unicogirl said: I would be interested in something similar with a male cast... anyone know any series?
Few to none of such high quality, in fact the best titles around all have large female casts. However Saiyuki is not bad, Gundam 00 pretty much fits the bill with a main cast of all males. Most shounen titles more or less fit the bill. None with such elaborate outfits though.
Pretty much any series with girls in school uniforms uses legwear (frilly socks, calf socks, thigh highs, pantyhose, and of course, colors and patterns thereof) as an additional distinguishing characteristic.
Is there something analogous for guys' school uniforms, in the styles shown here? The only thing I can think of is buttoned vs. unbuttoned at the top.
DocAquatic said: I heard that Puer Magus Mikado Magica is pretty good
pfft ^)^ nice one
Deus-Helios said: Few to none of such high quality, in fact the best titles around all have large female casts. However Saiyuki is not bad, Gundam 00 pretty much fits the bill with a main cast of all males. Most shounen titles more or less fit the bill. None with such elaborate outfits though.
hmm despite people praising Japan for its mix age genre media, when you get down to it, many series rarely stand out and just go with the mainstream. Though there are those moments in Shounen that add something new.
I do agree that Gundam and Puella match up quite a bit on the angst and young characters taking on heavy situations.
unicogirl said: hmm despite people praising Japan for its mix age genre media, when you get down to it, many series rarely stand out and just go with the mainstream. Though there are those moments in Shounen that add something new.
I think that's normal for anything.
To clarify my statement IMHO most of the best titles have female "leads" and "casts" since such authors aren't afraid to try different things with females but tend to stick with stock when it comes to males. Not to mention the frequent tendency to author project often impinges on character development.
On other titles that come to mind that you might like are Kyo Kara Maoh!, The Candidate for Goddess, Fafner in the Azure, Samurai 7 and Sengoku Basara. Large male casts, action and some angst.
Essevier said: Pretty much any series with girls in school uniforms uses legwear (frilly socks, calf socks, thigh highs, pantyhose, and of course, colors and patterns thereof) as an additional distinguishing characteristic.
Is there something analogous for guys' school uniforms, in the styles shown here? The only thing I can think of is buttoned vs. unbuttoned at the top.
Short answer no. Whether by tradition or the just the nature of gender fashions male characters are very homogeneous compared to female characters especially in a school like environment. You'll find that with most titles all the male leads look and act exactly the same with very and I do mean very minimal variation.
For example there are dozens of different seifuku styles but gakurans tend to always be exactly the same. At best different characters might wear them more or less formally then others which mostly amounts to whether they button their shirts, tuck them in or wear a tie or not if available. I've never seen (even in Cromartie High School and Gokusen to the best of my memory) patchwork or torn-up uniforms except in the occasional cases of torn off sleeves usually to show off muscular arms often with tattoos.
More often artists will do something to their hair but this is still limited to three or four colors: blonde, brown, red and black sometimes green, white or blue all dark and almost never pink, purple or similar, in fact no such characters come to mind and almost always four styles: short, spiky, long or ponytail in order of exponentially decreasing frequency. Sometimes they'll give them some kind of eye-wear usually just glasses. I've actually seen more girls with sunglasses then boys believe it or not.
Occasionally they might change the color of their uniforms (even then only white, blue or beige) or add some decorations usually just crests or medals but they'll always be the exact same pattern: button shirts, long pants, loafers and coats. At best a wild character might spice things up with unique non-uniform trenchcoats, belts (never around the waist mind you) and sometimes jewelry or tattoos.
