Anime cliche that you hate, with a good reason

[Akito Kinomoto]

Hate is a strong word for this but I'm slightly annoyed by generic cuteness (TV tropes ahoy!) in situations where one character is described as "average" or "slightly overweight" when said character doesn't look any better or worse than the "school idol/beautiful" character.

Was it harem anime 108 or 143? I can't remember...

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

What!? What 'benefits' could there possibly be!? The last thing teens need is more encouragement and convenient places to have sex!

My understanding is that they're used for people to have sex in a private environment without fear of disturbing neighbors or other residents. It's not about encouraging sexual engagements, as much as "Here's a place we can go that's private, and we can have sex without disturbing anyone or being disturbed ourselves, but we have to pay money also so we can't do it often." It's also my understanding that it gets just as much use from people in their 20s and 30s as teenagers. If that's not the case I'm happy to be corrected, but that's what I've read and been told by people who have been to them.

I don't know if it's quite fair to ask this of anime when TV shows and movies made in America normally put America as the center of the universe. The biggest action blockbusters have two cities: Manhattan or L.A.
So asking Japan to stop using Tokyo as a setting definitely makes us hypocrites.

This is true. I suppose I'm referring to more culture than actual physical setting. For example, Stein's;Gate was set in Tokyo but it didn't showcase culture all up and down itself. It was people, who just happen to live in Tokyo, being people.

I guess what I'm asking for is for authors to be more inventive and pay less attention to big cultural occurrences. I feel like you get those cliches of the culture festival and New Years' shrine visits where they're not wholly necessary. Take TWGOK for an example: There IS a culture festival, but it's almost inconsequential to the story. It just happened to be a thing happening and it wasn't a big deal, but it provided a convenience. There was no focus on: "What will class 2-A do for the culture festival?!" or "Oh em gee let's go look at all of the cafes and drool over the cosplayers." I suppose I'm just tired of seeing these cultural things being overplayed to death to the extent that if you've lived, you know that Japan has culture festivals in highschool. I have no doubt that there are so many more things happening in Japan that can receive screen time, and Hyouka is yet another fine example. The hina procession was a fantastic thing to show because it's not a huge thing that everyone and their mother knows exists. It was a local event that was original and unlike what you normally end up seeing. That's the kind of stuff that I want to see, things that I've never seen before.

[relentlessflame]

The discussion of love hotels is interesting and all (when presented in context), but let's please try to keep this thread to the topic at hand (lest it degrade into moral debates about sex/abortion/etc.).

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

I hate it when nukes are avoided and replaced with weapons that are functionally exactly the same. Yes I know Japan got nuked so it's touchy but if that's the case why have the WMD play a role in the first place? Retarded.

Why not? As long as its not a real nuke (since the Japanese apparently hates nukes), that's fine. How else would you show planet-annihilating powers in anime, anyway? Dragon Ball doesn't count, by the way. It's just Ki energy ramped up to impossible levels.

I hate it when a character is reduced to his/her archetype, with no variation or surprises.

No comment on this except the fact that everything has already been done before.

I hate it when the male/female ratio is massively skewed in a situation where it really shouldn't be (i.e. school).

Maybe the school used to be an all-girls school and it has become co-ed just recently? Or maybe males in anime aren't particularly interesting anyway. Some if not all Otakus watch anime for the girls, after all.

I hate it when an anime fails to go "outside the box"; it has a typical high school/guys + lots of girls environment, a few characters to embody the popular archetypes, and despite whatever unique premise it may have had still feels really, really typical. There was a show, Gunparade March, where Japan was like the only country left, yet everything there still looked normal and everyone acted like they would in peacetime. There was literally no effort on the part of the producers to create the extreme wartime atmosphere that should've been been present for like 98% of the series.

Uh, so that is what "outside of the box" means to you? How can you show there is a war going on when you constantly depict it as anything BUT war?

Originally Posted by Akito Kinomoto

Hate is a strong word for this but I'm slightly annoyed by generic cuteness (TV tropes ahoy!) in situations where one character is described as "average" or "slightly overweight" when said character doesn't look any better or worse than the "school idol/beautiful" character.

Apparently, it's difficult to draw "average" or "slightly overweight" characters without making them too ugly or too fat.

Pop media bans ugly and fat characters, after all. /sarcasm

However, Chihiro Kosaka from The World God Only Knows really does look average compared to the other girls.

[Traece]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

Why not? As long as its not a real nuke (since the Japanese apparently hates nukes), that's fine. How else would you show planet-annihilating powers in anime, anyway? Dragon Ball doesn't count, by the way. It's just Ki energy ramped up to impossible levels.

Nukes are a very cliche "end of the world" device. Especially in the U.S. It's always nukes that will end the world! Remember lasers on the moon? The other one is stealing people's minds/souls/ability to not be a zombie. Yes yes, everyone becomes zombies if the bad guys win, woooo... Old!
[quoteMaybe the school used to be an all-girls school and it has become co-ed just recently? Or maybe males in anime aren't particularly interesting anyway. Some if not all Otakus watch anime for the girls, after all.[/quote]
This is in itself a cliche. An annoying one at that.

However, Chihiro Kosaka from The World God Only Knows really does look average compared to the other girls.

Almost all of the girls in TWGOK are average in appearance. That's kind of the point.

You know who is REALLY normal though? Normal Girl from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

[NoemiChan]

Anime cliche that you hate, with a good reason

Magic or rather Fantasy and science being used interchangeably.... to the point you can't even differentiate one form the other.... e.g. Gundam Seed, MuvLuv Alternative:TE, Vividread, and Evol.

[Ithekro]

One early example of nuclear weapons replacement with something similar but totally different was the "Planet Bombs" of Space Battleship Yamato. These weapons, originally radioactive asteroids used by the Gamilas to bombard earth for at least five years, rendered the planetary surface uninhabitable, with the radiation seeping deeper into the surface threatening the underground cities and the human population that had relocated there for safety.

The sequence used to present then shows the giant glowing rocks slam into the Earth with a giant mushroom cloud as the result and a Red cratered Earth with no bodies of water and sparce cloud cover.


The responce to this weapon was the even deadlier Wave Motion Gun, which goes beyond nuclear and mushoom clouds and just freaking vaporizes stuff is giant explosions. (The eventual responce to the Wave Moton Gun was Planet Killer Missiles that could one shot a planet or cause a small star to start dying to become a Red Giant.)

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

*snip information about WTF superweapons*

. . .

I should watch Space Battleship Yamato some day.

Seriously, I feel like some of the stuff I just read is as uncliche as you can get. Almost Austin Powers-esque superweapons all up in that series.

[Guernsey]

The Ideon is the most ridiculous example of this, its weapons start at planet killing then later on the universe gets destroyed or at least that is how it is interpreted.

[NoemiChan]

What is it? Anime Girls that hates to be seen in their underwear but begs to be seen in a bikini/some are actually revealing...

Worst Offenders: Ecchi animes and some romance animes

Notable Exceptions: One piece swim wear; Swimsuits that aren't considered as bikinis ; Those that covers more skin

What makes it popular: Men.... us men...

Reasons I hate it: Irony?

Is the hate really worth it?Sometimes....because its fa nservice, too much is too much...

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

What is it? Anime Girls that hates to be seen in their underwear but begs to be seen in a bikini/some are actually revealing...

This is more of a basic cultural/social thing than any sort of fictional cliche.

At some level, it does seem odd, since a girl's two-piece swimsuit generally doesn't cover any more than a girl's two-piece underwear does. But here is where social norms and values take over.

"Swimwear" being appropriate attire for trips to the beach and/or for going swimming has been engrained in us. And there's practical reasons for this - You don't want to be wearing much in very hot places and/or when you're going swimming. So swimwear is not meant to be "under" or "hidden".

"Underwear", as the very term suggests, is meant to be worn under the rest of your clothes. When it comes to practicality, its intended to give added warmth, support, protection, and cleanliness. Because its intended to be "under" and "hidden", it becomes engrained in the minds of many of us that its "embarrassing" to be seen in our underwear (unless the whole point is for it to arouse a sexual partner, which can make it even more embarrassing for your underwear to be seen by someone you have a crush on but aren't yet in any sort of real relationship with).

[NoemiChan]

I got the point that its more of a norm... But its just my opinion.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

I got the point that its more of a norm... But its just my opinion.

So if you get it's more of a norm,why do you think it's a cliché again?

Seems like you're complaining about a revealing some swimsuits are,that's a legitimate complaint,but again,that's not a cliché either.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by totoum

Seems like you're complaining about a revealing some swimsuits are,that's a legitimate complaint,but again,that's not a cliché either.

My humble apologies...

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

This is more of a basic cultural/social thing than any sort of fictional cliche.

At some level, it does seem odd, since a girl's two-piece swimsuit generally doesn't cover any more than a girl's two-piece underwear does. But here is where social norms and values take over.

"Swimwear" being appropriate attire for trips to the beach and/or for going swimming has been engrained in us. And there's practical reasons for this - You don't want to be wearing much in very hot places and/or when you're going swimming. So swimwear is not meant to be "under" or "hidden".

"Underwear", as the very term suggests, is meant to be worn under the rest of your clothes. When it comes to practicality, its intended to give added warmth, support, protection, and cleanliness. Because its intended to be "under" and "hidden", it becomes engrained in the minds of many of us that its "embarrassing" to be seen in our underwear (unless the whole point is for it to arouse a sexual partner, which can make it even more embarrassing for your underwear to be seen by someone you have a crush on but aren't yet in any sort of real relationship with).

Adding to this, panties can have a much more embarrassing pattern on them compared to swimwear. There seems to be a popular, running gag in anime with teenage girls who wear panties with goofy-looking animals on them like teddy bears or puppies (though Komari's unique anteater is worthy of a mention ). These prints are regarded as childish but they are panties and "not meant to be seen". So it's an even funnier joke if the girl's crush sees her wearing these embarrassing panties.
Even DBZ cashed in on this gag with one of their MALE characters!

Spoiler:

In one episode, some girl gets a crush on high school-aged Gohan after seeing him put on teddy bear underwear because it was "so cute" to her. It's pretty hilarious, actually.

I really am curious if Japan actually makes panties like you see in anime. They ain't no where in America for TEENAGERS, that's for sure. XD


[Edit after Google search]
.........okay, I stand corrected.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

[Edit after Google search]
.........okay, I stand corrected.

OMG... That is so hot...

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

Adding to this, panties can have a much more embarrassing pattern on them compared to swimwear. There seems to be a popular, running gag in anime with teenage girls who wear panties with goofy-looking animals on them like teddy bears or puppies (though Komari's unique anteater is worthy of a mention ). These prints are regarded as childish but they are panties and "not meant to be seen". So it's an even funnier joke if the girl's crush sees her wearing these embarrassing panties.

Ah yes. This infamous cliche.
"Ah~ Teddy bear pantsu." "Kyaaaa~!"

This links into another thing that annoys me, the cliche of severely overreacting. I know that some people do indeed overreact to panty flashes, and that's fine. However, I've never met a girl that was severely affected by a panty flash in the way that some anime characters are at times. Maybe that's a culture thing, but even then it's still a bit odd. In my experience (not me flashing, obviously. I don't wear panties. ) it tends to become an in-joke and rapidly evolve into humor and not really caring about it happening that much. It gets even worse with characters who feel that their lives have been destroyed by accidents like these. "Ohh~ They saw my panties/naked body. My life is ruined!"

For a great example of sane behavior, there's Michelle from Whose Line. Perhaps one of the most famous panty flashes in America.

I really am curious if Japan actually makes panties like you see in anime. They ain't no where in America for TEENAGERS, that's for sure. XD

[Edit after Google search]
.........okay, I stand corrected.

Ah~. Teddy bear pantsu.

[Darthtabby]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

Anime cliche that you hate, with a good reason

Magic or rather Fantasy and science being used interchangeably.... to the point you can't even differentiate one form the other.... e.g. Gundam Seed, MuvLuv Alternative:TE, Vividread, and Evol.

Why is Total Eclipse on that list? Vividread and Aquarion Evol I could understand (haven't seen SEED) but TE is pretty firmly on the sci-fi side of the spectrum.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

Why is Total Eclipse on that list? Vividread and Aquarion Evol I could understand (haven't seen SEED) but TE is pretty firmly on the sci-fi side of the spectrum.

It was until the last few episodes.. Remember the bluish glow on Inia and Cryska's mecha? The flame like thing...

[Archon_Wing]

Alternate love interests that end up "losing" (some may consider it winning depending on the series) get no romantic closure of their own. Or even worse, they just disappear into oblivion.

Also... characters disappearing into oblivion in general just annoy the crap out of me. I remember Akira Toriyama would entirely forget about the existence of entire characters.

And of course, I've posted this before, but really it's not okay to abuse a character just because they are a guy and/or a loser.