So I just read an article about the popularity of 'Baifumei' as a look in China. Baifumei is basically pale, rich and beautiful, with girls looks focusing on pale skin, large eyes, rosebud lips and an oval face. Also described in the look are really thin bodies (with the exception, of course, of big boobs).
So all of this reminded me forcefully of Hinata. Especially the makeover she got in "The Last," from an overly curvy, normal-sized girl in the manga to the waifish child-like girl in the movie. And in the manga epilogue, she noticeably stayed young and girlishly modest while everyone else got older and/or more overtly womanly.
I've also read recently about the cultural pressure in Japan toward more feminine, modest girls who only aspire to be future wives/moms (meaning Hinata, who embodies traditional Japan and its values as a clan princess) over active/modern types like Sakura portrays.
So I was wondering...was Hinata's move into the heroine slot and the backlash against Sakura a result of these cultural pressures? Did they make Hinata the love interest because she fits the role of the baifumei girl?
And is Naruto now the "gao fu shuai" - literally translated to tall, rich, handsome — which is the ultimate counterpart to the baifumei girl?
And all of this got me wondering.... Was Kishimoto pandering to Chinese and Japanese audiences when he recast Hinata as a baifumei princess? How popular is Naruto in China? Would it be worth it? Would it be a monetary coup to make a movie that's a sappy ideal girl/ideal boy love story versus a movie/manga ending that paired the hero with an athletic modern girl who's relationship follows the Japanese tsundere trope?
There's been a lot of talk about NH being a favorite Western ship and that Kishimoto finally bowed to pressure from the NH fans. But what if was more culturally based that that? What if they were instead trying to target Chinese/Japanese girls through Hinata in "The Last," just as the manga had always been aimed at boys through Naruto?
In a nutshell, Hinata's looks, though plain at the beginning of the manga, have been morphed into a known and named popular look among some Asian girls. However you'd be hard-pressed to find a real-life Sakura style to emulate, outside of her pink hair.
So - how big a role did this play in Hinata's makeover from forgettable side character to the byakugan princess? Did the marketing team take popular styles into account when remaking Hinata into the new female lead? Is Naruto popular enough in China that they tried make a girl character that represented the fashionable baifumei look, then rebuild Naruto as a romance instead of a bro-mance?
Thoughts?