Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
They're all distinctly male though. Ranging from 'classically handsome' to 'ruggedly handsome'. Very few characters are outright androgynous or feminine to the degree that some are requesting within this thread and painting as much more common than they actually are. Masculinity is a broad spectrum and need not be fixed on the 'bara' side of the spectrum.
It's mostly that "masculine aesthetics" thing. Like, if masculinity is a broad specturm, then what are masculine aesthetics? (which, I mean, I know and agree with, I've written whole pieces about the gender spectrum, especially on how men's aesthetics and fashion has evolved since the friggin middle ages) I mean, I can understand not being fond of androgyny but saying that "recent games have embraced masculine aethetics", well...huh? Please elaborate on what those aesthetics are because on my end, the only thing those games have in common on the "masculine" side is that they star men... which is a given for most games out of Japan except, say, the Atelier series.