Directly to the topic, I really got confused about the "cute" term for girls & girly boys in Manga.

Is it overdoing term for describing girls & girlys or what?
Do Manga artists this age have a thing with the "cute" thing?
How is the "cute" thing in Manga and how in reality?

Wishing the topic is clear,
...

Wishing the question was clear.

[img]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa229/azrinirza/makotoshinkai1_zpse3901c5a.gif[/img]
Everyday I'm tumblin'

It is a bit unclear unfortunately... so I'll just write what I think.

I used to think that "cute" refers just to, for example, kittens, bunnies and so on. Perhaps to little girls and babies that look adorable. But lately I noticed that the word "cute" is more and more often used as a synonym of "pretty", or even "handsome". I don't really like this, because when I hear "I've seen a cute girl/boy" I think about toddlers, not about pretty/handsome people.

Quote from Hanae

It is a bit unclear unfortunately... so I'll just write what I think.

I used to think that "cute" refers just to, for example, kittens, bunnies and so on. Perhaps to little girls and babies that look adorable. But lately I noticed that the word "cute" is more and more often used as ...

This is what I was aiming for.
Why do a lot of Manga artists use this term, use the "cute" drawing-style for characters?

Sorry for my poor english, not my native language.

I guess most manga use "cute" to describe something beautiful because of the beauty ideal japanese people have? I mean, at least where I live, beauty is equal to a body with curves, tan skin, curly hair... I believe japanese people have a different concept of beauty (since, well, they have different features), like small bodies, long dark hair and pale skin (read it as: cute girls). So, I think "cute" is used in manga because it's a common compliment there, the same way for us "hot" and "sexy" is more common around here?! I don't know... My opinion is based on stereotypical japanese mangas, so...

To be completely blunt, Manga artists draw "cute" because lonely japanese otaku buy it. As to why they buy it, well that needs more explanation than I'm able to give. I realize it's not just otkau who are buying into the whole "cute" thing, but they are the majority.

Frankly, I'm okay with "cute" things so long as they are genuinely "cute". I realize that's not easy to explain, so I'll just leave it at that.

Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

Innocence is appealing in Japan, which is why so many females there emphasize their youth by talking in the childish third person. The school girl uniform fetish is another example of this. When you extend it to anime, you get the moe style and beautiful = cute = child/young/innocent. Even with guys, when you have a girl talking she's more likely to call him "cute" than handsome, not because he's girly or childish, but because she is - and it's cute when a little girl uses the word cute.

Then there are language issues. The word "kawaii" is applied to anything young and cute/attractive/pretty/appealing. Most artists make a point to use "utsukushii" (females) or "suteki" (males) for characters that are pretty/handsome/attractive in an adult way. Again, if it's a girl talking she's more likely to use cute regardless of the person she's describing, just because "cute" is a cute little girl word. There is a clear pattern to how they use these words. But when you have translators using "cute" and "beautiful" for either of those japanese words, you end up with a lot more uses of the word "cute" than you get in Japanese. That could be because the translators are young and like cute more, because the word cute fits into bubbles better, because it's easier to spell, etc. Whatever the reason for the scanlation bias towards cute, you can't blame the Japanese for that.

Now things are more clear, thanks to everybody's responses. 😀

Simply put, it's just a cultural difference, really.

"I'll shut your mouth~~~~~ with mine~~~"

二息歩行