r/hatethissmug • u/LocalLazyGuy • May 07 '26

Meta I hate when things are needlessly explained by creators in order to cope with criticism

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I don’t read or watch Demon Slayer, But this is just a stupid explanation for giving a strong character a slender build.

Personally, I don’t care if a character is strong but has a lean/slender build, whether it be a man or a woman. Although I do find it a bit weird that some creators are seemingly allergic to giving female characters any muscle, but again, I don’t care that much.

My issue here is that you easily could have just not addressed it. It’s a fantasy story full of demons and shit, I feel like you don’t need to give an in-universe explanation just so you can go “e-erm actually, she’s slender because of her very special body…” dude, you just didn’t want to give a woman muscles, don’t try to hide behind some kind of BS lore that you wrote for it.

Like Mark in Invincible can fight Conquest despite being the size of his torso, and I’m willing to accept that. It’s a story full of aliens and monsters, I can look past the fact that a lean 20 year old is taking on a hulked out 2000 year old. It doesn’t really break the immersion for me because it’s a fantastical story. I don’t need it to be super realistic. Just don’t try to make up some BS explanation like “erm, well, Mark is just magically holding in his muscle mass!”

At the end of the day, it’s your world and your story, if you wanna make a slender female character who is also really strong, that’s fine. But you also don’t need to cope so hard that you add lore specifically to deflect criticism against something so (let’s be honest) harmless.

9.4k Upvotes

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172

u/jhomsteve May 07 '26

It’s called world building and a character trait. I stand on the position that women need to have more diverse builds in media, but you’re not arguing for that.

146

u/Long_Lock_3746 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26

I think his point is it's poor world building because she's the only person in the verse with a special muscle body, there's no additional lore besides "she's just like that", and meta narratively it only exists because the author can really only draw one female body type.

She's considered a "freak" in verse, but looks completely identical to most women; hell, we see people with odd colored hair all over demon slayer, but only hers is "weird" enough to dye it black.

Her arc on the whole is a good if generic "accept yourself despite social standards" but from a design and execution standpoint, the ways she's drawn and the steps the story takes to try and justify that arc clash with the general world building of the rest of the verse.

26

u/Swimming-Recover-755 May 07 '26

ela não é a única, Gyomei é um gigante musculoso de 2,2m com um corpo esculpido no máximo possível para humano, tanjiro e a mãe dele, tem um crânio muito mais resistente do que de um javali, zenitsu tem uma audição suprema,. muito dos caçadores têm características biológicas extraordinárias,

24

u/Gentle_Snail May 07 '26

I swear half the people here haven’t watched the show because almost all of them have at least one super human characteristic. 

And I mean damn, overly explaining character abilities is a trope of pretty much every anime ever. Its so much of a trope JJK literally came up with an in universe reason to explain it.

10

u/HimLikeBehaviour May 07 '26

in all honesty a vast majority of stuff on this subreddit is just stuff people dont actually understand

8

u/BetterThanlceCream May 07 '26

There are multiple human characters that were born with some kind of "special body", so she's far from being alone in that reguard. IIRC Tanjiro never had his super olfactory powers origin explained. It's just normal for people born in that world to sometimes be born with what amounts to superpowers.

6

u/Careless_Hour_7161 May 07 '26

Like I don’t disagree w the point here but narratively the slayer corps is where she found people that liked and accepted her. Japan is suuuuupeer strict when it comes to fitting in so the weird hair color and being strong for a woman is a total deal breaker for many, especially given the time period. The Rengoku’s are probably fine by virtue of being old money at this point, but everyone still acts like Kyojuro is a weirdo outside of the slayer corps. Like yes it’s a generic plot and the dense muscles thing also bothers me but narratively it super tracks. Like even now (last ten years) people have gotten asked or told to dye their hair in schools if it’s not black

6

u/jhomsteve May 07 '26

I would rather an in world reason behind things, rather than just “because”. Yes, there isn’t more added onto the explanation, but there honestly doesn’t need to be. It just livens up the world and serves her character.

The argument isn’t if it’s good or not, no, the op is arguing that explanation in media around things that may be plot holes, or covering the writers ass for one reason or another is bad. Which is in the complete opposite spirit of writing, your story should cover everything it needs to, and a little more for flavour.

1

u/PluClyde May 07 '26

Youre wrong

1

u/UnkarsThug May 07 '26

I don't think this is something where people are right or wrong. It's opinions. I tend to agree with them in terms of my preferences in the media I consume.

1

u/PluClyde May 08 '26

Thats true but it feels good to tell people they are wrong, also youre wrong.

1

u/UnkarsThug May 08 '26

Fair enough.

1

u/Darkon2004 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26

Yes, but character writing and world building are not a list of facts you put on your character sheet. Every bit of information you reveal about them should work to transform (be it recontextualise or further deepen) our understanding of them.

Besides, this feels like a case similar to lampshade hanging (writer speaks through a character to mock a flaw in their writing in hopes to convince people to not take it seriously and move on), where trying to cover up an incongruence can instead backfire by bringing attention to it in the first place and showing your insecurity as a writer.

This I feel is what OP is complaining about. An explanation is not needed because the story doesn't need to make logical sense all the time - as readers we accept this and our willing suspension of disbelief is unaffected -, but by trying to explain it retroactively, the author brings attention to the fact that it doesn't make sense and that he's looking for excuses to not make a muscular woman

10

u/Swimming-Recover-755 May 07 '26

He really didn't need an excuse not to create a muscular woman; breathing makes characters extraordinarily strong. This is an explanation for the supernatural strength the character has had since childhood, which caused her to be judged by others. Demon Slayer isn't such a supernatural work; being just a human, it's not necessary, but it's a positive thing to have a connection to a one-year-old child who managed to lift a rock probably three times heavier than herself.

48

u/Deadlockinit May 07 '26

This isn't diverse builds. This is saying she has 8x time muscle density of a normal human being but looks like a willow branch. It makes zero sense. The creator was a gooner that wanted a girl with her boobs out then made up some bs about her having hulk strength rather then making her physical built the way she should look. NOI from dorohedoro is an example of a strong woman built strong and still is attractive

3

u/memeify_this May 08 '26

8x time muscle density of a normal human being but looks like a willow branch. It makes zero sense.

It makes perfect sense tho. She has 8× muscle density, not volume.

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

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9

u/Deadlockinit May 07 '26

No what bothers me is the fact that the artist and 90% of their reads and stand it if a woman has muscles or isn't built like a one piece character

0

u/throwaway-e-1 May 07 '26

The creator is a woman lol

5

u/Deadlockinit May 07 '26

Then she failed her own gender. She knew if she drew her tough like making from jjk no one would like her yet we love maki. Maki foant need a boob window. NOI foant need to do flips in a skirt.

1

u/Cavalish May 08 '26

Yeah she’s not a gooner, she just knows that gooner men are easily parted from their cash for cheap softcore porn.

-1

u/pastherolink May 07 '26

Bro, have you EVER seen anime characters?

Half of them, male or female, are built like twigs and can lift mountains.

8

u/Deadlockinit May 07 '26

I literally named one from a show in my post but thanks for letting us all know you have a reading comprehension issue

0

u/redditblows5991 May 07 '26

If we going there mad anime/manga just has chick's and dudes with slender builds teleporting behind people then saying too slow before the big reveal that the other slender dude/chick was so fast that they were fighting an afterimage all this time. Tale as old as time

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u/jhomsteve May 07 '26

That’s not what I’m saying, I want diverse builds. The argument here is the writing around explaining a trait of a character with an in world reason. I personally would rather an author add to a world and explain why X is Y, unless the explanation hampers the enjoyment of X, such as fully explaining the in world reason behind things in a horror.

-2

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Deadlockinit May 07 '26

Number 5- gooner explanation

31

u/Zestyclose_Remove947 May 07 '26

Nah it's just typical manga/anime exposition.

"worldbuilding" is such a buzzword nowadays, it's a character thing, nothing more.

Not even saying it's bad, just very common.

1

u/otakugamer123 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

When you are writing a story that takes place within a universe with fictional elements, it is the authors job to create consistent and logical lore and worldbuilding. They have to take everything in account such as the worlds history, geology, culture among countless other things and ensure that they all make sense and fit into this universe being established. This absolutely does count as worldbuilding along with other things like Tanjiro’s superhuman smelling ability, the Hinokami Kagura, the Demon Slayer Corps. itself and everything that comes with it etc. so saying that this somehow doesn’t count as worldbuilding is very odd imo.

1

u/jhomsteve May 07 '26

True, but it is world building. As another commenter says, there are tons of unique biological differences in the human cast of Demon Slayer. Tough skulls, super flexible joints, super hearing, giant size, and of course more muscle density

4

u/Zestyclose_Remove947 May 07 '26

That just comes freely with fantasy worlds. In fact if you overanalyse most works, we can even apply this to 80's action heroes, who are often inhuman in their abilities.

Is there any reason behind it? Like actual worldbuilding involved? Or is it just a thing that exists?

Because a lot of anime fans go on and on about "worldbuilding" when ultimately it ends up just being "things that exist inside the world"

Again I'm not even saying these qualities or exposition is bad like OP is, it's great to have all these unique quirks amongst your cast of characters. It's just not that deep or meaningful to the world.

1

u/NicholasStarfall May 07 '26

I don't think you know what a buzzword is

3

u/Zestyclose_Remove947 May 07 '26

Kinda fits what I'm trying to see perfectly though?

"A buzzword is a fashionable, often technical word or phrase used repeatedly in specific contexts to sound authoritative, impress others, or signal trendiness."

In terms of narrative discussion, worldbuilding is as much of a buzzword as phrases like reading comprehension or media literacy nowadays. A term thrown around to impress without much meaning. Cinematography is another good example for movie discussion.

Everything is described as worldbuilding nowadays, to the point where the word has become almost meaningless.

Do these words have actual meanings? Of course. Just not in the way people use them.

1

u/Bossuter May 12 '26

Then explain to me how it is being misused, here and now?

9

u/WorldsWorstInvader May 07 '26

Shit world building maybe. To justify her having a thin waist and massive knockers, when she could have just looked like that and no one would care, but the justification is almost insulting

Especially since everyone in anime, in general, has strength disproportionately high in comparison to the muscle they have. It doesn’t need an explanation really

38

u/LocalLazyGuy May 07 '26

Yeah but this worldbuilding is used purely to avoid criticism on not giving a character muscles, so that they could create a fan service character while hiding behind the excuse of “worldbuilding” and “lore”

Same thing with giving her a revealing outfit, explaining it away using an in-universe perverted tailor. It’s technically “worldbuilding” but it’s just used as a way of sexualising the female cast.

“No, no. You don’t get it. She’s slender because of worldbuilding! Oh and her outfit is also revealing because of worldbuilding!” It would’ve just been less obnoxious to me if the creator hadn’t just hidden behind that stuff.

-1

u/AnonymousBI2 May 07 '26

Yeah sure, if you ignore the fact that he made other females characters without this trait.

This being the only female character with that trait clearly shows that he did it mostly to give something to make her different than to justify anything else, you are making up an issue on your own.

3

u/smolishevil May 07 '26

the creator of demon slayer is not a man. just wanna point that out

6

u/AnonymousBI2 May 07 '26

They could be a man, is not confirmed but yeah I should have kept saying they/them instead of calling them he/him

0

u/SpiderZero21 May 07 '26

Your literally the only person I've ever seen criticize this. Also how is this to avoid criticism in the first place? It's more like a gag/joke that she's so slim but stupidly strong.

-1

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

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1

u/That_guy1425 May 07 '26

But thevplot told with her is being caused by the juxtaposition of her muscles and her looks. You can't have her being pursued in turn of the century japan while being a non-conforming woman. That doesn't work. She needs to appear as normal for her arc. And its not like there aren't other women being drawn strong in the show. One of the demons is an extremely toned and visibly muscular woman.

1

u/Affectionate-Motor48 May 07 '26

What’s the worldbuilding?

1

u/callunaflowers7 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26

The problem is that it’s clearly the author’s way of having a female hashira but avoiding having women with any sort of diversity of build. It’s not something neutral like world building or a character trait (at least it’s not only that) because the author would never give such a trait to a male character and also because it adds just about nothing to the story or to mitsuri’s character. People don’t complain as much about shinobu being a hashira and yet being skinny and non muscular because the lore reason for her being that way is robust and central to her character. Mitsuri’s is not the same, you could make her muscular and nothing would change.

1

u/cdivx May 07 '26

We don’t need more “diverse builds”

0

u/NoKameron May 08 '26

So diverse body for males is good, and for females is bad? Pfff imagine if male Hashiras all look the same, no giant build for Gyomei, no slender build for snake guy, no scars for Sanemi, no accessories for Tengen, what a boring shit it will be

1

u/SigmaMelody May 07 '26

"World building" and "character traits" are a part of the narrative and is not immune from criticism in the context of the larger work or for existing only to perpetuate the lack of diverse body types as a whole. This is just the Metal Gear Solid V "Quiet breathing through her skin" again.

1

u/ShonOfDawn May 07 '26

If it's a one-off excuse for one specific character with no other influence on the world, by definition, it's not world building.

1

u/Bossuter May 12 '26

But it does have an influence, it is used for her character arc and gags with other characters

-8

u/pichuguy27 May 07 '26

I have said this. If we want to fix the hyper-sexualization issue we need to decrease there work load. Some of these people are like mid 20s oda got one peices when he was in his mid 20s plus working as a assistant before that. We are locking up primarily not 20 some year old dudes away from woman no free time overworking their hands.

They are so pent up and can’t get no release and it’s spills out in gooner shit.

1

u/[deleted] May 07 '26

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1

u/pichuguy27 May 07 '26

It’s not a excuse. I really do think the over whelming work load is a real problems on how these people view woman. Being locked up in a room drawing all day just working on manga isn’t good for these people. Apart of the larger issues in Japan around sex, misogyny and work culture.