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[judithkayakat]

My thoughts on Netflix Saint seiya genderswapping Shun

Saint SEIYA is basically my childhood and probably my favorite anime still to date.

For the new Netflix reboot Shun is being genderswapped because the creators want to be more ‘woke’ and include more women

Here’s my problem with this.

Though female saints were not that common they were there and they were all prominent strong women

As a female myself these strong female saints were my role models.

The main character SEIYA, his teacher was a female. The person who taught him everything was a women! How unheard of is that?

How about instead of swapping Shun’s gender they could have made Juné a much more prominent character. Juné was always an amazing character but very underused. Had they done that I would have loved and applauded that change. It would have been new, interesting and innovative.

Though the original saint seiya may not have had many women all the women it had were very prominent characters. They were all shown to be strong women who fought hard in a male centered world. Yet somehow these women don’t matter anymore to the people adapting this for Netflix.

Making Shun a woman because you want to be more ‘woke’ devaluates all these strong prominent female saints

But most of all my main problem is this:

Shun was a sensitive yet strong male character which was unseen for its time and extremely interesting. He showed that you can be male but not a be a stereotype

As one of the main saints or knights he was always the heart of the team. Despite being one of the strongest fighters he disliked violence and only ever used it as a last resort

This was a character who looked frail and feminine, who was sensitive and kind and yet was so strong.

His character’s armor was of the andromeda constellation. A very female constellation. In fact his armor even had breasts And he wore that armor with pride even though he was male.

Despite him being more feminine and a little bit of a crybaby he was well liked and respected among everyone.

All of these traits are extraordinary and rarely ever seen in male protagonist. This character was decades ahead of its time.

And they want to genderswap him to be more ‘woke’

I say they are genderswapping him to create controversy to cash in by claiming they are being ‘woke’ when in all reality they are doing the exact opposite.

They are adhering to gender stereotypes that only girls can like pink and be sensitive.

Had it been ANY other character this genderswap would not have been a big deal. They could have made Ikki a badass older sister. They could even have made Seiya a girl, any of the other male knights and it would have been new and innovative.

But choosing to make the one knight that’s a bit more feminine a girl is just lazy writing and diminishes this character and everything this character fights for and goes trough as a whole.

This makes it all the worse when the writers go on social media and say they don’t know how to write women. I say maybe you don’t know how to write men either, When the one man that’s seen as a little girly is turned into a women.

Not to mention the blatant disrespect to fans/toei and the original creator when the writers for the new Netflix saint seiya show post a picture of someone smoking with caption to bad I’m doing this. Basically telling everyone to suck it. And expecting people not to be upset when not only is a beloved innovative character being destroyed but the writers show no love for the original works or the thousands if not millions of fans it already has.

I refuse to condemn something without watching it so regardless I will give the show a try but I wanted to like this new adaptation. No I wanted to love it. Instead I go in with zero expectations and maybe even a wish that it gets cancelled sooner rather than later.

So bravo to you the writers of the Netflix Saint Seiya show for taking one of the things that made Shun an innovative and amazing male character and adhering to the stereotype that only girls can be sensitive and wear pink

[judithkayakat]

Shun is going to be a girl

I would be totally fine if they had changed Saga or Ikki to female characters. 

ANYONE could be BUT the effeminate ones.

Just waiting to see if they will change Afrodite or Misty to female characters as well.

It would prove my theory they can’t handle a delicate man.

That’s sad.

[judithkayakat]

Andromeda Shun a girl????? Seriously, Netflix????

So basically someone wears pink, is delicate, sensitive, and effeminate, is lowkey into guys, thus let’s make them a girl. That will be totally progressive. That will not be at all stereotypical. That will totally please liberal fans. Hell yea, trust me on that.

Like, for real. Having a guy who goes against pretty much all the social construction of masculinity AND be the most powerful knight IS FREAKING RAD. That he might even be mistaken for a girl, be extremely sweet and kind, and always hold himself back, not be your usual male badass, is a complete progressive take on what it means to be strong and to be a man. That he was an effeminate guy that was not treated as a joke for itself was already awesome. The last thing that was needed in this reboot was to take that away. Especially because he gets his butt saved by his brother a gazillion times, so that’s definitely going to fall into the damsel in distress trope.

I swear I would be ok with virtually any other character getting genderbent. Hell, genderbend Ikki, the badass ex-villain fire bender who saves everyone’s (especially his brother’s) butt every now and then. But gods, not Shun. No goddamn Shun.

I can’t believe I’m on the dudebro/bigoted fans side this time. Fuck you, Netflix.

[judithkayakat]

Shun is going to be a girl

I would be totally fine if they had changed Saga or Ikki to female characters. 

ANYONE could be BUT the effeminate ones.

Just waiting to see if they will change Afrodite or Misty to female characters as well.

It would prove my theory they can’t handle a delicate man.

That’s sad.

[judithkayakat]

I agree with Son's opinion that making an all-male team could be mistaken for making a statement (see the critiques to Final Fantasy 15). But I always thought that male Shun is an important character. Not just because of the 'effeminate looks don't mean you're weak' thing, but also because Shun shows us that a man can be peace-loving, sympathetic and sensistive, but this doesn't make him less of a warrior. I think that kids need this kind of character nowadays.

Yes! A good role model, as Shun has always been.

[judithkayakat]

Saint Seiya has a “woman problem”. Saint Seiya has always had a woman problem, because the original material is just…not very good with them. The mask trope is weird, sexist and outdated, their armor is never really as cool as any of the male Saints, and many times while they are useful, it is only usefulness so Seiya or someone else can save the day. Saori still remains powerful, but she spends most of her time in a jar or a pillar or unconscious or as a baby, so she’s not exactly the great female rep we deserve either.

However: making Andromeda Shun a woman is decidedly the last way to fix Saint Seiya’s “woman problem”. I would take making literally any other Saint a woman over Shun. Ikki, Hyoga, Shiryu–sure. Why not. It’s different, but go for it.

But Shun, you see, is very valuable as a boy in the way those other three aren’t. Shun has a feminine constellation, wears feminine armor with a breastplate, and is decidedly non-violent. He is feminine, he is soft, he does not like fighting. He does not like being told there is only one way to be a man. And underneath all his softness, he is actually extremely powerful, with an incredible Cosmo. He could easily win any battle he enters. But he would prefer not to fight. And that is why he’s valuable–in Saint Seiya’s rough world of masculinity and “manliness”, where that often involves fighting, punching, blood…Shun is the mirror to that. He is a boy who is thought of as fragile and weak because of his kindness and desire not to fight, but he is actually incredibly strong.

This is Andromeda Shun’s “weak” masculinity. But it’s not weak at all. It’s incredibly strong, and a very important counterpoint to the other forms of aggressive, punch-em-down, yell-the-loudest masculinity in Saint Seiya. Shun also goes on to inherit Virgo, another feminine cloth known for its incredibly strong former Saint (Shaka) and a cloth that traditionally sort-of has the role of Saori’s/Athena’s “companion”. Shaka journeys with her to the Underworld, and Shun mirrors this by journeying with her back in time. Shun takes Shaka’s successorship up under this mantle.

This is literally so, so disappointing. “New interpretation” or new character or what have you, it’s sad that by attempting to fix Saint Seiya’s “woman problem” they have actually set the series back even more.

[judithkayakat]

After earth-kun I had to make the other planets so here’s some planet bishies #art #digitalart #earth-kun #saturn #jupiter #neptune #uranus #pluto #bishies #cute

[judithkayakat]

After earth-kun I had to make the other planets so here’s some planet bishies #art #digitalart #earth-kun #earth #moon #sun #venus #mercury #mars #bishies #cute #kayakat #judithkayakat

[judithkayakat]

OwO do want ❤️

Hey Guys, since I don’t need these anymore, I thought I could give them to one of you :) Just leave a like on this post until next Saturday (jan 20th) and I’ll pick one of you. The Doujins have been used for scanning, so they’re damaged! But maybe someone wants to make a collage or frame the covers or something like that ^^ The dolls are not included :)

~Nini

[judithkayakat]

I have become slightly obsessed with earth-kun and have decided to feed this obsession! #earth #earth-kun #earth-chan #art #digitalart #kayakat #judithkayakat #

[judithkayakat]

Most of my art files got corrupted so I lost so much work... on the plus side managed to salvage this : Some saber fanart from the fate series. #saber #fate #fatego #fatestaynight #fatezero #art #digitalart #digitalcolor #drawing #judithkayakat #kayakat

[judithkayakat]

Ice queen riding a polar bear #art #DIGITALART #COLOR #drawing #doodle #judithkayakat #ice #icequeen #bear #polarbear

[judithkayakat]

Pumpkin boy for Halloween. #art #digitalart #drawing #pumpkin #halloween #judithkayakat #artstuff #cute #kayakat

[judithkayakat]

Part 2 of my quick little eye sketch. #art #judithkayakat #drawing #pencil #doodle #quicklittledrawing

[judithkayakat]

Quick little eye sketch with pencil, just because I felt like it. #art #judithkayakat #pencil #eye #drawing #quicklittlesketch

[judithkayakat]

Digital art version, I'm very proud of this one. He's still very feminine looking but I don't care. #art #digitalart #color #digitalcolor #judithkayakat

[judithkayakat]

Jude and Kane comic