Thread: Anime girls are stereotyped?

I had seen several animes, and I found that a lot of anime had girls with pretty much the same personalities - and in some cases, even backgrounds

1. Tough, calm, quiet older girl who usually excels in traditional martial arts - including sword-mastery

2. Snobby, nosy older girl who can't keep her mouth shut and is the source of every single rumor.

3. Peer girl with glasses who is a bookworm and takes a long time to strike up a proper conversation, while not being able to look at the other person straight.

4. Wild peer who just acts stupid all the time.

5. Girly-girl who cares about looks and money and comes from a rich family, and is often the meanest girl in the show.

6. Peer girl who just has to be nice and endure all mean stuff targeted at her.

Do you have any other opinions? Don't get me wrong - I love to watch anime, and I know not all anime girls are like that. But a lot of girls are, IMO. What's yours?

The rules of anime girl stereotype is that there must be a small/flat-chested girl and several large-chested girls that defy the laws of gravity.

Well every single anime has a Tsundere as one of the (usually 2) main characters.

Also, its eithet blackboards or backbreakers.

Well, the stereotypes you've listed are more "archetypes" than "stereotypes", per se. Archetypes can be fleshed out with individual character traits, perks, appearance, backround, sense of logic, and lots of other factors, whereas "stereotypes" are uninteresting cliches that are hard to successfully apply to any show worth its salt.

The one real "stereotype" I can really think of for anime girls are boobs that defy the laws of physics and skirts that can be mistaken for handkerchiefs.

Originally Posted by Jack Tschitt

Well, the stereotypes you've listed are more "archetypes" than "stereotypes", per se. Archetypes can be fleshed out with individual character traits, perks, appearance, backround, sense of logic, and lots of other factors, whereas "stereotypes" are uninteresting cliches that are hard to successfully apply to any show worth its salt.

The one real "stereotype" I can really think of for anime girls are boobs that defy the laws of physics and skirts that can be mistaken for handkerchiefs.

That's not a stereotype. It's just reflecting real life in that regard. Japanese girls do wear short skirts over there...though it seems to be the older ones that do. I don't recall seeing too many younger ones wearing short skirts that can be mistaken for "handkerchiefs". lol

As for the boob thing, I think it depends on the actual genre. If it's something really geared towards males in general, you probably will end up with a female character with big boobs or unusually large ones. A series maybe aimed at a family or a younger audience or a general audience, I'm sure you'd find everyone will come across as "normal" looking.

Originally Posted by SSJ_Jup81

As for the boob thing, I think it depends on the actual genre. If it's something really geared towards males in general, you probably will end up with a female character with big boobs or unusually large ones. A series maybe aimed at a family or a younger audience or a general audience, I'm sure you'd find everyone will come across as "normal" looking.

Shonen Jump anime are geared towards kids in Japan, yet it still contains large boobs.

Originally Posted by SSJ_Jup81

That's not a stereotype. It's just reflecting real life in that regard. Japanese girls do wear short skirts over there...though it seems to be the older ones that do. I don't recall seeing too many younger ones wearing short skirts that can be mistaken for "handkerchiefs". lol

As for the boob thing, I think it depends on the actual genre. If it's something really geared towards males in general, you probably will end up with a female character with big boobs or unusually large ones. A series maybe aimed at a family or a younger audience or a general audience, I'm sure you'd find everyone will come across as "normal" looking.

I suppose, but I just don't see the point of it. It's not that hard (and it looks better, in my opinion) to give them jeans or something. :P

I've noticed this a lot too, but I've also seen a lot of anime girls that don't follow this - take Haruhi from Ouran High, for example, she doesn't fit into any of those categories

Originally Posted by Ghetsis-Dennis

Shonen Jump anime are geared towards kids in Japan, yet it still contains large boobs.

To my knowledge, most of the series run in Shounen Jump are aimed at males...hence the name.

To be honest, I think the most stereo typed anime girls are usually in harem series for guys. There is always the motherly type, the wild girl, the quiet one with big boobs, the quiet weird one, and the smaller flat chested one who is smart. Usually that's what happens and it bothers me. I mean, don't get me wrong either, I love anime/manga and I know a lot aren't like that. I also think that a lot of the heroines in Shojo manga are the same. I love shojo manga, though. Make no mistake. I actually liked Tohru in the manga of Fruits Basket. Just the manga though, not the anime. I also like Yuki from Vampire Knight. But yeah, a lot of girls are stereo typed.

And I know somebody else said this, but yeah. Lots of tsunderes are also in harem shows. Or just in shows aimed at guys in general. Like Hayate the Combat Butler and Shakugan no Shana(I actually like Shakugan no Shana, though).

But like I said, there are lots of anime girls that aren't stereo typed. Like Kyoko Otonashi(Maison Ikkoku), Raimei Shimizu(Nabari No Ou), and Tohru Honda(Fruits Basket). Well, there are of course more, but I just named a few.

This is not "stereotype", but character design archetype share among all Harem Romance anime in Japan. I also notice this character design trend in the recent anime, and something worse is that this character design archetype is not only limited in Harem/Romance, but starting to spread towards other genre in these recent years' anime.

Just like you guys said, there will always be a girl with big/small/flat chest, where their characteristics are archetypically like these:
1. Knowing martial art/sword skill/combat ability that is even stronger than the muscle man from the gym older than her 10~20 years, despite that she looks skinny just like a normal high-grader.
2. A very girlish girl that is spiritually very weak, such that it feels like this girl will die (at the least, gone crazy) if the male character that she loves disappear. She always shown the sign of getting gloomy but shut this feeling deep in her heart when another girl approaches the boy she loves.
3. A noisy or loud girl that always interrupt the main couple. Often there to disrupt the kissing scene or the love chat scene. Also she is the root of the recent rumors.
4. An very intelligent girl with IQ and intellect above normal people, some can even build a Gundam provided that she has the facility. This kind of science-maniac girl always seems very enthusiastic about her own work, and will not mind very much of the male characters in the anime.
5. A calm and quiet girl always sit in the corner, doesn't want any other people to disrupt her. She will reply coldly if you talk to her the first time.
6. A class-leader-type girl that is very serious and strict towards everything, she always hold up her triangular eyes to everyone in a light attitude.
7. A high-pride girl that always look down the lower-class, always meanie towards other girls/boys which she feels uncomfortable with. This kind of character is always people of the celebrity or child of a rich family.
8. A my-pace girl that seems time slow down around her. She will never tense up even under lv.10 earthquake.
9. A clumsy girl that always pump onto the light pole on the street or fall on her face/bottom even there is nothing on the road. "Sorry" is the word always around her mouth.
10. A rough-temper girl that is always hot-headed, getting angry or irritated very easily. She is the kind that will not speak out her feeling directly.
11. A motherly-type or a big-sister-type girl that will cherish the junior. She is the kind that can easily hooks the heart of any male.
12. A "bad" girl which is a little charming evil, she always make sexy jokes with the protagonist boy.

Also, this character design archetype is not only found in the girl, but also the male character in the Harem animes, especially the "best friend" of the protagonist.
That secondary male character is either:
1. A "hentai" that loves to look at all kinds of females (specifically their bodies).
2. An intelligent calm and quiet person often with glasses on.
3. Just a simple normal guy that often give advice to the protagonist.