You will find that the starting premise of many anime is the introduction of The Looser, a character down on their luck with no self worth or redeeming characteristics. You know what happens next – they find a magic talking animal, or giant robot, or popular classmate, etc that brings out their positive traits and allows them to overcome some developing obsticle. I think I just described 80% of world literature, but otaku know the drill. What I have observered is there is a significant difference in the plot depending the gender of the protagonist. The differences between what happens to The Looser Guy versus The Looser Girl may strike at the traditional gender roles assigned by Japanese culture, but I see parallels to Western culture as well.
There are a near infinite number of examples for The Looser Guy. Look at any harem anime where you scratch your head at why one, let alone five, girls would have any interest in the guy. I’ve always speculated this comes from an industry that is predomontly male, writing stories from their own subconcious. The Looser Girl, on the other hand, always seems to fall into a much more serious plot line. Again, they will find something to begin their life affirming transformation, but rather than talking animals (I’m discounting a lot of Magical Girl shows, but to be honest, most of those character START as the popular, self confident type) it’s the popular boy(s) at school. And here is were the screw turns. The Looser Boy, when connected to the sexy new transfer student/teacher/sister (ugg) becomes the subject of good natured ribbing or envy, while The Looser Girl becomes the subject of rage and hatetred.
For The Looser Boy, the conflict will either be how to work out their feeling for one of multiple love interests that have shown up, or defend same from some force of evil. For The Looser Girl, the conflict becomes the often evil macinations of the annomyous gaggle of female classmates, bent on taking down the emerging threat to their satus quo. I have always been told conflict among adolesent girls is 10 time more intense, vicious and ruthless than for boys. I have no illusions that a cadre of females can be a fearsome force to have to face down. I am struck, however, by just how mean, how deviatating these attacks are in anime, to the point where an entire school turns against an insecure girl for daring to be seen with a popular boy. It makes for intense storytelling, sure, but it’s shocking to someone who has never had to suffer the wrath of an entire gender to watch.
This plays into a more universal gender bias than just an Eastern one. Where males are expected to be able to overcome physical hardships with physical power, females have to overcome emotional hardships with hardened emotion. The parallels are there. In both stories, the hero is often rescued from a no win situation. For the male, it’s a well timed shot from a mysterious ally. For the female, it’s a kind word amongst the chaos. The male protagonist “levels up” with a new attack. The female makes a speech or otherwise exposes the plots of the antagonist. The male has outward strength, while the female has inner beauty. Both with the same set of challenges, but each with a unique set of tools.
The question is raised, then, who, in the end, is the stronger character? For a Western audiance I think the answer falls easily on the male. For Eastern culture, an inner peace and harmony are aspects to be persued and celebrated, so the answer is not so clear cut. I believe a Japanese audiance would see both these Loosers as the champions that hold a narative togther, while we see two very different Loosers.
That is the source of the shock we feel when reading of the plight of The Female Looser. When women in the West are strong, they are said to emulate men. When women in the East are strong, they are said to emulate a female ideal. The skill set The Female Looser uses to triumph is not a skill set needed in the West, where the genders attept to play on equal grounds. Instead, there is a unique set of rules that allow females to overcome adversity in the East. Who is to say if there is more merit in one path or the other, but it from the differences in attitude that my reaction to these stories comes from. And is just another reason this kind of fandom attract the level of scrutiny and devotion it does.
