[Suzu]

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Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Wait, what? Girls are real!?

Shhhhh, don't tell anyone!

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Originally Posted by H3N51N

Agreed. But the problem that lies there is the fact that the girls sell less because the target demographic isn't used to seeing them.

You can't expect boys to identify with girls because for god's sake, they are BOYS after all. It's natural to identify with characters of your own gender around a young age. That's why girls have shows like Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon and Boys have shows like Kamen Rider or Battle Spirits. And if girls feel like watching "boys shows" then they do. I've also preferred shows aimed at a female audience as a kid, but I've watched whatever I felt like in general.

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Originally Posted by H3N51N

Because of that "female" things end up selling less for franchises like this, which gives companies stats that show more "boy" things sell than "girl" things, so they make more "male" merchandise. And then the general public see it, think the shows, games & whatever else they make has more to do with males than females, so more male things sell & buy the items & the cycle continues.

And how is buying "male" merchandise a bad thing? Yes, there's still stupid parents that say: OMG, no, you can't buy that [girl name], that's for boys!- but honestly, most smart parents don't give a crap and buy whatever the kid is interested in. I preferred Barbie, but if I told my parents I'd want an Action man doll, they'd also have gotten me that one because they respected my taste. They even got me a doll they found ugly, just because I said I really wanted it.

Personally, from a female viewpoint, I don't think it is absolutely necessary to switch up gender roles to appeal to a broader target demographic. I always found it very refreshing to meet boys who love "girls shows" despite the shows being marketed as such and personally, I feel very at home in a fandom that consists mostly of males. While I would love to see more female riders, I am fine with the franchise as it is (despite being a bit angry when cool female riders are killed off. I'm still pissed about Marika. But I never cared much for Siren or Shuki, so I wasn't very emotional about their death aside from: Oh thank god, that b*tch is gone).
I never complained about having male leaders in Digimon, nor an all female hero team in Pretty Cure. I did complain about 90's anime Tuxedo Kamen in Sailor Moon because I really like the strong and cool guy he was in pretty much any other version and he wasn't in that one. But not because of his gender. I was annoyed that they ruined one of my favorite characters. Personally, I give a crap about the character's gender as long as I find him or her interesting.

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Originally Posted by Yellow Ranger

Has little to do with equality and more to do with boys not buying girl toys same as in the West.

This, pretty much.

Oh btw. Remember that female Ninja turle, Venus? Even girls hated her. Not because she was a girl, but because people disliked her role in the franchise.