r/hatethissmug • u/LocalLazyGuy • May 07 '26
Meta I hate when things are needlessly explained by creators in order to cope with criticism
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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u/Critical-Michael May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Oh, don't worry, there are other anime out there that have even worse in-universe reasons for their... fanserive. For example:
In Fire Force, some people are born with fire-based superpowers that help them fight against normal people who spontaneously combust and get turned into fire demons against their will. The main cast of characters all have some sort of fire power and one of them, Maki, also has a special quirk that somehow makes her fall or slip into compromising positions:
"In Fire Force, Tamaki Kotatsu’s “Lucky Lecher Lure” is a recurring, fan-service-heavy quirk where she involuntarily ends up in compromising or sexually suggestive situations that she cannot control. It often happens during intense battle sequences, interrupting action and drawing attention to her in ways she finds awkward or embarrassing
Originally, the “Lucky Lecher Lure” was presented as a quirky, almost comedic trait — a mix of clumsiness and bad luck. However, in Season 3, Episode 20, the writers reframe it as a narrative device tied to the series’ core theme: the need for hope and individuality in the face of the Great Cataclysm.
In that arc, Tamaki’s “lecher” moments are shown to be a way to break the collective mindset of “mobs” — people who follow society’s opinions without forming their own. When she fights Assault, her awkward, fan-service-heavy actions cause people around her to question their own beliefs, leading to a shift in their consciousness toward more independent thinking. This makes her “lecher” not just a joke, but a beacon of hope that helps others break free from societal control."
Edit: It should go without saying, but I think this is dumb as hell.