10 overused cliches in Anime

[Guernsey]

You know the first two are kind of interesting especially since the romance in is vaguely similar to romance in shoujo. the only difference I see is the gender.

[Random32]

I think abusive relationship manga are popular because its fantasy. We have imaginations that think that "oh that would be cool" about things that would suck in real life.

That's why a lot of zombie apocalypse stuff is escapist. We wouldn't want to live in a post apocalyptic wasteland, but at the same time we do since it would be interesting.

Other than that, I wish to express my disagreement with 7 and 8. Moar moe.

[Kaihan]

I'm pretty sure its been said already:

Hot Spring/Beach filler ep

Main villain in the show does all these evil stuff and near the end of the series, gets talked out by the main protagonist without fighting. the villain then proceed to self-destruct/self sacrifice and the main protagonist makes his escape.

[Kirito]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

No problem if its Rei Kugimiya's the seiyuu...

Don't forget about Rina Satou, she does the voice of a certain biribiri shocker from a series we all know and love.

[Flawfinder]

Oh god, I can't believe I forgot about this cliche that really needs to die. I call it, "All About Me", which is basically when the show tries to make you sympathize with a character that has a poor personality without punishing the character. I see this happen ALOT. The Last Exile sequel had Fam. Suzuka had...Suzuka. Guilty Crown tried, but failed, to have Shu avoid this (he got punished, but it didn't really amount to much, with the exception of a certain episode in the series). Genki girls in particular suffer from this. God, they suck.

[Magin]

Here's something that seems to be appearing recently: all girls from France are named Charlotte (and are blond, but the blond usually applies to foreigners anyways)

[Sheba]

Are you kidding me? It's like every french characters from France or mixed french are blonde. Not just girls. It's hardly recent. Japan don't seem to acknowledge the immigrant population of France.

As for the name, Charlotte is not exclusive to french girls in anime, a fair number of characters named Charlotte are not French, Japan just seems to give it to their characters, so they sounds exotic.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Flawnalyst

Oh god, I can't believe I forgot about this cliche that really needs to die. I call it, "All About Me", which is basically when the show tries to make you sympathize with a character that has a poor personality without punishing the character. I see this happen ALOT. The Last Exile sequel had Fam. Suzuka had...Suzuka. Guilty Crown tried, but failed, to have Shu avoid this (he got punished, but it didn't really amount to much, with the exception of a certain episode in the series). Genki girls in particular suffer from this. God, they suck.

As a big genki girl fan, I have to take exception to this.

In my experience, genki girls tend to get treated much more harshly than most anime character types in recent years. Which specific genki girls do you think have gotten away with "poor personalities"?

Originally Posted by Sheba

Are you kidding me? It's like every french characters from France or mixed french are blonde. Not just girls. It's hardly recent. Japan don't seem to acknowledge the immigrant population of France.

Japan is not fond of immigration in general, which is probably a big part of the reason why it tends to national/ethnic stereotypes when portraying characters from other countries. When many Japanese think of France, they probably think of your average Pre-WWII Frenchman or Frenchwoman. Their portrayal of the Germans are similarly locked in a much older time period (Infinite Stratos' Laura Bodewig is a good example of this).

[Lost Cause]

The last minute, 11th hour,coming in at the nick of time save! I mean c'mon already if it's time to kill off a character just let them go!

[Flawfinder]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

As a big genki girl fan, I have to take exception to this.

In my experience, genki girls tend to get treated much more harshly than most anime character types in recent years. Which specific genki girls do you think have gotten away with "poor personalities"?

I should probably make it clear that I don't really hate a specific character type as long as it's handled well. Same with genki girls. I like Tomo from Azumanga Daioh for starters. But she works because her genkiness has worked against her a majority of the time. And she was in a setting where genkiness could be allowed. And she's funny.

In some of the recent anime I've seen, genki girls are treated like "being genki is all you need as a solution". As in, they don't receive consequences for their actions when they're being genki, and everyone actually agrees with the person. That was my main problem with Rinne No Lagrange. And no, I didn't go past Episode 4, so I don't know if the main's genkiness got her in any trouble. Then there's Haruhi. Oh god, I wished Kyon hit her in the second season. She is such a terrible person and I hated how the entire series is forced to make sure that everything goes her way. I can't think of any other specific examples besides Fam from the Last Exile sequel (which I haven't seen, but Fam is infamous for a reason, and I can't imagine how a genki main character can work in something like Last Exile), but I know I've seen them. And I know that I can't stand it when the show supports them, even when then their behavior is just inexcusable. Or if they're not funny.

[Akito Kinomoto]

Originally Posted by Flawnalyst

I should probably make it clear that I don't really hate a specific character type as long as it's handled well. Same with genki girls. I like Tomo from Azumanga Daioh for starters. But she works because her genkiness has worked against her a majority of the time. And she was in a setting where genkiness could be allowed. And she's funny.

I'm not going to pretend to be a fan of Genki Girls but now I'm curious. Does her behavior need to work against her even in a show that doesn't take itself seriously?

As for Haruhi, I don't think the S.O.S. Brigade is at her beck and call because she's genki. It's more like the fact that she's a God who just happens to be genki. It wouldn't matter if Haruhi were a genki high school girl or a suave bounty hunter; the S.O.S. Brigade would listen to her anyway. I say "listen" instead of "agree" because they're often being forced into situations most of the time instead of consenting to any activity. Not to mention the series doesn't take itself too seriously outside of Disappearance.

And as for the topic, probably when a girl eats something, puts her hand on her cheek, and then says "OISHIIIIIIIII!" Apparently Japanese food is really delicious.

[Flawfinder]

Originally Posted by Akito_Kinomoto

I'm not going to pretend to be a fan of Genki Girls but now I'm curious. Does her behavior need to work against her even in a show that doesn't take itself seriously?

It usually depends on the show, but I tend to like characters more when their personalities have consequences. Comedy shows get a little more leeway, but just once, I wanted Kagami from Lucky Star to smack Konata in the head.

[Starshipw]

If there any Japanese on this thread, I have a question. IRL is it common for High School or even Junior High students to live on their own while going to school? 99.6% of school manga have someone, either MC or their friend living alone or effectively without supervision. In the USA Children's Services would be all over that situation, so does it actually happen or is it just wish fulfillment for kids who think life would be so much better without anyone to boss them around?

The setups are varied.
1) Both parents die (A) in a traffic accident, or (B) being stepped on by Godzilla. Doing a survey of MCs, Tokyo (otherwise known as matchstick city) traffic is much more dangerous than most monsters or alien invaders. That is why kids are never allowed to ride in a car and must travel only by bicycle or train. If MC is a boy then he will courageously support himself as a computer programmer (Onegai Twins), mangaka, or strip club piano player (Piano no Mori). If MC is a girl then she will end up forced to work as a maid for a perverted rich kid or move in with a childhood friend or friend of the family, thus starting a harem. They are always too much of a trouble for any aunt to care for, even though they are the kindest, prettiest, meekest teenagers ever conceived.

2) MC goes away to school and lives in a dormitory. This is a normal occurrence, (though unusual in the USA where boarding schools are mostly for delinquents or the super rich, super exclusive) but somehow boys usually end up living in the girl's dorm or boarding house. Instead of school MC may have a summer job which is always at the beach or onsen.

3) Family moves to Hiroshima. MC stays by himself to finish school. May happen IRL but usually under supervision of extended family or living with best friend/teammate. IRL MC will not be gotten out of bed to go to school and have his meals cooked by Childhood Friend or Class President. (Female Class Presidents are very busy arranging everyone's lives, in and out of school. All male Class Presidents do is hit on the Main Girl.)

4) Mother dies of horrible, non-specified disease. Father is distant, always at work, moves to New York (Umi no Misaki), or always traveling as a nature photographer (Pastel). This gives MC plenty of opportunity to collect a Harem or work at an onsen.
(Mysterious Girlfriend X goes counter to this, having older sister take over Mom's job without becoming a love interest (though he does find her cute).)

5) Father dies, Mom remarries so girl must move out (KNIM). She may now become a maid, join a harem, or move in with ecchi uncle or complete stranger.

6) Parents/guardians are alive but are completely absent from any interaction in the story (MGX) or encourage (KissxSis) or are jealous (Onegai Teacher) of ongoing ecchiness.

The story of the Resourceful Orphan who overcomes all obstacles and gets the girl is as old as Moses and Romulus and Remus. It has been retold in Oliver Twist, Snow White, Bambi, Conan the Barbarian and Harry Potter. But it is so prevalent in manga and anime as to make it seem that Tokyo is totally populated by unsupervised teens. Since I don't read Delinquent manga it is probably even worse than I realize. Going against this type is Bakuman where all the characters have families and the only teen living alone is a genius with no social life, let alone a love life.

[Flawfinder]

There's a lot of high school shows in the U.S. That doesn't resemble high school one bit.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Flawnalyst

In some of the recent anime I've seen, genki girls are treated like "being genki is all you need as a solution". As in, they don't receive consequences for their actions when they're being genki, and everyone actually agrees with the person. That was my main problem with Rinne No Lagrange. And no, I didn't go past Episode 4, so I don't know if the main's genkiness got her in any trouble.

I think I see what you're saying. If a genki girl's genkiness causes her to break rules all the time, eventually she should get into trouble for it. And yeah, Haruhi and Lagrange's Madoka don't really get into a lot of trouble for it.

Fair point. I like Haruhi myself, but I understand why this would bother you.

Originally Posted by Starshipw

If there any Japanese on this thread, I have a question. IRL is it common for High School or even Junior High students to live on their own while going to school? 99.6% of school manga have someone, either MC or their friend living alone or effectively without supervision. In the USA Children's Services would be all over that situation, so does it actually happen or is it just wish fulfillment for kids who think life would be so much better without anyone to boss them around?

That's a very good question, and I hope one of our Japanese members answers it.

But I'll share my theory with you - Honestly, I think it's sometimes because the writers just don't want to bother with writing parents that have no real role to play in the story other than "being there" when the main characters are at their homes. Since they can't think of any significant role for a parent character to play, they just don't have them around.

Also, sometimes it's convenient for them not to have parents around.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Flawnalyst

That was my main problem with Rinne No Lagrange. And no, I didn't go past Episode 4, so I don't know if the main's genkiness got her in any trouble.

Spoiler for End of Madoka Magica:

Madoka dies at the end of the first season for being genki

[Flawfinder]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Spoiler for End of Madoka Magica:

Madoka dies at the end of the first season for being genki

Wrong anime. Unless that response was modified.

[Archon_Wing]

Unfortunately, the genki girl archetype in many an anime frequently falls to underdevelopment-- this doesn't mean the archetype is naturally like this. Perhaps it's not the safe choice (as opposed to a tsundere or Bland Default Girl something) so they just don't bother. They think well "she's all lively and shit already, she already HAS a personality". But it wears thin and leads to a static character, and ultimately gets pretty fucking annoying.

Genki girls reach their full potential more in mecha anime because enthusiastic people fit with many a mecha series. You may start calling her hotblooded then, and it becomes really cool. It also works better in any competitive series such as Chihayafuru for the same reason. It seems to me that they are more likely to succeed when they gave some kind of goal in which they show massive enthusiasm for (Ohana from Hana Saku Iroha, for example) rather than being blindly jumpy and acting like they are on crack. But it's okay, this frequently applies to males as well.

I do have a more cynical explanation which nobody will like. Some weaker writers might think that bitches are the only way to have character development in that they grow from that. Thus, they are like "But if they're nice from the start, I can't manufacture pointless conflict". God forbid the genki girl has an issue in the past which defines her behavior. Nope, happy and cheery is apparently not ripe for development! Thus, the laziest way to do it is to start the male character as spineless, and the female character as overbearing and obnoxious, then they grow slightly less annoying and we'll call it character development. And I'm not writing this because I'm sick of overt type-a tsundere animes, just saying.

Basically the nice guy/girl is too good for the show.

[word sux]

How almost every anime needs a beach episode so they can get the female characters into bikini's.

[Ithekro]

Makes it funny when a show looks like it is about to have a beach episode and then shifts right out of it to something else. (Main Character: "I'm going to the beach with my friend because I'm on vacation" Supporting Character: "Sorry, we need you to do a mountain of government paperwork all day so you can move on with the plot tomorrow." Main Character: "Ehhhh?")

And then later does a beach episode...only all the girls are in the same one piece swimsuits because they are actually doing something plot related rather than having fun at the beach.

Both of these examples are from Mouretsu Pirates .