My Favorite Character Designs - Special Round: Boobs are Cool

So, this post is going to be weird. Weird even for me. I mean it. I'm gonna say "boobs" a lot, and its gona be weird for both of us. Though I will say that this post will still be "safe for work"; well, except for all the art of busty characters. Anyway ... in light of the recent attacks against the character designs of Dragon's Crown, I got to thinking why I like so many character designs of women that have large breasts. And, well, the answer was simple: because big boobs can be pretty cool, and I'll explain why while showing some of my favorite large breasted characters.

Now, I'll address the big "note" to attach to this post: when I say "boobs are cool", I'm speaking about art, specifically drawings, animation, and all stuff encompassing fantasy,sci-fi, or simply fake stuff. I'm not speaking about real life, where this topic would be highly inappropriate, heh. So, c'mon, I'm a nice guy, and I wouldn't want to insult anyone. Actually, I find that if most critics would first think to themselves: "This isn't real. This is a drawing; a fantasy."; they'd be a lot more understanding of this whole subject matter.

So, why make this post in the first place? Well, because, in past posts and, most likely, in future posts (especially in my "Favorite Character Design" series), I'm going to bring up more large-breasted characters, and I'd like to explain a little bit why I like such character designs. And I'm gonna try to do that here, even though it still probably won't be clear and this may all end up just being pretty weird, heh.

I'll also say this right away: I'm completely aware that "sex appeal" is an element put into all of these character designs, even if I don't mention it. But the reason I like the following designs is because they go beyond the simple and boring execution of just putting large breasts on a character and actually make the designs "cooler" by having large breasts by executing the design in various ways, as I'll explain below.

Also, if you take one look at this article and just say "Nope. They're just big boobs; there's nothing stylish about it." That's fine. Maybe I'm seeing something that's just not there. Regardless, this is why I like these designs; if you have a different opinion, that's fine.

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Sorceress (Dragon's Crown)

So, I'm just gonna address the two big ones first, as they are hot topics at the moment, and happen to be my two favorite designs in the forthcoming Dragon's Crown. The Sorceress has one of my favorite design styles for buxom characters: the stylish silhouette. By stylish silhouette, I mean that she consists of only a few colors and details; as a result, her hourglass figure is a lot more pronounced and noticeable. It's a simple, yet effective style for these types of characters, as the viewer doesn't have to look for very long to see the character design's appeal. Perhaps the most famous use of this stylish silhouette is the infamous Jessica Rabbit, whose bright red dress accented her figure perfectly. The only thing going against the Sorceress' stylish silhouette style is her exposed cleavage, which draws a bit too much attention to her top half; still, an amazing and effective design.

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Amazon (Dragon's Crown)

The Amazon represents what is probably my favorite design execution of busty character designs, which I'll dub simple as: "powerful boobs". This style is often associate with strong female characters who are often muscular and tall (there will be several more on this list); and it works in a stylish way where the woman's breasts act similar to large pectorals on muscular male designs, as it accentuates the chest of the character thus giving the character design a strong presence. This design works well, imo, because it is the better executed version of what many artists use to try and convey a "powerful female character". What this commonly entails, is a designer simply taking a strong male character and just switching the gender; this often results in characters who are just soulless, and feel like they were created simply because the designers were too scared to make a character like the Amazon. Woman can be muscular, women can be strong; that's what the amazon myth was all about. Anyway, what's great about the Amazon's character design is her lack of clothing, as it really accentuates her muscular body, as none of it is hidden. It's a fearless design, and I love that. Her beauty is also not lost, as she has a gentle face, beautiful golden hair, and a pretty feather in her hair. A powerful yet beautiful design. One of my all-time favorites. 

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Tifa (Final Fantasy VII)

Here's a unique design. In the original FFVII game, Tifa fell under the style of "powerful boobs", as her strength was accented through gameplay, and her large breasts felt like a way of showing she had muscle, considering they couldn't exactly show she had muscles on her character model back then. But, in the Advent Children movie, Tifa's breasts, though less accentuated than in the game, executed a different type of style for busty character designs, a style I'll call: "fighting boobs". I call it that because, it's a design style often found with busty character designs who fight. See, during fight scenes a lot of parts of the characters catch our eye: hands, arms, legs, eyes, and, if its long enough, hair. But, sometimes, breasts get added to that list, adding yet another layer to a characters movement during a fight; they're never as noticeable as the arms or legs, but its still a playable element. Tifa may not be the best example, but she has it. 

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Angel (King of Fighters)

Angel is a great example of the "fighting boobs" design style. Her moveset is all about movement; from her long punches and kicks to her powerful running and grabbing game; Angel's moves are very accentuated by her body, thus why her design has rather long legs and short hair. So, how does Angel fit into the "fighting boobs" style? Well, because Angel moves around so much, her torso moves a lot as well, and we see her body turn and flow; her large breasts accentuate this "flow" of her body from one move to another. Other KOF ladies have large breasts as well, such as Vanessa and Shermie, but they lack the "fighting boobs" style, as their fighting movements lack a strong "flow". Granted, Angel's breasts aren't very noticeable when fighting, but I can't imagine her attacks looking the same without them.

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Haruka Gracia (Basquash!!)

Haruka Gracia is one of my all-time favorite character designs. Her long hair, her stylish glasses, her stylish dress, and, most obvious, her large bust. Haruka is a different take on the design of "powerful boobs", as she is not a fighter, yet, thanks to her large bust, she has a powerful presence. This is the design style I believe many designers want to incorporate into their designs, but fail to execute it right because they believe that any female character with a large bust will gain this strong presence, which is definitely not the case. So what makes Haruka have such a presence, well, it's mainly due to the combination of her eyes and her breasts. Similar to Jessica Rabbit and Bayonetta, Haruka's eyes and composure just scream confidence, which allows her to "puff out her chest" both figuratively and literally, thus creating a supreme presence to the character's design from her eyes to her "powerful boobs".

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At this point, I believe I've gone over all of the different ways I find boobs to be cool. I understand boobs are mostly always done for fanservice, but it's characters like those I've listed in this post that make large breasts so much more than just fanservice. Boobs can be stylish and cool, just like clothes, weapons, and colors can. It's just all about the execution. And I love me some well-executed boobs.

Now, for some more of my favorite busty character designs, just in a more concise fashion:

Yuugi Hoshiguma

Like a Amazon, a great example of "powerful boobs".

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B. Jenet (Garou: Mark of the Wolves)

One of the best examples of both "powerful boobs" and "fighting boobs". Her animations are still amazing to see to this day; and its thanks to those stylish animations that B. Jenet may be the sexiest girl in gaming.

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Daidouji (Senran Kagura)

Perhaps the most defining example of "powerful boobs".

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Hilde (Soulcalibur)

Hilde is a rather unorthodox but great example of the "stylish silhouette" execution. While most examples of the "stylish silhouette" are done in a dress of some kind, Hilde pulls it off with armor. As we are most use to seeing men in the usual form of armor, it is oddly alluring to see Hilde in armor that fits her feminine form. Regardless, it's works very well, and has made Hilde one of the more alluring characters in the Soulcalibur roster.

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Arsene (Tantei Opera Milky Holmes)

Arsene is a great example of both "powerful boobs" and "fighting boobs" alongside a bit of humor as well. Her design is one of my all-time favorites as its very stylish, but also humourous, as she is the only busty character in the show, which is constantly played for laughs.

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Honorable Mention: Rushuna Tendo (Grenadier)

Rushuna Tendo is a strange beast. On one hand, she is the most fanservice-focused character on this list, but on the other hand, she has perhaps the most stylish use for her large bust on the list. So, to just get it out of the way, Rushuna's signature move is her ability to hold bullets within her cleavage, force the bullets out by shaking her breasts slightly, reloading her gun using said bullets, and then shoot her enemies all within one fluid motion. It's a really stylish and cool idea, and I have to give it praise for its originality. Rushuna also shows elements of "fighting boobs", as her fighting style is very acrobatic, and accentuated by her large bust. However, when reading/watching Grenadier, its obvious that her large breasts were also largely for fanservice, as she is not very confident and doesn't have a strong presence. So, while she may not be one of my favorite character designs, I think at least deserves mention.

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Now, don't get me wrong. There are some busty character designs out there I don't like. For example, the manga/anime Fairy Tail is full of busty characters, and I don't like any of their designs except for Erza, and that's only because of her armor ability that constantly keeps the execution of her boobs stylish. Then there's every harem series ever made; don't like any of them. And, you know, I could just go on about this. I've explained my stance on fanservice before, so I won't dwell on it know. I just wish there were more stylish executions of busty characters more.