8oomer's Blog

Aug 2, 2015 7:02 AM
Anime Relations: Aria the Animation, Sky Girls, Strike Witches, Saki, K-On!, Girls & Panzer, Love Live! School Idol Project, Kantai Collection: KanColle
This blog entry assumes the reader is already familiar with CGDCT. If you aren't then you need to visit the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things club forum and read the sticky. NOTE: I am not a member of the CGDCT club, reasons for which I elaborate upon below (otherwise I'd simply be a member and wouldn't even need this blog entry to explain about CGDCT since I could just link to the club and leave it at that).

So what is the purpose of this blog entry?
Basically it's to state my own definition of what I consider to be CGDCT.

First off, the CGDCT club (in particular MAL users Classick and okanagan) have done a great job of promoting and clarifying CGDCT (to a point) and listing titles that qualify as such. I regularly visit that thread for more titles and for information about said titles. In forum posts I don't hesitate to link to that club's thread for the benefit and education of new CGDCT enthusiasts.

So what's my definition of CGDCT? How does it differ from the CGDCT Club? Why am I not in that club? Well, while I admire the fervor there I have a difference in opinion on the definition of CGDCT. Specifically the "Cute Things" part. As far as I'm concerned (almost) ANY activity is fine and the insistence on the "randomness" aspect and the narrowness of the "cuteness" aspect of the activity is overly restrictive IMO. I align far closer to Classick's interpretation of the "Cute Things" activity than okanagan's.

Throughout that club's thread and discussion about titles there's this incessant hand-wringing about how cute a certain activity is or how far removed from "random" it is. A 100% CGDCT as defined by that club (okanagan's definition) is one where the girls do nothing but totally random inane activities. For some reason having a goal or purpose for the cast is considered a negative. The incidence of such titles with totally random activities for the characters is so rare that a color-coded, graded system was necessary to include more titles with the deviation from the ideal noted. In fact, there are only a tiny number of shows in all of anime where the cast are not working towards some goal or other rather than simply some "random activity". According to that site a title like Girls und Panzer is 30-50% CGDCT due to the goal of winning a tournament. This is silly IMO and the fact that so much effort is put into wringing up justification for this or that anime's "randomness" (or lack of, or departure from total randomness) is telling. So let's explore this "cute things" factor further.

BUT, before we get into that, where did the term/acronym CGDCT come from? My own casual investigation indicates the term shows up all over the internet and I couldn't pin down where it actually originated (I didn't try too hard to find out: I've got better things to do with my time). In other words I don't think that particular club owns the term. However, I'll acknowledge they've put more time and effort into it and built a club around it so it's pretty much a fait accompli that at least on MAL their definition has more weight behind it than a lone member's definition such as myself has. However, as long as I've stated my own opinion here and abstained from joining the club (which would constitute an endorsement) then I'm content.

So back to the Cute Things. My guess is that whomever coined the CGDCT acronym figured that the Cute Things part of it added a whimsical appeal and was catchier than simply Cute Girls Doing Things or Cute Girls Doing Stuff. It rolls off the tongue easier and is, well, cute in its own right. Where I think the term has de-railed is the interpretation. Whereas the inventor had a set of anime he wished to give a name to (calling them CGDCT) Okanagan and others have taken the name and tried to fit a set of anime to it by attempting to dissect the term. As far as I'm concerned it's semantics. It's unfortunate that the acronym itself has ended up restricting and perverting what I believe was intended, namely: a term to embrace a set of anime titles featuring a cast of cute girls doing WHATEVER. IMO almost any activity BECOMES cute simply by having cute girls doing it. It's even more apparent when the activity is normally associated with men. An anime about a bunch of guys operating tanks wouldn't be cute but substitute them with high school girls and it suddenly becomes cute (and not just because the girls themselves are cute but because it is cute watching them operate heavy equipment, loading shells and whatnot).

Obviously some activities can't be considered cute. Cute girls killing people or pets isn't cute. Also, gore, foul language and over-sexualization are also negatives. IMO the "purity" of the girls should be maintained. A bit of ecchi or fanservice or shoujo-ai/yuri overtones can be tolerated if handled carefully. For example, Strike Witches features a lot of fanservice and some ecchi episodes. However, the ecchi consists of the playful or humorous variety; the kind you see when a group of girls are together and no males are present. It's still a negative but not enough to exclude the show from being associated with the CGDCT classification IMO.

So that's pretty much it. If I call something CGDCT it's because that's what I consider it to be according to my definition.

Gokigenyou!

NOTE: I prefer comments be made in my profile comments area which is why I've locked the blog's comment feature.
Posted by 8oomer | Aug 2, 2015 7:02 AM | Add a comment
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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