Elaborating then since I thought that was pretty self-explanatory enough if one was fairly observant enough to common trends. I don't want to write a novel on this so gonna keep this relatively short and condensed as possible.
I asked 2 either-or questions, and got a single "both" response, which i could interpret as an answer to the first question, but not the second one if i read, read, and reread.
Japan/East = One of the leading characters with fan art since her late inclusion, ranked 2nd in a recent official poll behind Kasumi, picked often in casual play usually followed by 'kawai~' and other positive terms in multiple different videos/streams I watched of Japan play, being pimped out in merchandising, common DoA choice cosplay, etc.
This merely points out she wasn't an issue in the east, like in the west.
MR belongs in a common culture archetype that is popular [gothic loli pettanko] hence why she herself is being accepted quite easily regardless if she was labelled 12 or 1012 years old. The age is usually an afterthought for anime/video game characters anyway.
ぺったんこ aren't necessarily young. A woman that can't fill an A cup at the age of 30 is still a ぺったんこ. Loli is a similar, but, consequently, different genre. I don't watch much anime at all to know for sure, but i do assume that there is usually an age floor before it gets considered weird by Japanese, though cartoons don't bother them as much as real life does.
US/West = Not as accepting compared to East/Japan about what appears to be an underage girl being introduced because of different embedded social values. Western anime/manga crowd [fair assumption a good amount of them are into ecchi/harem/etc genre would play this game with what this game offers] that are loli/flat chest fans dig her just like there are Western fans that like 'cute young' characters Rachel in BB, May in GG, etc. Has generated positive reception in anime/manga affiliated sites such as CR, MAL, etc. One of the top DoA characters you could find art for if you dare venture DA, Tumblr, etc.
My thing is, girls under the age of 18 aren't controversial unless they're portrayed in a certain way. No one had a problem with all the underage people in Pokemon. The issue we're getting here is, it's DoA. DoA is quite clearly trying to push every female character's sexuality to the limits, so introducing underage children into the genre is going to be met with the (quite reasonable) assumption that these kids are going to be getting the same sexualized treatment (which is not kosher in western culture outside of certain minority circles).
She isn't as widely despised as one would initially think just because she goes against the Western accepted standards of age consent. If there was a Western only poll would be willing to bet money she would still somehow retain top 10.
Out of DoA players? Out of the larger anime niche? Out of the larger gamer niche? Out of the larger general population (who TN should be targeting)? Also note, she has been treated better than other female characters, but she's still pushing certain limits, depending on who you ask.
Note the common term that was missing for both region descriptions.
Competitive. No secret that those of us that play the game as a hobby for competition are the minority demographic so this is from the perspective from the majority demographic that would buy this game that is marketed as a 'sexy and action' 3D fighter. They want 'sexy and action' and different perspectives have different definitions for 'sexy' as we all learned once all kinds of different fetishes emerged.
And this is something that's, unfortunately, not well understood here. You want to please the largest crowd, so that the largest crowd buys, which gives you the most money. What TN needs to watch out for, is that the larger the crowd, the more picky they are about lines being crossed. Juri (SF) has enough sex appeal for a majority of people to be drawn to her, but she doesn't cross the line with most people. Sakura (SF) could easily be crossing lines, but they're not trying to draw attention to it. In DoA, on the other hand, everything is being handled completely oppositely. We're trying to take focus off things like this, but we have gotten constant reminders: which is why lines are being crossed. I can play as Marie and not see her sexualized, because i can also play as non-sexualized males. On the other hand, someone from the outside sees mostly women scantily clad, hits marie on the character selection, and automatically that cop outfit is going to look like BDSM. If we can get them to forget for 5 minutes, it'll all be cool until the graviure video hits the menu, then there's no going back. At that point, you just gotta tell everyone that she's actually 1000 years old, but her body hasn't changed because she's a vampire (her dialog makes that argument easily), and then everything will OK again for alot of people (not everyone). Unfortunately, Honoka doesn't have that argument, and the majority of people are going to see a little girl without looking at anything that says her age. Japanese like to ignore issues (like AKB48 apparently recruiting kids as young as 12 [and all kinds of stories that goes on behind the scenes]), so maybe Honoka won't raise as much of a stink in Japan. Here in the west, however, we can see that they're pushing the breasts, not just by their existance, but by her assortment of clothes that really push the fact in your face, let alone the Juri style dialog.
Note that this is a broad generalization. I'm perfectly aware that there is the possibility and liklihood that someone in Japan would not like MR and such, but I am fairly certain there is enough of a general consensus established from various sources that MR 'as is' regardless of any lingering age controversies still ended up being a well accepted character.
I highly doubt there was much issue, which was really my point. The boreder line is much more accepted in the east, for a number of reasons (which you've stated above). Here in the west, she's like a vampire in a catholic church during the crusades or the spanish inquisition. It takes alot of self-convincing to not think of her as a child that everyone's molesting with their eyes. Honoka's a lot harder, and thus is going to become an even larger issue in the end, because she's really nothing more than TN taking Marie further without ruining Marie.
TLDR: MR still has popularity regardless of age controversy because one can argue that is part of the appeal.
Focus being on the east. Her age wasn't an issue there (for all reasons above), so it could become part of the appeal. The west is a different story. But, i guess we need to chalk up the fact that the east is more important than the west (though that really shouldn't be if they're trying to make the most money).
EDIT:
The thing is you can't do both. Supporting sex and pushing it front and center severely harms DOAs competitive scene and perception and deters people from playing it.
I can barely get a decent match in DoA5 online, but there's 4 options for breast jiggle? Every other fighting game has a consistently playable netcode with tons of match making options.
I've heard nothing in the way of netcode improvements, matching options, gameplay adjustments, etc... But I know everything there is to know about soft engine and so does everyone else.
Take one step forward and one step backward. Tell me how far you've gone.
Thank you.
EDIT2:
+1 on both.
And btw
@Argentus, Itagaki is the reason why doa has the reputation that it has among gamers.
There's no way around it lol, he's also the man who made doa popular and saved Tecmo from bankrupt.
But saying that he isn't responsible for the certain reputation doa has, is just plain silly.
"But he made doax separately out of the normal doa's"
...
That hardly makes a diffirence, now does it.
The current dev team certainly isn't moving away from this reputation, but Koei Tecmo is company that needs to make money from their game they sell and if this means we get more support via dlc, whether it be characters, stages, etc.
It's pretty simple, if you dont like it.
Dont buy it/use it.
I'm about ready to join the don't buy it crowd. But this is counter of what they're supposed to be doing. Aren't they supposed to be trying to get new people to play so they have more people buying? Turning people away drops your numbers. I thought we were building this game, though. Why should i (or anyone else here, for that matter) keep trying to build up a game's foundation among people i know, when the people working on the top floor keep dropping lit explosives? With every person who stops buying, the game gains another hater who's pushing people away telling them how weird it is (which is the reason they stopped buying, rather than out of spite).
Also back to the Itagaki interview situation, guys lets not act like Itagaki is some innocent guy who was the former dev of the game that had little to no sexuality and fanservice in the series. He not only had just as much of it in the older games as DOA5 does now, but he is the reason it was in DOA in the first place. All Hayashi and the others are doing is embracing it as well, and the way Itagaki complains about it honestly makes him just look like a jealous hater.
That's like if Ed Boon left NRS and stopped working on Mortal Kombat and if a new person in charge made Mortal Kombat just as deadly and gruesome and then later Boon complains about how it is ruining MK. Just makes you look like a hater.
If you agree with Itagaki's points then fine but don't defend him like he had nothing to do with how the fanservice of DOA happened.
I agree. Itagaki is right with some of his current sentiments, but he's still full of it. He'd do no better. The real issue is that Itagaki is saying what's wrong with the game, but he's the pot calling the kettle black. The kettle just happens to be black with soot, rather than silver, and it needs to clean itself off, first.
