Question Why do some male characters look like females?

[moredrowsy]

Kurapika, Alluka, Kalluto, Pitou, and etc are all males but take on the appearances of females. Is there a reason togashi is doing this or is it just a fad he's into.

 

[Kiba]

to give you this schock moment wtf she is he ,or he is she
and pitou is shemale i bet

 

[Faust]

to confuse the readers?

 

[riniloves]

I'm used to it, have to exercise your eyes to get used to it... and ask questions on your mind...

Kurapika is just young and I see that kind of design before on old classic anime/manga males...
Kalluto too if drawn properly as male he'll look like this

Spoiler

and maybe the same goes to Alluka since they are young (Kalluto and Alluka seems to have a classic young boys hair style)....
Do you read old ancient times manga themes? like edo era, something setting???
most of the male had long hair, nobles only look like this often...

and Pitou... I was sure she was female.. till Togashi corrected us...

 

[SHINOBI-03]

The problem is not just their look, is with what they wear. Kalluto and Alluka are wearing female clothes. With Kurapika at least we got a physical confirmation.

I find Alluka is more confusing because even the family members can't decide what call "it".

 

[kindredxiuxiu]

I heard somewhere that Togashi likes messing with gender ambiguity. I mean, you can see it in YYH too where a lot of people thought Kurama was a girl (even in the manga itself).

I think Kikyo is upset she doesn't have any girls, so she dresses Kalluto like one. And I don't think even the Zoldycks know what Alluka's gender is (maybe it doesn't have one).

 

[Faust]

I heard somewhere that Togashi likes messing with gender ambiguity. I mean, you can see it in YYH too where a lot of people thought Kurama was a girl (even in the manga itself).

I think Kikyo is upset she doesn't have any girls, so she dresses Kalluto like one. And I don't think even the Zoldycks know what Alluka's gender is (maybe it doesn't have one).

That can be true

 

[Uriel]

Still is a good way, as Togashi usually does, to present one of the most tabu topics on society.

 

[The Invertroid]

That can be true

Yeah, it does sound like something Kikyo would do...

Concerning Kalluto, his new design makes him look a lot more like a boy than he used to:

As for why Togashi draws boys that look like girls... well, it's kind of a common trope that a lot boys in manga/anime look like girls. That's why they give the actual girls in anime extremely large breats. So we can tell them apart.

 

[Phantron]

Togashi's characters goes way beyond the 'handsomely beautiful' archtype look. If you take someone like Akira Toya in Hikaru no Go maybe some people thought that was a girl but he's not purposely trying to wear clothing to mislead you. That same cannot be said for say, Pitou or Alluka. Pitou is described as a 'mother'!

I always thought Togashi just wants to show that his manga has no need for fan services which is why there's basically no female character of importance. Now if he can't draw girls I'd understand, but the thing is he actually can draw them quite well. Maybe not quite the mainstream look but it's not something you've to tell people 'it's not the art that makes XYZ great', outside of the Ant arc, anyway.

 

[mrsticky005]

Because Togashi draws them that way.

Why does he draw them that way?

Because he wants to.

 

[chei]

Historically and culturally Japan has always celebrated the bishounen beauty ( boy thats pretty like a girl). They especially idealize the kind of beauty transcend gender thats often associate with youth. So coming from such society, on top of that, Togashi has always like 'trap' character. His tried to pitch to Jump writing a series about the hero crossdressed to enroll in a girl school. Stuff like that isn't uncommon now as with the moe trend. Actually Trap, crossdressing pretty boys has always been a staple (troup) in shojo manga since the beginning. So it's both a cultural + Togashi's interest thing.

 

[Faust]

Maybe because NAOKO TAKEUCHI is the one who draw the others characters

 

[leiatte]

Because Togashi draws them that way.

Why does he draw them that way?

Because he wants to.

lol, I agree. maybe he does it for a reason, but then again maybe he just wants to.

 

[chei]

Maybe because NAOKO TAKEUCHI is the one who draw the others characters

Nah, he was like this from early on, way before he met Takeuchi. Before he started YYH in the early 90s, Togashi tried to pitch a new series to Jump about a girly looking boy who's a cross dresser, he got shot down by the editors. After YYH got big, he managed to sneak in this trope in YYH (this one chapter where he had Yusuke dressed up as a girl to investigate a crime in an All-girl school). Really, 'boy looks like a girl' trope was not as common in shounen manga back then, but it's a very VERY common trope in shoujo manga since the 70s. It's not a fad, not Naokos' influence, just lots of people find tropes like this fun to write/read about.

Historically Japan had a lot of these pretty boys figures, dating way back from Tales of Genji (1000s), Sengoku period (1500s, and inspires roles for Kabuki). It's ALWAYS in the Japanese cultures. Then came the 1970s when the shoujo manga artists further romanticized these androgynous beauty, and established lots of tropes and character archetypes. That's why it's in the culture, not something specific and unique for Togashi.

I'm pretty sure Pitou is a male, because I recognize his costumes...it seemed to be inspired by a VERY well known character (especially in Japan) -- Tadzio from Death in Venice. It's his coat, shorts and curly hair, and his poses (where Pitou cross his hands on his back and walked cross legs, that's from Death in Venice). Japanese has always been obsessed with this character for obvious reasons. That's why I concluded Pitou is meant to be a bishounen. Oh yeah of course he was referred as a 'he' in the manga ALL the time.

 

[futurefrog]

Its well documented that Togashi has a fascination of what the nature of gender itself is and what exactly importance it has on who we are. I feel that Togashi believes that gender truly means nothing more than a means to reproduction and that the nature of being human far supersedes the notion of gender. What exactly it is that makes us human is more interesting to Togashi then what makes us male and what makes us female, because in his eyes male and female are not different, Togashi doesnt see gender, he sees humanity. It is something I have always found fascinating about his works, he often plays with the audience and their dependance upon gender to form a view of a character, I really dont even think about gender anymore with Togashi's work because he breaks down that wall and shows that its not about gender but about who these people ARE.

 

[riniloves]

I think this makes sense... why...
and yeah I watch on red channel too that boys in ancient Japan where sold as prostitute too... and they are forced to wear womens clothing when some geezers wanted to experience a diiferent kind of service.... Even in some theatrical dance... Only males are allowed to act so the female part goes to the males...

so it must be cultural thing too...

 

[GingFuriksu]

What do you guys think of the overall art of HxH ? I personally enjoy it. Togashi's expressions are AMAZING and so is his shading. I'm asking because in a YouTube video people were saying that Togashi's art is the worst art of all time O.o Example

"yuyu art is mediocre for shonen standards , i can name countless shonens that have better art then yuyu ( one piece being oneof them ) and hxh art is shit , i don't even know how can you argue that its better since its probably has the shittest art in shonen to this day , old shonen that came out in 1930's or something has better art then hxh...."

If you guys want to read more go to this link and look at all the comments from ZoroFTW9. Mind you, he's a Piecetard : P

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=psLkOxKSNIU

 

[riniloves]

That q, is otp but... anyway...
There are many beautiful panels in hxh.....
like this...

that for me is plain beauty...

so detailed....
I think the panels after GI on-wards are product of Togashi's lazyness....

This is how he draw

 

[chei]

What do you guys think of the overall art of HxH ? I personally enjoy it. Togashi's expressions are AMAZING and so is his shading. I'm asking because in a YouTube video people were saying that Togashi's art is the worst art of all time O.o Example

"yuyu art is mediocre for shonen standards , i can name countless shonens that have better art then yuyu ( one piece being oneof them ) and hxh art is shit , i don't even know how can you argue that its better since its probably has the shittest art in shonen to this day , old shonen that came out in 1930's or something has better art then hxh...."

If you guys want to read more go to this link and look at all the comments from ZoroFTW9. Mind you, he's a Piecetard : P

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=psLkOxKSNIU

I LOVE Togashi's art, his drawings is effortless, dynamic and fluid.

(for me something like One Piece is just craftsmanship, stylized but technical and predictable, every pages look the same)

Standard shounen whatever:

His art for later YYH is some of the best he's ever drawn. While he does get 'economic' (copy & paste) and sloppy in HxH, but man the storytelling thru his framing and sequence is just top notch -- effective, cinematic, VERY interesting composition...he's master level to me.