>>241088743I don't disagree with your reasoning at all, not even from a sexual attraction to characters perspective. Well developed female characters with backstories are much sexier and easier to be emotionally invested in than cheap fanservice vehicles. I disagree about Anno's output though. Noriko from Gunbuster, Shinji and Asuka are some of my favorite characters ever. Evangelion has been better every time I've watched it and deserves the reputation it has in Japan, not the one it has here.
I like Idolmaster because its origins in the VN/Raising Sim genre as well as the links to the VA/Music industry ensure a general high quality level for character design, writing, and music. That is, provided the idol you like is popular. Deremas stuff isn't as detailed as the original and 2nd vision stuff. There are lots of cute girls shows every season. Most are okay with 1 or 2 stand out characters. See Gabriel Dropout. After you've watched 80 of them over the course of 20 years, it gets hard to watch the random low quality ones. Not hating on Gabu by the way, just an example of a show that could have been a lot better.
On a slightly different topic, I don't know why shonenfans and "moefags" on this board hate each other and have for 15 years. To me it's just good or bad art, in either niche there's good and bad. Kishimoto and Oda have drawn stuff I absolutely love even if I'm not about to read either manga all the way through.
