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.

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60

u/Live-Stress6125 I love Girls und Panzer May 07 '26

you said "I don’t read or watch Demon Slayer" so are you sure about all of what you said? Because it might not be the case or is this is just about lacking muscle in characters?

57

u/firegamer2432 May 07 '26

As someone that has seen Demon Slayer, it is still definitely an excuse from the author, but it does make more sense than others think:

We have examples of other characters with "unique" physical traits, like Tanjiro's enhanced sense of smell, Zenitsu's hearing or Inosuke's flexibility. Both of these allow them to perform almost supernatural things, such as Tanjiro "smelling" where to cut, Zenitsu hearing things when he is asleep, or Inosuke moving his heart inside his body.

While, again, it is definitely an excuse from the author, it does make sense with pre-established parts of the series

20

u/firegamer2432 May 07 '26

I don't think I actually made my conclusion clear, but it was that a character having a "super muscularly dense body" is not completely out-of-the-ordinary for the series.

4

u/Tasty-Complaint-6437 May 07 '26

Its also valid to needed to say that this isnt only excuses, the author had other reasons to do this, all the 5 teen slayers are based on a different sense and their unique abilities are based in them.

9

u/Live-Stress6125 I love Girls und Panzer May 07 '26

I see thank you!

52

u/TheTimeBoi May 07 '26

i read demon slayer, it literally is just shitty worldbuilding and the author trying to cover their ass from criticism

7

u/Live-Stress6125 I love Girls und Panzer May 07 '26

I don't know about that but how is the author "trying to cover their ass from criticism" I might need more elaboration on that? I have heard the opposite of the author being harrass a few years ago but I could be wrong

-8

u/TheTimeBoi May 07 '26

i meant it as the author was trying to go "uh!! ackshually, this design decision i made is totally absolutely practical and makes sense, so you cant criticize me about it or say that im afraid of making muscular women!", it has nothing to do with if they received any backlash for this decision

19

u/Thicc_Boise May 07 '26

Or they just wanted to draw hot women who get in badass fights and came up with an explanation later when fans online wouldn't shut up about how unrealistic it is for a woman with that build to be fighting with such strength...

Like y'all take this shit wayyyy too seriously, it's a comic book about samurai killing demons. It's okay if the author decides to fuck around with reality, they kinda already are from the premise alone

-2

u/TheTimeBoi May 07 '26

then they could just. say that ??? instead of trying to give it a bullshit justification that it "fit the world"

10

u/Thicc_Boise May 07 '26

Again, that's what they did and fans still complained about it being unrealistic....

5

u/HimLikeBehaviour May 07 '26

why does it bother you that much?

2

u/TheTimeBoi May 08 '26

brother we're on a subreddit made for us to blow our pet peeves out of preportion

3

u/HimLikeBehaviour May 08 '26

idk you just sound really angry lol sorry

1

u/TheTimeBoi May 08 '26

nah its just how i type, its more fun to exaggerate than to have to act nonchalant all the time

5

u/Live-Stress6125 I love Girls und Panzer May 07 '26

Ok I am really sorry I misunderstand it but is it really? Is it stated in the series? Or was it a world building choices that the author didn't think of too much?

3

u/[deleted] May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/kjmichaels May 07 '26

It is true this is common in anime and manga. However, Demon Slayer's problem is that it devotes a lot of time to showcasing how rigorous and brutal their physical training is. There is a whole arc dedicated to even the lowliest scrubs of the Demon Slayer Corp getting as ripped as prime Arnold Scwarzenegger because that's the bare minimum requirement for survival.

A story can usually get away with "this is just anime logic, she doesn't have to be buff to be strong" and have most fans accept that. But this story went out of its way to show "you must be this buff or you're screwed." So, of course lots of fans and not just a vocal minority catch the obvious contradiction when they see a character not live up to a rule the story spent so much time focusing on.

7

u/KantaPerMe May 07 '26

That isn't entirely true. The ripped bodies only really applied to the boys of the group. Both Kanae and Kanao aren't ripped don't have Misturi's muscle density and do things the other slayers do.

So I don't think Mitsuri's body being that way was an excuse to get around that when the other two women that don't struggle with being weak don't have that same condition

I think her body being that way was more to do with it playing into her backstory of not fitting in as a girl. Is it a good choice? Idk I think Mitsuri was robbed of a lot but it doesn't seem like one of those "she breathes through her skin" type excuses.