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[dity]

Misunderstanding character acting like this would make Milt Kahl cry. I'm not sure what else to say here. How a character is how a character behaves is conveyed through animation

But the source material for 90% of anime is manga (still frames), VN (mostly still frames), and light novels. The source material is able to convey those same emotions without movement, the anime usually just copying the source and adding filler frames around it. I think that's why when being emotive anime likes to really pause on a scene (long shots of blushing, or crying, or anger).

Are you talking about "your favorite anime is shit" stuff? Because that's just people playfully ribbing each other (at least on GAF, I don't go on MAL).

Acting like idiots in that way attracts idiots who act that way. Like the whole PC Master Race thing, or "ironic memes" that people find legitimately funny (and the ironic posters get mad at this).

I'm also specifically talking about animation. If you want to argue the average anime is weak on the animation front (or weaker than the West) I can't say I disagree (or rather I straight up agree) but I don't watch "average" stuff I watch "good/great/excellent" stuff. One Punch Man alone, from an action perspective, blows away like 99% of the animated stuff on American TV. Like only Korra recently comes close (though of course that wasn't animated in the States).

But we're talking about all anime? Can't have folks here bringing up Family Guy or American Dad as the primary examples of western animation and only bring in anime's latest and greatest examples. That's unfair.

 

[firehawk12]

I just want to know who is this mythical person who only reads the first post of NeoGAF community threads as the only source of information on a particular topic. Particularly one about anime.

 

[Puruzi]

But we're talking about all anime? Can't have folks here bringing up Family Guy or American Dad as the primary examples of western animation and only bring in anime's latest and greatest examples. That's unfair.

What western shows airing right now have good animation?

I can think of Gravity Falls. Adventure Time sometimes.

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

Damn 10 pages? Eh I am just gonna leave..

 

[The Technomancer]

You mean like the CW that airs in the US?

The Flash has managed to make it two seasons in without showing us Iris's sideboob or having Barry accidentally feel up Caitlen.

 

[Shouta]

Folks, the current season thread's first post is garbo. It doesn't provide any good information. That really needs to be fixed and not done in the future.

 

[Jarmel]

The Flash has managed to make it two seasons in without showing us Iris's sideboob or having Barry accidentally feel up Caitlen.

We just get ass shots instead or people working the Salmon ladder in Arrow.

 

[dity]

http://sakuga.yshi.org/post?tags=character_acting+
This is character acting

Half of that webm was repeated frames? Also that's just a tag. Like, just a tag.

 

[MogCakes]

The Flash has managed to make it two seasons in without showing us Iris's sideboob or having Barry accidentally feel up Caitlen.

Indeed. So far much better than Arrow.

 

[Russ T]

You like... don't notice how the characters limbs turn into blobs when they move and how there's huge gaps when a body is moving?

wait hold on tho this is common to animation everywhere...

 

[madp]

I'd also like to point out that AnimeGAF OPs often spotlight a mix of accessible and inaccessible series because, as long-time seasonal viewers can attest, there are "dark horse" series in a given season that are not particularly expected to be good but, due to a happy convergence of production factors, end up much better than their premise, character design, etc. would lead one to believe. In contrast, series that have positive expectations because of their staff pedigree or well-received source material can and do completely collapse.

Even viewers who steadfastly detest Light Novel adaptations, high school settings, predominantly female casts, etc. will sometimes watch the first episode in search of something unexpected. The general OP sentiment, ideally, is "here is a sample of what is available; try and judge for yourself." Inclusion in the OP is not necessarily endorsement, and exclusion from the OP is not necessarily an attempt to suppress interest, although I am personally in favor of giving all new seasonal titles equal visibility.

 

[Azuran]

I just want to know who is this mythical person who only reads the first post of NeoGAF community threads as the only source of information on a particular topic. Particularly one about anime.

I want to meet him because he would actually be the only person on this site that actually bothers to read opening posts.

 

[dity]

wait hold on tho this is common to animation everywhere...

Isn't the big complain about western animation that it's like "flash animation", or it's 3D animation, where those two things predominately aren't issues?

 

[Satch]

The issue is if someone looks at the OP, confirms their biases, decides they want nothing to do with it and leaves, instead of going "Well, maybe nothing in the OP interests me, but maybe I can post in the thread saying what I do and don't like and maybe I'll get some recommendations and do research on the recommendations I do get and see if any of that will be stuff that I like."

And if you don't keep up with anime, you'd get recommendations for things from all time and not just from whatever's airing that season. There's a ton of anime and a lot of it doesn't get active discussion.

I don't doubt ANY of that for a second. I honestly 100% believe every word that you're saying. I'm positive that you guys would try to help someone that asked for your help, and that they would find something that they liked in the end. I mean it.

But I'm talking about the question posed in the OP. First impressions are super important and most people wont waste the time on anything beyond that.

 

[Puruzi]

Half of that webm was repeated frames? Also that's just a tag. Like, just a tag.

...

Not sure what to say.

Whatever, if you think western animation is better that's fine.

 

[The Technomancer]

I'd also like to point out that AnimeGAF OPs often spotlight a mix of accessible and inaccessible series because, as long-time seasonal viewers can attest, there are "dark horse" series in a given season that are not particularly expected to be good but, due to a happy convergence of production factors, end up much better than their premise, character design, etc. would lead one to believe. In contrast, series that have positive expectations because of their staff pedigree or well-received source material can and do completely collapse.

Even viewers who steadfastly detest Light Novel adaptations, high school settings, predominantly female casts, etc. will sometimes watch the first episode in search of something unexpected. The general OP sentiment, ideally, is "here is a sample of what is available; try and judge for yourself." Inclusion in the OP is not necessarily endorsement, and exclusion from the OP is not necessarily an attempt to suppress interest.

I will say that interestingly the catch all nature of the AnimeGAF thread sort of turns me away and is part of why I'm more likely to participate in show specific threads in the OT. There's not meant to be a broader point there, I'm not extrapolating or anything.

 

[astrogamer]

But the source material for 90% of anime is manga (still frames), VN (mostly still frames), and light novels. The source material is able to convey those same emotions without movement.

Those compensate their lack of animation with a lot of descriptive words and in manga, effects and backgrounds. Even then, it isn't as instantaneously impactful

 

[firehawk12]

I want to meet him because he would actually be the only person on this site that actually bothers to read opening posts.

Pretty much. lol

Besides, we all remember things like the Dragon Age 2 OT that Evilore made which provided pretty much no "information" but was fine because the game was a joke and no one cared. I don't think anyone "edited it" to make it more useful to the crazy person who only reads Neogaf for Dragon Age 2 information.

 

[The Technomancer]

I don't think I've seen anyone with a Nowi avatar. At least not anymore.

There was someone specifically (I haven't seen them around lately) who had what was essentially a topless of one of the k-on girls for a while, with the frame basically cut off just before the nipples. Always bugged me if I saw it but I bit my tongue

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

There's also that Mario Tennis Ultra Smash OT where it was literally made as a joke.

 

[Russ T]

Isn't the big complain about western animation that it's like "flash animation", or it's 3D animation, where those two things predominately aren't issues?

I don't know what the big complaint about western animation is, tbh, I enjoy my Western cartoons, too. But "missing" frames definitely exist in western animation, and as for the blurs and blobs...

well that's a super common and super old animation technique

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

But the source material for 90% of anime is manga (still frames), VN (mostly still frames), and light novels. The source material is able to convey those same emotions without movement, the anime usually just copying the source and adding filler frames around it. I think that's why when being emotive anime likes to really pause on a scene (long shots of blushing, or crying, or anger).

Good animation, like anything uploaded to sakugabooru, is not just a copy-and-paste of manga panels with "filler frames" (???) added.

But this is a discussion that would likely be most fruitful to take place elsewhere (like the AnimeGAF thread!).

 

[Saucycarpdog]

What western shows airing right now have good animation?

I can think of Gravity Falls. Adventure Time sometimes.

Eh, what western animation lacks in animation quality I think it makes up in real characterization and dialogue. Some of the dialogue in even well regarded anime tends to make me cringe.

 

[The Technomancer]

In defense of moderation Community threads in particular seem to have been going through a lot of overhauls with regards to how the forum views them in the last 6-12 months

 

[dity]

Those compensate their lack of animation with a lot of descriptive words and in manga, effects and backgrounds. Even then, it isn't as instantaneously impactful

Anime still isn't without its effects, backgrounds, and voice acting in place of writing.

When I think of "character acting", I think of what the voice actor is doing rather than the animator.

I don't know what the big complaint about western animation is, tbh, I enjoy my Western cartoons, too. But "missing" frames definitely exist in western animation, and as for the blurs and blobs...

well that's a super common and super old animation technique

Current western animation does blurs, but more-so on objects over characters. Kinda like that Bojack Horseman frame there. As for missing frames, I dunno, it's usually way too smooth due to how the software renders it.

Good animation, like anything uploaded to sakugabooru, is not just a copy-and-paste of manga panels with "filler frames" (???) added.

But this is a discussion that would likely be most fruitful to take place elsewhere (like the AnimeGAF thread!).

"Filler frames" would be non-key frames to enter and exit from the static emote, or added frames to make it animated (like a character crying, repeating the crying frames for a second to drive it home, so the same 6 frames x 4).

I dunno if I wanna go into the AnimeGaf thread. The mood I get here is not the best, not sure if I'm too keen to enter a flurry of people who won't even bother seeing my POV. I understand what your POV, I used to be there, but like... I think people paint anime as way more perfect than it is.

I just realised we're not even talking about geek fandom stuff. Well, actually I can if I say the conversation in the thread now might be a reason it's not as easy a fandom to get into from an outsider's perspective?

 

[Satch]

also i dont think the dragon age thread is really a 1:1 comparison because neogaf is a general gaming forum and it is incredibly likely that there were multiple threads with tons of pages of griping leading up to the OT being made

if this were NeoAAF with anime threads littering Anime Side and not NeoGAF with anime talk kept to like 2 threads in Off-Topic itd make a better case xd

 

[Toxi]

Eh, what western animation lacks in animation quality I think it makes up in real characterization and dialogue. Some of the dialogue in even well regarded anime tends to make me cringe.

I'm guessing that's more of a language issue than anything else. Even when localized, dialogue originally written in another language is going to sound less natural than dialogue written from scratch in your language.

 

[Crocodile]

Considering K-ON is a family friendly show, has a lot of young fans in Japan, particularly young female fans, and aired on the Disney Channel, that's a poor example to bring up here.

But don't you understand, the show is cute. It's CUTE. The worst sin an anime can make. It's just a portal to depravity and sin. Everybody knows that if Japan produces anything cute, it has twisted, alternative motives and can't nor was intended for consumption by a wide audience - only pervert otakus!

Spoiler

For those unaware, I'm being hyperbolic but boy do way too many people believe something really close to what I just said up there

You like... don't notice how the characters limbs turn into blobs when they move and how there's huge gaps when a body is moving? If it were a video game people would be up in arms.

"Character acting" doesn't come under animation though. How a character emotes comes under how it was drawn, not animated. Although I'd wager most people watch western series like Adventure Time and Steven Universe for the drama and emoting over anything else really even if they originally came as funny comedy series. But that's definitely not the norm, no.

A) Are you talking about smears? That's a standard animation technique. Hell if you look at the work of Wayforward and Lab Zero, American animation teams, you'll find a lot of appropriate smears too.That's a feature, not a bug.

B) Er character acting totally is a part of animation. Body language is a real thing and can communicate a lot of information to the viewer. It's not something that is well utilized in cheaper/rushed productions but its all over the place in higher quality programs. Like you said you watched Space Dandy right? Character acting through animation was ALL OVER that show. It's part of what made the show so well animated.

But we're talking about all anime? Can't have folks here bringing up Family Guy or American Dad as the primary examples of western animation and only bring in anime's latest and greatest examples. That's unfair.

I'll truncate it as this - the mean animation quality in your average Western produced cartoon is much higher than the mean animation quality in your average Japanese anime but you get highs in anime - be they entire shows or particular cuts in average shows - that would don't see (or very rarely - I miss you Genndy!) in Western productions. Part of it is stylistic - I can admit that The Adventures of Gumball is well animated even if stylistically the show doesn't do much for me.

As an aside, I will say it feels a bit disappointing that often in anime, I can immediately tell who has animated a particular cut in an anime but the same often can't be said in a cartoon. I'm not sure how much if that is animation culture and how much of its is styles - there is a stronger sense to unify styles across animators in Western TV shows.

 

[madp]

I will say that interestingly the catch all nature of the AnimeGAF thread sort of turns me away and is part of why I'm more likely to participate in show specific threads in the OT. There's not meant to be a broader point there, I'm not extrapolating or anything.

And that's fine if it's how you find it easiest to engage in discussion; the show-specific OT threads wouldn't exist if it wasn't the preferred platform for a percentage of gaffers. The signal-to-noise ratio in a megathread devoted to an entire season is understandably too high if your interests are limited to a few specific shows.

 

[Puruzi]

Eh, what western animation lacks in animation quality I think it makes up in real characterization and dialogue. Some of the dialogue in even well regarded anime tends to make me cringe.

Yeah, which is why I said that anime isn't better, i'm just talking about animation in particular.

I agree with hosannainexcelsis though, this isn't the thread for it so i'm done here. Wouldn't mind talking about animation more in the anime thread or a thread specific to it though.

 

[RedSwirl]

Y'know, thinking about it now, the western idea of animation and comics being gated into certain genres might have something to do with it, even in these times.

Americans still mostly see animation as being for children, or at the very least they usually associated it with comedy and little else. This is even true of shows like Steven Universe that are somewhat popular with adults. There are outliers of course, but comedy is still the main expectation of animation in America. Other genres are typically expected to be live action.

And when it comes to comics Americans still mostly just pay attention to superheroes. The biggest franchises that have spearheaded the current "mainstream geek" trend have been superheroes, and maybe fantasy or sci-fi. The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is The Walking Dead.

Basically, anime and manga spend a lot of energy exploring genres Americans are rather used to seeing in live action.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

I'm guessing that's more of a language issue than anything else. Even when localized, dialogue originally written in another language is going to sound less natural than dialogue written from scratch in your language.

By how many Spanish and Asian action movies I've watched, I'm gonna say no, language isn't a barrier to good dialogue.

 

[firehawk12]

also i dont think the dragon age thread is really a 1:1 comparison because neogaf is a general gaming forum and it is incredibly likely that there were multiple threads with tons of pages of griping leading up to the OT being made

if this were NeoAAF with anime threads littering Anime Side and not NeoGAF with anime talk kept to like 2 threads in Off-Topic itd make a better case xd

Someone posted examples of the current community OTs where the first post provides no information.

Functionally, the OTs are just "containers" for discussions on a particular subject. I don't know if someone is using them exclusively for information. Hell, a lot of first time posters post "what should I watch?" posts because it's more useful to get current responses from people than it is to use an OP that was written when there is literally no information about any of the shows that are about to air.

 

[-Horizon-]

My last post to this thread. Have fun everyone.

There was someone specifically (I haven't seen them around lately) who had what was essentially a topless of one of the k-on girls for a while, with the frame basically cut off just before the nipples. Always bugged me if I saw it but I bit my tongue

I think I know who it is and if so, their avatar is fully clothed now lol

 

[JesseEwiak]

The main problem is that the creepy weird stuff is what's making a lot of companies money, so that's what is front 'n' center. In a weird way, it's kind of the point actual comics were in the early to mid 90's. If you looked, there were plenty of great series, but the stuff that sold a bunch of copies and got mainstream attention was Lady Death or Witchblade or a cover where Psylocke's boobs were falling out, so the cliche of the well, Comic Book Guy took hold.

It took decades of PR by the comic companies plus the biggest comic book stores pushing back against that stereotype, including doing things like actually hiring female employees, pushing the weird statues to the back, and highlighting diverse titles for the idea of a the comic book shop to change, and even with all of that, a lot of places are still too close to Android Dungeon.

But unfortunately for anime fans, it seems unlikely that the 'moe' bubble will burst anytime soon like the speculation boom did for comic book shops.

 

[The Technomancer]

But don't you understand, the show is cute. It's CUTE. The worst sin an anime can make. It's just a portal to depravity and sin. Everybody knows that if Japan produces anything cute, it has twisted, alternative motives and can't nor was intended for consumption by a wide audience - only pervert otakus!

Spoiler

For those unaware, I'm being hyperbolic but boy do way too many people believe something really close to what I just said up there

Without going to deep into this tangent, as family friendly as K-on is on a textual level there are stylistic elements and general choices that, given what I've seen of how a certain segment of the fanbase responds, were not part of the show naively. Is it some kind of example of perverted anime trash? No absolutely not. But it is worth a critical discussion.

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

Without going to deep into this tangent, as family friendly as K-on is on a textual level there are stylistic elements and general choices that, given what I've seen of how a certain segment of the fanbase responds, were not part of the show naively. Is it some kind of example of perverted anime trash? No absolutely not. But it is worth a critical discussion.

That's unfortunately the nature of effectively anything.

It's only obvious for certain shows because they're also more popular, and as such, certain aspects are more obvious despite it existing for everything else. As much as lewd fanart can bother some people, shows having lewd fanart isn't really interesting as a discussion.

 

[firehawk12]

Without going to deep into this tangent, as family friendly as K-on is on a textual level there are stylistic elements and general choices that, given what I've seen of how a certain segment of the fanbase responds, were not part of the show naively. Is it some kind of example of perverted anime trash? No absolutely not. But it is worth a critical discussion.

Should I blame BioWare because fans are obsessed with what Tali's suit smells like to the point where someone tried to use organic chemistry to describe the composition of her perspiration?

 

[WrenchNinja]

I will say that interestingly the catch all nature of the AnimeGAF thread sort of turns me away and is part of why I'm more likely to participate in show specific threads in the OT. There's not meant to be a broader point there, I'm not extrapolating or anything.

That's kind of why I avoid those kind of OTs as well. I like the more focused ones.

 

[The Technomancer]

That's unfortunately the nature of effectively anything.

It is, but when the topic in question is "innocent teenage girls" the critical eye understandably focuses in a bit more.

It's only obvious for certain shows because they're also more popular, and as such, certain aspects are more obvious despite it existing for everything else. As much as lewd fanart can bother some people, shows having lewd fanart isn't really interesting as a discussion.

Should I blame BioWare because fans are obsessed with what Tali's suit smells like to the point where someone tried to use organic chemistry to describe the composition of her perspiration?

Not in and of itself but when you juxtapose it against...damn okay this isn't really the thread for this. The problem is that the one's that are invariably get locked. Short version: there are visual cues and elements of how K-On is constructed that almost certainly seem to lean into things the show's ...lewder fans are thinking about.

 

[Shaanyboi]

You like... don't notice how the characters limbs turn into blobs when they move and how there's huge gaps when a body is moving? If it were a video game people would be up in arms.

"Character acting" doesn't come under animation though. How a character emotes comes under how it was drawn, not animated. Although I'd wager most people watch western series like Adventure Time and Steven Universe for the drama and emoting over anything else really even if they originally came as funny comedy series. But that's definitely not the norm, no.

Smears have been an animation technique used since the UPA days in the 40s. As long as the desired intent is gotten across, it's a perfectly viable effect.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I'll truncate it as this - the mean animation quality in your average Western produced cartoon is much higher than the mean animation quality in your average Japanese anime but you get highs in anime - be they entire shows or particular cuts in average shows - that would don't see (or very rarely - I miss you Genndy!) in Western productions. Part of it is stylistic - I can admit that The Adventures of Gumball is well animated even if stylistically the show doesn't do much for me.

As an aside, I will say it feels a bit disappointing that often in anime, I can immediately tell who has animated a particular cut in an anime but the same often can't be said in a cartoon. I'm not sure how much if that is animation culture and how much of its is styles - there is a stronger sense to unify styles across animators in Western TV shows.

That mean animation quality might be higher only because there's not much being done with it. The whole reason people say that the animation in Japanese shows are better is because they are of a much larger scope, going for more ambitious cuts, more detail, more interesting and dynamic perspectives, and that's not even touching content, just what they tend to do animation wise. I mean just look at Hyouka for instance if you want to see something of a particular quality that you won't get over here.

Flash tweening stuff is largely unimpressive and cheap way to animate things in terms of the final product. Only show of that type that that impressed me was Wakfu, and that show was made in France.

 

[dity]

A) Are you talking about smears? That's a standard animation technique. Hell if you look at the work of Wayforward and Lab Zero, American animation teams, you'll find a lot of appropriate smears too.That's a feature, not a bug.

Yeah, smears. But one can overdo smears, like any other animation technique. I think anime in general uses it as a crutch way too much to excuse not wanting to actually animate something moving.

B) Er character acting totally is a part of animation. Body language is a real thing and can communicate a lot of information to the viewer. It's not something that is well utilized in cheaper/rushed productions but its all over the place in higher quality programs. Like you said you watched Space Dandy right? Character acting through animation was ALL OVER that show. It's part of what made the show so well animated.

But the "character acting" in animation - anything without motion capture anyway - isn't actually acting. It's portraying an emotion but no one's acting it out aside from the voice actor. I'm being finicky I know, but I consider anime no more acted out than a manga. The real meat and potatos, and probably why I prefer anime dubbed, is the voice acting. That drives it home for me, not big bubbly tears or the transition in and out of a pose. I say that because without context and without it explicitly being a gag series it can sometimes be hard to tell if a character is actually upset or just pretending to be upset (y'know, when a character is whining) from the visuals alone. Manga sorts this out with accompanying text, but losing voice acting anime can lose the ability to have something "acted" out purely look as it's presented. If you get what I mean.

Also, you remembered I've watched Space Dandy. Didn't expect that. I liked that show

I'll truncate it as this - the mean animation quality in your average Western produced cartoon is much higher than the mean animation quality in your average Japanese anime but you get highs in anime - be they entire shows or particular cuts in average shows - that would don't see (or very rarely - I miss you Genndy!) in Western productions. Part of it is stylistic - I can admit that The Adventures of Gumball is well animated even if stylistically the show doesn't do much for me.

As an aside, I will say it feels a bit disappointing that often in anime, I can immediately tell who has animated a particular cut in an anime but the same often can't be said in a cartoon. I'm not sure how much if that is animation culture and how much of its is styles - there is a stronger sense to unify styles across animators in Western TV shows.

Yeah, I think that sometimes comes down to the genre of what's presented. Like you can get some amazingly smooth sequences in action series that just can't be present in the west. The closest is probably the surreal stuff in series like Gumball.

When you say "who", do you mean the studio or the individual? Cause if it's studio, I concur. It'd be nice if Japanese studios kind of mixed it up.

Smears have been an animation technique used since the UPA days in the 40s. As long as the desired intent is gotten across, it's a perfectly viable effect.

Indeed they have. Back in the '40s the FPS count was usually well below 20 though, and action needed to be presented in a way that visually made sense despite the limitations of the time.

 

[firehawk12]

It is, but when the topic in question is "innocent teenage girls" the critical eye understandably focuses in a bit more.


Not in and of itself but when you juxtapose it against...damn okay this isn't really the thread for this. The problem is that the one's that are invariably get locked. Short version: there are visual cues and elements of how K-On is constructed that almost certainly seem to lean into things the show's ...lewder fans are thinking about.

Women write fan fiction about the members of the New York Yankees having sex with each other. Is there something inherent about the MLB that encourages slash fic?

I know this "defense" is played out, because it was used by Kamiya to "justify" Bayonetta, but K-On is directed and written by women and purposefully goes out of its way to avoid things like male gaze or any overt sexualization.

 

[Kaisos]

Should I blame BioWare because fans are obsessed with what Tali's suit smells like to the point where someone tried to use organic chemistry to describe the composition of her perspiration?

Given that Tali is the nearest Western equivalent I can think of to a "moe" character, maybe you should.

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

It is, but when the topic in question is "innocent teenage girls" the critical eye understandably focuses in a bit more.





Not in and of itself but when you juxtapose it against...damn okay this isn't really the thread for this. The problem is that the one's that are invariably get locked. Short version: there are visual cues and elements of how K-On is constructed that almost certainly seem to lean into things the show's ...lewder fans are thinking about.

The reason why I don't find it interesting is because

A) I doubt many participates would be willing to do research on things if it's a topic that bothers them, especially a hotbed topic like this

and B) having said visual cues aids very little importance in whether a show gets lewd images.

Lewd images are still considered as "Fanart". That is the keyterm in this. Having a lot of fanart means that K-On was very popular for enthusiasts (keyterm 2).

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I think I know who it is and if so, their avatar is fully clothed now lol

 

[Envelope]

the good thing is(was) he got banned appropriately for his sins

 

[JesseEwiak]

Should I blame BioWare because fans are obsessed with what Tali's suit smells like to the point where someone tried to use organic chemistry to describe the composition of her perspiration?

It's how much the company leans into it. You can't control what people get obsessed about, but you can control how you react to it as the holder of the IP.

To use a RL example - a lot of Nick shows supposedly aimed at tweens that star and starred people like Victoria Justice or Ariana Grande had a lot of content in them that seemed to be well, not aimed at 10 year old girls. Now, it was nothing obvious, but anybody paying attention could see that the producers knew exactly what they were doing.

OTOH, Ariel Winter from Modern Family gets a lot of attention for a variety of reasons despite being underage. However, they don't blatantly focus on that in the show and instead, downplay her attractiveness and such.

 

[The Technomancer]

Women write fan fiction about the members of the New York Yankees having sex with each other. Is there something inherent about the MLB that encourages slash fic?

I know this "defense" is played out, because it was used by Kamiya to "justify" Bayonetta, but K-On is directed and written by women and purposefully goes out of its way to avoid things like male gaze or any overt sexualization.

The reason why I don't find it interesting is because

A) I doubt many participates would be willing to do research on things if it's a topic that bothers them, especially a hotbed topic like this

and B) having said visual cues aids very little importance in whether a show gets lewd images.

Lewd images are still considered as "Fanart". That is the keyterm in this. Having a lot of fanart means that K-On was very popular for enthusiasts (keyterm 2).

My point is that if we were to do a deep dive on the show we could talk about lots of things from specific shots and the way characters are framed and animate to the ways characters physically interact with each other to aspects of the plotting and "world" that all suggest the show's creators are aware of and not afraid to lean into pleasing a certain segment of their fanbase, no matter how broad the fanbase as a whole is. And given the specific topic of the show that conversation gets sort of tricky. Given how often this topic comes up I did finally go back and watch the first season of the show in its entirety just to refresh my vague four year old memories