>>27145327>>27149862These two, together. We knew Misty too long before we cared about girls to suddenly start caring about her.
May was perfectly timed to appear onscreen, literally to the minute that puberty hit for most kids who were 5ish, give or take, when pokemon first released. She was either the same apparent age, or ever so slightly older than most of them. May's design looked like someone you could actually meet, but both cuter and cooler. Her personality was also within the realm of realism, no ridiculous anime nonsense here. She was clearly a girl, but tomboyish enough to be understandable to the oblivious young male psyche. She was a girl that you could relate to, as much as you can relate to a fictional character, anyways. A peer. A peer with a reasonably skimpy outfit, and breasts that, while not ridiculous outside of fun scenes like
>>27143922, were still impressive on a girl your age at the time.
I've also noticed a different, smaller fandom, possibly younger viewers, and possibly only children, and possibly even only younger only children that latched onto the "Big Sister" aspect of her character. I have less to work with here because I can only speculate, and they are rarer than the more basic "First Waifu" group making it harder to get information from them in bulk, so I don't have as firm a grasp on this group, unfortunately.
I'm no psychologist, mind. This came right out of my ass, and should be taken with a shaker of salt.
