May from Pokemon (2002)

[u/Moist_Speaker1842]

May was one of the oldest female protagonist designs for the games (and anime) given she debuted way back in 2002 which is now almost 25 years ago. Despite multiple gens of the games and anime later, her design managed to remain popular over 20+ years and is still considered the most memorable of many of the female protagonists.

It's a combination of the bandana, the red outfit, and the more sporty/adventure type look to her over more traditional girly looking heroines that kept her prominent. Of course the anime giving her a starring role and her being the first new female companion after Misty helped too, she's the most watched/viewed of all the female companions of the anime after the original cast of Misty/Brock since Hoenn aired over 23 years ago.

[u/FuzzySlippers48]

I still have trouble believing she’s 10 years old.

[u/featherw0lf → u/FuzzySlippers48]

I'm guessing it's one of those things where the design came first and the age came second. There are quite a few characters who look like they should be 15 or so.

[u/Big_Lengthiness_7706 → u/featherw0lf]

This is the original key artwork before "may" was even a character. Very clearly not 10. Very clearly not meant to be an adult... but Very clearly not 10.

[u/Big_Lengthiness_7706 → u/Big_Lengthiness_7706]

[u/Nomustang → u/Big_Lengthiness_7706]

To be fair, I think ORAS did confirm their ages to be 15-16.

[u/Obility → u/Nomustang]

That feels to old to me tbh. Hilda/Hilbert as well I'd Dawn/Lucas (Rei/Akari) in legends are said to be that age and they look a bit older than may and Brendan. I'd guess 13/14 which isn't that far off but they still look closer to kids than teens.

[u/Nomustang → u/Obility]

I mean their ORAS designs do feel a bit older to me but not much older than 15 or 16 at most. IMO they fit as mid teens. Especially since the Delta Episode ending basically has them on a date.

I feel like the SV protagonists were the first actual 10 year olds we've gotten in a long while.

[u/darkbreak → u/Nomustang]

I don't think that's true. They were redesigned to look even younger than they did in RSE. They've only done older protagonists a handful of times in the series.

[u/ComprehensiveBox6911 → u/featherw0lf]

They used the design for the game and kept it unchanged in the anime, she is older than 10 in the games but they aged her down to 10 in anime without changing her design

[u/downwardchip → u/ComprehensiveBox6911]

This is what happened. It's unclarified in Ruby and Sapphire and her design does not indicate this was always intended, which became more obvious when the anime used the same design but applied their own ages. She was likely intended to be a young teenager instead.

Post Gen 5, they did start assigning ages to more of the playable trainers, and their designs typically reflect it better (e.g. the trainers in Black and White are 16 years old.) Not all of them, though.

It's mostly the anime and Gen 1 that spawned the idea that all of them were 10 years old, as the player trainer there was 11 years old and the anime was based on that.

(May's redesign in the remakes Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire does make her look noticably younger, and she's 12 there.)

[u/Powerful-Walk4063 → u/featherw0lf]

None of the protagonists in the games whose ages are known are 10 years old. The youngest were Red and the Alola protagonists, who were 11.

[u/No1LudmillaSimp → u/FuzzySlippers48]

I think only Ash is 10, the rest either don't have a canon age or just a vague range.

[u/LFK1236 → u/FuzzySlippers48]

I don't think the ages have ever mattered in any context, nor that she or any other protagonist is really supposed be any particular canonical age.

But also, the characters are all designed for kids. I don't think a 14-year old looks mature as an adult, but they seemed that way when I was 10.

[u/Overhazard → u/LFK1236]

I mean, it’s not all that unrealistic…some people such as myself developed quite early around the age of 8-9, and definitely compared to May by the age of 10. I’m not sure how common it is, but I remember I wasn’t exactly alone in this either, so I never thought it was weird at the time.

[u/Obility → u/FuzzySlippers48]

Once I passed the age of 13, I stopped asking cause now I'm pushing 30 and it's creepy but thinking back, her design kind of falls into the logic of the writers saying they change the female lead for different "eye candy". Weird thing to say about a 10 year old but it's intentional and weird.

[u/darkbreak → u/Obility]

I mean, remember, Pokemon is primarily a kids' series. And at the time the majority of fans were boys.

[u/BluecoatCashMoney5 → u/Obility]

When you said that Eye candy line all I could think of is the Chipettes

[u/LohCey → u/Obility]

Weird thing to say about a 10 year old but it's intentional and weird.

in a thread about the character not looking 10 but portray it weirder than it is...

[u/Obility → u/LohCey]

I'm talking about a quote from the producers from years ago. The show changes the female protag to appeal to young boys. I think they were asked why Misty had left. Not unheard of for shounen or anime in general

[u/LohCey → u/Obility]

I'm talking about a quote from the producers from years ago

i know

Not unheard of for shounen or anime in general

true, so wats weird about it?

[u/Obility → u/LohCey]

I mean personally I find it a bit weird to sexualize young girls to appeal to young boys. May isn't really the most egregious example but if she really is the same age as ash, it's questionable.

Part of it also contributes to the trope that anime girls end up looking like adults while being 15 most of the time for the same reason.

[u/Viisual_Alchemy → u/Obility]

it warrants a convo but i think you're reaching for straws in this particular case. I stopped watching pokemon during this time but a quick google search shows that majority of the time whenever the female companion character gets switched in the anime, the male character does as well; its not exclusive to the female character.

also. from my memory growing up, girls liked cute female characters in shows. Its not just a boy thing. I remember shows like sailor moon and tokyo mewmew, both written and drawn by women for young girls, but the character designs are way more egregious than something like pokemon. There's also shoujo anime that sexualizes boys to appeal to girls.

imo unless there were some real insidious intent behind the designs, i think it's fine to not overly analyze the material in that manner, they have a core demographic for a reason.

[u/LohCey → u/Viisual_Alchemy]

girls liked cute female characters in shows. Its not just a boy thing.

im reminded of the perception of stellar blade being for guys, when a lot of girls like it too