Anonymous said to yyh-revival:Girl he looks feminine that is canonical. You can headcanon making him look more masculine or prefer that he does or even think that he doesn’t look particularly feminine to you. But it doesn’t change that canonically he is supposed to look feminine. This doesn’t mean you have to make him more nice and sweet to give him more uke traits or even make him bottom he can look feminine and top. And it’s fine if you dont like thinking of him as feminine looking. But it is accurate if you make him pt 2

Look like a girl or look androgynous. It shouldn’t affect his personality. His personality isnt dependent on how he looks. And thats the main problem for the doujinshi. Not that they make Kurama look feminine but when they do they change his personality. Pt.3

Sorry it took so long to respond, I was putting my thoughts together. And honestly, my thoughts are essentially this part you wrote: “His personality isn’t dependent on how he looks.

And thats the main problem for the doujinshi. Not that they make Kurama look feminine but when they do they change his personality.” I also agree him being feminine in any way isn’t a problem. It’s more based on how he is characterized as a damsel in distress in many doujinshi and fanfictions that can become a little tired after a while.

Above all, we should remember that Kurama is most likely meant to be a

Bishōnen (美少年), so applying our western views without taking that major trope into account can limit our understanding, too.

And as always, please remember these are my opinions and ideas, and they have no bearing on how you can characterize or view characters. This is my rationale for how I view him, and how people who think like me might view him. And of course, please remember, asks are often used to springboard onto meta and rambling and it does not mean I condone every word said in anything I chose to respond to. This is all for fun, all for HCs, and all for entertaining discussions!

More attempts at fully formed ideas below cut!

There are certainly parts in the show and manga where he’s a little more masculine presenting, where his shoulders are broader and he doesn’t look like a girl. But of course, men can look like men and still be feminine. Broad shoulders, deeper voice, taller frame, all that doesn’t exclude one from having a feminine side. 

I always saw Kurama a little as androgynous. And I always enjoyed that anime would often break out of stereotypes and let us have pretty, feminine men. “Bishonen” were always my favorite because I’m a sucker for pretty femininity and boys who are feminine are my jam. And of course, as I stated before, men can be feminine. They can have physical traits associated with femininity (long hair, dress in more feminine clothing, etc) and also have traits that are more feminine, without that demeaning them or making them less of a man. Being feminine, or female, after all, is not a bad thing. 

So Kurama being shown as feminine, almost downright girly, has never been an issue for me, because, as I said, I believe that men can be feminine, and two, I always saw Kurama as skirting the gender line a little.

Personality is definitely a big issue, and the defining one. What bothers me is when characters act out of character. I don’t love Kurama only because he has pretty hair. I like him because he’s Kurama. So, as you said anon, it’s how he’s portrayed through personality that bothers me. Him being feminine never does. 

A character can be completely feminine, a wailing maiden even, and still look like a badass man. A badass behaving character can have pink hair and be barely 5 feet tall. Personality and looks aren’t directly linked.

Of course, people are absolutely welcome to their own opinions and HCs. If you prefer a more masculine presenting Kurama, a more manly character who just happens to have flowers and long hair associated with him, that’s perfectly fine and your prerogative. 

But I do believe he was meant to be feminine in the traditional Bishonen way, so it isn’t surprising to me that people portray him as such.

From Wikipedia: 
“
Bishōnen (美少年, also transliterated bishounen (help. · info)) is a Japanese term literally meaning “beautiful youth (boy)” and describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty (and sexual appeal) transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation.”

Bishonen are prevalent through anime. And the important note is, that they’re specifically meant to be pretty and meant to transcend sexuality and gender. They’re supposed to skirt the line between the two. 

Someone who understands gender better than I could perhaps write an interesting meta how this trope of Bishonen connects to our modern day’s understanding of gender and such labels as “gender non-conforming” or “non-bindary.” I, unfortunately, have very limited understating and experience with this topic, so I can only make very broad, haphazard guesses. But I do find it interesting that many cultures, particularly non-European ones (why that is, I don’t know) tend to have “third gender” or some sort of “non-binary” or “skirting the lines of gender presentation” trope either in literature, or have it be part of their culture. 

A quick wiki search will show that many cultures play around with this idea. And us anime nerds can’t deny that the Bishonen is a definite trend in anime, a definite staple of how characters are portrayed. 

And Kurama definitely fits the description of a Bishonen. From TVT tropes:

“A popular Asian character type, the bishōnen, or “beautiful boy”, is a male character that possesses androgynous or “feminine” physical traits. He is usually tall, slender with almost no fat and little to no muscle, and no body or facial hair. Large, expressive eyes are almost a given, though Tsurime Eyes are also common in more serious examples. In anime, many bishōnen have female voice actors (most comedically, Naruto Uzumaki), although those that don’t get startlingly deep, sexy voices instead. It is not uncommon for those at the more feminine end to be mistaken for women by other characters, or for savvier examples of the type to take advantage of such an assumption.”

“Feminine” can have different connotations for people, but most will agree that long hair, colors such as pinks and reds, and flower motifs tend to be characterized as feminine. Then of course, we can look at what is said in the above quote. Kurama, at least in the Japanese version, has a female voice actor. He’s tall, being second tallest from the four boys, slender, doesn’t take off his shirt to show off muscles often. The few times we do see him partially de-shirted, he isn’t overly buff, his muscles aren’t exaggerated as they sometimes are for other characters. Of course, Kurama gets mistaken for a woman in the anime, himself makes a connection to him looking like a girl in the manga when Yusuke asks for help breaking into an all girl’s school. 

“In the English fandom, the term bishōnen simply connotes “a really, really attractive male”, but in its original usage, it refers to a specific type of attractiveness that is found in adolescents.“ 

What sort of attractiveness is that? Well, adolescent boys tend to have more feminine, or softer, features. They haven’t yet grown all the manly parts like thick beards, body hair, deep voices, broad shoulders. They’re not girls, but they haven’t yet become men. That’s essentially the space Kurama seems to occupy.

Other interesting tid-bits, and why I think Kurama in general is so prevalent in m/m pairings is this bit: “The appearance and behavior of the archetypal bishōnen is often used to explore sexuality and gender norms.”

Remember when Kuwabara said in the dub that he wasn’t sure he liked all the girly flower stuff in the Saint Beasts saga? And Yusuke said “Yeah, cause all guys should be tough and manly, huh?” (paraphrasing). 

This can also explain why Kurama appears to get the most, ehem, specific type of male attention out of all the guys.

The only overt sexual advance we see in the whole show that takes place between two men happens to Kurama. 

He gets shipped the most often. He occupies the broadest scope of sexuality, from being a “Husbando” for many OCs, to being the bottom bitch to nearly every male character who has an appearance in the show.

He’s fawned over by his female classmates – 

While also being strangely adored by some male ones… 

This could have been anyone, someone Kurama didn’t know. A woman, a genius classmate who doesn’t admire Shuichi. Instead, it’s a classmate who keeps plants around that remind him of Kurama, and flat out tells him they’re a “tribute” to him. 

Then there’s all the undertones with Yomi.

Yomi admired Kurama, to the point he forgave him for the attempted assassination.

And the fact that in the Poltergeist Report, when again, presented with giving Kurama a personal conflict, they chose another male character from Kurama’s past who also had some homoerotic connotations with him, (and the whole fandom ships them so…)

The point is, it’s a trend. Not just with male characters, not just with female characters, but with a lot of different characters. Kurama is, in effect, a sexual symbol, because he’s a Bishie (and he’s a fox spirit to boot. Someone who knows more about the Japanese myths surrounding foxes can chime in. But those myths are often full of sexuality and shapeshifting, and the fox creatures often take on more feminine appearances). 

He’s supposed to be pretty, make you question your sexuality (as well as every male character’s sexuality), be shippable with almost anyone, and be goddamn pretty and feminine as fuck while doing it.

He’s there to be our doki doki fodder. 

At least, that’s what I think.

Thoughts? Opinions? Disagreements? Please keep it civil and kind 🙂

– Mod Lola