Why are female protagonists so popular in Narrowcast?
出典 : Amazon.co.jp
In recent years, the number of novels featuring female protagonists has exploded on the “Let’s Become a Novelist” site.
This is due to the influence of the popularity of the “villainous young lady” genre, and the unique characteristics and appeal of female protagonists have had a significant impact on the background of the genre.
Speaking of narou works, the pattern where the main character is a warrior and is loved by everyone around her has become a staple, but because of the overuse of such works and protagonists, they have been viewed negatively.
Particularly in recent years, the “I did it, I did it” series derived from the “Ore TUEEEE” series has come to be looked at with a white eye.
It seems that even though the character has done something amazing in the eyes of those around him or her, the character himself or herself has a low profile, and this is seen as snarky or comical by the readers and viewers.
The female protagonist can compensate for this weakness with cuteness and glamour.
The winter 2020 anime adaptation of “I don’t want to be in pain, so I’d like to take my defensive skills to the extreme. is a perfect example of this.
The protagonist, Maple aka Honjo Kaede, is a beginner in the game, but has gained a variety of powerful skills in the Beginner’s Luck, and has done a great job of getting third place in the event.
If this were a male protagonist, it would be a development that would be accused of being a yakuza type of thing… but in her case, she has succeeded in soothing the readers/viewers with her natural cuteness and has not given a bad impression.
In addition, the female protagonist allows male readers and viewers to interact with the work at a good distance.
In general, adult readers do not project themselves onto the main character, but they tend to think of themselves as the main character.
If you sympathize with the protagonist, you can smoothly immerse yourself in the story, but if you don’t understand the protagonist’s thoughts, you won’t be able to get into the story.
In addition, if a work that you enjoyed reading in the beginning is criticized by the people around you or on the Internet, you may feel empathetic shame, which can lead to a feeling of uncomfortable, which can cause you to leave the work.
However, with a female protagonist, it is easy to think that it is natural to think differently or not be able to sympathize with her because of the difference in gender, and because empathetic embarrassment does not occur, it is easier to face the work without worrying about what others think.
Since most of the readers of Narou-Narrowing Novelists are male, and since most of the Narou anime are aimed at male viewers, this is an advantage.
For these reasons, I think it can be said that the “naraku” series and female protagonists are a great match for each other.
Summary
There is a clear difference in impressions between anime with female and male protagonists, and I think the audience wants different things from those preconceptions and stereotypes.
That’s not a bad thing, but I hope an anime comes out that breaks this stereotypical image!
