Oh brave new world with such musicals in it.

[nenena]

So there may, someday in the future, be a Tiger and Bunny musical.

Dear universe: PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN.

Also, Masayuki Ozaki is *surprised* that Tiger and Bunny gained more of a female fanbase - specifically, more of a middle-aged female fanbase - than it did an otaku male fanbase.

Okay, so, let's run down this premise again: A middle-aged single father with superpowers participates in a reality show about superheroes and ends up being partnered with a much younger prettyboy angstbucket superhero who doesn't trust his new partner at all and they have to power through all sorts of BUDDY-COP DRAMEDY TROPES in order to strengthen their friend/partnership that takes exactly half of one episode to start being overtly colored with homosexual overtones.

And Ozaki is surprised that this series gained a much larger female fanbase than it did a male fanbase.

As for why older women were watching the show? Well, that's fairly obvious. Japanese television is always suffering from a dearth of non-teenage protagonists - yes, even if you count live-action dramas, which for the past few years have been overwhelming focused on high school or college student characters - and Tiger and Bunny is the first anime series in a loooooong time to have a middle-aged father as its handsome, quirky, charming protagonist.

Again, the fact that this character led a series that gained popularity amongst an older female demographic really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. Unless you're Masayuki Ozaki, I guess.

I guess I really should stop making fun of him for this, and to be fair, Ozaki did say that he intended for older working people and non-otaku to be watching the show, it was just the gender makeup of the resulting fanbase that surprised him. But still, Christ on a cracker, does the man live under a rock?!

Comments

[vihm]

I feel like a lot of authors have this problem. Not to mention underestimating their audience's intelligence/maturity, which is a whole different topic...

[nenena]

I feel like a lot of authors have this problem.

I agree. It's a surprisingly common blindspot amongst authors, writers, and producers pretty much across cultures. "How could my macho action movie/series/comic/novels starring smoldering-hot manly leads have attracted such a large female audience?!" Um, duh?

It reminds me of that horribly sexist Dr. Pepper commercial about how action movies aren't FOR women... which completely ignores the fact that more women than men actually buy tickets for male-led action flicks. It's really not rocket science, people.

[(Anonymous)]

I am now totally using the phrase "angstbucket" XD

-wanderingdreamr

[the_sun_is_up]

Lol oh dear, maybe somebody needs to sit Ozaki down and explain to him that when a man and another man love each other very much, the female viewership skyrockets.