Not often one character can start a revolution in the whole genre, but that's exactly what Kazehaya Shota from From Me to You did. He single-handedly changed the male lead stereotype in the shoujo manga and anime, and we are forever grateful to him for that.
Before the release of From Me to You, the genre was dominated by toxic, cold, or traumatized boys that girls were trying to fix. Usually, they were brash and aggressive, distant, surrounded by the bad boy vibes that attracted a flock of girls to them. But Kazehaya changed this game by being genuinely nice.
He feels very human, not like the over-the-top stereotypical green-flag boy who has no flaws whatsoever. He's not possessive or perverted, he's not lazy and not a delinquent. He's very realistic in how he behaves and reacts to whatever happens in the plot, his kindness doesn't feel overblown for the sake of being more prominent. His wholesomeness is organic.
For years the authors were trying to create the new Kazehaya, but they failed, because they forgot to grasp one very important thing: there should be something behind the wholesomeness. The character shouldn't be just a bunch of functional traits; he should have a personality, a certain depth. Kazehaya is capable of showing a whole spectrum of emotions, reacting to different events in a very humanely diverse way; he has a distinct sense of humor and sticks to his principles more than some shonen protagonists do.
He's a well-written character first, and a great male lead in a shoujo series second. That is exactly what makes him unique. But the authors, who witnessed the success of From Me to You, didn't grasp this part of what makes Kazehaya so special, and decided to scratch only the surface of what is shown of him, and started spewing out these perfectly bland boys with no flaw in the vicinity, leaving them of all humanity behind this completely artificial facade of gentleness. They failed to make their Kazehaya rip-offs interesting, alive, and fun besides just being good.
Kazehaya stole our hearts because he reacts to weird things believably, and because he has motivations and interests outside of the romantic plot of the story; he's not just a boy to be loved, but a fully fleshed out character. He's not perfect (manga readers know that), and that adds this much-needed contrast to the goodness that we see when we meet him.
The existence of Kazehaya started the trend of super safe soft boys in shoujo, but no one was able to create another Kazehaya. Yet still we got a bit of a break from toxic and flawed male leads, and we're thankful for that.
He's not just a good boy; he's a good character.
Not often one character can start a revolution in the whole genre, but that's exactly what Kazehaya Shota from From Me to You did. He single-handedly changed the male lead stereotype in the shoujo manga and anime, and we are forever grateful to him for that.
Before the release of From Me to You, the genre was dominated by toxic, cold, or traumatized boys that girls were trying to fix. Usually, they were brash and aggressive, distant, surrounded by the bad boy vibes that attracted a flock of girls to them. But Kazehaya changed this game by being genuinely nice.
He feels very human, not like the over-the-top stereotypical green-flag boy who has no flaws whatsoever. He's not possessive or perverted, he's not lazy and not a delinquent. He's very realistic in how he behaves and reacts to whatever happens in the plot, his kindness doesn't feel overblown for the sake of being more prominent. His wholesomeness is organic.
For years the authors were trying to create the new Kazehaya, but they failed, because they forgot to grasp one very important thing: there should be something behind the wholesomeness. The character shouldn't be just a bunch of functional traits; he should have a personality, a certain depth. Kazehaya is capable of showing a whole spectrum of emotions, reacting to different events in a very humanely diverse way; he has a distinct sense of humor and sticks to his principles more than some shonen protagonists do.
He's a well-written character first, and a great male lead in a shoujo series second. That is exactly what makes him unique. But the authors, who witnessed the success of From Me to You, didn't grasp this part of what makes Kazehaya so special, and decided to scratch only the surface of what is shown of him, and started spewing out these perfectly bland boys with no flaw in the vicinity, leaving them of all humanity behind this completely artificial facade of gentleness. They failed to make their Kazehaya rip-offs interesting, alive, and fun besides just being good.
Kazehaya stole our hearts because he reacts to weird things believably, and because he has motivations and interests outside of the romantic plot of the story; he's not just a boy to be loved, but a fully fleshed out character. He's not perfect (manga readers know that), and that adds this much-needed contrast to the goodness that we see when we meet him.
The existence of Kazehaya started the trend of super safe soft boys in shoujo, but no one was able to create another Kazehaya. Yet still we got a bit of a break from toxic and flawed male leads, and we're thankful for that.
