Forum - View topicWhy do gay anime men have no nipples?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wolverine Princess
 Posts: 1100 |
|
|||
|
I just finished watching an episode of a shounen ai anime, and I was wondering why the boys have no nipples when they take off their shirts. I know men in anime usually don't have any nipples (it probably has something to do with how a small detail like that would be hard to reproduce) but don't you need something to titillate (pun intended
 ) the audience for BL shows?
|
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
|
The title of the thread kinda contradicts your post. As far as I know it's not just gay anime characters, but other anime men as well. It probably does have to do with detail, seeing as men usually don't have large nipples like women, so anime creators don't bother to deal with it. Think of it as a trend.
|
||||
|
||||
GMan636
 Posts: 8 |
|
|||
|
It would be my guess that everyone wants to see the girls have nipples and no one really wants to see the guys have any.
|
||||
|
||||
LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5633 Location: Southern California |
|
|||
|
It's amazing! I never actually thought about that until Wolverine Princess' post, but she's right...nipples aren't drawn on anime men.
But I'll have to go with fighterholic on this one. Plus, adding nipples or their silhouette is just one more added, unnecessary cost. That also probably explains why transformation sequences in anime such as Sailor Moon or Pretear are vague and "fuzzy". Last edited by LydiaDianne on Sat May 20, 2006 9:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
|
astra
Posts: 131 |
|
|||
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Saiyan
I remembered Goku as having nipples. I guess it seems to change. In the pictures on that page, Broly has nipples but the others don't. Kinda funny. (What was that movie where somebody got their nipples ripped off? edit- Ichi the killer. Maybe that happens in DBZ fights too) |
||||
|
||||
P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
|
|||
|
In the past, I have noted that in several anime series, females lacked nipples even in the case where breasts were clearly shown, notably Tenchi Muyo. I think the reason for not including nipples on men is probably the same reason for not showing them on women. However this topic specifically asks about men in homosexual relationships so it would seem to make more sense for the characters to be more anatomically correct because of the risque nature of these series in the first place.
I think the accuracy of physical details of men and women in anime does depend largely on the economics of the show (ie more details for shows with higher production budgets), but also we must be aware of the targeted viewing audience. I assume there are Shounen-ai anime that are designated for young teens. It's kind of like how you see full frontal nude images of men in normal anime but there is a certain important attribute that appears "missing". It's to allow younger audiences who don't associate it with anything sexual to overlook or not notice it, and at the same time facilitate older viewers to use their imagination that it's there but not visible due to a clever use of shading or body hair. The same could be said of male nipples. "certain important attribute" = penis |
||||
|
||||
|
ChibiGoku
Posts: 676 |
|
|||
Actually, I vaguely remember seeing nipples on Ryoko and Ayeka. But I think this was limited to the OVA version though. EDIT: Just checked and they are there. |
||||
|
||||
|
P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
|
|||
|
The point was not specifically Tenchi Muyo. I said "several" shows I remember where nipples were very vague, non-existent or could be mistaken for shading or blemishes. Besides in my LD version of TM which I watched recently (the bath scene) - nope no nipples but maybe a very slight hint of off-colored circles.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
|
|||
|
Another example of "missing important features": episode 3 of Berserk, where we see full-frontal flashbacks of a young, naked Guts...you know, come to think of it, that series was down with the shounen-ai stuff before it was the "in" thing in anime...
|
||||
|
||||
Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
|
|||
|
If you think anime never shows nipples on its male characters, try watching Boku no Sexual Harassment sometime. But the reason why they probably don't show nipples on male characters in shounen-ai anime series is because they're supposed to be BISHOUNEN. Bishounen are beautiful men who are often mistaken for girls in anime. Bishounen are supposed to be feminine in nature and giving a bishounen nipples would just defeat that purpose. You also have to remember that shounen-ai is produced for women in Japan. One of the reasons (at least this is what I've heard) Japanese women like shounen-ai so much is because they're able to identify with the relationships in the stories but because they're two men instead of the typical man and woman relationship, they don't feel as "threatened" by it or something like that. By not drawing nipples on the male characters, it makes them appear more feminine and probably allows the female readers to connect to the characters more.
As to why they don't draw nipples on female anime characters, it probably depends on the title's rating. If Tenchi Muyo was a hentai anime, you probably would see nipples on the girls, but remember Tenchi Muyo is targeted at young teens, so they probably don't draw nipples on the female characters because of the show's rating. I don't know about in Japan, but in America Tenchi Muyo is rated 13+ which is the equivalent of a PG13 rated movie and how often do you ever see nipples on girls in PG13 movies? But correct me if I'm wrong, didn't they show Haruna's nipples in Tenchi Forever? Also, you have to remember that this is a CARTOON. Cartoon characters are NOT meant to be accurate depictions of real life people. Asking why cartoon characters don't have nipples is like asking why do they have spiky purple hair and big eyes. It's a CARTOON, people. |
||||
|
||||
|
ChibiGoku
Posts: 676 |
|
|||
Actually, it's just because of how the LD masters look for these episodes, so can almost not see the nipples. On the remastered versions, you can clearly see them.
I can't remember exactly. I think they were present, however. The OVA's seem to have Nipples, while the TV series don't, unless I'm remembering wrong. The above example I can't exactly recall, so I'll have to dig aroudn on that... ....Why the hell are we on discussion of "If Nipples are in Tenchi Muyo" again? |
||||
|
||||
|
Gage
Posts: 480 Location: United States |
|
|||
|
Who really cares about guy's nipples? The only thing that really matters in an anime series is the action. Most of the guys want to see the chick's nipples which can be seen in Knights of Ramune.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Wolverine Princess
Posts: 1100 |
|
|||
I made this thread about nippleless men specifically from Boy's Love series, where I'd assume girls would want to see beautiful pretty-boys with all their body parts intact, with the exception of weenies if it's a TV series and not hentai. (It's the same with anime with nude girls lacking vaginas. You just can't get away with genetalia in cartoons on TV; although I've heard it is possible to show vaginas as long as the clitoris is missing.) I'm a mild-to-moderate BL fan myself, and I honestly find it weird. |
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
What do you mean down with shounen-ai? It's a seinen action comic. A little note though, Sailor Moon didn't show nipples when the women were naked, either. |
||||
|
||||
rajamitsu
 Posts: 172 |
|
|||
|
I think there's any real reason. Notice how they never have any body hair, either.
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group