Toonami

Dreamer2 · June 19, 2016, 01:02:00 AM

Quote from: LumRanmaYasha on June 19, 2016, 12:50:28 AM
Welcome to the forums!

Thanks.

QuoteLike I said, it would've been nice if there was a female protagonist as integral as the rest of the main four. Still, the important female characters HXH does have are all very distinct, memorable, and well-written with strong characterizations and/or character arcs, which I think counts for more. It might not have as many important and well-developed female main characters as, say, Gintama, but compared to some other Shonen Jump action fare like Dragon Ball, Fist of the North Star, the first four parts of JoJo's, or even Togashi's previous series Yu Yu Hakusho, HXH still boasts significantly more nuanced female characters with integral and purposeful roles in it's story.

I agree. I would've been nice to have a female character in the main four. But, I got to admit I'm a little bummed about how Leorio and Kurapika have been handled at times. Just kind of being sent away. I know they'll come back eventually, but still.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · June 19, 2016, 01:12:30 AM

First of all, welcome to the board!

As for the topic at hand: I'm all for great female characters in my fiction. That said, my primary focus is on the overall quality and entertainment value of what I'm watching as opposed to things like gender or race. For me, I just like great characters, and oftentimes that has little to do with their biology and more to do with who they are as a person in general and what their arc is.

Personally, I find mangaka like Naoki Urasawa (among others) to be masterful at writing characters based on who they are first, with their sex or status in life coming secondary to that, which is why the cast in much of his manga tends to be so well balanced.

A good example I like to use to support my outlook, though, goes outside of the realm of manga, however is still very relevant to this topic. When you compare J. R. R. Tolkien's writings at large to those of George R. R. Martin, one tends to write stories focusing on predominantly male casts while the other has diverse casts throughout all of his books which feature all walks of life. That said, Tolkien was considered a master of his craft, as is Martin, however hardly anyone brings up how one featured a predominantly male cast while the other was more diverse, because in the end what really mattered to fans of both writers in both cases were there stories and how well they told them, and that's pretty much the outlook that I uphold on most of fiction.

Of course, I would be pissed if a series was portraying female characters or characters representing a certain class of people in a wrongful or negative light, but clearly that's not what Togashi is doing here. He just seems to write and draw characters based on what interests him, and I doubt the gender of that character really factors very much into how he writes them in the first place. If you notice, the female characters in HXH are hardly (if ever) portrayed in any overtly-sexual way. They may be female, but that fact in and of itself is largely irrelevant to who they are as people, and in that regard, they are treated with the same level of care and respect as any of Togashi's male characters.

Now, compare that to another Shonen that does have a lot of female characters but doesn't abide by that logic. Say something like History's Strongest Dsiciple Kenichi. Yes, there are a ton of female characters in that manga, and yes, many are portrayed as physically strong characters. However, with the exception of just two characters, the rest really have little to no serious weight in the story and end up becoming little more than glorified fan-service. To me, that's an obnoxious use of female characters, and personally I'd prefer a series that doesn't have many female characters but treats those that it does with a certain level of respect rather than one that has a ton of them but completely objectifies most of them as a mere method to cater to horny teenage boys.

That said, I can understand and respect your outlook on the state of female characters in a series such as HXH. The goal of this post was merely to highlight my view on the subject matter and defend my point in why I think that the series isn't inherently doing anything wrong by featuring a predominantly male cast.

::EDIT::

Oh, another example that I forgot to mention is Madoka Magica. As far as I can recall, the main cast is all female and the few male characters that are there have no pivotal role in the story whatsoever (unless you count Kyubey, though I can't remmeber if it was genderless or not). That said, many people enjoyed the series for its story and characters, including myself, and not once did I ever hear anyone bringing up an issue regarding its predominantly female cast, most likely for the same reason that I brought up in what I posted above. Essentially, I believe many of us just enjoyed the characters for who they were and how well their story was told in this short series.

Also, please don't get the idea that I think that Hunter X Hunter is a flawless series from my post. While I'm definitely a fan of it for what I feel that it does really well, I have also heavily criticized it for poor story decisions, awkward writing, and downright boring segments in many instances throughout its run (and I still do so for the manga, which is currently running to this day). I just don't find this particular subject matter to be one of its issues.

Dreamer2 · June 19, 2016, 01:51:30 AM

Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on June 19, 2016, 01:12:30 AM
Snip

That was a really good post and you had a lot of good points.

I really just want a show to have good characters. But, most shows I can think of do try to have balance when it comes to gender. I just think with HxH, it became really noticeable to me and I was wondering if a female character would ever have a real importance. And eventually they do to an extent and most of them are pretty interesting. I just feel like when you have a character that can be interesting and then you don't do anything with said character it's a waste. And in HxH case it was really only female characters at first. I had high hopes for both Ponzu and Canary. But, it didn't work out to well. Not sure if Canary ever shows up again.

Also, it's funny you brought up Madoka, since that's a show I don't really like. And when I was watching it I was a tad bummed that male characters had basically no role, except that one boy in the love triangle. But, I had bigger problems with that show than it's non use of male characters. HxH has other problems as well, but like I said, it just became noticeable until Melody showed up.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · June 19, 2016, 02:29:32 AM

That's fair. Putting gender aside, I definitely have had problems with how HXH has handled some of its characters. That said, what ends up winning me over are the character arcs that it nails, like with Killua's gradual redemption throughout the series going from being just a cold-blooded killer to a more compassionate friend. I'm not sure how far you are yet, but there is one particular scene in the Chimera Ant arc which cements how much he's grown throughout the course of the story:

Spoiler

It's when he saves Ikalgo from falling to his death after defeating him in their encounter. Despite being his enemy, Ikalgo's refusal to sell-out his allies in exchange for his life really earns Killua's respect, and deep down he can sense that he's not a bad person. While Killua is still a killer at this point, the Kilkua from the beginning of the series would have shown no mercy to any of his enemies. But you can tell at this point that he's grown as a person and finds some level of value in life, so deciding to spare Ikalgo is a big deal in retrospect.

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Meruem's character arc is probably my favorite in the series. I find him to be a rather fascinating and atypical villain.

Dreamer2 · June 19, 2016, 10:46:30 AM

Killua's probably my favorite character in the whole show. The last episode I watched was the one with Palm and Gon's "date" and Killua was about to fight one of the Chimera Ants. I've still got a long ways to go in this arc. I've only seen a little bit of Meruem, but he hasn't really interested me all that much yet, but like I said lots left to do in the arc.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · June 19, 2016, 01:59:06 PM

Meruem's character development doesn't really start until well into the thick of the arc's plot. He's actually intentionally written to be a character that you hate at first. It makes his gradual growth as a more nuanced and fully realized character all the more interesting considering how he starts as a one-dimensionally evil villain in the beginning.