My friends and I were discussing this recent, rather controversial study about the pill changing the laws of attraction. According to this study, women on the pill don't flock around macho men who speak in gruff voices and flex their muscles every few minutes. Rather, apparently they are more likely to go for the androgynous males. I did say this is a controversial study and I don't necessarily think that this is a bad feature or that the pill is to blame (hello, maybe the social trends and value placed on different occupations have more to do with this than anything else?).

Our discussion led to listing all the effeminate males in manga or anime who make women's heart go pitter-patter. After all, if you think about it, there is a greater variety in how a male attractiveness is depicted in a lot of manga/anime series. There is no set mold where the male characters adhere to a strict set of macho traits as is the case of a number of Western comics or animated shows (do note, a lot of Western shows do this but, to be fair, not all of them are guilty of such stereotyping). In Japanese geek culture, a male character's personality is less rigid, less like a traditional male model than say Solid Snake. Furthermore, women readers of manga support and rally around either the androgynous males or the males expressing more emotions (thus, portraying them in what the folks behind that study would call a feminine role).

So, let's check out what I came up with in my “Not so macho but still exceptionally hot” males from manga/anime.

Niwa Daisuke from DNAngel

If you think about it, he's just a young boy. He could easily hook up and be part of Disney channel. When he is not off fighting the greater evil as Dark Mousy, he is caught up in this love triangle where viewers get to gush and ogle over a wide range of emotional moments. Hardly the raarr-raar macho type, don't you think?

 

Dark Mousy from DNAngel

He is Niwa's alter ego, a spiritual entity of sorts who has extraordinary powers and rather fancy black wings. He is more savvy than the clumsy Niwa and yet, I would hardly class him as a rough tough type. Far from it, he is oozing charm when he is not fending off his arch nemesis. I should mention that the anime reels in female audiences by hinting that Dark and his sworn enemy make a cute couple. And yes, they do look smashing together.

 

Vash the Stampede from Trigun

At first glance, you can tempted to brand him as a macho man. He is tall, ash the muscular torso – albeit with weird metallic parts – and he runs around saving the day. Well, that likeness to Solid Snake dissipates once you get to know and love Vash. He's a bit of a pacifist, he cries at sob stories and he loves the sight of pretty flowers (think back to his memories of Rem). And his voice and his manners are more goofy than raspy with a 'I was in the army' twang.^*

 

L from Death Note

He's nerdy, he has a sweet tooth and he has a boyish charm. If there was ever a roll call for macho-looking heroes, they would send him a card asking him specifically to stay away. The guy's a hero, don't get me wrong; it's just that he is not your conventional muscle-twitching, cigarette smoking good guy^**. And who can deny that L is one of the most well-loved male character from a manga/anime series?

 

Urahara Kisuke from Bleach

I know there is a dedicated fan base for Urahara but it's not as big as say the Ichigo fan club. I merely picked him because he is my favorite character from Bleach. He is the carefree shopkeeper who used to be part of Soul Society. Nowadays you seem him wearing his trademark robe and fancy little hand fan. He can hold his own in a fight and he's immensely powerful … yet, you are always left with the impression that he would rather lie back and take the day off. Go go, fanboy.

 

Ky?raku Shunsui from Bleach

He's a player, he's a Soul Society captain and he is flashy. Did I mention that he loves pastel colors and is a bit on the effeminate side? Throw into a popular English sitcom and he would be branded as a city-gal's best gay buddy. Except it is not that easy to define gender roles here. Ky?raku likes his women the way he likes his alcoholic beverages – far from work and preferably in a bar. Jokes aside, he is definitely a stud-muffin, even if it happens to be one who loves pink flowery robes!

 

* Please note. After my ranting, it may appear that Solid Snake is the bane of my existence. Far from it, I like his character, some of the most likable characters from games are like Snake (perhaps a statement about what game developers want to see in the main character?). Anyway, it's just that I find him to be a convenient … yardstick.

** Last Solid Snake jibe, I promise.