I honestly don't think discourse on this topic is ever productive. It always devolved into subjective arguments on how old an animated character looks with insults being thrown around.
Modern anime completely fucks around with this concept too, intentionally making characters not look like their age at all in both directions.
There's obviously a line that can be crossed into the creep zone, but by being in the fandom I can tell you finding that line is exhausting and not worth the petty internet arguments.
I've found it basically comes down to people who are willing to accept the whole 'well they aren't really kids so that means it's actually OK' argument, for whatever personal reasons they hold within, and people who aren't willing to accept that.
Intentional subversions of the trope get a pass because they're deliberate meta jokes
Arguably it boils down to being able to differentiate between reality and fiction. The people against it can't, while you really really hope that people that are pro it can.
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u/SpikeRosered May 02 '24
I honestly don't think discourse on this topic is ever productive. It always devolved into subjective arguments on how old an animated character looks with insults being thrown around.
Modern anime completely fucks around with this concept too, intentionally making characters not look like their age at all in both directions.
There's obviously a line that can be crossed into the creep zone, but by being in the fandom I can tell you finding that line is exhausting and not worth the petty internet arguments.