No way, Bioware has never sexualized children, much less ones that are the main characters' sister.
But he's not even in the fifth season once the main storyline starts!
I did mention that, yeah. And it's one of the best things about season 5.
I mean, the romance element is one thing, but the constant rescues were awful.
Look, some of the problem is that Japan is different and less equitable.
Really, I think people understate how important an element of it this is.
And that changes which roles women can be strong in. But I'm not as despairing about how female characters are treated in anime as you are.
Well, you might have a higher tolerance for sexism than I do then... many people seem to.
Then again, I haven't watched both seasons of Infinite Stratos,
IS is so bad it's good!
And some of the characters are entertaining. Yeah, they're all complete, total idiots, but at least it's amusingly dumb.
Well Maken-ki I started because of its genre (harem action), but I kept watching it because it was so horribly bad I couldn't stop... it was definitely a hatewatch, which is why I"m happy I did not watch S2. I'm sure it's just as awful. The Maken-Ki MC is the worst sexist white-knight guy since Shirou. Sure the girls all have great powers, but he's male and of course is even stronger and wants to (and will) protect them, etc etc. It's the worst of everything in the genre... anyway, I did manage to drop that after finishing S1.
I don't have a lot of interest in harem shows because pretty much everyone in them tends to suck. I can't help but wonder if that's coloring your perception. Something that might seem like early markers of a trope can ultimately lead elsewhere.
Maybe a bit, but I think you're over-rating anime characters in general...
So why do you seek out shows like H ga Dekinai, but pass on shows with interesting atypical female characters like Silver Spoon, Windy Tales, or Hataraki Man? Of course you're going to get hurt.
Well when you put it that way...
yeah, that is sometimes true. But as I said, overall, no, sexist themes are common in every anime I can think of, somewhere or other. Some have less than others, sure, but more sexism than you'd find in Western stuff seems to be in most everything -- which, again, isn't surprising given where it's coming from. Anime/manga have a lot of serious gender issues to still work out, probably worst of all their seeming inability as of yet to understand that rape is a problem. Incest and general sexism would be the other top items on the list. And even if some of those things are worst in the harem genre, they are pervasive.
Anyway, it's not like that's ALL I watch... for instance, this season I watched Saki S2, SYD S2, D-Frag, Sakura Trick, and Log Horizon. That's more shows than I've watched during a season in a while. And I got through the first half of KLK, but haven't watched the second half yet. Only two of those could be described as harem, and neither focuses on that element (D-Frag and SYD are both comedies first, harem second).
On that note, last season was one of the best in a long time. All five of those shows there were quite enjoyable. I know I posted like twice in the threads during the season, but I said that in the IRC for sure... and yeah, it was a great season. I doubt we'll have another one as good anytime soon. This season sure doesn't look promising.
Sure though, it probably is true that I often avoid serious animes. My favorite animes (ABe is #1!) are serious, but nothing in recent years is near that level, and the stuff that there is... well, it's probably because they're often depressing, and I don't like depressing shows much... or many horror or giant robot shows either. And even though harem shows are definitely terrible, harem action or comedy shows often are entertaining enough to watch anyway; I don't find harem romance shows interesting very often at all.
Anyway, no, I haven't watched those three shows there.
There are three main master/weapon pairings in Soul Eater. They're all mixed-gender, and they're all reliant on each other, both ways. It's about partners learning to trust, not about a woman relying on a man.
That's sort of true, but as I said, the two things just don't mean quite the same thing, because of traditional gender roles...
I feel like the manga makes it pretty clear that Soul needs Maka's influence as much as Maka needs Soul. Kid also needs the stabilising influence of Liz and Patty (uh... Liz's stability and Patty's SRS MODE) otherwise he goes fully OCD.
I don't disagree here. It's hard to explain (and probably impossible to prove), I just wondered if a series with a male lead would have done some of the things Soul Eater did later in the series. Also, as I said above, the gender-roles issue.
But yes, overall I liked Soul Eater. Good manga. I never watched the anime, but I know it doesn't finish the series and goes into original stuff which isn't as good, I think... not sure if I'll watch it sometime. I will try Soul Eater Not, though.
As for things I dislike in Soul Eater, though, my top complaint there is something entirely different: that the city is actually in the U.S., but everything about the show is blatantly Japanese. It really doesn't make sense, and that kind of thing is annoying.
Black Star doesn't fit into this equation because of reasons
Black Star got kind of annoying...
Honestly, I don't know how humanity as a species survived before air conditioning. Sure, before the advent of modern medicine and sanitation most of us died in our 20s and 30s anyway, but I can't imagine how perpetual labor in sweltering temperatures with nothing but a rabbit skin over your junk didn't finish even the hardiest genetic specimens almost immediately. How did the Sumerians and Egyptians develop culture when it was so motherfucking hot with no relief? How did primitive humans achieve conscious self-realization instead of remaining beasts when you're being roasted in your own skin every second of your life? It's kind of amazing.
The sane ones moved to colder areas!
I hate hot weather too.
