Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

Translations by Miyu Arai and Laura Bartholomew

Herbivorous males, Mori girls, Buddha boys… the Japanese media just can’t get enough of filing people into obscure categories. If the current crop leaves you cold, though, you might find what you’re looking for in Moe Danshi Gatari (roughly, “Dream Guy Gallery”). Released at the end of last year, the book collects illustrations by 52 female manga-ka of their own ideal men, ranging from the commonplace (“pudgy guy”) to the downright weird (“macho drag man,” anyone?). Here are a few of our favorites.

All extracts are taken from Moe Danshi Gatari (Bookman, 2009, 112pp, ¥1,260), available at bookstores throughout Japan.

© Takeshi Matsu

Sujikin Megane Danshi

“Chiseled bespectacled man”

By Takeshi Matsu, author of Gokujyou Oyaji and Takuhai Spirit!!

I’m a real sucker for a man who looks smart with glasses. It’s my ideal. I feel like he’s superior to me, and I feel attracted to that power. It doesn’t matter if he’s older or younger than me: I just fall for the miracle brought on by those glasses, the sharp eyes behind them, and that toned body. If a man like that would sometimes show his soft side to me alone, I’d fall for him completely. For example, say he’s a hard, strict worker, but in the morning when he wakes up, he gets out of bed, yawns and brushes his teeth looking sleepy and lazy. I would say, “Hey, you forgot to wear your T-shirt!” “Either brush your teeth first or do your tie first!” “Stop walking around in your underwear!” But at the same time, I’d be smiling to myself and thinking, “In this moment, he’s mine and mine alone…”

I really like these guys, but unfortunately I’ve never dated one before. It’s probably two different things to go out with somebody and to dream about it. Still, I’m so attracted to people with glasses that I sometimes make my boyfriend wear them, just for me.

© Kyushudanji

Kosodate Danshi

“Child-rearing man”

By Kyushudanji , author of Otoko no Kakureka and Love of Bucho

These days, when you see couples out with their children, do you ever get the feeling that more and more often, it’s the man who’s holding the baby? That’s one of my favorite sights. Sometimes I see a man walking with two or three children and no wife in sight… A man’s maternal instinct really makes my moe receptors tingle. It seems that the hormone which causes a woman to lactate when she sees a baby is also activated in men when they see infants; I expect that if they just tried a little harder, they’d be able to produce “father’s milk”…

In the past, when a man was expected to be a “fighter,” feeling compassion or sympathy—or even directly expressing his feelings—was prohibited (it is because so many boys are naturally cowards and crybabies that they’re so frequently admonished that “boys don’t cry!”). It’s possible that this stress hindered a man’s ability to love his children…

Spending time with his children and showering them with love is in fact a man’s natural state, and in these acts we can see the happiness of a human who no longer feels the need to be a warrior… As for the ultimate child-rearing man, the “house husband,” I think it takes a man who’s unusually sure of his own masculinity to choose to fly in the face of fixed concepts and devote himself to taking care of his family. Instead of guns or swords, I wish that men would hold babies in their arms. That’s when we feel the most strength, manliness, and sense of safety.

© Kou Yoneda

Tsukareta Riiman Danshi

“Tired salaryman”

By Kou Yoneda, author of Doushitemo Furetakunai

Though it’s quite common, I like salarymen. To be precise, I like tired salarymen wearing tired suits. Much as I appreciate smart, fashionable three-piece suits that look like they were made in Italy, I like a normal suit worn normally by a tired salaryman the most. He doesn’t have to be wearing a jacket. In fact, I like it when the jacket is off, showing his tired shirt, with his sleeves rolled up and tie loosened, looking like he’s just worked through the whole night (the name tag is a must!). I imagine him slouched in the smoking area, with a can of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in his mouth, blowing the smoke out towards the sky…

Suits are a symbol of working men. This might be overstating it, but I believe that being attracted to suits is the same thing as being attracted to men… Rather than guys in their 20s or under, I prefer them to be in their 30s, 40s or 50s. Sorrow, amorousness, bitterness, freedom, reconciliation—a man who has these characteristics only gets deeper the more you dig into him, just like chewing dried squid or sukonbu [seaweed with vinegar].

Brand new suits worn sharply without any wrinkles are attractive, but a suit smelling of cigarettes with a few wrinkles in it is more my thing. A man who has tasted sweet and sour: that’s the way I like them.

© Haruki Fujimoto

Bukatsudou Danshi

“Extracurricular activity boys”

By Haruki Fujimoto, author of Final Impression and Boku ni Ren’ai wa Muitenai

In the space of three short years [at school], boys work as one team to achieve a goal… While other guys spend their hours working part-time or flirting with their girlfriends, these boys are getting sweaty, running around, and thinking of clever formations…

Their most attractive point is their youth and their immaturity as a group. No matter if a boy is six feet tall with a frightening attitude, he’s still a teenager. He’s hungry for new experiences and stimulation… Whatever they do, though, their time is limited. Even if they get into a fight, they must be ready to get up early the next day for their morning practice. One person’s problem is the whole team’s problem. They handle it by talking things out with each other. Even the one who stays cool during a game will shed some tears. This is a privilege only boys who spend so much time with each other have…

After practice, the boys go around convenience stores, still dressed in their jerseys, wondering how to fill their empty stomachs up with the little money they have, and arguing about which of the workers there is the cutest. Perhaps they’ll even impulsively decide to ride off to the beach on their bicycles!

This kind of youth and innocence should be best enjoyed by watching them from afar, and feeling satisfied just being able to witness such togetherness.

© Takao Hiroi

Hige Danshi

“Bearded hunks”

By Takao Hiroi, author of Ikenai Otoko and Uminari

When I say I like bearded men, I don’t mean old, fat lazy men who I can’t get my arms around when I try to hug them. If I were to pick my type, it would be men who aren’t too fat or too skinny, with a good amount of muscle, a toned body, a back that speaks of all the experiences they’ve been through in life, long fingers, and a face that can give an evil smile. That’s the kind of bearded man I like.

But of course, there isn’t anyone like that in my neighborhood. Even if I widened my search to the whole of Japan, I wouldn’t find many people. If I went abroad, I’d find a few more, but… I drew these two characters because I wish people like them existed. The one on the left is in his mid 30s and the one on the right is in his mid 40s, I think. I’ll leave the nature of their relationship to your imagination… My favorite thing about these characters is how on the one hand they smile so innocently, but on the other, they give hard, serious looks when they are enduring hardship. I relish how these boys go through all kinds of things in life—dirty things, of course—and how they cry.

© Asumiko Nakamura

Hi-oshare Megane Danshi

“Non-fashionable guys with glasses”

By Asumiko Nakamura, author of Double Mints and Doukyusei

I like glasses, but I feel this topic is a bit old hat. Lately, glasses have become a common fashion item among the general public, and saying “I like glasses” is as acceptable as a music lover saying “I like The Beatles.” It’s become the norm—nothing interesting or unusual. Therefore, we need to go into the exact details of our affection. Going back to the example of The Beatles, we must discuss which song from which album we particularly like.

In my case, I dislike fashionable glasses… I don’t know why. To be fashionable means knowing how to look attractive with what you were born with—in other words, to be aware of your potential to be attractive. “I think I might look good with this outfit.” That thinking goes against the beauty of glasses for me. Glasses have to be worn with innocence, without any sense of awareness, and with your guard down. They have to have the same kind of attractiveness that a girl’s virginity has to men. “You might not be aware of this… But you look really good!” That’s how I like it…

The important thing is not to care about what is fashionable, and to just go with what is most useful and functional. Therefore, on some occasions, this kind of guy may wear something that looks really good on him by chance… Everyone will say, “You should always dress like that… It’s such a shame.” But he won’t take it seriously. He won’t even try to take it seriously. He won’t even realize that he isn’t taking it seriously. That’s my ideal of non-fashionable glasses.

© Tomi Aoyama

Dara-dara Danshi

“The idle man”

By Tomi Aoyama, author of Stalemate

Let’s say it’s early afternoon on the last day of his vacation. Soft sunlight spills in through the window, and time seems to move slowly. Yesterday he started drinking in the evening, then got into a Mario tournament on his SNES, and finally fell asleep without realizing it.

The remains of his food and drinks are scattered across the floor, and each time he takes a step you can hear the crackle underneath his bare feet. His eyes feel gritty because he left his contacts in.

“Argh, I can’t find my glasses. And wait, why aren’t I wearing a shirt? Looks like I’ve been using my suit jacket as a pillow—Aah! Look at all these wrinkles! Hey, you seen my glasses? Huh? Oh, if you want coffee it’s in the cupboard on the right. Oh man, these wrinkles are gonna be a pain, aren’t they? Huh? Mario? I dunno, can’t remember who won…”

He feels half asleep and half awake. Sunlight shines through his closed eyelids, his thoughts are indistinct like foam, his hair is mussed and his chin is dusted with stubble…

It’s that defenselessness, that unreserved side of him. His looks and his personality displayed as-is, his thoughts—or rather, just reflexes; his dispersed consciousness just leading wherever it takes him, that he shows at times like this, in a puddle of sunlight on a weekend afternoon…
At work he may be a strict and calculating Wall Street type, but at home, with bed head, careless stubble and sweatpants, he lies slouched and staring at the TV.

Ooooh, that gap makes his idleness really outstanding! Sometimes you turn to him and notice that he’s fallen asleep. He looks so defenseless! I just can’t get enough… What do you think?

In the midst of these hectic days, wouldn’t you like to spend some time lounging next to an attractively idle man?