Rise of the Monster Girls

[Paragon Fury]

So I was in the bookstore earlier today getting a couple new books and I browsed through the manga section for a bit. Being a fan myself and liking stuff like Monster Musume I'm still a little taken back when I see, in about 2 years, monster manga and monster girls went from being one guy's fetish book, a couple of games and maybe a little dusty spot in the corner of that sketchy corner store to perhaps the biggest thing in anime and manga.

It's literally everywhere, series after series, and even non-related series have started including more demi-humans. Monster Musume and it's direct spin-offs still top sales and rating charts whenever a new book comes out (and the series has done even since it's first issue released way back in October 2015 outside of Japan) and the anime was immensely popular.

It would be one thing t so see it limited to Japan, but it's everywhere apparently.

And I'm not quite sure why; since it's not like ecchi and pretty girls were exactly uncommon before monster girls came about.


Also, since this is a Paragon Fury thread, I am fulfilling my contractual obligations below;

NSFW

Spoiler

 

[Baffle]

If by 'rise of the monster girls' you mean they give you a stiffy, I'm sure we're all aware of that.

 

[Paragon Fury]

If by 'rise of the monster girls' you mean they give you a stiffy, I'm sure we're all aware of that.

Not what I meant, and you know it.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

If they're just humans with monster accessories do they really count as monster girls

Give me real monster girls

Here ya' go, though I warn you they're much more disgusting and horrifying compared to Paragon's

Spoiler

 

[bluegate]

What is up with those balloons in their shirts?

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Didn't read, skipped to the nsfw pictures and I have a question. These tits are ridiculous, but can they get any bigger? I just wanna see how silly the character would look. I mean, the one with the chain around her neck just looks like a weird blob of fat or something.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I marathoned the entire Demi chan wa kataritai anime, loving practically every minute of it, yesterday and I have to say I am a lot more into that style of story as opposed to the overly sexual monster musume approach. Not that I dislike it, of course, and I do think it deserves a lot of credit for popularizing the genre indeed. I think seeing the characters behave in their peculiar ways due to being not human is a very compelling piece of story content in itself. I don't really need more than that to find interest in a series.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Are you sure it's a widespread phenomenon and not simply your local bookstore increasing their stock to meet your degenerate perversions interests?

In all seriousness, I think we can thank/curse the internet for it. It's easier to discuss interests online that one would be hesitant to bring up in meatspace, on account of perceptions that said interests are weird or taboo. This has resulted not only in the gradual erosion of said taboos, but also prompting more people to muster the courage to "take the plunge" as it were.

NSFW

Spoiler

God, where are their noses? Why do anime girls never have noses?!

See, this is why I gravitate more towards Western style comics and animation; there's more facial variety. Sometimes a good schnoz can go a long way.

 

[PapaGreg096]

Are you sure it's a widespread phenomenon and not simply your local bookstore increasing their stock to meet your degenerate perversions interests?

In all seriousness, I think we can thank/curse the internet for it. It's easier to discuss interests online that one would be hesitant to bring up in meatspace, on account of perceptions that said interests are weird or taboo. This has resulted not in the gradual erosion of said taboos, but also prompting more people to muster the courage to "take the plunge" as it were.

NSFW

Spoiler

God, where are their noses? Why do anime girls never have noses?!

See, this is why I gravitate more towards Western style comics and animation; there's more facial variety. Sometimes a good schnoz can go a long way.

So would you say that this is more to your taste

 

[infohippie]

If monster girls are the next big thing for a while, I am perfectly okay with that. Looking forward to seeing where this trend goes.

I marathoned the entire Demi chan wa kataritai anime, loving practically every minute of it, yesterday and I have to say I am a lot more into that style of story as opposed to the overly sexual monster musume approach. Not that I dislike it, of course, and I do think it deserves a lot of credit for popularizing the genre indeed. I think seeing the characters behave in their peculiar ways due to being not human is a very compelling piece of story content in itself. I don't really need more than that to find interest in a series.

While I enjoy both kinds, I have to agree that it is much more interesting to see how a monster girl's life is different due to her unique characteristics. I was particularly intrigued by the difficulties Sakie had to deal with due to her nature as a succubus.

 

[Neverhoodian]

So would you say that this is more to your taste

I suppose so. It's certainly a distinctive face, which is more than I can say for most female anime characters I've seen.

I guess what I'm getting at is that most modern anime faces I've seen are interchangeable to me. I'll admit I'm not very knowledgeable about the medium, so I could be talking out of my ass. That said, when I usually run across depictions of anime girls they tend to have the same noseless, doe-eyed features and expressions that I've seen a thousand times before. It's not so much that I find it unappealing, it's just that it's been done to death at this point.

Variety is the spice of life, and I appreciate different appearances for different characters. In my experience, Western animation is more accommodating in this regard.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I don't get the appeal. I don't. And I don't even not like anime. I don't mind it ... Clamp stuff I love. I prefer the manga, but who doesn't?

Spice and Wolf, I love all of it ... the light novels, the manga, and the anime...

But I don't get all of whatever this is.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

If monster girls are the next big thing for a while, I am perfectly okay with that. Looking forward to seeing where this trend goes.

I marathoned the entire Demi chan wa kataritai anime, loving practically every minute of it, yesterday and I have to say I am a lot more into that style of story as opposed to the overly sexual monster musume approach. Not that I dislike it, of course, and I do think it deserves a lot of credit for popularizing the genre indeed. I think seeing the characters behave in their peculiar ways due to being not human is a very compelling piece of story content in itself. I don't really need more than that to find interest in a series.

While I enjoy both kinds, I have to agree that it is much more interesting to see how a monster girl's life is different due to her unique characteristics. I was particularly intrigued by the difficulties Sakie had to deal with due to her nature as a succubus.

Out of all of them, seeing Hikari's household all band together to make her feel comfortable, to the point of her dad and sister even dying their hair (biiiiiiig taboo especially for grown ass men in Japan) was absurdly heartwarming. They all were very interesting though.


With Sakie you would think they'd go the overly sexual fanservice route but it's more about her struggles trying to be a woman with aphrodisiac pouring out of her and how she struggles to live her life without tempting men. We could never have a story like hers in other mediums I'm afraid. Especially western ones. They'd just take one peek at the situation and simply say "men shouldn't be turned on by aphrodisiac" and be done with it. The mere concept that a woman would try to minimize how appealing she is towards men in an attempt to not garner unwanted attention would be seen as somehow a taboo, and this story weaves it brilliantly into an overarching plot without actually bashing you over the head with conservative ideas and going at it from a balanced "be a gentleman as much as you can, but a man is still gonna be turned on at some point if you push him enough" approach was genius.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

With Sakie you would think they'd go the overly sexual fanservice route but it's more about her struggles trying to be a woman with aphrodisiac pouring out of her and how she struggles to live her life without tempting men. We could never have a story like hers in other mediums I'm afraid. Especially western ones. They'd just take one peek at the situation and simply say "men shouldn't be turned on by aphrodisiac" and be done with it. The mere concept that a woman would try to minimize how appealing she is towards men in an attempt to not garner unwanted attention would be seen as somehow a taboo, and this story weaves it brilliantly into an overarching plot without actually bashing you over the head with conservative ideas and going at it from a balanced "be a gentleman as much as you can, but a man is still gonna be turned on at some point if you push him enough" approach was genius.

Sorry, but isn't that basically the subplot of the main character of Lost Girl?

And basically every shitty vampire movie, comic book, and tv series?

And concepts in roleplaying games like World of Darkness dealing with the innumerable forces that toy and manipulate humanity to suit the hunger of the veiled supernatural? Like Changeling, Vampire, and even Werewolf game lines? Of which the former of such actually have character that feed on various emotions (glamour) they manipulate humans to express and exude through dreams, the physical reality, and even as a reason why the Gentry spirit them to Arcadia in the first place?

And even in concepts of Western theatre? And ballets? Like the still popular renditions of La Sylphide and the damning nature of human fascination with the Other that, by no fault of their own, illicits the obsessions of man to their own destruction?

Things that we have created entire orchestral movements about and spawned folklore and mysticism in cross-Western society through fairytales, mythology and religion of the flightful Fair folk that include modern interpretations of millenial long contributions to this very topic that inspired that anime you talk about in the first place?

For every one of your points you discuss right here, I can think of numerous contemporary and historical rebuttals. And yeah, men shouldn't be thinking with their cocks. That's pretty practical advice. Western or otherwise. Sorry, but I don't see where you're going here.

 

[ChupathingyX]

But I don't get all of whatever this is.

Don't get all of what? Monster Musume or just monster girl fetishes in general? If the former than it's simply the combination of comedy, romance, a wide variety of colourful characters, and loads of ecchi mixed in. As for the latter, well that can vary wildly from person to person, but it's definitely been around for a while and stuff like Monster Musume has only made it more 'mainstream', leading to people sharing it more often than before.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Don't get all of what? Monster Musume or just monster girl fetishes in general? If the former than it's simply the combination of comedy, romance, a wide variety of colourful characters, and loads of ecchi mixed in. As for the latter, well that can vary wildly from person to person, but it's definitely been around for a while and stuff like Monster Musume has only made it more 'mainstream', leading to people sharing it more often than before.

'Colourful'? Visually, to be sure ... but 'colourful' in general assumes characterization. I mean if the effect is purely titillation then we should be describig it with a sexual perspective of why people want it. Rather than, you know ... pretending MM isn't merely an evolution of ecchi. And if people treated it like that then that's about all you need.

I can offer one theory ... so much anime looks the same. Dealing with atypical bodies that challenge conventional ideas of beauty will be a flavour text of evolving media that had enough consumers to justify the costs of production. Pretending like it's deeper than that entirely misses the point.

It's just another way of painting the same house in a different colour without actual investment in the characters themselves.

 

[ChupathingyX]

'Colourful'? Visually, to be sure ... but 'colourful' in general assumes characterization. I mean if the effect is purely titillation then we should be describig it with a sexual perspective of why people want it. Rather than, you know ... pretending MM isn't merely an evolution of ecchi. And if people treated it like that then that's about all you need.

I can offer one theory ... so much anime looks the same. Dealing with atypical bodies that challenge conventional ideas of beauty will be a flavour text of evolving media that had enough consumers to justify the costs of production. Pretending like it's deeper than that entirely misses the point.

It's just another way of painting the same house in a different colour without actual investment in the characters themselves.

Well yes, titillation is definitely part of it, I never implied otherwise, but personalities can be titillating. To use an example from Monster Musume, you've got Rachnera the spider girl. She's your typical ara~ ara~ femdom/dominatrix character, which plenty of people find attractive on its own, but now that personality is attached to a body that's capable of doing things an ordinary human being would not be able to do. That's what I was getting at in terms of variety, and I never implied they were particularly "deep".

Finding ways to spice up typical ecchi situations is a pretty normal and easily understandable thing.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Can we have a monster girl anime without the tired moe/slice of life bullshit though? I'm okay with titillation, but i miss animes where something happens for a change. Monster Musume was alright, but i feel that after seeing it there's no point in watching any other harem/monster girl show anymore.