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Mar. 2nd, 2026 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stardust_rifleThis is in response to some JPN-language Twitter discourse, but I'm posting it on my DW, in English, because 1: my Japanese skills aren't good enough to express these ideas, and 2: I have no desire to get into dumb Internet arguments with strangers in a language I barely speak. I will now commence with my wildly unsourced Takes.
Disregarding whether or not it's actually true that stuff aimed at female otaku has gotten more fujo-pandering over time, I think there's an argument to be made that it stems from the idea that fujoshi have more potential profit for less cost than yumejoshi.
Firstly, while the archetypical yumejoshi will buy merchandise of at least one character (the one she ships herself with), the archetypical fujoshi will buy merchandise of at least two characters (the members of the pairing she likes) (actual purchasing practices may not apply perfectly to this, we're talking about averages and perception by the suits, signed, a bruabba and diopucci freak who basically only buys abbacchio and pucci merch because they are my favorites and i am not made of money) I feel as though the reason why fujos may be thought of as more profitable by the suits is obvious.
Secondly, and more interestingly, adding characters to a cast in order to fujo-pander is multiplicative in a way that it really isn't with yume-pandering. Well, what do I mean by this?
Take a series that is primarily yumejoshi focused. If they have five cast members, and they add a 6th, Number 6 will largely, on his own, bring in one group of fans- the fans that are attracted to the kind of character that Number 6 is. Thus, with yume-pandering, 1 new character = 1 new group of potential fans.
However, with fujo-pandering, the focus is on the relationships. If you add a 6th character to a cast of five in a fujo-pandering franchise, then each individual relationship that Number 6 has can each be different, and thus reach 5 entirely separate groups of fans. Maybe 6 has a senpai/kohai thing with 1, is fluffy childhood friends with 2, sworn enemies with 3, getting stalked by 4, and has a really weird codependent relationship with 5, who is his brother. You get the picture.* Adding more characters in a fujo-pandering franchise inherently gets you more bang for your buck than adding more characters in a yume-pandering franchise.**
(*This gets weirder as the cast gets bigger. In practice, adding a 40th cast member to a fujo-pandering thing will not result in the writers going out of their way to develop intricate and unique relationships for that new character with all 39 previously introduced cast members. However, I think the general principle of the argument still stands)
(**This is also why a lot of fumuke-but-not-BL series don't explicitly confirm pairings. Confirming one pairing as canon cuts off potential fans who like other pairings more!)
More potential fans with less characters to design seems like a win for the budget, so, again, fujo-pandering is more money-efficient than yume-pandering.
TL;DR: no, extremely stupid person on twitter, fumuke content isn't taking over joseimuke because people hate you, personally. it might just be because it's more economically efficient. maybe. has anyone actually checked if we're seeing a rise in fujo-pandering over time?
Disregarding whether or not it's actually true that stuff aimed at female otaku has gotten more fujo-pandering over time, I think there's an argument to be made that it stems from the idea that fujoshi have more potential profit for less cost than yumejoshi.
Firstly, while the archetypical yumejoshi will buy merchandise of at least one character (the one she ships herself with), the archetypical fujoshi will buy merchandise of at least two characters (the members of the pairing she likes) (actual purchasing practices may not apply perfectly to this, we're talking about averages and perception by the suits, signed, a bruabba and diopucci freak who basically only buys abbacchio and pucci merch because they are my favorites and i am not made of money) I feel as though the reason why fujos may be thought of as more profitable by the suits is obvious.
Secondly, and more interestingly, adding characters to a cast in order to fujo-pander is multiplicative in a way that it really isn't with yume-pandering. Well, what do I mean by this?
Take a series that is primarily yumejoshi focused. If they have five cast members, and they add a 6th, Number 6 will largely, on his own, bring in one group of fans- the fans that are attracted to the kind of character that Number 6 is. Thus, with yume-pandering, 1 new character = 1 new group of potential fans.
However, with fujo-pandering, the focus is on the relationships. If you add a 6th character to a cast of five in a fujo-pandering franchise, then each individual relationship that Number 6 has can each be different, and thus reach 5 entirely separate groups of fans. Maybe 6 has a senpai/kohai thing with 1, is fluffy childhood friends with 2, sworn enemies with 3, getting stalked by 4, and has a really weird codependent relationship with 5, who is his brother. You get the picture.* Adding more characters in a fujo-pandering franchise inherently gets you more bang for your buck than adding more characters in a yume-pandering franchise.**
(*This gets weirder as the cast gets bigger. In practice, adding a 40th cast member to a fujo-pandering thing will not result in the writers going out of their way to develop intricate and unique relationships for that new character with all 39 previously introduced cast members. However, I think the general principle of the argument still stands)
(**This is also why a lot of fumuke-but-not-BL series don't explicitly confirm pairings. Confirming one pairing as canon cuts off potential fans who like other pairings more!)
More potential fans with less characters to design seems like a win for the budget, so, again, fujo-pandering is more money-efficient than yume-pandering.
TL;DR: no, extremely stupid person on twitter, fumuke content isn't taking over joseimuke because people hate you, personally. it might just be because it's more economically efficient. maybe. has anyone actually checked if we're seeing a rise in fujo-pandering over time?
