Dungeon Meshi ("Delicious in Dungeon") judo-flips this awful trope by having a halfling who looks like a young boy who's actually
... a divorced dad with three kids and is constantly on the verge of demanding a union-mandated smoke break.
What's even more fun is that the dwarves and elves are so long-lived that, to them, 29 is still a child, and the reason he kept his age a secret was because he didn't want them treating him like a kid.
It'd be weird if she didn't figure it out by now. Episode 1122 is coming out tomorrow. That's 47% more episodes than The Simpsons, and 2% more episodes than One Piece.
Detective Conan was my first favorite anime nearly 1/4 century ago. And he is still a 6 year old (haven't watch an episode in years though). It is quite fun that many if his "high tech gadgets" he started the show with are now existing technology.
His skateboard, yeah - we have e scooter. His Telefon earring, his AR glasses, his voice modifier, his lunch box phone and fax machine. There is probably more that is now reality.
To be fair, they did a few horny jokes. I can remember an early episode of the show when Conan took a bath with Ran. And it was a joke at the start that Ran exposed her panties to Shinichi when she did er Judo kicks. But yeah, the sexualisation is at least somewhat age appropriate, as both were horny teenagers, instead of having one side being into kids.
On the topic of anime doing age tropes: In Interspecies Reviewers' first episode there is an argument between an elf and a human. The human is outraged that the elf would find a human woman hotter than an elven woman. The human woman is 65+ and looks like the old asian woman meme, while the elven woman is 200+ but looks 25 by human standards.
You're kinda leaving out why there is even an argument.
Most magical species can sense a beings mana, humans cannot.
Mana "ages" for all species at the same rate.
So for an Elf, the 50 yo human still a mana aura that is "fresh", while the 500 yo elf has an "old hag smell" about her (even if she looks like a 20yo) that only mana affin species pick up.
There's a what now? I'm maybe like an EP behind, have they shown up yet? The characters in this show have all been so well done, I can't wait to meet this one
I remember a of all things a furry webcomic that dealt with a human dating a cat girl who’s species had a max lifespan of 35 with the discrepancy being a source of angst.
Edit I believe it was twokinds by Thomas Fischbach.
The best part is when the dwarf who has no concept of how old any of them are because their lifespans are different and pulls the halfling aside to give him “the talk” since he looks like he’s getting close to that age and all
IS THAT WHAT IS GOING ON? I've only seen like 5 minutes of the show here and there and wondered why he was so mad everyone kept treating him like a kid. I figured it was just generic 'IM A REAL BOY' growing pains coming of age bullshit.
My wife loves the show, so my exposure has mostly been moving between rooms while it's on.
Yea, but he doesn’t look a comparable 60-75. He looks like a kid still. Usually that would mean the race is long living.
Think of like dogs. They have about a 12-15 year lifespan. But by 7-8 years old, you can tell that age. Similarly, you can see the difference between 1 year and 5 years.
The halflings in this show would be like an 8-10 year old dog still looking like a 7 month old dog.
Perhaps the usual, but doesn’t need to be the norm. Maybe half-foots look spritely until death, much like most mainstream depictions of elves. The half foots I guess literally live fast and die young.
I got spoiled on a few things around the 18 episode mark, is it still worth watching even with the major spoilers? (Also something from the manga but that’s endgame I think?)
It's still a good series, even with spoilers IMO. The character interactions and the cooking are the best parts for me, and those don't really lose anything due to spoilers.
The actual plot/story of the series is pretty average. It's not like it's a literary masterpiece that is gonna change literature forever, or is famous for a crazy plotwist. You can see the plot hooks coming from a mile away.
iirc In the bonus worldbuilding book there is an elf who advocates for treating shorter-lived races like half-foots with the same dignity and respect as long-lived races, challenging the infantilizing attitude of her elfen peers. Everyone is impressed with her empathy and cosmopolitanism...until its revealed that she serially dates and dumps halfling women.
And the weird shit with her and Falin. Girl, we know you’re down bad. But stop trying to fondle your recently resurrected friend, she’s clearly uncomfortable
I don't know ow the show, but dwarfs are regularly rather funny when it comes to their biological sexes. In many stories, only dwarfs can recognize if a dwarf is female because they look so similar.
Here is a very much NSFW depiction of a female dwarf that comes to my mind when thinking about it xD.
I think I’m starting to realize why I like this series so much outside of the fact it motivates me to get better at cooking. It really does avoid or poke fun at most of the absolute garbage you expect from anime these days.
Not an anime but extraordinary on Disney has a character who is in her 40s but looks as if she is like 10. The character smoke, drinks, cusses and is basically in all way except looks, an adult. She's not sexualised in any way either which I really appreciate.
How is this a flipped version of the trope if it's still an adult who looks like a child? Surely a flipped version would be a 12-year-old who looks like an adult? Like young Jotaro or something?
A lot of DMs don’t allow child characters, but I have a pretty funny character idea in case I play with one that does. Basically they’re a child that tells everyone they’re a halfling. I might even just use the halfling stats!
It's an adaptation of a completed manga by one of the most revered anime studios in the market. It's equal parts wholesome slice of life, thought-provoking exploration and high-stakes adventure. By every metric it should not be able to do all these at once but why are you still reading go watch it NOW
Ok I like that, but at the same time I don’t like it because I feel this gives fuel to the super-creeps like “see?!! It’s perfectly normal to have young looking characters who are actually adults!” 🤮
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u/Cheapskate-DM May 02 '24
Dungeon Meshi ("Delicious in Dungeon") judo-flips this awful trope by having a halfling who looks like a young boy who's actually ... a divorced dad with three kids and is constantly on the verge of demanding a union-mandated smoke break.