This could make me look stupid or bad or both but I want to get my thoughts in order and get it out of the way.
I played Bayonetta 2 two months ago. To be honest I think the game is a bit overrated. The metacritic score is something like 80% but it was a 7/10 for me. The combat is good at first but becomes repetitive. They try to spice things up with level design but it falls short. The premise has potential but the way the story is told is not engaging plus the voice acting is a bit campy.
What I was thinking about is what to make of a man creating this setting where the women all look like supermodel caricatures and have high sex appeal in not just looks but also personality and mannerism. It feels like male gaze to me. But there is also the other side to consider. That of slut shaming. So just that the female characters look mythically beautiful is not by itself a cause of concern. But I don’t know enough about the surrounding context (game made in Japan, directed by a man, if there were women substantially involved in the pipelie) to form an opinion.
Personally I think this turmoil in my soul would be laid to rest if in the next DMC game Nero becomes tastefully nude when using the devil bringer.
Edit: I think the answer is similar to that of the question of whether LotR is racist or not. Like it’s not exactly and explicitly racist. But there is an element of it in its basis.
The character designer is a woman 島崎麻里 Mari Shimazaki. However women are not immune to performing misogyny. She drew heavy inspiration from successful female action character designs at the time. It was also her job to work with the director on the final vision of Bayonetta.
While sure she can be empowering for people she ultimately is heavily influenced by misogyny. The empowerment she provides is barely distinguishable from any other Woman in gaming with high sex appeal and unapologetic to it. Examples of this trope in western and japanese are; Laura Croft, Many DC and Marvel characters like; Catwoman, Black widow, Poison Ivy, Panty and stocking, and Harleyquinn etc.
In terms of “Badass female lead” That is a trope that is very very common in both western and japanese media; Xena, Ripley, Ryuko Matoi, Kujo jolyne, Buffy, Katniss, Sara O’conner, Balsa, Most woman characters in DC and Marvel comic books, Kill bill bride, Korra, etc
Ghost in the shell can count for either depending on the version you’re reading/watching. In any case Bayonetta is not new or groundbreaking in having a confident powerful female lead who is also sexy and open about sexuality. It’s kinda a trope. It empowers women’s sexuality, which while important, is usually the only part of a woman that is deemed “acceptable” to be confident in, and even then only to an extant. Honestly there’s many contradictions in misogyny its quite interesting. In any case, anyone can find elements that are empowering in nearly any character. Much like your edit its like asking if the LotR is racist.