I've only heard about this show last year, and from the looks of it, the demographic of this show is aimed at females, mainly those that are young. While this is true, what's surprising is that there are male viewers as well. That's right. MALE. According to wiki, males of the age range between 14-35 watch this particular show. Surprising? Yes it is, hence where the term "Brony" comes from. Now I don't have a sure fire reason as to why males like this show, but I'm going to go with the assumption that it's enjoyable because of the plot, animation, and characters. One friend of mine, or a brony, likes this show because it just makes him happy, no matter what mood he's in. Another friend of mine showed me a clip of this show a couple of months back and I can honestly say, it looks like a fun show to watch. When will I watch it, I have no idea. But this is what currently holds my interest so far.
And what is this you wonder? It's an anime called K-ON! and I was first introduced to it back in the Winter of '09. The show is basically about 5 high school girls in a light music club playing music and having fun. Yup. Just like with MLP, you'd think this show was aimed at a certain demographic. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would watch this show at the time. I thought that if I watched it, it would turn me "girly." To my surprise it didn't. I enjoyed the character interactions, the characters themselves, the art, the music, pretty much everything about it. It's a show that made me happy every time. It's actually now one of my favorite anime. Believe it or not, this anime is actually a big hit in Japan, mostly with males. Even over here in America, there are, what some call, "moebros." But what's moe? I read somewhere that moe (pronounced moh-eh) is defined as a characteristic of being cute and that you wouldn't want that character to be hurt. Something like that. That's what this anime has. Moe. All the characters in this show have it. I'm not too sure what the universal definition of moe is, but that definition is something that I've gone with for a while.Now there are those that stay away or hate this kind of stuff. People of this kind tend to call those that like the aforementioned shows "ponyfags"/"moefags", or call the shows "ponyshit"/"moeshit." There are reasons where I see this hate/dislike. Animation is one of them. Just the design of a character can turn one off of these kinds of shows. Even moe is becoming a trend in anime these days and some say it's killing the industry.
This leads to demographics. Of course, these shows aren't meant for everyone. For example, one who hasn't seen any of these shows is introduced to someone who has seen them won't see what's good about it. People have different tastes. It'll always be like that.
Finally, there's fanbases. Fanbases, IMO, generally make up what people think the show is. People who know about bronies/anime watchers in general, tend to look down on them because of stories of fanbases. Unfortunately this is true, but like the old saying goes, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." 4 of my friends watch these kinds of shows and still act normal around others who don't (AFAIK). After all, they DO have other interests and aren't like this crazy fans out there who live for this kind of stuff.
To me and some people, this is cute and funny. To others, they think it's weird. And no, this isn't how they REALLY look like in the show. (Source: Hidamari Sketch)
Well shit, I think I just answered my question by typing up this blog. Basically, we can still have masculinity in us. It's just that some of us hold interests like these as well. Why other males always try to look and act tough just to impress and belong with peers is pretty stupid to me. You don't have to take away what you like just to belong with a certain group. Liking this kind of stuff, IMO, just makes us more human. It doesn't make us feminine or girly. Hell, I fucking love watching K-ON! and Hidamari Sketch, but I enjoy Gears of War, working out, and basketball, so what does that make me?
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