[Disclaimer: While this blog post discusses Rule 34 statistics, it doesn't contain explicit imagery, embedded links to pornographic material or excessive coarse language. However, it does contain excessive horse language.]

It's the tenth of the month, so you know what that means. That's right! It's time for another in-depth analysis of clop!



My previous Rule 34 blog posts are available at the following links.

August 2012 / At the rate things are going...

September 2012 / Famous Bronies

October 2012 / Digimon

November 2012 / Equestrian elections

December 2012 / Top 11 Hottest Animated Women

January 2013 / General porn statistics

February 2013 / Touhou review

March 2013 / Season three wrap up

April 2013 / Idolm@ster

May 2013 / OC woes

June 2013 / Ribald Rivalries

July 2013 / A major announcement

August 2013 / Rule 34 Origins

September 2013 / Equestria Girls Review

October 2013 / Three years of MLP:FIM

November 2013 / Season Three Episode Retrospective

December 2013 / Twilight Sparkle's Rival

January 2014 / Passing the Bechdel Test

February 2014 / CP Atone

March 2014 / Loli and Stitch

April 2014 / The Binding of Wonder Woman

Without further ado, here's the latest data from Rule34.paheal.net!



As of May 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34:

Pokemon still holds the lead with 76,706 images. 1,373 new explicit images were added during April, giving Pokemon a 1.8% increase in porn from last month. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in second place with 52,235 images. 1,191 new explicit images were added during April, giving My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a 2.3% increase in porn from last month. Touhou is in third place with 47,736 images. 942 new explicit images were added during April, giving Touhou a 2% increase in porn from last month. DC Comics is in fourth place with 24,147 images. 202 new explicit images were added during April, giving DC Comics a 0.8% increase in porn from last month. Street Fighter is in fifth place with 18,252 images. 236 new explicit images were added during April, giving Street Fighter a 1.3% increase in porn from last month. Naruto is in sixth place with 17,977 images. 456 new explicit images were added during April, giving Naruto a 2.6% increase in porn from last month. Marvel Comics is in seventh place with 17,315 images. 205 new explicit images were added during April, giving Marvel Comics a 1.1% increase in porn from last month. Sonic Team is in eighth place with 16,398 images. 357 new explicit images were added during April, giving Sonic Team a 2.2% increase in porn from last month. Digimon is in ninth place with 12,384 images. 95 new explicit images were added during April, giving Digimon a 0.7% increase in porn from last month. Super Mario Bros is in tenth place with 11,074 images. 178 new explicit images were added during April, giving Super Mario Bros a 1.6% increase in porn from last month.

For the first time in 2014, My Little Pony was not the top generator of new Rule 34. The surge in Pokemon porn production can be attributed to the recent announcement that Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire will be rereleased for the Nintendo 3DS.



In the months leading up to the release, we can expect to see a swell of new Pokemon porn. My Little Pony can also expect to see a surge of smut in the latter half of the year. This will be due to the release of the Equestria Girls sequel, Rainbow Rocks, in addition to hype surrounding the premiere of season five.



Now that we've gone over the monthly update for the top ten porn producers, it's time to analyze the latest data regarding Rule 34 images for the mane six.

As of May 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34 for the mane six, according to Rule34.paheal.net:

Twilight Sparkle has 7,825 images. 173 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 2.2% increase from last month. Rainbow Dash has 6,556 images. 125 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 1.9% increase from last month. Fluttershy has 6,054 images. 160 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 2.7% increase from last month. Pinkie Pie has 5,684 images. 113 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 2% increase from last month. Rarity has 5,076 images. 115 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 2.3% increase from last month. Applejack has 4,935 images. 98 explicit images were added during April, giving her a 2% increase from last month.

While April's increase may have been the lowest point of the year so far, members of the mane six were still able to reach a couple of milestones. Congratulations to Fluttershy, who succeeded in garnering more than 6,000 images! Also kudos to Rarity, who managed to accumulate more than 5,000 images!



It's a sad day for Applejack. This is the first time in two years that a member of the mane six has generated less than 100 new monthly images.



Special thanks to Infinion, who made these amazing graphs of the data I collected.

To start off with, here's the master chart of the top ten Rule 34 producers.



This chart represents more than three years' worth of Rule 34 data. In order to more closely examine the numbers, Infinion has broken the data into more manageable semi-annual charts.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Which brings us to May 2014.



To get an idea of how far My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has come since its premiere, here's a chart highlighting the monthly numerical and percentage increase of MLP porn.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the top ten porn producers, as well as their monthly increase.

Now let's take a look at the Rule 34 stats for the mane six. Here's their master chart.



In order to discover what these numbers mean, we'll need to delve deeper. In order to do that, we'll break down the data into semi-annual chunks.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Which brings us to May 2014.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the mane six, as well as their monthly increase

Well, after talking about one of the most iconic super heroines of all time last month, I decided to move on to one of the lesser known female heroes. Namely, Cybersix.



Cybersix is the titular character of an Argentinian graphic novel first published in 1992. The series was drawn by Carlos Meglia and written by Carlos Trillo.



Cybersix's leather-clad design makes her look like the lovechild of Batman and Carmen Sandiego.



The story takes place in the fictitious South American city of Meridiana. The villain is a former Nazi and expert in genetic engineering named Dr. Von Reichter. He created a series of artificial humanoids who possessed superhuman strength and agility. When they began to display free will and rebel against their creator, Von Reichter ordered all of them to be destroyed. Cybersix was the only one to survive the massacre, but her troubles were far from over. Von Reichter programmed all of his creations to depend on a mysterious life-giving fluid called "Sustenance" in order to survive. When Cybersix's supply runs out, she's forced to hunt down and murder Von Reichter's new creations in order to take their Sustenance. Cybersix is unique in that she didn't become a hero out of a sense of duty or a desire for fame and glory. Her first concern is survival. Defending people from Von Reichter's machinations is secondary. Von Reichter often works from the shadows and has commissioned his cloned "son" José to carry out his diabolical designs.



In order to assimilate into society, Cybersix took the identity of a young man killed in a car crash named Adrian Seidelman. While hiding from the forces of Von Reichter, Cybersix disguises herself as Adrian and eventually takes a position as a male highschool teacher.



Cybersix develops feelings for the biology teacher, Lucas Amato, which is made awkward by the fact that Lucas and Adrian are friends.



To further complicate things, one of her female students, Lori, has a crush on Cybersix's male alter-ego, Adrian.



This is a complex narrative. You have Cybersix, who has to hunt down and kill her creator's genetic mutations in order to stay alive, while also posing as a mild-mannered male high school teacher by day. You have José, who's been tasked to capture Cybersix in order to earn the respect of his father. You have Lucas, who sees Cybersix and Adrian as two separate people, which means that Lucas's bro is also his girlfriend. You have Lori, a delinquent who has a crush on her teacher Adrian to the point of stalking him. At one point, Lori spies through a keyhole and sees Cybersix in the nude and assumes that she is Adrian's lover. Lori then follows Cybersix to Lucas's apartment.





This forms one extremely awkward love triangle. Thanks to Lori's meddling, Lucas suspects that Adrian is romantically involved with Cybersix.



Let me be clear: Cybersix is not a comic for kids. It's more akin to Sin City or Watchmen. Every issue of Cybersix features violence, nudity and adult situations. I can't even show some of the comic book covers on this site, since they're borderline pornography.



One of the most disturbing aspects of the series is José. He's chronologically an adult, but his father engineered him to have a permanently youthful body to prevent him from growing into a potential threat. José is a depraved rapist trapped in the body of a prepubescent boy.



To give you an idea of just how dark this series can get, in Volume 1 chapter 15 of the comics, Lori narrowly escapes from becoming the latest victim of a serial killer, only to be raped by José. Nothing graphic is shown, but the implication is clear.

So, just to recap, Cybersix has Nazi genetic experimentation, crossdressing, love triangles, nudity, sex, violence, murder and child rape. I could potentially see turning these comics into a mature animated series like HBO's Spawn, but who in their right mind would try to adapt Cybersix into a children's cartoon? Apparently, someone thought it was a good idea.

This is like that Saturday morning Watchman cartoon.

The only difference is, that was meant to be a joke. The Cybersix cartoon actually got made.

It should come as a surprise to no one that the mature themes prevalent in the comics have been drastically toned down for the Cybersix cartoon. Lori obviously never gets raped in the animated series, but for those who've read the comics, the scene where she's kidnapped by José has an added sense of menace.



The Cybersix comics have a distinctive art style which has been incorporated into the animated series, for better or worse. Just take a look at one of the characters from the series, Yashimoto.



With his big teeth and slanted eyes, Yashimoto is more of a racist stereotype than what people were used to seeing on children's programming in 90s... for the most part.



In the comic and cartoon, Yashimoto's a private eye who takes care of his little sister, Ikiko. The Cybersix comic comes from Argentina, which has an estimated 180,000 Asian immigrants. Yashimoto wasn't meant to offend anyone. He's a hero who embodies the love and respect the writer and illustrator of Cybersix have for Asian culture. (Although it may be worth mentioning that at one point in the comics Lori molests Yashimoto and shoves her bare breasts in his face.)



Another aspect of the art style is how all body hair is drawn as rectangles. In the numerous nude scenes within the comics, we learn that Cybersix hasn't had a Brazilian wax and the carpet matches the drapes. The blocky rectangles make her pubic hair look like black licorice sprinkles.



With the excessive nudity in the comics and her skintight leather outfit, some may assume that Cybersix is merely meant to titillate straight male readers. Before forming an opinion though, take a look at this promotional image for Cybersix.



It took me a while to understand what was so odd about her posture. Then it hit me. Cybersix is a female superhero, but she's not contorted into a sexually provocative pose that allows the viewer to simultaneously ogle her boobs and butt.



If anything, Cybersix's stoic stance is similar to Superman.



Sexually suggestive poses never seem to happen to male superheroes.



Cybersix is sexy. She wears high heels and tight, leather clothing which she literally stole from a prostitute. She appears nude in the comics frequently; especially in her apartment. So, with all of these factors in mind, what makes Cybersix more than just a sex symbol?

The Cybersix comics are filled with adult situations and mature themes. Cybersix is often seen naked, but she's not packaged and promoted as a sex symbol. She's a well-written and subtly-nuanced character who also happens to be naked. If Frank Miller were writing Cybersix, things would be very different.



From what I've observed, Americans in general have serious issues with nudity. The poor integration of sex into American media is partially due to the social stigma associated with the naked form. When nudity or sex is included, it more often than not becomes the entire focus and drowns out any other meaning. Countries which are more open about sexuality are able to better blend these elements into their media. If some tasteful nudity is induced in a movie, the US ratings board will likely give it the same R rating as a raunchy sex comedy. I'll give an example by quoting from an old blog entry I posted nearly two years ago.

"In Mike Leigh’s comic biography of composers Gilbert and Sullivan, Topsy-Turvy (1999), the film was rated ‘R’ in the US, because of a single, comic scene of two topless women impersonating marionettes in a historical burlesque-type routine, in what might possibly be a Paris brothel. The rating reason provided was ‘A scene of risqué nudity’. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) decided to pass the same film with a ’12’ rating, which meant that it was considered suitable for 12 years and over. Accompanying the '12' rating was consumer advice indicating the film contained ‘single instances of nudity, drug use and strong language’. The BBFC considered that the context of the burlesque world inhabited by the composers in their line of work, and the lack of any overtly sexual overtone, allowed this scene to be contained at a lower category, given it was an isolated incident in a work not aimed at children."

The Cybersix comics never received an official English translation. I'm not an authority on the characters, but I've done a fair amount of research. Cybersix has sex appeal, but it doesn't define who she is. Her character doesn't obsess about sex or talk about physical intimacy in a flippant manner. Cybersix has a romantic relationship with Lucas, but the physical act of sex is never the focal point. Compelling characters and an engaging story are what separates tasteful nudity from sleazy titillation. Cybersix is an excellent example of how to include sexual themes into a story without making them the main focus. Compare the meaningful and intimate sex scenes of Cybersix with the DC comics reboot which reduced Starfire to a promiscuous sexual goldfish.



Something as simple as a dignified stance can illustrate how much more respect is given to Cybersix when compared to other female superheroes.



When discussing Cybersix, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the comparisons people have made to SheZow.



SheZow is the story of a boy named Guy who discovers that his aunt used to be a super hero. When he puts on her power ring and shouts the catchphrase "You go, girl!" he transforms into SheZow. While he gains super strength, speed and endurance, he also looks the part of a super heroine; including knee-high boots, a fuchsia skirt and long, glossy hair.



When the series premiered, there was outcry from conservative groups who were concerned that SheZow was promoting crossdressing and a transgender lifestyle. As with everything in life, context matters. SheZow is not "the world's first transgender superhero." I haven't watched every episode, but from what I've seen of SheZow, Guy isn't questioning his sexuality. He's not wearing a dress because he identifies as a girl. The series uses crossdressing for comedic effect, like Bugs Bunny.



SheZow's not trying to make some bold statement about transgender issues. The same thing applies to Disney's Mulan. She didn't dress as a man because it matched her sexual identity. No one protested Mulan because it promoted 'crossdressing.' Although, I must admit that Mulan's song "Reflection" could be an anthem for those dealing with issues of gender identity.



There can be no bigotry without hypocrisy. It's alright for Mulan and Cybersix to crossdress as men, but when a boy wears a dress, everyone loses their minds. Why is the former viewed as innocuous while the latter is deemed insidious? It's all part of the underlying problem of femininity being shunned while masculinity is praised.



I first found out about Cybersix because of My Little Pony. Cathy Weseluck is the voice of Cybersix and Spike the dragon!



She's not the only voice actor who's worked on both of those shows. Michael Dobson is the voice of Lucas on Cybersix and Bulk Biceps in My Little Pony.



Terry Klassen is the voice of Von Reichter on Cybersix and Garble the dragon on My Little Pony. (He also voiced Eddy's older brother, for what it's worth.)



Any chance we can get a fanfic where 'Spike' is really Barb, but she poses as a male dragon during the day where she works as a teacher with Bulk Biceps? At night, Barb goes out as a costumed vigilante to stop Garble's genetic mutations. Then again, maybe I'm overthinking things. Instead of Rule 63 Spike, Cathy Weseluck also voices Mayor Mare. She already dyes her mane. What other secrets is she hiding?



Before the cartoon series came out, there was a campy, live-action TV series of Cybersix made in Argentina. I'll just let the clips speak for themselves.

There's even some controversy surrounding Cybersix. The creators of the comic accused James Cameron of plagiarizing their work on his TV series Dark Angel.

"Meglia and I were sure we had been plagiarized. Cybersix readers who watched Cameron's TV series were sure as well. We tried to move forward with a lawsuit against Cameron and Fox. It wasn't possible for us to continue because the comic book world does not give you the financial possibility of confronting a show business multinational company. We couldn't afford lawyers in LA to carry on with the attempt to claim our original story." -Carlos Trillo

The Cybersix cartoon is well animated with an amazing voice cast. The pilot episode was one of the best I've ever seen. It does a great job of immersing the viewer in the world of Cybersix. Unfortunately, the rest of the series fails to meet the high expectations set by the first episode. The average storyline often devolves into the standard monster-of-the-week shenanigans. The cartoon series took José, who was an evil man in a boy's body, and made him into a petulant brat. He acts like a spoiled child in the cartoon. He's less intimidating and more annoying, which is a real problem when he's the main villain.



I don't want to sound too hard on the show. Considering the mature nature of the source material, the fact that the comics were adapted into a cartoon for kids is remarkable in and of itself. Cybersix has a great cast of memorable characters, plenty of action and unique plot elements. It's an enjoyable ride. The good elements outweigh the bad, but you can't help but notice the problems at certain points. The series is also an easy watch at 13 episodes. I'd be happy if Cybersix could receive a proper, adult adaptation on HBO, assuming it stuck more closely to the mature themes of the source material. Speaking of which, it would also be nice if we could see an official English translation of the comics.



I'm pleased to announce that the complete Cybersix Animated Series will be available on DVD for the first time August 26th, 2014! It will include commentary with Cathy Weseluck and Brady Hartel on the pilot and series finale!



So, Season four of My Little Pony is officially over. MLP currently has 91 episodes and a movie.



Just for comparison, The Simpsons has been on the air for twenty-five seasons and counting. They currently have 550 episodes and a movie. Let's take a look at the most recent data from rule34.paheal,net.

The Simpsons currently has 7,903 explicit images with 25 seasons consisting of 550 episodes and a movie. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic currently has 52,235 explicit images with 4 seasons consisting of 91 episodes and a movie.

By next month, Twilight Sparkle alone will have more Rule 34 than all the Simpsons smut put together. I sometimes fail to fully appreciate just how much porn the fans of My Little Pony create on a monthly basis when compared to other fandoms.



Feel free to leave a comment. I'd like to know who's already a fan of Cybersix or are just hearing about the series for the first time. Thanks for reading and be sure to watch for another Rule 34 update next month!

