What’s that you say? A survey that polled Japanese women about two of the country’s most popular anime series? I wonder what kind of questions they asked! Maybe we can learn how Japanese audiences feel about the female characters in Gundam! And does Shinsekai Evangelion really offer a “radical solution to the socio-environmental curses of patriarchy“? Maybe they’ll talk about female otaku being under-represented in mainstream media! And whether the word “otaku” still carries negative connotations…

But wait! Oh. What? This survey only has one question! “What kind of men do you like better”, the pollsters asked, “guys who like Evangelion, or guys who are Gundam fans?” Oh.

My Navi Woman surveyed 224 women aged between 22 and 34. Seventy-three percent of women polled said they’d choose the Gundam fan (we’ll call him Gundam Boy) over the Evangelion fan. Oh well, it can’t be worse than that survey that showed that Japanese people really like to drink green tea, anyway. Perhaps sensing that one question might be a bit lacking for a survey, however, the pollsters at My Navi went on to ask a second question: “Why?”

“Gundam is more manly” was a common response. Men who like Gundam, therefore, were also considered to be “more masculine” than Evangelion fans. Also, Gundam has a pretty long history, its first incarnation being broadcast in 1979, and therefore:

“I feel like if a guy is a Gundam fan, he’s probably liked it since he was a little kid.”

▼ Chicks dig it when you’re still interested in the same stuff you were into as a child, apparently.

ISM

Some of the other reasons given, like “Gundam is easier to get into, because new series are still being made”, sound more like “reasons Gundam is great” than “reasons to like guys who like Gundam”, but we’ll let that go.

And for the 7 in 10 women who chose Gundam Boy, what was wrong with hypothetical fan Evangelion Boy? Well, some women were put off by the content of the show:

“Evangelion has grotesque elements, and I don’t like that.”

Or considered its fans a bit seedy:

“I feel like guys who are into Evangelion are probably mostly interested in ‘moe’ [strong feelings toward sexy or cute female anime or manga characters], and that’s gross.”



Benjamin Claverie / Wikimedia

On the other hand, of the 27 percent surveyed who chose Evangelion, many felt that the series was more refined.

“It’s more sophisticated than Gundam.” “I think he [Evangelion Boy] would have a philosophical view of the world.”

ED’s Evangelion Collection

Fans of Evangelion Boy also argued that the short history (compared to Gundam, anyway) makes it “easier to keep up” with the storyline.

Gundam Boy, they say, is stuck in the past:

“It’s like his interests haven’t changed since elementary school!”

Some women did take the opportunity to give their own opinions about the two options, with comments like:

“I chose Evangelion because I like Evangelion too!” “Lots of girls like Evangelion too, so we could talk about it together.”

There you have it. It took us a while to get there, but it seems women do have opinions about some things other than “what kind of guys do you like?” Hey, if you’re lucky, maybe he’ll let you play video games with him, too…

Source: Oreteki gēmu sokuhou, My Navi Woman

Top image: Oreteki gēmu sokuhou