Why is it funny, when the girl beats up the guy??

[Khaos]

This is a very important question. Why is it funny, when in animes like Love Hina (best example for this) the girl beats up the guy she somehow is into?
Is there any man in this world (apart from certain sexual preferences) who is so bereft of any dignity that he would tolerate such abusive violent behaviour from the girl he likes?

I don't get it, I mean, let's just switch male and female:
Hypothetical story:
Woman lives with many man of all kinds under one roof, one of them she likes, and he likes her too, but he doesn't show it and instead beats her up frequently.

Still funny? I doubt that. But violence from women against man IS funny? It IS ok?

Am I the only one who thinks this is just wrong?

[SeijiSensei]

Absolutely not. I don't like seeing slapstick violence in anime, either. My pet peeve is Chiaki's treatment of Nodame in Nodame Cantabile, where he hits her in a wide variety of situations using a wide variety of methods. It debases what is an otherwise wonderful program.

I'm not just bothered by mindless slapstick violence between the sexes. Same-sex mindless slapstick isn't any funnier just because it doesn't include abuse of the opposite sex.

For that matter, I never understood the appeal of The Three Stooges. What's funny about poking someone in the eye?

[Vexx]

Slapstick is one of the oldest forms of humor --- simple minds.

re: Punch and Judy puppet shows ----> all the way back to "heeee, Grog slip on mastodon poo and get eaten by sabertooth. Greetch laugh so hard him fall in tar pit."

I agree ... its only somewhat funny when done with imaginary cartoon characters (e.g. Bugs and Daffy) ... doing it with animated characters designed to appear 'realistic' or human ... it should be used sparing to *really* make a point. Not like Love HIna where it was used as a replacement for actual plot (the anime got on my nerves anytime 'abuse Keitaro was the theme... even the manga poked itself about the over-use of that schtick.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Vexx

all the way back to "heeee, Grog slip on mastodon poo and get eaten by sabertooth. Greetch laugh so hard him fall in tar pit."

What's different in this case is that the injuries to Grog and Greetch weren't the result of someone else using aggressive violence against them but of an accident. There's a big difference between seeing someone slip on a banana peel and watching someone throw a bound music score into another person's face. I don't find the latter justifiable or amusing.

[darktruth]

I guess part of it has to do with Japanese social/cultural issues. I had a thread about this here and one post made an interesting point about why a lot of male anime characters get beat up from breast-grabbing incidents.

You also have to take into account that this is Japan we're talking about... in real life a Japanese girl would usually just take that kind of abuse silently. In an anime it's almost like they're trying to encourage girls to punch out a guy who tries to grab them... and it would certainly help if they actually did.

However...one thing I tend to notice about those incidents is that 90% of the times, it's caused by an accident or the male had no intention of doing it yet it's still funny to see him get trounced on. Like you said, Love Hina is the best example. 99% of the time that Keitaro pulls a skirt down or touches a girls breast or walk in on the girls naked, it is by accident or some mishap that caused it yet it's funny to see him get punched around.

Another example, is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya where Haruhi forces the computer club's president into touching Mikuru's breast and then framing him, still we find it funny laughing at his misery for some reason.

[Slice of Life]

Why is it funny when the mouse throws an anvil on the cat? Because normally, the mouse is the under...(pardon the pun...dog.

Women normally get the shorter end of the stick, in the real world and even more so in Japanese animation. Even Love Hina itself is hardly a manifesto of feminism. It's still a harem after all.

[wao]

Originally Posted by darktruth

Another example, is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya where Haruhi forces the computer club's president into touching Mikuru's breast and then framing him, still we find it funny laughing at his misery for some reason.

Well I'm one person who really hated that scene - I can never make myself personally like Haruhi as a character mostly because of things like that. I know, taking anime as SRS BIZNIS is not cool and all but I just can't find it funny in the least bit. I can understand if it's like the cultural norm in Japan or something, but I'm pretty sure it isn't...

Heck, I couldn't even stand watching FMP because whatshername... Chidori kept ticking me off. I simply didn't find her attitude funny or interesting in the least bit...

Stuff like a guy getting a peek at a nekkid girl and her whacking him back is somehow okay with me unless they try to make it funny. It's just... not funny. I dunno. I don't get angered/offended/whatever by it but it's like trying to make a non-joke a joke. Although I have been on the occasional receiving end of someone trying to be funny by getting a little physical, they always tend to apologize profusely or both sides just laugh it off. I haven't really seen that in anime.

[Aoie_Emesai]

It's only funny the first time. Tsundere is just another "moe" of anime, like the zettai ryokui and cat ears. Subtle parts of a characters not really noticed to impose a some kind of identity to that character. Though it's a more direct and forceful terminology.

It also depends on how many time this "slap stick" violence is performed during each episode or anime. If it's repeated too many time like in Girls Bravo or Love Hina, it gets boring. Do I enjoy the abuse? Not really. Also it's just personal preferences anyway, just because you dislike it, doesn't mean it won't sell well or others enjoy what you refuse to watch.

[RavenHawk]

Well there used to be a time when I find the guy get beat up by a girl funny. But now, I always say to myself to these things, "Hand me a switchblade..." I understood only some slapstick, but getting beat up because of an accident is one I can't muster very well.

Regading tsunderes, don't get offended guys but... I hate them! Luckily in real life I have yet to meet one (and thankfully I haven't). But the thought of a guy being beat up by one of them, I say to myself in an angry manner, "I won't be yelled at, I won't be beaten up, and I definitly won't be abused at!" and, "You hurt me, I'll hurt you!" She hurts a guy for self-defense (guy purposely does act), that's fine with me. She hurts guy for no reason or accident/forces guy to do something he doesn't want to do, now we're going to war! Yeah I know this is real life, I just "feel the pain" of the guys, that's all.

When I am abused at, I'll abuse back, only worse (I have sadistic thoughts at times)! I just can't shake the thought of being abused ya know. I'm a peace loving guy, but when I'm threatened, I'll fight back!

In short, as a guy, I don't find the guy being beat up by a girl... funny. Even vice versa.

Well that's just my preference. I don't tell anyone what to like or what to hate anyway.

[Kagerou]

Honestly I think it's much simpler than all of that.

Man hits woman = wrong.
Woman hits man = Hilarious.

Go figure *shrug*
Personally I love how crazy the Tsundere-type is. Go figure.

[mdauben]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

My pet peeve is Chiaki's treatment of Nodame in Nodame Cantabile, where he hits her in a wide variety of situations using a wide variety of methods. It debases what is an otherwise wonderful program.

I can understand why someone would feel that way. That is probably why I am not especially fond of the tsundere style character so beloved by many fans. Indeed, that was one of the reasons I didn't care for the live action version of Nodame Cantabile. In the anime I guess I could accept it as a sort of... symbolic way of portraying the releationship between the two characters, while in the live action it just seemed... wrong.

Originally Posted by LastRaven

Luckily in real life I have yet to meet one (and thankfully I haven't).

I knew a girl once who was probably the closest thing to a real live tsundere I have ever met. The thing was, I ended up with nothing but contempt for her, becuase she whould take advantage of the fact that most guys would not hit a cute girl, to get physically abbusive in arguments. I'm sure eventually some guy is just going to haul off and belt her, but I just shook my head and walked away from that relationship.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

For that matter, I never understood the appeal of The Three Stooges. What's funny about poking someone in the eye?

I have to admit, while The Three Stooges used to have me ROFLMAO, as I have gotten older their humor just does not seem to work for me any more.

[RavenHawk]

Originally Posted by Kagerou

Honestly I think it's much simpler than all of that.

Man hits woman = wrong.
Woman hits man = Hilarious.

Well personally for me, that depends on what happened. If the act is by accident, then I'd wouldn't want to be in the recieving end; getting hit will just make me angrier.

Originally Posted by Kagerou

Personally I love how crazy the Tsundere-type is. Go figure.

There used to be a time when I liked their kind, but when I thought about what they do, I felt I want one dead. I sure don't want to hang out with one. Personally I don't like them, but hey, like I said, I don't dictate to you guys what to like and/or hate. You like them, it's all good man.

Originally Posted by mdauben

I knew a girl once who was probably the closest thing to a real live tsundere I have ever met. The thing was, I ended up with nothing but contempt for her, becuase she whould take advantage of the fact that most guys would not hit a cute girl, to get physically abbusive in arguments. I'm sure eventually some guy is just going to haul off and belt her, but I just shook my head and walked away from that relationship.

I feel you man. Personally I wouldn't mind hitting a girl, but only if she's taking advantage of me. See I don't want to hurt people, but to be mistreated is too much for me to take. In anime I understand why this doesn't apply much. But in where we live in, there are people intolerable of being taken advantage of, like yours truly.

[SeedFreedom]

I guess it also has to do with the fact we expect guys to get back up, not really damaged, no mater how strong the girl is. Take Tomoyo and Sunohara from CLANNAD for example.

[Vexx]

Whatever the 'humor', 'merits' of the 'whack-the-guy' gag.... if its over-used it dies as a gag. Love Hina anime seriously over-abused the gag (it wasn't even that prevalent in the manga where the girls would occasionally say something to the effect of "wow he's pretty indestructible" to note the unreality of the situation).

I figure if slapstick is used more than 3 or 4 times in an entire series, its a mark against the anime writers skill level. I think slapstick got used in Lovely*Complex... maybe once/twice? (only recall Otani spinning once). The rest was just hyperbole (candybox in the face and he faw-down, etc) or real life (trip over ball and twist ankle, etc).
The other end is something like Team Rocket's inevitable stupid boring "punch to the sky" exit in 99% of any Pokemon episode they appeared in.

[Darklord_bg]

It's the same in real life.

A girl can get away with hitting a guy (well, usually slapping him hard at most), whereas a guy hitting a girl is...well...pretty disturbing. Girls are more fragile and need to be treated with care. Guys need to be strong and shouldn't cry about being hit by a girl - except of course the violence is too excessive.

This tendency is overly exaggerated in anime (just like everything else actually) and instead of a simple slap, the girl usually beats the guy to oblivion or kicks him out of the earth's orbit.

I do agree that it is annoying, especially when it is caused by an accident(which is like 90% of the time) and I can't understand why guys who watch it find it funny.

[JustInn14]

Because guys are perverts. j/k

[psycho bolt]

I find it funny. But it doesn't after awhile. You seem to get the impression that they are running out ideas.

[Kyero Fox]

Its funny when its only realistic beating up .. not shit like Love Hina where she throws his ass into the moon or some stuff.

[psycho bolt]

^ I don't think they are all quite realistic imo

[Khaos]

As pointed out, the main problem ist not violence itself (if that would be a problem, then you can't watch almost any anime anymore) but that special context in Love-Comedies when the tsundere hits the man just because of some accident. If he has no intention of doing anything bad and still receives frequent beating, this is just annoying.

Personally I am lucky to never have met that kind of woman...I've had enough with other types of disturbed women.

Overall:
Seeing women as poor weak victims and men as strong hard offenders who shouldn't care about taking some beating is just so wrong!
Women have the same potential for being hard, sadistic, brutal and so on as man have, the only difference is, that they aren't raised to be hard and brutal (and this education style is something I would call a crime against all humanity) and thus they tend less to such behaviour than men.