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EP. REVIEW: Akebi's Sailor Uniform

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-"low quality of stories in the West" Yes as opposed to the high quality storytelling the anime industry brings out every season.

Even the poorest anime still has better stories than the West stories because, like the West, they do not include politics in the story

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-"Let creators to free" I agree with you there. You should also allow readers/watchers to be free to talk about the media they interact with, positively or negatively. Also why do you think people in Japan don't talk about things they do not like?

In Japan, people like in the West do not gossip about everything, they do not attack writers because of their sexual characters, they only support their favorite shows.

Even the poorest anime still has better stories than the West stories because, like the West, they do not include politics in the story

In Japan, people like in the West do not gossip about everything, they do not attack writers because of their sexual characters, they only support their favorite shows.

"If you don't like it, don't watch it" is one of the weakest excuses anyone can give for a product. Generally people criticize something because they want it to be better.

"If you don't like it, don't watch it" is one of the weakest excuses anyone can give for a product. Generally people criticize something because they want it to be better. They air their thoughts and hear others to get a range of opinions and views to better understand the art/story/whatever. "Only people who love it should watch it" or similar arguments this season I've seen of "The person reviewing this series should be someone who likes it" creates just as stale and boring art as your strawman "Western" art.

We don't criticize shows to make them better, the shows are already done at this point. If people don't like and don't watch, there won't be a sequel and it's the sanction. We criticize shows that we like/dislike because it's part of the global experience a show provide : from the hype before its broadcast to the effective broadcast and the discussions surrounding it.
So the criticism is used to explain people's opinions about it and to fuel talks with more interesting debates. That's why criticism like "this scene make me uncomfortable", are not that interesting because it's a personal feeling, not a criticism. You can share this feeling or not, but there is not much to talk about.

I think the most damning, if brutally honest description of Akebi’s School Uniform (at least in terms of its voyeuristic leanings) was made by a friend on twitter, who described it as feeling like it was made by Humbert Humbert. There’s so much flowery eloquence & gentle, almost chaste innocence to how it attempts to apotheosize its cast, but you’d have to be naive, dishonest or just stunningly in denial to act like it isn’t just puffed up obfuscation, hiding a far more carnal core.
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If the subjects were adults I’d say the author might have a successful career ahead in romance literature, but unfortunately they’re not. They’re children, and it’s incredibly uncomfortable seeing this approach applied to them. It leaves a bad taste behind.

Ultimately it’s really disheartening, as like Mercedez and others have pointed out, there are real strengths to the show once you attempt to step away from the framing. I’ve seen people comment on how as a concept, there are positives in how it reflects on teenage insecurities, both in their bodies and the clothing they use to express themselves during early adolescence. Granted, I’ve never been a middle-school teenage girl, so I’m not really in a position to comment whether the general idea of its burgeoning, yet seemingly chaste portrayal of awakening sensuality would resonate with them, however, that's ultimately a moot point in this case. This is a property made by an adult for an adult magazine, subsequently adapted by adults & given a late night air slot for an adult audience. It isn’t going to change. It knows exactly what it is and who it’s marketed for, & that certainly isn’t the same demographic as its cast. They are the subject matter & we are the camera lens. It's hard not to feel gross & slightly insulted once that dawns on you.

Electric Wooloo wrote:

"If you don't like it, don't watch it" is one of the weakest excuses anyone can give for a product. Generally people criticize something because they want it to be better.

The main problem with that line of thinking is making the show better for them would make it worse for others. Imagine if people coitized The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window by saying it could be a really good supernatural dramedy if it wasn't for all the homoeroticism in it, despite the fact it runs in a yaoi magazine so that is the entire point

The anime tracks the artstyle of the original manga quite closely. Saying that the mangaka, Hiro is/was a hentai artist before he (I presume) started drawing Akebi-chan no Serafuku.

I don't think anyone expects a show to change in real time - possibly the next season, but more the next show, or decisions as to what gets greenlit.

Your second paragraph seems to focus on literally one line in the ANN review, though it was used on the front page and in the twitter post. A lof of the surrounding paragraphs is about the "why" of how it makes the reviewer and many other viewers uncomfortable. Such as how it makes the characters of the show the sexual object of the viewer, as well as, or rather than, the subjects of the show, in the context of a world where girls are often robbed of the right to own their own sexuality.
Reviews are always subjective, writing "the show runs at 24 fps and uses a such-and-such color palette while featuring 14 characters" would certainly be more objective and free of feeling, though.

I wasn't talking about the ANN review but in a general sense. It is interesting to explain why the show make you feel that way, but there is nothing to argue.