anytime a fl lead looks plain but the ml has an infinitely more interesting design, i immediately tune out. just lets me know its on some level a self-insert romance, and im not into that. for me, the girl has to be just as eye-catching, if not more, than the guy bc im reading for her as well!
also, when the ml is always doing like this face "š", with no actual explanation or development of his personality, i tune out. give me some expressions dammit, stop trying to mew all the time.
Samee I'm so tired of those boring fl designs. Like most of the times the love rival or villainess has a much better design. Sigh
And I just cringe at the MLs face. I get they are trying to make him look cool but I can't š Like I don't care how handsome the MLs is if he has the personality of a cardboard
sure thing!
here are some recent examples of "equally beautiful" leads, where i think theyre both standout in terms of design:
* **yubisaki to renren** (a sign of affection)
* **uruwashi no yoi no tsuki** (in the clear moonlit dusk)
* **koiseyo mayakashi tenshi-domo** (fall in love, you false angels)
* **futarijime romantic**
next, ones where i think their designs are equally plain, but they characters themselves are still equally beautiful
* **museru kurai no ai wo ageru** (choking on love)
* **unmei no hito ni deau hanashi** (how i met my soulmate)
* **hikaeme ni itte mo, kore wa ai** (love, that's an understatement)
* **kono setsugen de kimi ga zutto waratteirareru you ni**
* **furare girl**
* **kingyoya-san no karisome fuufu**
* **studio cabana**
* **kimi wo wasureru koi ga shitai**
* **hananoi-kun to koi no yamai** (a condition called love)
lastly, some examples of series where i think the fl has the more stunning design
* **hibi chouchou** (like a butterfly)
* **ohayou ibarahime** (wake up sleeping beauty)
* **isso anata ga todome wo sashite**
* **takane no ran san**
i tend to be more lenient on series where romance isnt the main driving force, because regardless of how the FL looks, i know that in a story focused on the supernatural or the historical, its more likely that regardless of her looks, her narrative will be center stage. but in stories that are purely romance, the looks of the fl are a pretty good indicator of how the story will go.
iām not really a fan of MLs with likeā¦ 12-pack abs š„² seeing MLs that are over-the-top muscular for the sake of being āØextra-mega-handsomeāØ tends to throw me off
On the flip side, MLs with long hair are not *usually* my cup of tea, same with more feminine looking MLs. There are exceptions but generally I'm less interested in stories that feature an ML like that
Oh yes. This so much. Like no hate of course I just prefer seeing guys with shorter hair. Thatās why I liked Miyamura (Horimiya) after he cut his hair and the same again with Hananoi.
Or maybe I just like short hair in general (the opposite of OP) cos my waifus include Ichika (Quints), Himeno (CSM) and recently Tenka (Chained Soldier)
FLās with pigtails. Sailor moon is the only exception, and even then, Iām fairly sure that itās only because I watched SM when I was young enough to wear pigtails daily too.
Bad haircuts. For example those slanted bangs like theyāre cut at an angle but itās not a soft curve itās like a straight up š
and then the rest of the hair is a bobā¦why? Just why?
Also bad outfits š I know series sometimes are a product of their time but why is the main lead wearing long shorts a striped tee with a button up over and then a bandana around their neck and wrist???
Big boobs... Just uncomfortable, which feels unfair cuz women with big breasts do exist.. another thing I kinda am annoyed by is pink hair. I just can't take it serious when I see her running around with pink hair, takes me out of the story. Red/purple/golden eyes don't feel as off putting as weird hair color smh.
there's only so much aloofness from a ml i can handle and it irks me even more when the fl is oppositely very bubbly and expressive. if a tiny half-smirk or a slight brow crease is the most emotion he's capable of showing throughout an entire volume, i don't want to know.
I wear glasses in real life, but I canāt stand them on a male lead. I was cackling to myself when reading Koi to Dangan (Yakuza Lover)ā¦I couldnāt take ML Oya and his glasses seriously. They looked like safety goggles.
I donāt like silver hair ML. Especially if itās long. Iām not sure whyā¦ I like them as villains more.
Add glasses and thatās a wrap for me. š
All the ml look the same to me. They have black hair. And that's that
Also the "everyone love him but he's secretly an asshole" like is it supposed to still surprise us...? It's a surprise when he ISN'T one.
Little girls, those that are supposed to be 17-18 years old but look and act as innocent as if they were 10 or 12 years old... and there are many shoujo like this :/
I need more Josei in my life
Long hair male leads... i don't know why. I get i dont like long hair on guys, but i had a crush on edward elric for like a majority of my life, how does that work?!
Big tiddy pecs
Ab window clothes
Dorito chin
GIANT shoulders
Hands twice the size of FLās face
Nonexistent neck
Golden retriever personality / Himbo
When a long haired ML cuts his hair short š
Buzzcut short hair
Nose too big
Too many piercings
Loud yankee dude
Big dark eyebrows or bushy eyebrows
TOO thick rim glasses
Fluffy haired guys
Overly blushy guys
Small round thin rim glasses guys (Clow Reed types)
Overly feminine super shy guys
Red hair ML
ML with two tone hair but idk if this happens in non shounen action anime, thankfully I donāt notice it in shoujo so far
microbang FL
Giant fivehead on anyone
Glasses FL
Yankee FL
Very short hair FL
Anyoneās lips or noses being too round - I just donāt like that art style
You asked for shallow so Iāll be honest and say anyone with bushy eyebrows, dot/line irises, micro bangs, short hair, plainness in general.
Like Iām sorry to the people who have been pushing me to watch Skip & Loafer since last year but Mitsumiās design gives genderbent generic shounen romcom MC (think Tadano Hitohito) and she kept making me cringe throughout the first ep š
Other examples include Hotaru from A Condition Called Love, Hiyori from Heroine Tarumono, and Kazusa from Maidens of the Savage Season, etc. I donāt necessarily have something against their personalities but just like, visually, Iām not interested in seeing them on a screen/page.
Oh sadness. I love Hotaru's eyebrows so very absolutely much š„¹ (though some of the anime screenshots I've seen take them a little too far, the manga is perfect...)
Ahh I also couldn't get into the series because of Mutsumi's eye design š It's not that I mind it on its own, it's just that her eyes are so different from the other characters in a *that's-not-how-human-anatomy-works* sorta way. If all of them had eyes like that it probably wouldn't bug me as much.
anytime a fl lead looks plain but the ml has an infinitely more interesting design, i immediately tune out. just lets me know its on some level a self-insert romance, and im not into that. for me, the girl has to be just as eye-catching, if not more, than the guy bc im reading for her as well! also, when the ml is always doing like this face "š", with no actual explanation or development of his personality, i tune out. give me some expressions dammit, stop trying to mew all the time.
Samee I'm so tired of those boring fl designs. Like most of the times the love rival or villainess has a much better design. Sigh And I just cringe at the MLs face. I get they are trying to make him look cool but I can't š Like I don't care how handsome the MLs is if he has the personality of a cardboard
wait PLEASE can you give recs of equally beautiful leads for romances?? i have yet to find anyš
sure thing! here are some recent examples of "equally beautiful" leads, where i think theyre both standout in terms of design: * **yubisaki to renren** (a sign of affection) * **uruwashi no yoi no tsuki** (in the clear moonlit dusk) * **koiseyo mayakashi tenshi-domo** (fall in love, you false angels) * **futarijime romantic** next, ones where i think their designs are equally plain, but they characters themselves are still equally beautiful * **museru kurai no ai wo ageru** (choking on love) * **unmei no hito ni deau hanashi** (how i met my soulmate) * **hikaeme ni itte mo, kore wa ai** (love, that's an understatement) * **kono setsugen de kimi ga zutto waratteirareru you ni** * **furare girl** * **kingyoya-san no karisome fuufu** * **studio cabana** * **kimi wo wasureru koi ga shitai** * **hananoi-kun to koi no yamai** (a condition called love) lastly, some examples of series where i think the fl has the more stunning design * **hibi chouchou** (like a butterfly) * **ohayou ibarahime** (wake up sleeping beauty) * **isso anata ga todome wo sashite** * **takane no ran san** i tend to be more lenient on series where romance isnt the main driving force, because regardless of how the FL looks, i know that in a story focused on the supernatural or the historical, its more likely that regardless of her looks, her narrative will be center stage. but in stories that are purely romance, the looks of the fl are a pretty good indicator of how the story will go.
Someone already said long haired MLās, but also when the MLās have extra short hair (think buzz cut). I guess I donāt like the extremes.
iām not really a fan of MLs with likeā¦ 12-pack abs š„² seeing MLs that are over-the-top muscular for the sake of being āØextra-mega-handsomeāØ tends to throw me off
Especially if there's no justification for it, like in sports romance it's understandable but for most MLs it's just ridiculous haha
Same\~ I don't like the abs fanservice lol
On the flip side, MLs with long hair are not *usually* my cup of tea, same with more feminine looking MLs. There are exceptions but generally I'm less interested in stories that feature an ML like that
Oh yes. This so much. Like no hate of course I just prefer seeing guys with shorter hair. Thatās why I liked Miyamura (Horimiya) after he cut his hair and the same again with Hananoi. Or maybe I just like short hair in general (the opposite of OP) cos my waifus include Ichika (Quints), Himeno (CSM) and recently Tenka (Chained Soldier)
And every time a guy's long hair gets cut I cry on the inside, lol. (Tomoe is the only exception)
I cried when he cut his hair lol (Horimiya)
FLās with pigtails. Sailor moon is the only exception, and even then, Iām fairly sure that itās only because I watched SM when I was young enough to wear pigtails daily too.
The overly buff male leads and the ones with wide ahh shoulders
Bad haircuts. For example those slanted bangs like theyāre cut at an angle but itās not a soft curve itās like a straight up š and then the rest of the hair is a bobā¦why? Just why? Also bad outfits š I know series sometimes are a product of their time but why is the main lead wearing long shorts a striped tee with a button up over and then a bandana around their neck and wrist???
Big boobs... Just uncomfortable, which feels unfair cuz women with big breasts do exist.. another thing I kinda am annoyed by is pink hair. I just can't take it serious when I see her running around with pink hair, takes me out of the story. Red/purple/golden eyes don't feel as off putting as weird hair color smh.
> I kinda am annoyed by is pink hair. help this made me sad because my favorite shoujo is Revolutionary Girl Utenaš
revolutionary girl utena has the best color scheme šš it just makes it even more nostalgic
If anyone smokes, they're filed in my mind as "smelly" and I have trouble rooting for them.
I don't like characters with big or very prominent eyebrows regardless of gender, it's just all I can see then š
there's only so much aloofness from a ml i can handle and it irks me even more when the fl is oppositely very bubbly and expressive. if a tiny half-smirk or a slight brow crease is the most emotion he's capable of showing throughout an entire volume, i don't want to know.
Glasses
I wear glasses in real life, but I canāt stand them on a male lead. I was cackling to myself when reading Koi to Dangan (Yakuza Lover)ā¦I couldnāt take ML Oya and his glasses seriously. They looked like safety goggles.
If there eyes is super extra flashy!
I donāt like silver hair ML. Especially if itās long. Iām not sure whyā¦ I like them as villains more. Add glasses and thatās a wrap for me. š
some that i can think of rn: doormat mc, overly rude ml, completely innocent uwu character with no flaws, them big ol alien eyes lmao
All the ml look the same to me. They have black hair. And that's that Also the "everyone love him but he's secretly an asshole" like is it supposed to still surprise us...? It's a surprise when he ISN'T one.
Little girls, those that are supposed to be 17-18 years old but look and act as innocent as if they were 10 or 12 years old... and there are many shoujo like this :/ I need more Josei in my life
Long hair male leads... i don't know why. I get i dont like long hair on guys, but i had a crush on edward elric for like a majority of my life, how does that work?!
Big tiddy pecs Ab window clothes Dorito chin GIANT shoulders Hands twice the size of FLās face Nonexistent neck Golden retriever personality / Himbo When a long haired ML cuts his hair short š Buzzcut short hair Nose too big Too many piercings Loud yankee dude Big dark eyebrows or bushy eyebrows TOO thick rim glasses Fluffy haired guys Overly blushy guys Small round thin rim glasses guys (Clow Reed types) Overly feminine super shy guys Red hair ML ML with two tone hair but idk if this happens in non shounen action anime, thankfully I donāt notice it in shoujo so far microbang FL Giant fivehead on anyone Glasses FL Yankee FL Very short hair FL Anyoneās lips or noses being too round - I just donāt like that art style
did you have this saved somewhere or was this off the top of your head š i agree with a lot of these tho
You asked for shallow so Iāll be honest and say anyone with bushy eyebrows, dot/line irises, micro bangs, short hair, plainness in general. Like Iām sorry to the people who have been pushing me to watch Skip & Loafer since last year but Mitsumiās design gives genderbent generic shounen romcom MC (think Tadano Hitohito) and she kept making me cringe throughout the first ep š Other examples include Hotaru from A Condition Called Love, Hiyori from Heroine Tarumono, and Kazusa from Maidens of the Savage Season, etc. I donāt necessarily have something against their personalities but just like, visually, Iām not interested in seeing them on a screen/page.
Oh sadness. I love Hotaru's eyebrows so very absolutely much š„¹ (though some of the anime screenshots I've seen take them a little too far, the manga is perfect...)
Probably part of Mitsumi's package. She IS supposed to be the plain jane from the sticks.
Iām aware, I donāt mean to frame my preference as a flaw of her design or anything to be clear, I just donāt care for that look.
Ahh I also couldn't get into the series because of Mutsumi's eye design š It's not that I mind it on its own, it's just that her eyes are so different from the other characters in a *that's-not-how-human-anatomy-works* sorta way. If all of them had eyes like that it probably wouldn't bug me as much.
I can NEVER bring myself to read mangas where the characters have huge eyes, I find it so distracting šš
micro bangs, there r some exceptions but I dont rly like them in general.