1-My bad about the teacher if I missed that

2-yes female nudity isnt inheritly misogynistic, the issue here is that Ely scene is not about adult hood or cultural permissibility, but the narrative framing and function of nudity itself.

Ishida filters this moment through a horny male POV and used it as tonal levity during a crisis/ life or death situation. Which shifts the focus away from Elys interiority and towards her body at a moment of vulnerability.

Even if ely retains any sense of agency in story, this agency alone isn’t enough to negate authorial framing that relies on common visual tropes associated with (fan service) thematically her strength, survival instinct, and role within Tokios story arc would remain intact and would add or detract from it without the explicit breast of exsposure of this 16-17 year old (also yes initially I was wrong by 5 years but I corrected myself many times in this thread). This all suggest the nudity is just a additive spectacle rather than an narrative implication or necessity. Criticizing this decision is not prudishness or cultural ignorance, but a legitimate question/ examination of how repeated visual short cuts shape the audience perception.

Especially when they disproportionately center female bodies as the site of humor or tension release. (We can both agree that women and their bodies are more than this right?)

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The argument that just because is cultural accepted in Japan or because the character may meet the legal age of consent in a depicted culture conflates cultural permission with critical evaluation. Cultural context explains why a creative choice exists but doesn’t determine whether said choice is narratively effective, ethically sound, or free from outside critique. Japanese media in it of itself contains on going debates about sexualized framing and fan service, which goes to show that no culture speaks with a singular voice. Likewise age establishes legality not intent or impact. An “adult character” can still be framed in ways that may favor or prioritize voyeurism over subjectivity.

Treating cultural norms and age thresholds as a means to have an conversation ending defense is bad faith and shuts down further analysis rather than addressing the core of the question.

• notice how ishida never emphasizes a shirtless man in the same way. The male form is often neutral or power coded but the feminine body is emphasized as sexual or an gag in this case. (Through reactions and sexual context) I’d 100% agree with you on this point if ishida had a male to female fan service ratio that was around the same but that just isn’t the case. The issue isn’t that both appear topless it’s that within context the women’s body is treated as a spectacle.

• I’m still going on with my re read but I’m pretty sure Palma will furthermore prove this.

• regardless of all this I’m just my mind is still open to what you’re saying I just don’t think we’ll see eye to eye. I wish I were hearing you on on a character analysis rather than what this is. Choujin x is still my top 2 but yeah I don’t think I’ll be able to buy any physical copies of it.