I love some anime and manga. Some of the best memories I have from my childhood and some of the great shows I see today are anime. While anime also have its cliches and shows who are basically copy-paste of other shows, they also have this tendency to be really original. But some of its cliches and tropes are just over used or/and completely stupid. Tropes like...
7. To Show a Guy is Sensible, Let's Make Him Cry Non-stop:
Kira from Gundam Seed loves to cry. I think he cry at least once in every episode. The creators of the show probably thought that this would show how much of a sensitive guy he is and how much emotive he is. The fact that this guy cannot stop crying would show that a man don't need to hide his feelings.
Except that all this does is to show how much of a cry-baby he is.
He is in the middle of war, and he is not the only one. He is not even the only teenager there, piloting Gundams and killing people. by making him someone who cannot stop crying and drowning in self-pity, instead of relating with his situation we just start to hate his (lack of) guts. Come on, there is other ways to show someone is suffering and troubled that do not involve crying every fucking episode!
6. Girls Who Cannot Keep Their Clothes On
I don't know if Love Hina started it, but I blaming them anyway. I like some fan service, and even accept animes who are pure fan service. But do it with bath shots, beach episodes and such things. What I really hate is those scenes were the male lead accidentally take the girls clothes off or when we is accidentally thrown to the place were the girls are undressing/undressed.
Come on, clothes do not go open or fall that easy! And the girls getting so angry to the point of assaulting a poor fella whose accidentally saw their panties are such an exaggeration and over used twist that it is time to stop it!
5. All the Girls are in Love With Male Lead
This goes way back to the beginnings of the harem anime. The guy, no matter what kind of loser he is, find himself surrounded by pretty girls who are or will be in love with him as soon as three episodes after being introduced. I accept that a love triangle is nice, or that any anime with plenty of pretty girls is also good. But do the male lead need to be such a chick-magnet?
Even anime who aren't supposed to be harem-style have the male lead being someone who can conquer the heart of dozens of ladies, like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, where Kyon conquers the heart of all girls in his club.
4. The Overly Complicated Evil Plan/Plot
Evangelion changed anime when it become such a huge success. It also made some things way worse than they were. For example, most old-time anime had plots that actually make sense, with the evil guys having plans that was simple yet evil. After Evangelion, it seems that anime, specially those aimed at older audiences, believes that a good plot is one so complicated that nobody are sure what are happening.
I blame this one on the absurd plans Super Sentai villains have. I remember one Flashman episode that the plot was making people eat at a fancy restaurant and have their heads turned into pumpkins. And, yes, this was their actual plan. No, I have no idea what was the objective either.
3. Inconsistency
Vegeta was able to blow up entire planets at the very beginning of this show. After that, apparently everyone got weaker despite people saying they got stronger, being barely able to blow up mountains. It seems that what someone can do or how certain rules applies aren't wrote in stone, but in soft marshmallows so they can change it when is more convenient to the plot. This is bad writing, guys. Stop doing that!
2. Gore
I am not talking about having blood here. Or about having realistic depictions of blood. I am talking about this sadistic tendency where anime characters are killed in the most gruesome and unnecessary ways just for shock value. It feels like anime is trying to win a competition with the Saw series for most gore on screen. It is unnecessary, it conveys no meaning and it is just for the sake of gore.
You really want us to feel sorry by the poor character? Make we like him, and no matter how he dies, we will feel bad for his dead. Making it awful to watch the show because you actually want to puke is not what people want. Well, it is not what I want, so work about it!
1. Childish Characters who are Actually Teenagers or Adults:
It is not even the childish look who bothers me. I know some twenty something girls who look like twelve, but about childish behavior. Some anime have fully mature characters, including appearance, who behave like little kids. This is not cute or funny, just unbearable. A 'childish' person could be childish without speaking like a baby. Or acting retarded.
If you want to make a character cute, there is way more clever and less maddening ways to do it. Look at Nagato Yuki from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, she is cute without behaving like she is five. It is not hard, you just need to be creative!
I blame this one on the absurd plans Super Sentai villains have. I remember one Flashman episode that the plot was making people eat at a fancy restaurant and have their heads turned into pumpkins. And, yes, this was their actual plan. No, I have no idea what was the objective either.
3. Inconsistency
Vegeta was able to blow up entire planets at the very beginning of this show. After that, apparently everyone got weaker despite people saying they got stronger, being barely able to blow up mountains. It seems that what someone can do or how certain rules applies aren't wrote in stone, but in soft marshmallows so they can change it when is more convenient to the plot. This is bad writing, guys. Stop doing that!
2. Gore
I am not talking about having blood here. Or about having realistic depictions of blood. I am talking about this sadistic tendency where anime characters are killed in the most gruesome and unnecessary ways just for shock value. It feels like anime is trying to win a competition with the Saw series for most gore on screen. It is unnecessary, it conveys no meaning and it is just for the sake of gore.
You really want us to feel sorry by the poor character? Make we like him, and no matter how he dies, we will feel bad for his dead. Making it awful to watch the show because you actually want to puke is not what people want. Well, it is not what I want, so work about it!
1. Childish Characters who are Actually Teenagers or Adults:
It is not even the childish look who bothers me. I know some twenty something girls who look like twelve, but about childish behavior. Some anime have fully mature characters, including appearance, who behave like little kids. This is not cute or funny, just unbearable. A 'childish' person could be childish without speaking like a baby. Or acting retarded.
If you want to make a character cute, there is way more clever and less maddening ways to do it. Look at Nagato Yuki from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, she is cute without behaving like she is five. It is not hard, you just need to be creative!
"But do the male lead need to be such a chick-magnet?"
ReplyDeleteBut of course! How else would the show maximize its wish fulfillment potential?!
There are many different types of anime. They all cover a wide variety of concepts, but each producer specializes in certain areas and they all have their fanbase. It's no different than live action movies produced anywhere in the world. Some hate it, some don't. Plainly put, there is no point in telling everyone to get rid of certain aspects that you personally find unsettling simply because they have a fanbase that loves that particular style. The reason people watch anime over live action is for the over exaggerated drama in much of it. And I use the term "drama" very loosely. So there is a simple solution. Find the genres that you like, do research on an anime if you think you may be interested and take it from there. You can't go around ordering the companies to simply change their ways. Seems to me that you are a shonen or shoujo type person and many of these catagories that you specified are limited in those. Go enjoy yourself some Shugo Chara or Full Moon wo Sagashite and get over your elitist attitude.
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