Things are heating up in Boruto and Bleach fandoms after the reveal of Sarada and Orihime’s new outfits.
Boruto the manga and Bleach the anime have recently teased controversial new looks for their beloved female protagonists: Sarada Uchiha and Orihime Inoue. Both fandoms were outraged by the outfits, accusing the creators of sexualizing the underage characters. So who wore it worse: Sarada or Orihime?
Let’s start with Sarada: on the new cover of Boruto chapter 73, we see her in a short, tight green dress and high heels. She is also wearing bright lipstick. Fans were baffled by the outfit: it’s not just impractical, it completely compromises the young shinobi’s freedom of movement and comfort in favor of aesthetics. Many also called out the design for making the 13-year-old girl appear way too mature for her age. She is also notably the only character among the new generation kids’ who was given a questionable new look.
Now on to Orihime’s new drip that we’ll see in the upcoming episodes of the anime. Her age at the time the infamous low-cut outfit appears is more ambiguous than Sarada's, with most fans agreeing that she's 17 or 18. Even if we were to assume she had already turned 18 by the time the events of the final arc started to unfold, the sexy outfit she was made to wear – the most revealing fit she’s ever worn throughout the series – is extremely out of character for her.
The purpose of the new clothes is explicitly expressed in manga: it’s to “seduce” Ichigo. However, it’s not Orihime herself who decides to finally get the romance going, it’s the other characters who encourage her to make Ichigo blush. Basically, Orihime is allowed to be sexy, but not to be aware of her own sexuality. This lack of agency and forced nature of the fanservice in the manga is what prompted the criticism of the Bleach creator Tite Kubo.
Ever since the two outfits made their debut online, fans have been engaging in heated arguments about which one is more offensive. Then in the third camp we have defenders of both. Many fans see nothing wrong with Sarada and Orihime’s new fits and claim that their clothes are only problematic if you choose to see them that way.
Fair enough: ultimately, it’s up to the audience to decide if they want to see malicious intent behind the creators’ choices.
That being said, if we want to start an honest conversation about the sexualization of teen girls in male-created shonen, it’s time we stop reducing this debate to petty fandom wars. Both looks have been criticized for similar reasons, and we shouldn’t have to choose the lesser of two evils here. Our favorite female heroines deserve better than that.
Things are heating up in Boruto and Bleach fandoms after the reveal of Sarada and Orihime’s new outfits.
Boruto the manga and Bleach the anime have recently teased controversial new looks for their beloved female protagonists: Sarada Uchiha and Orihime Inoue. Both fandoms were outraged by the outfits, accusing the creators of sexualizing the underage characters. So who wore it worse: Sarada or Orihime?
Let’s start with Sarada: on the new cover of Boruto chapter 73, we see her in a short, tight green dress and high heels. She is also wearing bright lipstick. Fans were baffled by the outfit: it’s not just impractical, it completely compromises the young shinobi’s freedom of movement and comfort in favor of aesthetics. Many also called out the design for making the 13-year-old girl appear way too mature for her age. She is also notably the only character among the new generation kids’ who was given a questionable new look.
Now on to Orihime’s new drip that we’ll see in the upcoming episodes of the anime. Her age at the time the infamous low-cut outfit appears is more ambiguous than Sarada's, with most fans agreeing that she's 17 or 18. Even if we were to assume she had already turned 18 by the time the events of the final arc started to unfold, the sexy outfit she was made to wear – the most revealing fit she’s ever worn throughout the series – is extremely out of character for her.
The purpose of the new clothes is explicitly expressed in manga: it’s to “seduce” Ichigo. However, it’s not Orihime herself who decides to finally get the romance going, it’s the other characters who encourage her to make Ichigo blush. Basically, Orihime is allowed to be sexy, but not to be aware of her own sexuality. This lack of agency and forced nature of the fanservice in the manga is what prompted the criticism of the Bleach creator Tite Kubo.
Ever since the two outfits made their debut online, fans have been engaging in heated arguments about which one is more offensive. Then in the third camp we have defenders of both. Many fans see nothing wrong with Sarada and Orihime’s new fits and claim that their clothes are only problematic if you choose to see them that way.
Fair enough: ultimately, it’s up to the audience to decide if they want to see malicious intent behind the creators’ choices.
That being said, if we want to start an honest conversation about the sexualization of teen girls in male-created shonen, it’s time we stop reducing this debate to petty fandom wars. Both looks have been criticized for similar reasons, and we shouldn’t have to choose the lesser of two evils here. Our favorite female heroines deserve better than that.
