User blog:Angel Emfrbl/Portrayals of Vocaloids on boxart

So this was a topic that hit us during the2011/2012 period I felt like raising again to discuss it for the sake of discussing something.

I remember creating the "see boobs = run?" more or less as a joke towards the way things were being discussed around the fandom. It was beginning to feel like Vocaloid was being treated like it was a hentai with the reactions, when Vocaloid doesn't have any adult themed vocaloids (yet) with the closet being Tone Rion (of all vocaloids) for being deliberately aimed at Otakus and "Moe"... Even then she isn't "sexualised" how one would expect and I often call her entire outfit "cluttered" and a mess. The rest are simply made to either fit in with the other vocaloids before them or for separating their character FROM the other vocaloids and make it stand out.

I laugh because honestly, guys walk around time in the summer at times with no shirts on and stuff like that and nobody thinks any of it, but a girl has a little boob showing and she is put down as a "slut". So when I saw this in vocaloid back when it first appeared, I thought the whole over the top reaction was funny.

So honestly, when people pointed to Gumi's "Adult" outfit showing a little boob I was "oKay... So?". So far no single Vocaloid has had melon-sized boobs and most are only cup sizes C or D at the most, which honestly isn't that big overall. Even Gumi isn't that big despite showing her boobs.

For the most part, all the Vocaloids have had decent and respectful boxarts. Show there are ones with short skirts or a little boobage, but honestly? Last time I walked down the highstreet in summer, girls wearing skirts of that same metaphorical ages as many of those female vocaloids look dressed in that way. Sure there were none that were half naked and they had limits built in, but some were till dressed more "sexy"respectfully then some of the Vocaloids.

The worst offender at this point for clothing is Lily still even as we enter V4, who I often joke is dressed in a outfit that would fall apart if she jumped around too much on stage. The most over sexualised was Sonika, who despite her appearance was voted on a poll on this very wikia for boxarts of V2, right after the Kagamine Append. DESPITE the cribs with voice and appearance, Sonika walked away with a appealing boxart that turned heads. Which brings many questions onto the table about this.

Then there is the naked scarf Kaito meme... Where Kaito wears nothing but his scarf to keep his dignity, which existed BEFORE V3 came out. Or Dancing Samurai with Gackpo and co in nothing but a piece of cloth around their junk to protect it while the females are fully clothed. All things of which used to make me raise an eyebrow at.

Even if this wasn't enough, just in 2009 there was the whole dig at Ah software for Yuki and the two voiceroids and how Ah software was catering to "lolicon". Which again blew the whole "look, gumi is showing some boob" thing out of the water.

So why raise this topic again... Well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33fxuveXZRg

This popped into my youtube box and it kinda reminded me of that "over the top" reaction back in 2011. I think alot of the problem was for the same reason this game gets attention, that there are basically too many females. Its the same reaction My Little Pony Friend is Magic gets, where the cast is mostly female and the guys are shoved in. The reaction isn't so bad when something is mostly male, but when its mostly female... People start reacting more. Sadly the way the Vocaloid franchise is dominated by females means we get noticed.

the reasons often are is because unlike guys, females tend to be... Not varied in portrayal... I mean look at Video games, one of the most iconic figures is Mario, a fat plumber. The most notable females are the likes of Bayenatta, Peach, Lara Croft, etc, which all portray females in designs which are more or less "ideal woman" material. You ca get away with a fat plumber heading a game, but a fat female wouldn't pass the mark. Heck look at that game alone mentioned in the video and see that every character has more or less the same design and you can see the problem right there.

And sadly... As Gamechap and Bertie point out, everyone forgets storyline and character personality for the sake of the design.

And serious... Vocaloid designs are more or less much tamer overall.