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INTEREST: Hanasaku Iroha Character Designer Mel Kishida Reflects on Changing Attitudes Towards Fanse


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Brook09



Joined: 10 Jan 2021
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:07 pm Reply with quote
Wasn't one of the most popular atelier series atelier ryza and its sequel full of fan service.

And it sold because of that buckets of copies which blue refelction or atelier meruru could only dream abt?

The statement abt fan service selling less is not actual in my opinion as ryza has shown.
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Escaflowne2001



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 468
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:16 pm Reply with quote
Well that didn't stop them announcing a series of sexy swimsuit DLC's for the characters literally yesterday.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 14216
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:19 pm Reply with quote
And the character designs in general are still pretty attractive and busty (not that I mind that personally, just saying).
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Jonny Mendes



Joined: 17 Oct 2014
Posts: 997
Location: Europe
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:08 pm Reply with quote
The title is a bit misleading

Title of this article:
"Hanasaku Iroha Character Designer Mel Kishida Reflects on Changing Attitudes Towards Fanservice In Japan"

What Mel Kishida says:
Quote:
Outside of Japan, especially in North America, Europe, and other Asian countries, the way younger females are portrayed is starting to change


From the complete article about high-school girl uniforms:
Quote:
I’ve seen the Japanese high school experience being romanticized in such a way.
However, this meaningful message of representing nostalgia can also be mixed with fan service where younger characters are sexualized in a way that Western fans continue to find irksome. I’m a giant pansexual mess, so I appreciate cute and attractive characters, but at times a line must be drawn in the sand. Kishida-san believes things are changing for the better, and hopes to represent that evolving culture in his work.


From what I read Mel Kishida was talking more about his experiences in how other audiences audiences think about fanservice that reflect his opinions and his hopes that Japan can follow them in making games that reflect the changes outside Japan.

Quote:
There is demand for characters and illustrations like this, so he’d be foolish to ignore these requests and prevent himself from making a living. Games and anime from Japan can be some of the finest pieces of art in the modern world, yet they’re also dragged down by weird, gratuitous experiences that can often feel juvenile.
---
If you asked me, ‘Well, you’ve drawn a lot of sexy illustrations’ I would have to say that it isn’t because I like or dislike them, it’s that I’m creating things that fans and consumers enjoy looking at.”


The bottom line is as long there is a big demand of this kind of ilustrations and games in Japan, people like Kishida-san have to keep working on them. If the market is there they have to keep fan-service for the Japanese fans

There are some artists that want change. Especially those that want to sell outside Japan but they are a small minority.

Things can change because culture is always evolving and the age of twitter and other social media can have strong influence in other cultures but today the attitude towards fan-sevice in Japan is not changing that much.

(Quotes from the gamer article)
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SciasSlash



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 120
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Brook09 wrote:
Wasn't one of the most popular atelier series atelier ryza and its sequel full of fan service.

And it sold because of that buckets of copies which blue refelction or atelier meruru could only dream abt?

The statement abt fan service selling less is not actual in my opinion as ryza has shown.

The Ryza games aren't really 'full of fanservice.' A couple of the characters have sexy designs but they aren't senran kagura or anything, and if anything Meruru and the other Arland games had more things like panty shots, jokes about groping, etc.
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BonusStage



Joined: 24 Oct 2011
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 3:50 pm Reply with quote
They're tame compared to other games out there, but you have to remember that attractive characters designs have become all but erased from western video games this past decade. And those that express any form of criticism or dislike of that are met with a lot of negativity and insults. As tame as the Atelier games are, even something like Ryza's outfit is considered too much for some people in the west.
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egozi14



Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 108
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:00 pm Reply with quote
Dk if ANN and other sites are cen news or not, but I think it's truely sad that PCs getting a power they shouldn't have, they were nothing few years back and the only reason it start growing was cause companies saw their noise on social medias as something serious and were afraid they will lose money out of it, while fail to understand to these days that these people won't even buy their stuff like the loyal fans they're hurting do.

In companies' minds, the bigger the audience, the more chance you can rip off more cash from them, but these idiots fails to understand that in these kind if cases they just won't get a penny from these PCs brats, I true hope people will stop buy things from them to make them reazlie things the same way Sony start fall off sales so they will get the memo
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Errinundra
Moderator


Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6590
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:37 pm Reply with quote
Post removed.

@ Ryuji-Dono / natsumi0057 / r4737.

Using an alt username while on moderation isn't tolerated.


Last edited by Errinundra on Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Florete



Joined: 21 Jan 2018
Posts: 385
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:43 pm Reply with quote
BonusStage wrote:
They're tame compared to other games out there, but you have to remember that attractive characters designs have become all but erased from western video games this past decade. And those that express any form of criticism or dislike of that are met with a lot of negativity and insults. As tame as the Atelier games are, even something like Ryza's outfit is considered too much for some people in the west.

This is as untrue as it's ever been. There are different styles, including more realistic styles, but you don't have to look very far to find western video games with attractive character designs. Y'all just get scared because a few popular games aren't sexing up their characters.
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Rentwo



Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:55 pm Reply with quote
People assumed Second Light being toned down was due to Sony's censorship policies, but it very well could have been this designer and an attempt to appeal to western audiences it seems. The backlash was pretty noticeable and even effected the home video release of the anime adaption.
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FunkyDude88



Joined: 01 Oct 2021
Posts: 108
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:59 pm Reply with quote
Jonny Mendes wrote:
Things can change because culture is always evolving and the age of twitter and other social media can have strong influence in other cultures but today the attitude towards fan-sevice in Japan is not changing that much.


Thank goodness! Smile I was worried for a second.
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Karasu-Lacryma



Joined: 20 Feb 2015
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:33 pm Reply with quote
Different series and artist, I know, but I really like how Guilty Gear went from Xrd's "hey kids wanna see some CLEAVAGE" to Strive's more tastefully aesthetic but still attractive designs. I'm hoping we see more focus on good designs that happen to be appealing than "fanservice first, art second".
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Piglet the Grate



Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 799
Location: North America
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:19 pm Reply with quote
Since Hanasaku Iroha is mentioned, I would like to more of the very niche fan service of characters in massage chairs talking - I cracked up every time Yuina Wakura did that. That show had some attractive girls without ecchi.

Note that fan service does not always have to be sexual in nature, e.g., Super Cub offered fan service for those into Honda tiddlers* with its many detailed close-up shots of the bikes.

*A tiddler is a small displacement, single-cylinder motorcycle/scooter.
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AmpersandsUnited



Joined: 22 Mar 2012
Posts: 633
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:36 pm Reply with quote
Jonny Mendes wrote:
The bottom line is as long there is a big demand of this kind of ilustrations and games in Japan, people like Kishida-san have to keep working on them. If the market is there they have to keep fan-service for the Japanese fans

There are some artists that want change. Especially those that want to sell outside Japan but they are a small minority.

Things can change because culture is always evolving and the age of twitter and other social media can have strong influence in other cultures but today the attitude towards fan-sevice in Japan is not changing that much.


I think it's a bit of an overstep to say western fans themselves aren't into fanservice. Most of us do actually like it, especially in the anime and Japanese video game fandoms. The sales and market numbers speak for themselves. A vocal minority on social media might take issue with it, but most people don't actually care.

It's been really interesting seeing thousands of World of Warcraft players hopping over to Final Fantasy XIV these past months and being absolutely blown away with the amount of fanservice and sex appeal in that game. Blizzard's been eroding away all the sex jokes and designs in the game for years now, and went into maximum overdrive ever since their lawsuit in censoring the game, so it's been really entertaining seeing all the players and streamers just being absolutely floored by the blatant sexualization they thought was all but eradicated in the industry. Even something simple like Hildebrand calling people damsels or maidens was enough to cause their jaw to drop, given the recent censorship waves at Blizzard going after those two words in particular.
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Dark Mac



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 323
PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:44 pm Reply with quote
Fanservice games (stuff like Senran Kagura and Valkyrie Drive) sell way less in Japan than they used to.

Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 upped the fanservice and sold less than the first two as well.

I suspect the fanservice loving audience has moved on to mobile games.
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