Forum - View topicBody measurements in anime?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Loganator456
 Posts: 52 Location: Oklahoma |
|
||
|
I've seen my fair share of shoujo or otherwise romantic comedy/harem/ecchi shows. One thing that always confuses me (although I've tried to research to no avail), is the body measurements that comes up every now and then. I can understand people being concerned about theirs, but that isn't what is confusing me. It's the translation into real-life.
So many times I see something like "86-57-89", for a normal-looking teenage girl in an anime (To Love-Ru being the latest example), yet when I look up body measurements in real life, that would make someone very obese. And it seems like all of them are in the 80s-50s-80s range, too. Is it just, "Well, they aren't real people so the body proportions can be anything in the anime" argument (which I can understand) or is there a different way of body measuring over in Japan that would explain why those measurements are so different? |
|||
|
|||
Bluebeard
 Posts: 267 Location: Massachusetts |
|
||
|
Methinks it's that dastardly metric system at work! 86-57-89 (Centimeters) = 34-22-35 (Inches) When will every other country in the world finally realize how awesome our feet and inches system is
|
|||
|
|||
Ktimene's Lover
 Posts: 2242 Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert) |
|
||
|
While I don't know about the Japanese explanation, I think they like making so disproportionate to real life because they may know real measurements like that would give them a flabby build. However, real life measurements on Japanese girls doesn't always have them look overweight. They call these models/gravure idols/porn actors, etc.
|
|||
|
|||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
||
|
If you think that the numbers are big, it's probably because it's the metric system that's being used. Most places in the world use the metric system, which is based on centimeters, meters, etc. And over here we use inches and feet for measurements. But you are right about one thing, and that is exaggeration of real life measurements as a whole. Take for example the characters' measurements of Soul Calibur. The weight and height for a lot of the characters don't match for what would be in real life.
|
|||
|
|||
eyeresist
 Posts: 995 Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney) |
|
||
|
The mention of body measurements in anime comes from their importance in idol culture: idol stats like measurements and blood type are "collected" by idol fans as a way of feeling intimate with their fixation of choice.
I think this actually comes from American culture originally (probably during the post-WWII occupation): sex symbols like Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Gina Lolabrigida (sp) had their stats used as part of their publicity, most notably in "gentlemen's magazines" of the time. This may have originated in earlier public speculation about the proportions of Mae West, a famously buxom star of the early sound films (although Mae wasn't all that busty - she was actually "pigeon-chested"). A life preserver buoyancy jacket of the 1930s and 40s was nicknamed the "Mae West" because of its two prominant front pads (and also because her name rhymed with "life vest" - see Cockney rhyming slang). |
|||
|
|||
farichada
 Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
|
||
|
Yeah, the measurements are unrealistic and unattainable. The only way I might be able to get those measurements is by sticking a balloon in my chest and butt. That being said, I think unrealistic body proportions are okay for anime. They make for much more interesting character designs.
Sometimes body measurements in anime can be taken to extremes. Yoko from Gurren Lagann for example is suppose to be 15 or 16(maybe younger), but her breasts are the size of watermelons -- 90 cm or so. Her measurements for the rest of her figure are crazy as well. I was flat as a board at that age, but then again I guess that has its own appeal. 
|
|||
|
|||
Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
|
||
|
Well, sex sells, and if there's an audience that clamors for a certain fetish, or whatever you want to call it, then you can bet they'll capitalize on it. Animation has that benefit of not containing real actors, so they can make a super busty super model 15 year old, or a 21 year old girl that looks like she's in the fourth grade.
This gives them a certain advantage amongst fans of certain types, and I imagine that plays a big role in why it's so huge in animation. It'd be the same in the US if the US animation and film industry didn't have the opinion that animation is a childs domain. Of course, look at Beowulf, they certainly used animation to their advantage in adding a few selling points in that flick, since it was more adult oriented (regardless of the fact the theater had lots of kids in it when I saw it). |
|||
|
|||
TheresaJayne
 Posts: 70 Location: UK Berkshire |
|
||
|
Well i will add a few points here, being female and remembering that in Kashimashi Hazumu is measured as 90C when fitting for a bra.
I am 95C myself 95-89- 114 (38-35-45 in real terms) Whilst measurements on a teen like that is a little high I have friends who were DD at age 12 so its not that far out of reality. (and yes i am older than teen) |
|||
|
|||
|
farichada
Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
|
||
Wow, just wow, I don't know what to say. I wouldn't dare post my measurements on an online forum, but you have me beat on that last measurement by well over 30 cm or a foot in non-metric terms. I think this is mainly because I am small overall and nothing else. I do not think you are lying in what you say, but I can safely that is probably not the norm. Anime character measurements can also be unrealistic for males as well. This can be true in both extremes. Whether they be built like Lelouch or like Armstrong from FMA. Thinner the better, I say. The same is true for females like Keonyn said. There are characters who are ridiculously over and under developed for their age. |
|||
|
|||
DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
|
||
|
Anime does it simply to make appealing characters who'll sell revoltech figures and oppai mousepads. There's no point in creating a fully realistic set of body types for the main cast when it's well known that people prefer an unrealistic, but asetically pleasing figure instead. Same reason Hollywood actors are cherry-picked for their looks (which are often augmented surigcally. Nip n' tuck!)
The fact that some girls do, in fact, live up to these expectations only makes it easier for media- anime or otherwise- to pass off as 'plausible.' I have a friend whos in her mid-20s, stands about 4 1/2 feet tall, and is very flat. If she dressed the part, she could pass as a 12 year old pretty easily (in fact, she kept using the 'student rate' on local buses several years after graduating, until she could afford a decent car.) I was on the other end of the spectrum. I started 'developing' at 9, was a C cup by high school, and was often mistaken for a 20-something at the age of 13 (one of my brother's friends at the time refused to believe I was in middle school, not college, no matter how often we told him otherwise.) People come in all forms- TV just focuses on the prettier ones. |
|||
|
|||
rti9
 Posts: 1241 |
|
||
|
Although the thread started from an innocent mistake, this is an interesting subject. A related thread (Big breasts ruining anime?) discussed it quite lengthly and not long ago Danny Choo collected images for a post about the subject.
Weird to think how worried we are about the measurement accuracy of fictional characters in comparison to real life persons. This makes me wonder how much discussion is generated by the size of male sex organs in BL forums. |
|||
|
|||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
||
|
Let me contrast to my statement above, in that some body measurements are not as fake as one might think. It would be a little bit weird and scary, but true. It would be based on how we percieve things in life, and how many "real" things that we may have seen.
|
|||
|
|||
Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
|
||
|
One thing I notice is, in a school environment, how slender some male characters are. The Evangelion 1.0 promotional poster depicts Kaworu as being worryingly thin. Is this sort of thing also a selling point?
How can I be gay for Kaworu if there's so little to love? |
|||
|
|||
|
Loganator456
Posts: 52 Location: Oklahoma |
|
||
|
Yeah, I get the whole culture around body measurements and stuff like that. I guess they just make it so different just because they can.
|
|||
|
|||
|
animeboy12
Posts: 160 |
|
||
yeah, personally I think there's no real point in worrying about it. Most of the time it seems the that the number stuck on to mean something. I mean look at the in Divergence Eve, Eiken and sekirei. All three are know for the big breasted characters yet the stats never match up to the body type because in real life their breasts would be much smaller. I guess it's all on precipitation. There is no real or universal standard for anime because it's all up to the character designer |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group