I understand that it reflects the target demographics the best, but I don't get it why is it that 99% of male protagonists in Japanese medias these days must look exactly the same with the short black/brown hair and being 15-17 years old. All while the female leads gets to have a vastly wider array of designs.
Yes, it is "relatability", but when you're planning your game for a worldwide release, that term shouldn't mean anything. Besides, nothing ever stopped us from "relating" to game characters that doesn't oblige to that mold like Link, Mario or any of the Yugioh protagonists.
I mean even in series like Tales and FF, in pre-2010 installments you can see protagonists with longer hair in other colors, but nowadays they suddenly have to conform to this mold, all while their female protagonists are allowed to look unique. What happened?
And I thought "relatability" should mean jackshit if said relatability means your character is an unrecognizable carbon copy of a millionth other protagonists.
I understand that it reflects the target demographics the best, but I don't get it why is it that 99% of male protagonists in Japanese medias these days must look exactly the same with the short black/brown hair and being 15-17 years old. All while the female leads gets to have a vastly wider array of designs.
Yes, it is "relatability", but when you're planning your game for a worldwide release, that term shouldn't mean anything. Besides, nothing ever stopped us from "relating" to game characters that doesn't oblige to that mold like Link, Mario or any of the Yugioh protagonists.
I mean even in series like Tales and FF, in pre-2010 installments you can see protagonists with longer hair in other colors, but nowadays they suddenly have to conform to this mold, all while their female protagonists are allowed to look unique. What happened?
And I thought "relatability" should mean jackshit if said relatability means your character is an unrecognizable carbon copy of a millionth other protagonists.
The producter wants to avoid the "bishounen older guy" that japanese media has fallen lately...which is actually a fujoshi's bait.
I understand that it reflects the target demographics the best, but I don't get it why is it that 99% of male protagonists in Japanese medias these days must look exactly the same with the short black/brown hair and being 15-17 years old. All while the female leads gets to have a vastly wider array of designs.
Yes, it is "relatability", but when you're planning your game for a worldwide release, that term shouldn't mean anything. Besides, nothing ever stopped us from "relating" to game characters that doesn't oblige to that mold like Link, Mario or any of the Yugioh protagonists.
I mean even in series like Tales and FF, in pre-2010 installments you can see protagonists with longer hair in other colors, but nowadays they suddenly have to conform to this mold, all while their female protagonists are allowed to look unique. What happened?
And I thought "relatability" should mean jackshit if said relatability means your character is an unrecognizable carbon copy of a millionth other protagonists.
I was about to agree with how "regular" he looks when I realized: exactly what other protagonists does he look like? I can't think of any. To be honest, although his outfit sucks, it's not a common outfit at all. I've never seen anything like it, so it definitely has identity.
I think it's one of those costumes that just takes time to grow on you.
I understand that it reflects the target demographics the best, but I don't get it why is it that 99% of male protagonists in Japanese medias these days must look exactly the same with the short black/brown hair and being 15-17 years old. All while the female leads gets to have a vastly wider array of designs.
Yes, it is "relatability", but when you're planning your game for a worldwide release, that term shouldn't mean anything. Besides, nothing ever stopped us from "relating" to game characters that doesn't oblige to that mold like Link, Mario or any of the Yugioh protagonists.
I mean even in series like Tales and FF, in pre-2010 installments you can see protagonists with longer hair in other colors, but nowadays they suddenly have to conform to this mold, all while their female protagonists are allowed to look unique. What happened?
And I thought "relatability" should mean jackshit if said relatability means your character is an unrecognizable carbon copy of a millionth other protagonists.
Tell that to the Western AAA market, and 2/3rds of game protagonists being middle-aged short-brown-haired men...
I remember reading about how EA was going to try to make their own version of Smash Bros. the way that Playstation All Stars Battle Royale was basically Sony Smash Bros., but then they realized they didn't have any characters as remotely iconic as Mario and Link since the games they hadn't driven into the ground were all about generic soldiers you almost never look at thanks to a first-person view, or a create-your-own character.
Losenucius said:
I was about to agree with how "regular" he looks when I realized: exactly what other protagonists does he look like? I can't think of any. To be honest, although his outfit sucks, it's not a common outfit at all. I've never seen anything like it, so it definitely has identity.
I think it's one of those costumes that just takes time to grow on you.
But doesn't this series have outfits that change based upon equipment?
I was about to agree with how "regular" he looks when I realized: exactly what other protagonists does he look like? I can't think of any. To be honest, although his outfit sucks, it's not a common outfit at all. I've never seen anything like it, so it definitely has identity.
Not sure if you're missing the point or playing pedantics. I did point out he's the "15-17 years old of average build with short black-brown hair". This encompasses anything from Kirito, Eren, Subaru, Sorey, Deku, Noctis(technically older but visually not too different), etc.
Costumes can give them a distinct identity, yes, but that brings me right back to the question: why are they allowed to have a unique costume but not hair?
When marketing a game/anime and if you ask me which is more important: surface level relatability or giving your protagonist a memorable look, I'd choose the latter any day. Especially when as said before, other protagonists in the past are just as relatable regardless of having spiky rainbow hair.
Tell that to the Western AAA market, and 2/3rds of game protagonists being middle-aged short-brown-haired men...
I remember reading about how EA was going to try to make their own version of Smash Bros. the way that Playstation All Stars Battle Royale was basically Sony Smash Bros., but then they realized they didn't have any characters as remotely iconic as Mario and Link since the games they hadn't driven into the ground were all about generic soldiers you almost never look at thanks to a first-person view, or a create-your-own character.
You've debunked your own point. How Western AAA protagonist looks like almost never mattered thanks to the first person view or you creating your own character. Double points goes to the latter since it means you're not bound to the overused middle aged buzzcut men.
It doesn't matter if you give your protagonist a red mohawk or a mustache in the shape of the Bat symbol, since in the game proper you're either not ever going to see it, or you will be given the option to look completely different anyway.
Point is despite that, Japanese protagonists have appearances are set in stone and they will be the character that shows up on almost every promotional material, yet designers goes for the overused, forgettable design. For what purposes?
