay men tend to be attracted to men who are a lot like them. There are some exceptions, but so many gay men seem to date exact clones of themselves, which is kinda freaky.

>>3774
I noticed that too they usually look the same. I can relate to the personality part, since I cannot even befriend people who are too different from myself but that shouldn't have much of an influence on the look.
Well they say that the body reflects the soul, so maybe there is a higher than average chance that someone like you will look similar to you I am not sure.

>>3774
I guess if you find a type of man to be super hot and are also a man, you'd also try to be that type of super hot guy since it's what you like?

>>3774
>a general acceptance of open relationships
Idk how they live like this.

>>3776
That's the logic I've used when writing original BL. When I think about lesbian couples I know they're similar with matching hair and fashion styles, and yet I'm always shipping opposites like it's two puzzle pieces that slot together.

>>3782
nta but from what I have seen, it seems like casual sexual encounters are just expected, if your a gay man your partner may fuck someone at a club, and you might also have similar encounters with someone in an alleyway. but these encounters are purely physical and lack emotional involvement.

I wouldn't be into BL if the men acted like IRL men gay or not, I get enough of scrote bullshittery in real life and reading about them doesn't interest me. The reason I don't enjoy a lot of het stuff is specifically because the men are more like real life men which I find a huge turn off.

I have a few gay male friends and unlike what SJWs and TIFs claim, most genuinely do not care about BL. They are completely indifferent to it. When I asked why, they said they didn't really see it as "gay" The situations and the way characters acted seemed kinda straight to them. they'd say that in a gay comic, the two guys would casually fuck and that'd be that.

i like the parts which feature closetfags and homo angst including trying to pretend to be straight or trying to hide their fagboy proclivities, i like the realism that revolves around the idea of homosexuality being sinful or frowned upon in society and characters being in denial/the closet or in deep self loathing because that shit is so hot and my main draw to the heckin yaoi lyfe
however the casual promiscuity, grindr hookups and aidz typical of flesh and blood homos is icky, so I only really enjoy the angst that asian works can deliver

Let's say they should feel like male adult 2D characters. I sometimes like cute scenes too but rather gap moe than outright moe and I think that you can make two characters be close and chill leaning against each other and such without writing them like highschool girls.

Personally prefer non-romance series with good male friendships and dynamics over actual yaoi. I have the same issue with hetero and real life by the way. People always act cringe and aggressively soft when they're in love and I can't stand it. So maybe what I call unmanly is actually common even among men when they are in love but I don't like it.
>>3963
Even I have this very issue so I am not surprised that gays think like that. What attracts me the most about gay pairings are the personalities, dynamics and the absence of loveydovey talk. They are normally more equal than hetero pairings but this is often not the case when they're explicitly written as gay. Hell they often act more feminine than I do and gay stories are usually slice of life or soft comedies which I also dislike tbh. OR it's teens/kids which I don't like either. So I mostly stick to cool series and fan shipping.

I have to question if people who complain that bl male characters aren't "acting like men" have ever read what an average anime man acts like outside basic shounen.
The fact that bl men can hold hands without blushing and fanting like a little school girl should say enough.

>>4237
I mean there is plenty of that too in BL but I think that painting in broad strokes for any genre is impossible because there are so many series out there.

Personally I prefer older masculine men, but I I also like pining and blushy stuff so I guess broadly speaking ai like unrealistic characters lol.

This is a bit hard to answer since I have issues defining what exactly male and female behavior is and what not. I am mostly into masculine looking dudes or older men, but the masculinity is rather about the look and their roles than their personalities for me.

Like, I am obsessed with warriors. Knights, samurai, soldiers etc. But most of the ones I love are very emotional. They act like cartoon villains, throw tantrums or cry and do dumb shit. So their behavior isn't what people usually define as manly. I like the mix. Manly look, manly role but chaotic or unstable personality. It's gap moe and super cute when it's a comedy and interesting and full of potential when it's a serious series. It also makes them vulnerable which makes them easier to ship.

I think that a lot about the perception of masculinity/femininity is visual. If a character is some 30 year old dude with beard and scars he might still come off as manly even if he blushed after his friend touched his chin. Imagine the same scene with shoujo-tier bishounen design and it probably feels different. Though it's not just the designs but also the way facial expressions are drawn.

What I want to say is that man-like and girl-like behavior is largely about the presentation and not the acts themselves unless we are talking about turbo uke that "E-..eto..etoo" and "YEEEEEE yameteee!1" the seme. But characters that act like this are ridiculous even if they are female.

No I hate faggots. Have to deal with them enough in real life already. Bl is fantasy and I love it when the characters are established as being straight and having no prior experience with men

>>4431
>Have to deal with them enough in real life already.
I have no clue why but reading this specific sentence reminded me that I never met a bi or gay man irl who wasn't deranged and detailing their sex lives for no reason whatsoever. I don't have any male friends to begin with, and no gay or bi male coworkers anymore and I kinda forgot what it's like to have a coworker acting like an offensive gay stereotype early in the morning when I still have crust in my eyes and telling me about how he managed to piss in another guy's mouth or have a threesome in which he topped both guys at the same time somehow last night and the spoiler is nsfw just in case. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

>>4432
I've experienced the same thing with gay/bi men, down to the anecdotes. They either are really shy around it or go all in with unwanted anecdotes

>>4432
>>4434
I don't think gay men should be discriminated against, but their culture is hypersexual and raunchy in a way that we probably can't ever understand. If a BL series was "realistic" it would mostly be about hooking up in clubs and orgies.

Western fans miss the cultural context of this genre entirely. The "men" and "boys" of BL and yaoi, were never meant to represent literal men, let alone gay men. They are metaphorical stand ins for women free from gender performance and norms. They could explore gender equality and masculine coded behaviors and attitudes in the stories. Basically you can think of BL and yaoi = butch or gender fluid lesbians. Then there's the aesthetic level of the genre that attracts a large asexual following. It's a peeve of mine people assuming that mostly "straight" women read BL

>>3964
Do you have any recommendations? Characters who are actually gay seem pretty rare.

>>4440
Chicken serenade, Nii-chan and smells like green spirit are my go to recommendations also yoshinaga fumi's bl works always contain actual homos

>>4439
>Basically you can think of BL and yaoi = butch or gender fluid lesbians.
Dunno, I'm straight and I can't identify with this vision of yaoi/BL.

>>4431
leave Rei-chan alone! he's cute and very masculine in his route
>>4432
>>4434
>>4437
i think the issue isn't male homosexuality and more just men in general, gay men are the ultimate reflection of male desires, the only true difference between gay and het male sexuality is that one party has waaay more access to consenting partners who will say yes and have way lower standards
even the most placid het moid who loves his mum and his gf will still go home and watch the most degrading porn and fantasise about all kinds of deranged shit with the women he knows, his gay male equivalent however can easily find someone who will indulge those fantasies since his dating pool is other males
if every woman disappeared and the earth became yaoi world i assure you it would turn into an orgy pretty damn quickly whilst a yuri world equivalent would be relatively normal

that being sad i genuinely have a fetish for the taboo nature of homosexuality and how it's treated in more conservative countries like Japan, the implementation of shame and characters who are actual closet cases is something i find very sexy providing the manga doesn't get too preachy about it

>>4444
>if every woman disappeared
Basically what men do in prison, which is where the popular prison rape joke comes from.

>>4444
>>4446
Possible, but I think with cultures/environments like this is more about perceived power then sex and also attraction to feminine aesthetics, with actual gay males it's genuine lust and even love

>>4432
>>4437
Like Leather kink, Pup play, ABDL, Feederism (and more) all came from the gay male community, because their social circles basically allow them to indulge in any fetish a 1000x times over

>>4448
that's an interesting take, there's definitely an element of wanting to control/dominate the "fairer sex" that's very overtly present in het male sexuality, i think this sort of lust for power plays into it but as more of a prerequisite to the inherent degeneracy of male sexuality
>>4449
i asked this gay guy i knew about why theres so many furries in the gay community plus freaky shit like this and his response was that since by being openly gay you're already going to have people dislike and distance themselves from you, you may as well put on a fursuit and put on a harness in public since they'll be equally grossed out by that as you holding hands with your bf, dunno if i agree with that but i guess the thought process makes some sense, het males are just as depraved judging by their searches on pornhub, i think the spicy stuff gays like just gets more attention as it's easier and less mentally taxing to be grossed out by the depravity of a fringe minority as opposed to half the population

>>4450
>think the spicy stuff gays like just gets more attention as it's easier and less mentally taxing to be grossed out by the depravity of a fringe minority as opposed to half the population
Agree. Honestly the disgusting shit kinkster gay men do can be gross but if I'm being completely honest as disgusting as it can be it's never nearly as disturbing as the fact that most straight men look up straight up pedophilia, incest and violence against women on porn sites.

>>4439
Please go back to lolcow.

>>4453
It's not that I disagree with you but lolcow is still down.

>>4454
Just got to keep staring at the screen and refreshing until it works.

>>4455
kek

>>4444
>>4448
I'm sure there's a more detailed explanation, but these types of males aren't attracted to men or women, but to perceived cultural norms of femininity. Like If they had to choose between sex with a butch woman or a drag queen, they would choose the drag queen

>>4455
Don't tempt me.

>>4450
Interesting perspective on the furry stuff! Explains openly gay furries a bit, I guess.

I have gay friends too with a different outlook. They can enjoy some exceptionally well-done Japanese furry porn, but they're not fond of most furry art or the furry community on the whole.

They're highly into 'animalistic' attributes on their men, such as sharp claws or human/animal hybrids, the whole 'feral' thing is a turn-on for them.

So I can see why so many gays become furries due to the appeal of animal-shaped boys.

>>4439
This explanation never sits right with me no matter how much people parrot because the man in BL may not be realistic representations by any standard but they are still clear representations of men and you can see it when you compare male BL characters to actual female characters written by and for the same demographic. Even when you compare helpless stereotypical ukes to female leads in shojosei romance, the male *still* is afforded more agency, personality and less "self-insert" type writing even if readers do project onto him. No matter how much femininity possesses he possesses it always baffles me when people read BL stories and see them as women. Weak, feminine man ≠ woman stand-in. And for the record majority of fujoshi *are* straight women and it's stupid to pretend otherwise. You need a big demographic to justify how much BL media is created and sexual minorities simply lose the numbers game automatically.

>>4474
There will be more Straight women due to the sheer numbers, but it is also known that Lesbian/Bi women make up a disproportionate1 portion of creators and audiences despite being a minority.

>>4474
I genuinely never got why people are so offended by the "men in BL are non-men" theory and are also very quick on their feet to mention how "just so you know most fujos are straight!". Are you afraid that lesbians will implant you with gay brainworms? The big appeal to me personally in BL is that the characters don't act like actual men, when in a lot of straight otoge they do have the attributes heterosexual men have which immediately makes them unattractive to me as characters, especially the way they express their attraction to women. I don't enjoy the booktok level "this is (you) dating the captain of the football team" novels either because they offer a boyfriend experience first and foremost, not a story about two standalone characters like BL.

>but they are still clear representations of men and you can see it when you compare male BL characters to actual female characters written by and for the same demographic. Even when you compare helpless stereotypical ukes to female leads in shojosei romance, the male *still* is afforded more agency, personality and less "self-insert" type writing even if readers do project onto him.
But this is missing the point being made here, which is "they aren't really men, but more like female-written minds in imaginary male bodies", hence the term non-men. They're what female characters would be if they were given more agency and personality, but lack the moidish qualities of many male characters in various stories and possess a female-coded emotional intelligence which makes sense seeing how BL is usually written by women, depicting characters women enjoy. I make the same argument with a lot of female-only casts in series written by men, they never act like actual, relatable women but are more closer to a "male interpretation of a woman". This doesn't mean nobody can see them as the sex the character is given, but because they're completely fictional and written by someone not of this particular sex, they can be up for subjective interpretation. Some fujoshis can enjoy certain kinds of BL because the characters could be interchangeable with female bodies and little would change, while some fujoshis can read the same works and only see them as men and not read more into it. That's also why BL appears to so many women regardless of their sexuality and why it's grown to be such a big market while yuri is a niche since it's muddied with the looming male presence looking for cooming.

>>4486
This too. A ton of active creators are not straight simply because they're more likely to have the free time (no children or families) and are probably dating fellow female creators supportive of their work. This isn't to say that "everything is written by non-straight women", it's just that their numbers are much larger than their frequency in the general population.

Should BL men act like gay men?

No. I think irl gay men are the absolute opposite of anything I'd want to see in romantic fiction. I hate the way they talk, I hate the inflection of their voices, their mannerisms. Hell, I even hate the way they move. Everything is so fuckin extra with them. They can't just be people, they have to be people+++

I'm probably just a homophobe, but not because I have anything against ass fucking. I just find their actual existences repulsive and no amount of inclusivity or sensitivity training can fix how much they make me shudder. Men in BL are colorful but not obnoxious, and the more straight they appear, the better it is when they sleep with men because the angst is tasty. Just my two cents.

Real life men should act like fictional men

>>4491
if only, sad how women irl try to act like anime girls to appeal to men but rarely does the reverse ever happen

>>4492
>sad how women irl try to act like anime girls to appeal to men
do they?

>>4493
Have you not seen belle Delphine and her dozens of clones?

>>4492
It exists but I think it's more for the host club and butler yumejos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoO7Pmx0bE4

>>4494
Belle Delphine was after the bag, not male approval

i like when the guys are portrayed as straight or on the asexual spectrum until they meet the other guy, so no…
the idea of them being gay isn't attractive to me. but to be fair i don't like when they act too moidy in general so the turn off is not appliable just to them being homosexual. i guess i just want an unrealistic and idealized version of guys. it makes things more romantic and hot

It's all about gap moe and well-rounded personality for me. I don't want them to come off as girly but for the sake of making myself clear I should mention that I don't think of coomer behavior or macho when I say "manly". The real hotness comes from contrasts. Like a serious, honorable and sophisticated dude that values etiquette but then over-reacts or gets emotionally confused when things don't go his way or when his potential love interest approaches him. Or super serious tradition-loving guy that throws an autistic tantrum sometimes.
A bit like the cartoon villains from the past to be honest lol. Threatening at first but then they turn out to be naive and do dumb shit or throw a fit until their super loyal totally not gay sidekick calms them down. Or an allegedly unemotional scientist with hidden insecurities.

There is a lot. But them being outright feminine/boyish kills my enjoyment since cuteness and emotions should be the top on the ice cake not the defining trait everything else is based around. That aside it's just cute and hot af seeing some scary dude softening for a certain other dude. It hits very differently from a blushing insecure softie being lovely dovey. That aside I cannot even relate to those types. Like I don't self-insert or anything but I at least have to vaguely understand a character to like him and I can't with those male and female moe blobbs anime use to have.