The picture above is from a Japanese dating sim called Hachi Koi. This is one of (if not) THE first depiction(s) of a canon fat anime character. She is fat in the more socially unacceptable sense as opposed to the typical “curvy” anime character who has large breasts, a tiny waist and large hips.
Her name is Kasugaoka Kurumi. She is depicted realistically as a chubby girl. It is relevant in her face, in her waist and in her legs rather than just emphasizing the more social (and sexually) acceptable figure mentioned above.
In the picture above, notice the cookies and milk beside her. The game unapologetically associates this character with a love of food, rather than shaming her for it. The game even associates her with chocolate squares.
There is even a traditional hot springs scene and Kurumi is shown with a tea tray happily eating tea biscuits. It’s important to note that food, to this character, is not a source of shame or self-loathing.
Aside from it being just fucking awesome that Japanese media is -finally- recognizing this body type in their art, it’s important to note that this is a dating game, and this character is a choice of one of the possible love interests for the main character. Although I’m not going to get into the perhaps sexist idea behind these kinds of dating games, I will say this: This game promotes the idea that big girls are dateable: an idea that is often relentlessly refuted in all kinds of media from around the world.
Japanese art is known for sexualizing larger bodies, especially in erotic mangas or games in which a character may have unusually large breasts or parts of her body emphasized for sexual prominence This is the first time that I, personally, have seen an accurately depicted fat character in official Japanese media. And I fucking love it.
The screenshots are official art but I pulled them (and some information in this quick rundown) from a thread here, so if you want to read more up on it, go ahead!
