Not Thriving: Breast Sponge

Only 9 page examples, 17 wicks, although 543 inbounds. That latter state might mean this trope is thriving, or it might not. Perhaps all this trope needs is some honest pimping. Or more work might need to be done.

Also, I'm not too fond of the name. The term actually refers to the fatty tissue in the breasts, regardless of what is being done with them. It seems the term was trying to use the term "sponge bath", without thinking of how it would look to those who don't know.

Plus there can be plenty of clever names that actually describe the trope, like Breast Lufa or Scrubbing With Breasts or Lather Tits Repeat.

edited 29th Feb '12 3:52:58 PM by DragonQuestZ

Is it really that common that we should be expecting it to thrive anymore than it is? It isn't like this is really all that ubiquitous. I've seen dozens of anime works and have yet to come across it. And the inbound numbers are simply amazing given the number of wicks it has.

Is the name causing problems? Misuse? Confusion? Sure, you have a personal opinion on it, but that isn't the same as an argument that it is causing problems. I think the name is fairly descriptive without being unnecessarily lurid. It isn't like it is named the Asobi Gambit or something.

Guys, not every trope needs a thousands of wicks to be successful. The page is not even two years old and more than meets our minimum standards for the number of examples and wicks. I really think we have more pressing problems to deal with.

edited 29th Feb '12 4:43:31 PM by Catbert

"Is it really that common that we should be expecting it to thrive anymore than it is?"

Begging the question needs more than just asking as though it makes it true. You need to prove it.

"And the inbound numbers are simply amazing given the number of wicks it has."

That just means we don't delete the old name if we rename it. That is another function of redirects, after all.

"Is the name causing problems? Misuse? Confusion?"

That does not apply here, as the use is too small to see if there is any. Furthermore, it's implying that renames can only be when there is misuse, which is not required here.

"Sure, you have a personal opinion on it, but that isn't the same as an argument that it is causing problems."

Stating that the term actually means something else outside this site is a personal opinion? Did you miss what I wrote in the description?

"Guys, not every trope needs a thousands of wicks to be successful."

Even as hyperbole, that's a strawman. Less than 20 wicks is not thriving.

"The page is not even two years old and more than meets our minimum standards for the number of examples and wicks."

You're acting as though there are some magic "no rename" numbers you can throw around. It doesn't work that way.

"I really think we have more pressing problems to deal with."

Then help resolve other threads so we can have more space opened up. Don't try to use a line on any thread you don't like.

My suspicion is that, outside of porn and hentai, it's not that common. And we don't really want a list of porn and hentai works in the examples, beyond a general "common in porn involving bathing" single example.

And even then, it's written as a strictly anime trope. Which I suspect it isn't.

edited 29th Feb '12 5:05:33 PM by Madrugada

Actual examples, yes, rare outside of porn. Jokes and references, not uncommon (e.g., the pervy Love Interest is heading for the shower and makes a leering suggestion, and the girl wallops him).

Seeing as 22% of examples are from Western works, it doesn't seem very anime specific. Just anime heavy. I don't think it's ever going to get too many examples though.

Ok, the description is anime-centric. And 2 out of seven may be 22% but it still isn't very good.

edited 29th Feb '12 5:30:02 PM by Madrugada

Saying that you don't think there is a problem and nothing major needs to be changed is contributing towards trying to resolve threads. Sometimes inaction is a legitimate resolution, especially for a non-problem.

When I see the term "sponge", I primarily think of its capacity to absorb water (e.g. to make a wet surface dry), not as something you use to wash with.

I'm pretty sure there's an existing term for this, and I'm pretty sure that term isn't "breast sponge".

That only works if a trope really isn't a problem, not because you don't want a name changed.

edited 29th Feb '12 6:25:02 PM by DragonQuestZ

It has jack to to with whether or not I want the name changed. What I don't want is for people to be constantly dragging minor and petty tropes into TRS for name change without real proof of a problem, while meanwhile attempts to accomplish no-brainer fixes like addressing duplicate tropes go 13 days with only 8 votes, or threads where someone is trying to get approval for changing something into a UsefulNotes page get only a single reply, because they don't have eye catching terms like "breast", "loli" or "furry" in the title.

What I don't want is for people to be constantly tweaking tropes on the theory that a better name will make a trope that isn't really all that common "thrive" any more than it already is.

What I don't want is for people to keep proposing renames when they can't demonstrate that the name is causing problems.

edited 29th Feb '12 6:44:33 PM by Catbert

I'd suggest Scrubbing Boobies but that might be just as ambiguous (pun on Scrubbing Bubbles for those who don't get it).

edited 29th Feb '12 6:44:42 PM by Willbyr

Well I like that suggestion, and it at least has a word indicating the trope better.

edited 29th Feb '12 6:53:19 PM by DragonQuestZ

That is good.

We already renamed this. I don't know how much clearer you think you can make it with a second rename. The current title is about as clear as it gets.

It has a low wick count because it's not common. The inbounds are perfectly healthy. I don't see any problem for us to address.

It does sound like a novelty bath item.

But failing Guess That Trope is not a reason to rename a trope.

edited 29th Feb '12 7:57:16 PM by troacctid

The lack of wicks cannot be attributed to the name, just how uncommon this trope is. The name is adequately clear.

I've never seen this trope used, so I'm in no position to judge whether or not it's strictly a Japanese thing. Maybe it's just more common in Japanese media.

We can get clearer, because "sponge" doesn't mean just an item to help cleaning oneself when bathing. It's non-indicative.

This I agree, the name really does not tell the trope too well.

Why don't we do a Wick Check then?

Misuse

[none]

Boobies (correct)

1. Ah! My Goddess
2. Asobi Ni Iku Yo
3. Empowered
4. Laconic.Escort Mission (ha, this one's actually kinda funny)
5. Characters.Koe De Oshigoto
6. Maid Corps
7. Manyu Hikencho
8. Midori no Hibi
9. Seto no Hanayome
10. The Sagara Family

Variant: Other erotic scrubbing (correct)

1. Kodomo No Jikan

Index boobies (correct)

• Bathing Tropes
• Body Sponge (redirect)
• Laconic.Breast Sponge (laconic)
• It.Elenco Provvisorio A-C (Who's making these indexes, anyway? Shouldn't it be the Italian version of the page on here?)
• Fanservice
• Keep Abreast Of This Index
• Renamed Tropes

edited 29th Feb '12 8:22:37 PM by troacctid

The only reason I can see for a rename is that, with so few wicks, it wouldn't hurt.

EDIT: Also, clever use of this trope's old name in that pothole there.

edited 29th Feb '12 8:31:50 PM by FinalStarman

It's gained 543 inbounds in a year. That's not what I'd call "Not Thriving".

"It wouldn't hurt" is a poor reason to do a rename.

Especially on a trope with 500+ inbounds. Clearly this has caught on somewhere outside the wiki.

If someone could convince me that the was a really common supertrope that should have far more usage than it does right now, that would be one thing.

But personally I think that doing a rename on this, especially given the perfect score on the wick check and the fact that a previous TRS thread already settled on the current name, would amount to change for the sake of change which is never going to make this any more widely used than it is already.

The focus of renaming efforts should be on clearly broken tropes whose names are causing demonstrable problems. This doesn't qualify.

Yeah, "It wouldn't hurt," is not a good reason to rename. I should have made that clearer in my post. And if this page has attracted 500 inbounds, I don't think a new name would attract more.