Editing style is great and unique, you and Basic Boi's formats are really good! But Howl from this list (then Tomoe), outside this list Malleus from Twisted Wonderland
Kamisama kiss was ok, but I always got it confused with Inari Kon Kon, which sets up girls who become temporary goddesses which was also Kamichu and it feels in a way Norigami.
I also don't think you're wrong to be critical of toxic or wish fullfillment relationships. Toxic relationships are typical in media because it's good for drama and entertainment, and it makes you eat a lot of popcorn, but ultimately it isn't a great thing to be exposed to and media tends to be not just saturated with i, but oversaturated, and children do look to media as a gauge as to what is cool or uncool and to gauge their own social standing with others. I mean adults do the same damned thing to be honest, but with adults, there's just no excusing the foolishness, and I hate having to regulate just because people fall for the highly unrealistic nature of what media portrays. Also, ideal relationships and escapism is ok in small doses, but again, it's just the overwhelming amounts and how that can fuel dissatisfaction in relationships. Not to mention idealist/escapists tends to be great for one half of the characters and not so great for the other. (I'd have no patience or care to be involved with some shoujo characters. For example, many of them have a degree of over the top innocence that I HAVE dated very early on and learned to hate, and others have a lot of helplessness that is pure torture. Nobody wants to have to rescue their princess every other wek.)
Your editing style is not bad. Also, do you use any audio equipment on your videos? It may be just me but the audio quality is decent but not good enough
I love Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle, because when she turns into an old lady, it frees her from the confinements of social expectations that have made her into the meek self-sacrificial girl, she learns to speak her mind, be more selfish and not care about what others think of her, while she still retains her kindness and caring nature, and I love that. And sure it's because she has grown to believe that her worth is conditional and now that she's old and "ugly" she has no worth anymore, so there's no point in trying to keep her conditional worth. But she learns from Howl that she has inherent unconditional worth. What I really love about their relationship is that Howl also learns the same lesson from her. They both think their worth is conditional and they need to self-sacrifice to be worthy, but they see each others worth, while not seeing their own. They have very opposite coping mechanisms to it in the beginning, but fundamentally they are very similar, and then they help each other grow to be more healthy better people. And I love that so much.
The interesting thing is that in the Howls Moving Castle book, Sophie is initially so accepting of her fate because of storybook tropes; the eldest of three children always comes to a bad end!
I always have to age up the girls in these monster stories to enjoy it better... cause I love monster x human stories. I wish we could get more adult stories like this cause its one of my favorite troupes
I've read Beauty and the Beasts (chinese webtoon) and for some reason (despite the awkward English translation) I... Really enjoyed it... With a few modifications here and there, it would make for the next big hit in the anime/dong hua world.
I'm not a folklore expert but I have a book titled In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender that covers the expanse of Human with Supernatural Being romances in global folklore, and it's one of my favourite reads ever. It's absolutely fascinating how different versions of the same story share different messages and what that could tell us on who was telling the story and what the cultural values and expectations of their time was. Honestly it didn't happen very often but I kind of loved the women who ran off to hook up with the supernatural beast because fuck domestoc normalicy. I don't remember a lot of them and lot of retellings had them regret it later, but I like to think they're havin a great time dancing with the devil in hell.
I Highly recommend reading Howl’s Moving Castle! There are so many good character moments in the book and they really highlight how much both Howl and Sophie grow over the course of their story. It’s also just one of my favorite books so I have to recommend it as often as I can.
I’d argue that arguing, in itself isn’t toxic, they’re never trying to actively hurt each other with what they’re saying, and things never get to any point of escalation where things feel iffy . Heck, bickering and arguing can be fun with people you’re close with like siblings and friends because you know what lines not to cross. Their personalities and temperaments are also well suited to each other. When Howl tries to pull any silly dramatic wizard shenanigans, Sophie doesn’t take it and calls him out on it. And when Sophie is in a grouchy fighting mood, Howl doesn’t take the bait. At the end of the day it’s clear they both still love each other deeply.
@@phantomphnoom Sure, it depends on the qualities and context of the arguing. And theirs is more on the toxic side, meaning petty arguments, spreading unnecessary negativity, never apologizing for lashing out, never trying to be more open and vulnerable with each other, ... DWJ said in an interview: "A typical day in the life of Howl and Sophie? Well, there would be at least two quarrels, one *violent* argument, and an explosion of strange magic. They are not a quiet pair." But hey, fighting in relationships was seen as normal when she wrote the book so it's a product of its time.
Ten year is not that bad. My parents first meet when my mom was 18 and my dad was 27. Now they are married for 20 years and they have a healthy relationship. I'm pretty sure my dad didn't think anything bad about my mom other than love. I saw him almost crying because he lied for me. He is a good man.
I think something interesting about Beauty & The Beast stories where the Beast is literal rather than a mean human, is that the The Beast is in the category of 'The Other', sometimes just to the audience but often in their own world. I think that can put them and the woman on more equal footing in terms of humanising characterisation, where a lot of fiction tend to let the men take over as if they're easier to recognise as 'fully human'. In stories where the Beast is outcast then that itself tends to balance the power dynamics just a little, as even if they have supernatural powers they might share a more balanced social power with ths heroine.
For ancient Magus bride, I kinda took it as maybe he’s like a kid since he knew nothing about the world or emotions? Lol my way of trying to justify it I guess. I’m enjoying the new season so far though 😊
I don't think you're justifying, it's truly how it is in a way. They're fantasy and magical, rather than slice of life, so of course such animes stray into the land of "otherworldy" with some human remoteness... They're meant to be unusual... And both deeply tragic and incredibly lucky if translated to real life... These stories don't have to conform, because they're not in the genre that only depicts "a love story between pretty humans". In beast and beauty animes, both parties are undesirables in their respective worlds.
Just popping in to say I love your analyses! I completely loved Kakuriyo since it sets up the trope and then almost immediately subverts it by allowing the FL to forge her own path. I also liked the fact that she was at least in university before being whisked off to the spirit realm and that Mr. Oni whose actual name we still don't know, takes in those who need help making him a big softie. Still has the classic age gap going but at least she's over 18. lol.
I really like how you pointed out that a lot of the FMLs of these type of stories are strongly written, because I never noticed at first b ut it makes so much sense! Heck even Belle in Beauty and the Beast is a strongly written chara. Mind blown. Very nice vid thank you!@
Yes and no. The message is that Hatori was an undesirable, just like Elias. Hatori's family literally tried to kill her and then abandoned her. A similar message is seen in Niehime to Kemono no Ou, where the girl is returned to her human village against her will only to be refused and nearly killed by people again, because they found out she was meant as a sacrifice, which she knew would happen... So they both try to forge a new life with the "cursed beasts" that they come to appreciate due to their superior emotional intellect compared to their own families 😅. I'd say the trope here is that the male seems to always be "the beast" (in anime we don't really see a crocodile looking 20-year-old female fawned upon by a lost, 15 yr old boy with latent magical powers), and the female characters' voice actors are always awkwardly squeaky and childish in voice tone and exclamations.
I think another great version of this trope is from Hunter x Hunter during the chimera arc. The relationship between Meruem and Komugi. Heartbreakingly beautiful
I agree, Togashi perfectly nailed that trope. I don't think there are any series with romance elements have touched or moved me quite like meruem & komugi's love story..
Regarding the age gaps, I think they're insistent on having the girls around 15-17 bc if they go any older, then it wouldn't be shojo anymore. it would be considered josei, and that genre probably has its own conventions and assumptions about their target audience. It's just a guess, and it's probably a bad take lol
Shoujo just means that the target demographic is young girls, and josei means the target demographic is older girls. You can certainly have shoujo manga with an older protagonist or josei manga with a younger one, but the closer in age to your target audience, the better they can usually relate.
I really loved this video and your analysis on the Girl x Beast trope! Kamisama Kiss is my favorite anime (and I’m currently reading through the manga)! I love seeing it included in videos that see both problematic and positive aspects of the series and others like it. I feel like Kamisama Kiss has a good plot, character development and relationships, and great messages and recurring themes, like….. (1) the strength/resilience humans can have, (2) goodness, compassion, and empathy in humanity, and (3) the trauma of abandonment and moving forward by making bonds/love with others, even though it can be terrifying. In regards to strong female leads, Nanami is my favorite protagonist EVER - she’s plucky, scrappy, kind, and stubborn in the best ways. The series is a rom-com, and I feel like it’s more rom, than com, but one of Nanami’s ultimate goals is to be a good land god - so it’s not like her romance with Tomoe is the sole focus of the series. Tomoe’s character development is also an important part of the series: He sees humans as weak and doesn’t want to get involved with them, but over time as he spends more time with Nanami, he comes to see ways in which humans aren’t weak. Especially during the arc/episodes where he sees young Nanami grow up and not be crushed by all the hardships she’s experienced. I could go on, the series is just so good and I love it so much ❤ Again, really great video and great take on exploring this trope!!
I see the video a little late, but the topic is really interesting and I have a theory about the "monster and a little/young girl" trope. As you said - the role of the good girl is to "fix" or "heal" the beast, to reach his heart and teach him about emotions (besides anger and jealousy). I think that girls, usually in the pre-adolescent phase, are seen as pure and lacking "bad" motives. something about being exposed to that raw "purity" touches the beast (like the trope of a womanizer realizes that women are also human being when he has a daughter). Why does it have to be a romantic relationship.. Creeps I guess.
The Ancient Magus' Bride is one of my favorite animes of all time, however, I wish Elias and Chise's relationship was more of a father/daughter or teacher/apprentice type of relationship; I never liked the whole bride thing.
As someone who read the manga for sacrificial princess, def keep up! A whole lot of it focuses on the main character navigating the political intrigue of this new nation she’s in, it’s so good
I had this story idea titled “To Appreciate the Sanguinite Woman” that I realize is also a Beauty and the Beast story. I mean, the ‘beast’ character is freaking warlord and a grand duke, and the ‘belle’ character is actually a traveling surgeon who treated him before. And the dude was actually searching for her ever since he became the grand duke! Why? To display his gratitude of course!
I'm really glad you brought this genre up! I've struggled with the same questions about my hypocracy with loving these shows and at the same time acknowliging the questionable tropes in them. Butttttt... I still love them. And re-watch them all the time as my comfort shows. Except black prince, ugh. And you're right, some of the best female characters are in beauty x beast anime and manga. The first anime I ever watched was Kamisama Hajimemashita and I absolutely adore Nanami. Her humour, strength, determination, human weaknesses, everything. Nanami and Misaki from Maid-Sama set the bar really high when it comes to female protagonists.
I’m guilty of being obsessed with Beauty and Beast retellings. Completely obsessed. I blame Disney. But yeah I agree with the tropes in fantasy hitting different simply because it is fantastical. I always come at these stories less from Stockholm syndrome and more learning and growing, on both ends. I dunno… I also love Hades and Persephone which is probably way more problematic but I can’t help it lol.
The Greek Gods, and the God of Gods aka Zeus, are way more dysfunctional than the animes on this list 🤣. Hades and Persephone are amongst the more "normal" relationships portrayed in the Greek dramas.
I want to say The Ancient Magus Bride is slightly different, at least from what I remembered. No idea if you seen it, this is the first video I've seen so far. She wasn't captured, she willingly let herself be sold. The reasoning is really dark and depressing. And even though yeah they are (I think) husband and wife, it never really felt like that at all. They only ever felt like Master and Student and even then it never felt like a romance but more like a found family. That and the fact that Elias doesn't even know what marriage means or what it can entitle. I think how it was explained to him by someone else was basically 2 friends spending a lot of time together and living together. Elias is an incredibly ancient entity, but his intellect maturity is limited to magic and the creatures that dwell in that world. His social and emotional maturity is... nonexistent. I vaguely remember that some even revere to him as a child, at least those who are even more ancient. And they are teaching each other, one to use magic and the other learning to be... human? Just got to 14:48, lol. I really love The Ancient Magus Bride, so I might be forgetting things since I haven't seen season 1 in a couple years.
No, you're right, the anime is far from being sexual, so it's down to the viewer imagining and wishing for more, aka Elias attaining humanity or human feelings or a dimension where it's possible to have romantic feelings 🥰. Both characters are outcasts in a way - undesirables. And frankly, in real life beggars can't be choosers so what these animes depict are in fact incredibly lucky and beautiful given these characters' established backstories. Of course, they could easen up the grip on casting voice actors doing childish tones and high-pitched noises for the girls T_T. Chise is not too childish in voice acting i think.
This is a fantastic video, and I'm going to watch some of the anime you recommended here. Since they all sound really interesting. I also like the girl x beast trope as well, and Inuyasha is one of my favorite anime. I also want to add that Japan has its own version of Beauty and the Beast that's over a thousand years old. It's called The Dogs wife. It's about a woman that marries a dog deity. And the villagers try to persecute them but the dog deity and the woman escape. And ends with the dog deity getting revenge and killing all of the villagers.
Where did you get that info about "The Dog's Wife" from? I looked it up and couldn't find anything. In the Japanese chronicle Kojiki, there are mentions of women sleeping with gods that transformed themselves into animals (e.g. snake) and objects (e.g. arrow) in order to get close to them but there was no dog deity in it. I have never heard about god deities either. I guess you mean Inugami which are dog spirits and marrying them was frowned upon.
>In beauty and the best retellings it's almost always the MC girl aspect foremost + no romantic relationship in the beginning - example: ancient magus bride > The ancient magus supports the girl's growth Okay I was hesitant to watch this anime but now I'm excited to! Thanks for clearing my suspicions!
Beauty and the Beast retellings are my favorite stories. As a young teen I basically thought of... 5 different Beauty and the Beast stories. And you bet I watched the heck out of kagisama kiss, Ancient Magus Bride, Beauty and the Beast (disney), and yes even Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. For me it was I wasn't projecting on Beauty but for Beast. Because of my autism I was often isolated from my peers and made to feel a bit like a beast incapable of being understood. So being showed unconditional love between a beast and a beauty was comforting to me. As an adult however the flaws of the genre become clear and as you mention the dicotomy of the genre having many MANY problematic tropes. Its harder to look past the fact the protagonist is a teenager when I'm no longer the same age and it makes some stories I really enjoyed feel ruined in retrospect. Still I can't deny how large of an impact it had on me nor the comfort it still brings me. Also Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is actually less problematic than first blush as the first twist of the story is actually her being released by the King but choosing instead out of her own will to be his bride. The rest of the story is her winning the respect of the Beasts and coming to understand them.
There is quite a difference between manga & anime anyway, so that is worth exploring. Why do childish female characters sell... 😅 But I think it's about selling drama. And in the drama category you've got the supernatural and unusual - the barely human, the non-customary. Here is where romantic stories between humans and other types of beings are woven. They're not meant to be slice if life anime and represent the average relationship, but the exception...
Thank you for making this video, as someone who also enjoys the trope and also has been asking myself similar questions about it problematic nature, you put into words a lot of the reason why I love this trope. 💚
This was really an interesting video. I love how you explored the origins of the Beauty and the Beast trope and Cupid and Psyche is considered to be the seed that started this trope and it reminded me of the fairytale class I took in college, where we also discussed about the way the beauty and the beast story originated. I do agree with the point you make about the age gap and how it might impact people in the current times, especially young adults. I think I usually tend to overlook the age gap if the plot is good. And it is true a lot of these stories are fantasy and the familiarity of girl and beast dynamic outweighs the age factor in some way. My fav anime is Fruits Basket and Tohru is my fav Female MC. I also love Kamisama Kiss and Inuyasha they aren't entirely perfect shows but I still love them. And really liked your editing style for the video it was very unique!
OMG finally, a video that perfectly describes my complex feelings on the Girl x Beast/Beauty & the Beast trope stories:D! Like you, I'm a big fan of these kind of stories
I absolutely despise big age gaps between humans but at the same time I adore the immortal/longer life x mortal dynamic? It just offers so much angst potanial as well as the whole "Lonely ancient being who's given up on humanity discovers the light again through a another person" thing which I think is so sweet. I'd really prefer if the human was an adult and not a teenager. I've found that I need the imortal/longer life being to atleast be humanoid though, it creeps me out if they look more like and animal or something.
Agree fully that these girl x beast stories in modern retellings have my favorite heroines. Loved that you mentioned Kakuriyo! It is one of my favs and as someone said before, Aoi completely going nope not going to marry you, I'm going to open up a restaurant and pay you back myself! Yes! Will always consume those type of stories. I'm excited to continue watching Sacrificial Princess. Sariphi already seems like she's going to be a fun female lead for this show.
my favorite thing about the book version of Howl's Moving Castle is that Howl is just fully a sloppy-ass drama queen playboy who doesn't know how to clean his room and throws a hissy fit when he gets the sniffles (and, most hilariously, he's an asshole rugby player college boy from ACTUAL wales who stumbled into a fantasy world and decided to be a wizard for shits and giggles) and diana wynne jones has straight up said that every time she did a reading young girls would be like "can i marry howl??" and she was like, "WHY????" and it cracks me up so much
I love ancient magus bride because of the lore and settings. Also Chise is a a Shonen protagonist. Plus they didn't put sexual innuendos and compromising prositions between Chise and Elias. A lot of beast animes do and it sucks.
Overall Magnus Bride's sexual presentation is more mature for its protagonist age group. Elias never made sexual comments about Chise. Nor does adults around them like to bring up "s*x with young girls" in a excited fetishistic manner. Sexuality in Magnus's bride is more Primal, ones that are depicted in old Children's tale. There are some problems that may come with that. Anyway this is WAY too long.
@@cyncynshop they didn't make crude jokes but in episode one she was put in an uncompromising situation being naked and bath Infront of a thousand year old monster. The times Elias emotions got the better of him and he felt something akin to lust . He was in a monstrous form and was thinking of devouring her but he mistaked it for well eating her but it wasn't. The time he was jealous and kept strangling her had subtle sexual undertones too. It's not crude but they hint on things subtlety.
I actually wanted to add that the "dysfunction" with these animes start in the original drama of how the main characters come to be. Aka their families tend to be dysfunctional, to want to kill or abandon these girls. The relationships they forge with the undesirable "beasts" in fact become the first functional relationship they have if one looks at their stories. In real life, beggars can't be choosers, the anime stories mostly show the good side. They're not meant to be slice of life, but supernatural, otherwordly, deeply sad yet lucky at the same time. They sell because they're an exception more than a rulebook. Most of the Greek stories of Gods were highly dysfunctional because they were meant to impress, induce a sense of awe and stupor 🤔. But naturally, they do also transmit views of the creator and their society. Improvement-wise, I personally wish their voices and the sounds the female actors are asked to do were more mature.
I generally like the Beauty X Beast trope, especially in anime, for engaging character dynamics and introspec it may touch on. I think that exploring oneself, with a critical lens, through a media that you are comfortable in, is a great and natural way to process depictions of intersections that one may share with characters/world in said media.
I really wanted to love Magus Bride. The story and environment are very compelling and imaginative. But, Elias and Chise's relationship dynamic made me too uncomfortable. Nothing overly egregious, just ovrall felt kind of icky. It just all seems so unnecessary for such a good story. Just my opinion though.
In Mahoutsukai no Yome and Niehime to Kemono no Ou, no one is forced to marry anyone. Both "partners" are undesirables or outcasts - the girls are sold and underfed (thin, weak) by their own families and communities - betrayed by the human families they were born into. The male is seen as stressed, unable to find a partner, due to some sort of crucial defect that dictates their lives, until the exception comes along and accepts them becauee they themselves don't have a choice... It's forced in a way but not by the main characters themselves. They are often "returned" back only to br betrayed again by the human communities they are returned to...
The sacrifial princess and the king of beast's character design case is interesting because the original king design nade by the author looked a lot younger in his human form, but then she modified the design using suggestions from her editor and the king looks older.
Love this! Its what I've been thinking about for a while, but couldn't put it into words. I totally agree with the age gap dilemma and your reasoning for accepting these exceptions. Its really hard to create a steadfast rule, especially when your outlook on relationships can change as years pass. I'm so glad that someone else was thinking about this too! And in my opinion, the Sacrificial Princess can definitely be added to the acceptable list!!!
I somehow totally forgot about Kakuriyo, despite having drawn fanart for it! I am a huge fan of this genre overall, but as a very old adult woman I always want the leads to have more confidence and agency. I always want the female lead to respond less "demure-ishly" to any flirting/teasing from the male beast character. "I'm the villainess so I'm taming the final boss" subverts those tropes a bit! I'll have to settle for fanfiction I suppose. Not sure if it's streaming anywhere, but you younger fans of this genre might get a kick out of the Beauty and the Beast TV series from the 1980's starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman. There's a lot of angst/longing and soft focus lens.
Yes, fantasy is great! I still like a good damsel industries trope every once in a while! But, even when I was a kid, I only saw relationships as an adult thing (I was like 11 to 13) and I remember never really liking age gap relationships in entertainment! Like, if I liked a character, I would age myself to, like 19 or 20! And again, fantasy, have it, whatever, just certain troops are not for me! And the other thing about the age gap trope! This is something, that I unknowingly internalized, as a young girl, is- my worth is tied to my age and looks. I'm almost 30, and at age 25, I was so worried that my "looks" are gonna fade drastically at age 30, that no one will date me pass age 27... I still look like I'm 21, so people tell me. But I know I'm not the only women that feels this way, and being told that, that's is not true! And trying to be okay with aging, as a woman! I know it's okay, but the anxiety of feeling trapped and knowing there is literally, nothing i can do about it, creeps up on me from time to time! It's something that, me and much other woman, well, people in general, have to work on and, accepting it! Aging can be a beautiful thing! Sorry for that, it's just, when you brought up the age gap thing, that's all I could think about. I've been thinking about for awhile actually!
I still wonder why the story is so rarely flipped so the beast is female & the "beauty"/human is male? Obviously, there's the long history of it, but authors love to flip tropes all the time. Why not this one? I'm sure it has been done, but not in the popular scene. That I know of. I'm also tired of the male half always, always being older (if sometimes only by a few years, but often immortal with a mortal.) It's both ageist & sexist to older women. And not even that old. When has there been a story about a 25-30 year woman (or immortal) with a high school boy?Why have such a age gap at all? Why don't we have more stories about 2 immortals? The vampire romance could also be viewed as a sub of the beauty/beast stories, the vampire being the beast & the human (usually female & a lot younger) the beauty. Again, the vampire is rarely female.
Because the entire dynamic is that women fix bad men because that makes women feel spacial about themselves, while in male romance it's about men trying to win the girl It's not " muh sexism " it's just different dynamics and different Characters
Cuz ageism, You know that very well hahahah Have You seen how people treat woman who date younger males ? Celebrities like Shakira were SO mocked when that dude cheat on her and some people said "yeah he finally look for younger meat" ... But no one ever question the celebrities onntheir 50s dating 20year old women Double standards
The sugar apple candy thingy anime is absolutely vile , like WHY DID SHE HAVE TO BE 15. ALSO I DON'T CARE THAT HE'S A "HANDSOME" FAIRY....HE IS DISGUSTING AND DETESTABLE (even tho there are some good scenes, it falls flat when you rememberthier age and troppee character😒😒😒😒) 0:37
Ancient magus bride imo isnt a age gap thats a bad thing to me, a immortal or 260 years old means they wont grow up like a normal human, i wouldnt apply human standards to a cat, bc they will be of mature age and want to procreate way younger than we would find acceptable to a human, bc their lifespawn is smaller. A human has a low lifespawn and has no choice to evolve faster than lets say an elf who will live 600 years. And its a big risk to get attached or in love with a human to them bc they have shorter lifespawn.
I would like to see older Female characters in anime. But I don't like beauty and the beast stories that much. Endlessly nice girl is selfless and full of hope... again. An age gap is not a real problem. 18 and 27 is not an issue. And everyone should read The Howls Moving Castle book it's great. Do you have any idea how many people have an over 10 year gap and they are married. But I think because the demographic is around that age. That is why they are never 20. when the older stories were made a girl would have been married off before then in the Middle Ages that was 12 or something for girls.
If you pay attention a lot of age gaps series in anime have one of the leads being sixteen, and that is the legal age to get married, and I think that is where most prefactures set their age of consent (national age of consent is 13 btw). So in the author's eyes this is actually the "safe" age.
@@mysmallnoman Ths person just doesn't like it and think it's unnecessary. It makes it even more confusing then if they just add it in and it doesn't affect anything and is pointless.
Who's you're favorite beastly character? Also, what are your thoughts on this editing style I'm trying out? Yay or Nay?
Editing style is great and unique, you and Basic Boi's formats are really good!
But Howl from this list (then Tomoe), outside this list Malleus from Twisted Wonderland
Kamisama kiss was ok, but I always got it confused with Inari Kon Kon, which sets up girls who become temporary goddesses which was also Kamichu and it feels in a way Norigami.
I also don't think you're wrong to be critical of toxic or wish fullfillment relationships.
Toxic relationships are typical in media because it's good for drama and entertainment, and it makes you eat a lot of popcorn, but ultimately it isn't a great thing to be exposed to and media tends to be not just saturated with i, but oversaturated, and children do look to media as a gauge as to what is cool or uncool and to gauge their own social standing with others.
I mean adults do the same damned thing to be honest, but with adults, there's just no excusing the foolishness, and I hate having to regulate just because people fall for the highly unrealistic nature of what media portrays.
Also, ideal relationships and escapism is ok in small doses, but again, it's just the overwhelming amounts and how that can fuel dissatisfaction in relationships. Not to mention idealist/escapists tends to be great for one half of the characters and not so great for the other. (I'd have no patience or care to be involved with some shoujo characters. For example, many of them have a degree of over the top innocence that I HAVE dated very early on and learned to hate, and others have a lot of helplessness that is pure torture. Nobody wants to have to rescue their princess every other wek.)
Your editing style is not bad. Also, do you use any audio equipment on your videos? It may be just me but the audio quality is decent but not good enough
Inuyasha forever 😍 great video!
I love Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle, because when she turns into an old lady, it frees her from the confinements of social expectations that have made her into the meek self-sacrificial girl, she learns to speak her mind, be more selfish and not care about what others think of her, while she still retains her kindness and caring nature, and I love that. And sure it's because she has grown to believe that her worth is conditional and now that she's old and "ugly" she has no worth anymore, so there's no point in trying to keep her conditional worth. But she learns from Howl that she has inherent unconditional worth. What I really love about their relationship is that Howl also learns the same lesson from her. They both think their worth is conditional and they need to self-sacrifice to be worthy, but they see each others worth, while not seeing their own. They have very opposite coping mechanisms to it in the beginning, but fundamentally they are very similar, and then they help each other grow to be more healthy better people. And I love that so much.
The interesting thing is that in the Howls Moving Castle book, Sophie is initially so accepting of her fate because of storybook tropes; the eldest of three children always comes to a bad end!
Yes, the book loves to point out & poke fun at fairy tale tropes.
I always have to age up the girls in these monster stories to enjoy it better... cause I love monster x human stories. I wish we could get more adult stories like this cause its one of my favorite troupes
I would also love more adult girl x beast stories
I've read Beauty and the Beasts (chinese webtoon) and for some reason (despite the awkward English translation) I... Really enjoyed it... With a few modifications here and there, it would make for the next big hit in the anime/dong hua world.
It's not an excuse but I think the magus is growing emotionally too. It seems like he hasn't had real interpersonal relationships until she came in
I'm not a folklore expert but I have a book titled In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender that covers the expanse of Human with Supernatural Being romances in global folklore, and it's one of my favourite reads ever.
It's absolutely fascinating how different versions of the same story share different messages and what that could tell us on who was telling the story and what the cultural values and expectations of their time was.
Honestly it didn't happen very often but I kind of loved the women who ran off to hook up with the supernatural beast because fuck domestoc normalicy. I don't remember a lot of them and lot of retellings had them regret it later, but I like to think they're havin a great time dancing with the devil in hell.
I Highly recommend reading Howl’s Moving Castle! There are so many good character moments in the book and they really highlight how much both Howl and Sophie grow over the course of their story. It’s also just one of my favorite books so I have to recommend it as often as I can.
Their romance is a bit toxic, though, since they fight a lot and don't stop fighting once they get together...
I’d argue that arguing, in itself isn’t toxic, they’re never trying to actively hurt each other with what they’re saying, and things never get to any point of escalation where things feel iffy . Heck, bickering and arguing can be fun with people you’re close with like siblings and friends because you know what lines not to cross.
Their personalities and temperaments are also well suited to each other. When Howl tries to pull any silly dramatic wizard shenanigans, Sophie doesn’t take it and calls him out on it. And when Sophie is in a grouchy fighting mood, Howl doesn’t take the bait. At the end of the day it’s clear they both still love each other deeply.
@@phantomphnoom Sure, it depends on the qualities and context of the arguing. And theirs is more on the toxic side, meaning petty arguments, spreading unnecessary negativity, never apologizing for lashing out, never trying to be more open and vulnerable with each other, ...
DWJ said in an interview: "A typical day in the life of Howl and Sophie? Well, there would be at least two quarrels, one *violent* argument, and an explosion of strange magic. They are not a quiet pair."
But hey, fighting in relationships was seen as normal when she wrote the book so it's a product of its time.
Ten year is not that bad. My parents first meet when my mom was 18 and my dad was 27. Now they are married for 20 years and they have a healthy relationship. I'm pretty sure my dad didn't think anything bad about my mom other than love. I saw him almost crying because he lied for me. He is a good man.
I think something interesting about Beauty & The Beast stories where the Beast is literal rather than a mean human, is that the The Beast is in the category of 'The Other', sometimes just to the audience but often in their own world. I think that can put them and the woman on more equal footing in terms of humanising characterisation, where a lot of fiction tend to let the men take over as if they're easier to recognise as 'fully human'. In stories where the Beast is outcast then that itself tends to balance the power dynamics just a little, as even if they have supernatural powers they might share a more balanced social power with ths heroine.
Cheyenne Lin also made a video about age-gap romances and their appeal for teen girls. If you still want to explore the issue, she makes great points.
thanks for the rec! I'll check out their video
For ancient Magus bride, I kinda took it as maybe he’s like a kid since he knew nothing about the world or emotions? Lol my way of trying to justify it I guess. I’m enjoying the new season so far though 😊
I don't think you're justifying, it's truly how it is in a way. They're fantasy and magical, rather than slice of life, so of course such animes stray into the land of "otherworldy" with some human remoteness... They're meant to be unusual... And both deeply tragic and incredibly lucky if translated to real life... These stories don't have to conform, because they're not in the genre that only depicts "a love story between pretty humans". In beast and beauty animes, both parties are undesirables in their respective worlds.
Just popping in to say I love your analyses! I completely loved Kakuriyo since it sets up the trope and then almost immediately subverts it by allowing the FL to forge her own path. I also liked the fact that she was at least in university before being whisked off to the spirit realm and that Mr. Oni whose actual name we still don't know, takes in those who need help making him a big softie. Still has the classic age gap going but at least she's over 18. lol.
Agreed with all of these 😂
I really like how you pointed out that a lot of the FMLs of these type of stories are strongly written, because I never noticed at first b ut it makes so much sense! Heck even Belle in Beauty and the Beast is a strongly written chara. Mind blown. Very nice vid thank you!@
Just one comment in the ancient Magus bride the girl sells herself for money. Nobody else sells her. she sells herself.
Ye
Yes and no. The message is that Hatori was an undesirable, just like Elias. Hatori's family literally tried to kill her and then abandoned her. A similar message is seen in Niehime to Kemono no Ou, where the girl is returned to her human village against her will only to be refused and nearly killed by people again, because they found out she was meant as a sacrifice, which she knew would happen... So they both try to forge a new life with the "cursed beasts" that they come to appreciate due to their superior emotional intellect compared to their own families 😅. I'd say the trope here is that the male seems to always be "the beast" (in anime we don't really see a crocodile looking 20-year-old female fawned upon by a lost, 15 yr old boy with latent magical powers), and the female characters' voice actors are always awkwardly squeaky and childish in voice tone and exclamations.
I think another great version of this trope is from Hunter x Hunter during the chimera arc. The relationship between Meruem and Komugi. Heartbreakingly beautiful
I agree, Togashi perfectly nailed that trope. I don't think there are any series with romance elements have touched or moved me quite like meruem & komugi's love story..
Regarding the age gaps, I think they're insistent on having the girls around 15-17 bc if they go any older, then it wouldn't be shojo anymore. it would be considered josei, and that genre probably has its own conventions and assumptions about their target audience. It's just a guess, and it's probably a bad take lol
Shoujo just means that the target demographic is young girls, and josei means the target demographic is older girls. You can certainly have shoujo manga with an older protagonist or josei manga with a younger one, but the closer in age to your target audience, the better they can usually relate.
I really loved this video and your analysis on the Girl x Beast trope! Kamisama Kiss is my favorite anime (and I’m currently reading through the manga)! I love seeing it included in videos that see both problematic and positive aspects of the series and others like it. I feel like Kamisama Kiss has a good plot, character development and relationships, and great messages and recurring themes, like….. (1) the strength/resilience humans can have, (2) goodness, compassion, and empathy in humanity, and (3) the trauma of abandonment and moving forward by making bonds/love with others, even though it can be terrifying. In regards to strong female leads, Nanami is my favorite protagonist EVER - she’s plucky, scrappy, kind, and stubborn in the best ways. The series is a rom-com, and I feel like it’s more rom, than com, but one of Nanami’s ultimate goals is to be a good land god - so it’s not like her romance with Tomoe is the sole focus of the series. Tomoe’s character development is also an important part of the series: He sees humans as weak and doesn’t want to get involved with them, but over time as he spends more time with Nanami, he comes to see ways in which humans aren’t weak. Especially during the arc/episodes where he sees young Nanami grow up and not be crushed by all the hardships she’s experienced. I could go on, the series is just so good and I love it so much ❤ Again, really great video and great take on exploring this trope!!
I see the video a little late, but the topic is really interesting and I have a theory about the "monster and a little/young girl" trope.
As you said - the role of the good girl is to "fix" or "heal" the beast, to reach his heart and teach him about emotions (besides anger and jealousy). I think that girls, usually in the pre-adolescent phase, are seen as pure and lacking "bad" motives. something about being exposed to that raw "purity" touches the beast (like the trope of a womanizer realizes that women are also human being when he has a daughter). Why does it have to be a romantic relationship.. Creeps I guess.
as a big monster romance fan, I completely agree with all the points you've brought up!
The Ancient Magus' Bride is one of my favorite animes of all time, however, I wish Elias and Chise's relationship was more of a father/daughter or teacher/apprentice type of relationship; I never liked the whole bride thing.
As someone who read the manga for sacrificial princess, def keep up! A whole lot of it focuses on the main character navigating the political intrigue of this new nation she’s in, it’s so good
Alien Vs Predator is my fave girl X monster story. Lex & Scar for life!
Real
I had this story idea titled “To Appreciate the Sanguinite Woman” that I realize is also a Beauty and the Beast story. I mean, the ‘beast’ character is freaking warlord and a grand duke, and the ‘belle’ character is actually a traveling surgeon who treated him before. And the dude was actually searching for her ever since he became the grand duke!
Why?
To display his gratitude of course!
I'm really glad you brought this genre up! I've struggled with the same questions about my hypocracy with loving these shows and at the same time acknowliging the questionable tropes in them. Butttttt... I still love them. And re-watch them all the time as my comfort shows. Except black prince, ugh. And you're right, some of the best female characters are in beauty x beast anime and manga. The first anime I ever watched was Kamisama Hajimemashita and I absolutely adore Nanami. Her humour, strength, determination, human weaknesses, everything. Nanami and Misaki from Maid-Sama set the bar really high when it comes to female protagonists.
I’m guilty of being obsessed with Beauty and Beast retellings. Completely obsessed. I blame Disney. But yeah I agree with the tropes in fantasy hitting different simply because it is fantastical. I always come at these stories less from Stockholm syndrome and more learning and growing, on both ends. I dunno… I also love Hades and Persephone which is probably way more problematic but I can’t help it lol.
The Greek Gods, and the God of Gods aka Zeus, are way more dysfunctional than the animes on this list 🤣.
Hades and Persephone are amongst the more "normal" relationships portrayed in the Greek dramas.
I want to say The Ancient Magus Bride is slightly different, at least from what I remembered. No idea if you seen it, this is the first video I've seen so far.
She wasn't captured, she willingly let herself be sold. The reasoning is really dark and depressing. And even though yeah they are (I think) husband and wife, it never really felt like that at all. They only ever felt like Master and Student and even then it never felt like a romance but more like a found family. That and the fact that Elias doesn't even know what marriage means or what it can entitle. I think how it was explained to him by someone else was basically 2 friends spending a lot of time together and living together.
Elias is an incredibly ancient entity, but his intellect maturity is limited to magic and the creatures that dwell in that world. His social and emotional maturity is... nonexistent. I vaguely remember that some even revere to him as a child, at least those who are even more ancient. And they are teaching each other, one to use magic and the other learning to be... human?
Just got to 14:48, lol.
I really love The Ancient Magus Bride, so I might be forgetting things since I haven't seen season 1 in a couple years.
No, you're right, the anime is far from being sexual, so it's down to the viewer imagining and wishing for more, aka Elias attaining humanity or human feelings or a dimension where it's possible to have romantic feelings 🥰.
Both characters are outcasts in a way - undesirables. And frankly, in real life beggars can't be choosers so what these animes depict are in fact incredibly lucky and beautiful given these characters' established backstories.
Of course, they could easen up the grip on casting voice actors doing childish tones and high-pitched noises for the girls T_T. Chise is not too childish in voice acting i think.
had no idea it was this wild but i love kamisama and howls, but idk im making my own story semi with this theme but it dives into the problems
good luck with your story!
Great vid! I like hearing people praising these tropes instead just dismissing them as problematic- I think they are popular for a reason after all
This is a fantastic video, and I'm going to watch some of the anime you recommended here. Since they all sound really interesting. I also like the girl x beast trope as well, and Inuyasha is one of my favorite anime.
I also want to add that Japan has its own version of Beauty and the Beast that's over a thousand years old. It's called The Dogs wife. It's about a woman that marries a dog deity. And the villagers try to persecute them but the dog deity and the woman escape. And ends with the dog deity getting revenge and killing all of the villagers.
Where did you get that info about "The Dog's Wife" from? I looked it up and couldn't find anything. In the Japanese chronicle Kojiki, there are mentions of women sleeping with gods that transformed themselves into animals (e.g. snake) and objects (e.g. arrow) in order to get close to them but there was no dog deity in it. I have never heard about god deities either. I guess you mean Inugami which are dog spirits and marrying them was frowned upon.
@@EleiyaUmei The book I'm describing is only in Japanese and it's a collection of Japenese folktales.
@@magnadramon0068 What a shame... Who is the author and are there some sources stated in the book? I would love to learn more.
>In beauty and the best retellings it's almost always the MC girl aspect foremost + no romantic relationship in the beginning - example: ancient magus bride
> The ancient magus supports the girl's growth
Okay I was hesitant to watch this anime but now I'm excited to! Thanks for clearing my suspicions!
Beauty and the Beast retellings are my favorite stories. As a young teen I basically thought of... 5 different Beauty and the Beast stories. And you bet I watched the heck out of kagisama kiss, Ancient Magus Bride, Beauty and the Beast (disney), and yes even Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. For me it was I wasn't projecting on Beauty but for Beast. Because of my autism I was often isolated from my peers and made to feel a bit like a beast incapable of being understood. So being showed unconditional love between a beast and a beauty was comforting to me.
As an adult however the flaws of the genre become clear and as you mention the dicotomy of the genre having many MANY problematic tropes. Its harder to look past the fact the protagonist is a teenager when I'm no longer the same age and it makes some stories I really enjoyed feel ruined in retrospect. Still I can't deny how large of an impact it had on me nor the comfort it still brings me.
Also Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is actually less problematic than first blush as the first twist of the story is actually her being released by the King but choosing instead out of her own will to be his bride. The rest of the story is her winning the respect of the Beasts and coming to understand them.
You make good points!
There is quite a difference between manga & anime anyway, so that is worth exploring.
Why do childish female characters sell... 😅
But I think it's about selling drama. And in the drama category you've got the supernatural and unusual - the barely human, the non-customary. Here is where romantic stories between humans and other types of beings are woven. They're not meant to be slice if life anime and represent the average relationship, but the exception...
Thank you for making this video, as someone who also enjoys the trope and also has been asking myself similar questions about it problematic nature, you put into words a lot of the reason why I love this trope. 💚
This was really an interesting video. I love how you explored the origins of the Beauty and the Beast trope and Cupid and Psyche is considered to be the seed that started this trope and it reminded me of the fairytale class I took in college, where we also discussed about the way the beauty and the beast story originated. I do agree with the point you make about the age gap and how it might impact people in the current times, especially young adults. I think I usually tend to overlook the age gap if the plot is good. And it is true a lot of these stories are fantasy and the familiarity of girl and beast dynamic outweighs the age factor in some way.
My fav anime is Fruits Basket and Tohru is my fav Female MC. I also love Kamisama Kiss and Inuyasha they aren't entirely perfect shows but I still love them. And really liked your editing style for the video it was very unique!
Fully agree and relate! It also helps that these series don't oversexualise the girls in it. The fan service of 16 year olds turns my stomach
OMG finally, a video that perfectly describes my complex feelings on the Girl x Beast/Beauty & the Beast trope stories:D! Like you, I'm a big fan of these kind of stories
I absolutely despise big age gaps between humans but at the same time I adore the immortal/longer life x mortal dynamic? It just offers so much angst potanial as well as the whole "Lonely ancient being who's given up on humanity discovers the light again through a another person" thing which I think is so sweet. I'd really prefer if the human was an adult and not a teenager. I've found that I need the imortal/longer life being to atleast be humanoid though, it creeps me out if they look more like and animal or something.
Me too !! Yeah it's better if you make the girl an adult and the creature more humanoid and I'm in
Agree fully that these girl x beast stories in modern retellings have my favorite heroines. Loved that you mentioned Kakuriyo! It is one of my favs and as someone said before, Aoi completely going nope not going to marry you, I'm going to open up a restaurant and pay you back myself! Yes! Will always consume those type of stories. I'm excited to continue watching Sacrificial Princess. Sariphi already seems like she's going to be a fun female lead for this show.
my favorite thing about the book version of Howl's Moving Castle is that Howl is just fully a sloppy-ass drama queen playboy who doesn't know how to clean his room and throws a hissy fit when he gets the sniffles (and, most hilariously, he's an asshole rugby player college boy from ACTUAL wales who stumbled into a fantasy world and decided to be a wizard for shits and giggles) and diana wynne jones has straight up said that every time she did a reading young girls would be like "can i marry howl??" and she was like, "WHY????" and it cracks me up so much
The aesthetic of your video is so comforting and ADORABLE!! I love 💕💕
I love ancient magus bride because of the lore and settings.
Also Chise is a a Shonen protagonist. Plus they didn't put sexual innuendos and compromising prositions between Chise and Elias.
A lot of beast animes do and it sucks.
They did but it's pretty subtle
Overall Magnus Bride's sexual presentation is more mature for its protagonist age group.
Elias never made sexual comments about Chise. Nor does adults around them like to bring up "s*x with young girls" in a excited fetishistic manner.
Sexuality in Magnus's bride is more Primal, ones that are depicted in old Children's tale.
There are some problems that may come with that.
Anyway this is WAY too long.
@@cyncynshop they didn't make crude jokes but in episode one she was put in an uncompromising situation being naked and bath Infront of a thousand year old monster. The times Elias emotions got the better of him and he felt something akin to lust . He was in a monstrous form and was thinking of devouring her but he mistaked it for well eating her but it wasn't. The time he was jealous and kept strangling her had subtle sexual undertones too. It's not crude but they hint on things subtlety.
I actually wanted to add that the "dysfunction" with these animes start in the original drama of how the main characters come to be. Aka their families tend to be dysfunctional, to want to kill or abandon these girls. The relationships they forge with the undesirable "beasts" in fact become the first functional relationship they have if one looks at their stories. In real life, beggars can't be choosers, the anime stories mostly show the good side.
They're not meant to be slice of life, but supernatural, otherwordly, deeply sad yet lucky at the same time. They sell because they're an exception more than a rulebook. Most of the Greek stories of Gods were highly dysfunctional because they were meant to impress, induce a sense of awe and stupor 🤔. But naturally, they do also transmit views of the creator and their society. Improvement-wise, I personally wish their voices and the sounds the female actors are asked to do were more mature.
I generally like the Beauty X Beast trope, especially in anime, for engaging character dynamics and introspec it may touch on. I think that exploring oneself, with a critical lens, through a media that you are comfortable in, is a great and natural way to process depictions of intersections that one may share with characters/world in said media.
Amazing video I'll check out these Anime and give them a watch.😁
I really wanted to love Magus Bride. The story and environment are very compelling and imaginative. But, Elias and Chise's relationship dynamic made me too uncomfortable. Nothing overly egregious, just ovrall felt kind of icky. It just all seems so unnecessary for such a good story. Just my opinion though.
Honestly I am a sucker for beauty and the beast retellings
In Mahoutsukai no Yome and Niehime to Kemono no Ou, no one is forced to marry anyone. Both "partners" are undesirables or outcasts - the girls are sold and underfed (thin, weak) by their own families and communities - betrayed by the human families they were born into. The male is seen as stressed, unable to find a partner, due to some sort of crucial defect that dictates their lives, until the exception comes along and accepts them becauee they themselves don't have a choice... It's forced in a way but not by the main characters themselves. They are often "returned" back only to br betrayed again by the human communities they are returned to...
The sacrifial princess and the king of beast's character design case is interesting because the original king design nade by the author looked a lot younger in his human form, but then she modified the design using suggestions from her editor and the king looks older.
I just learned The Ancient Magus' Brid is a shounen. Good video 👍
I can guarantee the king of beast but yeah she's very young I think 14
I’m curious how many examples there are of gender flipped beauty and the beast that’s not ridiculously oversexed (a lá Monster Musume).
There wouldn't be because the dynamics are different
You just want the genders to be flipped without changing the dynamics, which don't work
I did not realize how much I enjoy this romance dynamic until OP started listing all my favorite ships. Hmm😅
I just found your channel! I love it! thank you
Great vid!
I love your analysis 💙
Love this! Its what I've been thinking about for a while, but couldn't put it into words. I totally agree with the age gap dilemma and your reasoning for accepting these exceptions. Its really hard to create a steadfast rule, especially when your outlook on relationships can change as years pass. I'm so glad that someone else was thinking about this too!
And in my opinion, the Sacrificial Princess can definitely be added to the acceptable list!!!
I somehow totally forgot about Kakuriyo, despite having drawn fanart for it! I am a huge fan of this genre overall, but as a very old adult woman I always want the leads to have more confidence and agency. I always want the female lead to respond less "demure-ishly" to any flirting/teasing from the male beast character. "I'm the villainess so I'm taming the final boss" subverts those tropes a bit! I'll have to settle for fanfiction I suppose. Not sure if it's streaming anywhere, but you younger fans of this genre might get a kick out of the Beauty and the Beast TV series from the 1980's starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman. There's a lot of angst/longing and soft focus lens.
Yes, fantasy is great! I still like a good damsel industries trope every once in a while! But, even when I was a kid, I only saw relationships as an adult thing (I was like 11 to 13) and I remember never really liking age gap relationships in entertainment! Like, if I liked a character, I would age myself to, like 19 or 20! And again, fantasy, have it, whatever, just certain troops are not for me!
And the other thing about the age gap trope! This is something, that I unknowingly internalized, as a young girl, is- my worth is tied to my age and looks. I'm almost 30, and at age 25, I was so worried that my "looks" are gonna fade drastically at age 30, that no one will date me pass age 27... I still look like I'm 21, so people tell me. But I know I'm not the only women that feels this way, and being told that, that's is not true! And trying to be okay with aging, as a woman! I know it's okay, but the anxiety of feeling trapped and knowing there is literally, nothing i can do about it, creeps up on me from time to time! It's something that, me and much other woman, well, people in general, have to work on and, accepting it! Aging can be a beautiful thing!
Sorry for that, it's just, when you brought up the age gap thing, that's all I could think about. I've been thinking about for awhile actually!
I still wonder why the story is so rarely flipped so the beast is female & the "beauty"/human is male? Obviously, there's the long history of it, but authors love to flip tropes all the time. Why not this one?
I'm sure it has been done, but not in the popular scene. That I know of.
I'm also tired of the male half always, always being older (if sometimes only by a few years, but often immortal with a mortal.) It's both ageist & sexist to older women. And not even that old. When has there been a story about a 25-30 year woman (or immortal) with a high school boy?Why have such a age gap at all?
Why don't we have more stories about 2 immortals?
The vampire romance could also be viewed as a sub of the beauty/beast stories, the vampire being the beast & the human (usually female & a lot younger) the beauty.
Again, the vampire is rarely female.
Because the entire dynamic is that women fix bad men because that makes women feel spacial about themselves, while in male romance it's about men trying to win the girl
It's not " muh sexism " it's just different dynamics and different Characters
Cuz ageism, You know that very well hahahah
Have You seen how people treat woman who date younger males ? Celebrities like Shakira were SO mocked when that dude cheat on her and some people said "yeah he finally look for younger meat" ... But no one ever question the celebrities onntheir 50s dating 20year old women
Double standards
@@AyAReI00 no, it's because the dynamic is about the woman " taming " the beast, it wouldn't be the same if he's much younger
@@mysmallnoman uhmm idk in general is not My cup of tea :P
@@AyAReI00 ok
This was awesome! Thank you. I wonder if there will be guy x beast show some day?
The Black Prince from Wolf Girl vs the Diabolik Lovers. Who would win?
😂 thumbnail got me
hxh w that blind girl and that murderous monster that contemplated killing her many times... weird LOL
i like the video and i like ur space!
I’m a little confused on why Somali and the forest spirit and girl on the other side was shown those are father daughter dynamics right 😅
Hi
The sugar apple candy thingy anime is absolutely vile , like WHY DID SHE HAVE TO BE 15. ALSO I DON'T CARE THAT HE'S A "HANDSOME" FAIRY....HE IS DISGUSTING AND DETESTABLE (even tho there are some good scenes, it falls flat when you rememberthier age and troppee character😒😒😒😒) 0:37
Ancient magus bride imo isnt a age gap thats a bad thing to me, a immortal or 260 years old means they wont grow up like a normal human, i wouldnt apply human standards to a cat, bc they will be of mature age and want to procreate way younger than we would find acceptable to a human, bc their lifespawn is smaller. A human has a low lifespawn and has no choice to evolve faster than lets say an elf who will live 600 years. And its a big risk to get attached or in love with a human to them bc they have shorter lifespawn.
I would like to see older Female characters in anime. But I don't like beauty and the beast stories that much. Endlessly nice girl is selfless and full of hope... again. An age gap is not a real problem. 18 and 27 is not an issue. And everyone should read The Howls Moving Castle book it's great. Do you have any idea how many people have an over 10 year gap and they are married. But I think because the demographic is around that age. That is why they are never 20. when the older stories were made a girl would have been married off before then in the Middle Ages that was 12 or something for girls.
If you pay attention a lot of age gaps series in anime have one of the leads being sixteen, and that is the legal age to get married, and I think that is where most prefactures set their age of consent (national age of consent is 13 btw). So in the author's eyes this is actually the "safe" age.
Complaining about age gaps in shojo is like Complaining about fanservice in shounen, it's whatever trope that doesn't affect anything
@@ClubPuguin because it's pointless to do so
@@mysmallnoman Ths person just doesn't like it and think it's unnecessary. It makes it even more confusing then if they just add it in and it doesn't affect anything and is pointless.