Similarities/Differences between BBW Manga and BBW western comics.

[nebutori]

This is me asking what are the similarities/differences between self-published manga in Japan with BBW characters and American comics with BBWs? 

This came to me when I read a BBW manga, it had a small, muscular Sumo wrestler who got bossed by  4 statuesque BBWs. I came across some BBW Japanese stuff where this was a recurring theme. The tiny little man bossed by the big, strong BBW. This amazed me because of the stereotypes that Asian men have. That they are effeminate, passive and physically weak, then I come across media written and drawn by Asian men that embrace stereotypes. It's like if I came across porn made by black people where the black guy is a fast talking, jive speaker with a big penis banging a sassy black woman. 

 

This made me wonder if there are similarities/differences between the stories/plots of BBW comics made by Western writers and BBW manga. For the BBW manga, I wouldn't just count explicit porn, but also stuff like Plus-Sized Elf and Melt Away Mizore-Chan. I don't want to count How Heavy are the Dumbbells you lift as a BBW manga as while Hibiki gains weight frequently, she isn't drawn to be sexy/beautiful, rather drawn to be more cartoony. Melt Away Mizore-Chan is a BBW series as the titular character gains weight frequently, the proportions are better than Hibiki's weight gain and the story has various moments of her in a bikini or revealing clothing and treats it as fanservice. For the discussion, I am asking for the plots, not the explicit actions that occur. One can bring up how something is rapey/exploitative but that's it. No discussions about sex acts or what characters do each others genitalia. Just what they do before screwing or how Mangaka goes about Weight gain scenes and characters reactions to weight gain scenes. 

 

What plots does one find in BBW comics made by western creators? What does one find in plots of BBW manga? What similarities/differences are there? 

[nebutori]

I also realized for that manga I came across, for why the male sumo was short and muscular, it's likely because most Japanese men don't get that fat. They likely wouldn't fantasize about becoming a big fat sumo weight 3-4 hundred pounds. They likely envision being the trim/muscular dude versus the mega fat man they likely will never be. 

[nebutori]

For some designs of sumo wrestlers in certain works, will give them muscular builds or go for a muscular fat look rather than a fat look. I thought for this and why sumos in fiction have simplistic/cartoonish faces is because most of these artists don't know how to draw fat people. They don't know how to present the features of the fat form. How fat arms, thighs, bellies and faces should look. I figure since most of these creators are men, they would rather draw thin curvy women and if they do draw beefcake, it's muscular men. Since most of these artists aren't into sumo, I doubt they would want to make the wrestlers look like beefcakes. I was unaware of the fangirls sumo wrestlers have until recently. When I look through most anime/manga, I don't ever see women crushing on sumo wrestlers or finding them sexy. It's in very few works that I see this, the only one that comes to my mind is Kaguya-Sama love is war where Chikara shows interests in sumo and wants to marry a sumo wrestler. Otherwise in most mainstream works, I never see women crushing on sumo wrestlers or wrestlers portrayed as beautiful/sexy. I remember one episode of Sgt. Frog where a sumo disguise prompted disgust by the female character Natsume. I wondered too about jokes Japanese fiction makes concerning sumo wrestlers. Like in various manga chapters/anime episodes, when characters gain weight, they practice sumo. Or showing sumo coded characters as comic relief. Or doing the occasional fat jokes of them eating a lot navigating a small world. 

 

I am still amazed that no Mangaka has done a Sumo ecchi series. Like something full of plus-sized beefcake or a series about sexy women practicing sumo. Before you question the later, I thought they could set it in a world where female sumo is accepted or where wrestling is unisex. Though they could also show the struggles of a group of female sumo wrestlers and the sexism of the sport. For the builds, I thought they would want thin curvy builds with the occasional fat/muscular girl. Before you go on to say "That build isn't good for sumo!", this is a story written by a horndog male writer/artist. They would likely find it sexier to see thin curvy women wrestler in loincloths versus plumper women unless they're into that. This happens a lot in fiction, the tiny small women able to throw around a man who is much bigger than her. This just making a double standard that men can be big and thick while women must be tiny and small. I am working on a story with male and female sumos that are fat and big and embrace their size. I will share stuff when it becomes available. 

[nebutori]

For Sumo wrestling, since it's seen as an old person sport, that's probably why most mainstream series use them as comic relief. Since most young people wouldn't be interested in it, they would likely view them as silly. While they may not go for using them as fatties gorging on fast food. They will still design them to be cartoonish/simplistic or provide comic relief moments versus being more serious or contributing to the plot in a more serious manner. This means that sumo wrestling barely shows up in most mainstream works more seriously. This is why I was unaware of the fangirls of sumo, since wrestlers are used as comic relief, the fangirls that find the wrestlers sexy don't show up in anime/manga. The only example I could find was Chikara from Kaguya-Sama Love is war! where she expressed an interest in sumo and wishes to marry a sumo wrestler. 

 

I get that most managaka are dudes and they wouldn't wish to portray sumo wrestlers as sexy but even in stuff well known for cheesecake, they do have beefcake as well. Look at Fairy Tail, Eden's zero and Bleach. While we get busty women in sexy outfits, we also get shirtless muscular men. I guess it's fair to say that while male creators are willing to deliver on beefcake, they prefer it to be muscular dudes and not men built as sumos. 

 

Since sumo is an old person's sport, it would make sense that a series aimed at young people wouldn't wish to focus on it. Sports nerds and fiction nerds can overlap. I have seen sports manga and I imagine that they appeal to young people because they are sports that young people wish to focus on such as baseball, soccer, volleyball, boxing, basketball, and tennis. This is to dispel the idea that sports nerds and fiction nerds are different. There is overlap, it just may not be the same with sumo as most of the audience for sumo wrestling tends to not be fiction nerds.