10 overused cliches in Anime

[Jeffry2009]

Yaoi/Yuri overtones
Girls as the protagonist ala Charlie's angels

[Guernsey]

Easily Forgiven

It is not so much the cliche as well as the irony of how it is used. Japan isn't grounded in Christianity yet in some even ther most horrible monster can be forgiven of their crimes. It just amazes to see the irony of this, that some shows actually utilize the Christian concept of forgiving others effectively.

[Kameruka]

Girls and women can't cook
Boys and men cooks better

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

Easily Forgiven

It is not so much the cliche as well as the irony of how it is used. Japan isn't grounded in Christianity yet in some even ther most horrible monster can be forgiven of their crimes. It just amazes to see the irony of this, that some shows actually utilize the Christian concept of forgiving others effectively.

You're very much uninformed if you believe forgiveness to be an exclusively "Christian concept." It amazes me that you think Christianity has a monopoly on forgiveness, when it is found in most religions, cultures and ethical systems.

On the actual topic of the cliche, I don't think it's used that excessively, but it is prevalent. At times, it can leave you hanging, feeling like you've been cheated out of your cathartic moment.

[synaesthetic]

I'll argue that the criticism was valid. What the other person said is patently false. Yes, a large number of Americans do like to pretend that the whole world is America and there's nothing else outside of it.

However, there are those of us who did learn world history in school. I know more about the Edo period, the Bakumatsu, the Meiji Restoration and Japan's involvement in World War II than my Japanese fiancee does. And she's from Japan. I know more about her own country's history than she does, and I'm from America!

There are those of us who are aware there is a world outside our borders, and quite frankly I'm sick and tired of being lumped in with the clueless rednecks who think America is great, gay marriage should be banned and Sarah Palin should be the next fucking president. *facepalm*

[Asuras]

Agree completely. I myself (and countless others) has taken AP European history in high school. Many a times, America is viewed as being only made up of the deep South.

[Guernsey]

You're very much uninformed if you believe forgiveness to be an exclusively "Christian concept." It amazes me that you think Christianity has a monopoly on forgiveness, when it is found in most religions, cultures and ethical systems.

I learned soemthing new today.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

I learned soemthing new today.

You don't say. Forgiving others is a prime element of most religions around the world. On top of that, absolute and unconditional compassion for any and all beings (no exceptions, absolutely none) which leads to forgiving anything, no matter how horrible, is a premier element of most Asiatic religions. You claim it to be a christian virtue and yet to date I haven't met a single pastor who replied affirmatively when asked if the light of the lamb could save even Lucifer and trust me, I have asked quite a few of them. At the risk of generalizing, I dare say Christianity falls at a much lower place than say, Buddhism, when it comes to the scale of forgiveness. Not that that's necessarily a good or a bad thing. There are valid arguments for both being unconditionally forgiving and otherwise. But it's a fact that Buddhism preaches unconditional forgiving much more strongly than Christianity does. And well, you don't even have to bring religions in because it's human nature to forgive ._. Most of us tend to naturally forgive most actions every day. And even the gravest crime gets eventually forgiven because hatred over what's already happened is very very costly and hurts far more than forgiving does.

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

I'll argue that the criticism was valid. What the other person said is patently false.

Yes, my geek side wanted to reply that what the poster said about Friends only featuring white people was completely false because Ross had an Asian girlfriend and an African-American girlfriend who were not one-episoders but were actually part of the show for at least four episodes and were real characters.

..........however no matter how wrong the poster is, I do not think name-calling (especially that name) is appropriate Animesuki Forum etiquette.

quite frankly I'm sick and tired of being lumped in with the clueless rednecks who think America is great, gay marriage should be banned and Sarah Palin should be the next fucking president. *facepalm*

Hey hey now, not ALL of us are clueless rednecks. >_> I'd rather you have said "Republicans" (less insulting). Though I am right-wing, I'll acknowledge America has pretty bad stuff going on (just like every single country in the world) because no country is perfect.
I won't support gay marriage though because it's entirely against my religious beliefs.
(And if I get a bad rep mark for that, so be it)

[Irenicus]

Ladies, chill. The post quoted and derided by the poster above was made eons past. This thread is a lot older than it seems. No need to dig up the ashes of old flamebaits to relight them again.

Now to return to our normal broadcast schedule,

Originally Posted by Jeffry2009

Girls as the protagonist ala Charlie's angels

Is that really that often an occurrence? I've said this some time earlier, but despite the popular image anime with action girl protagonists are surprisingly rare.

At least if one doesn't count the ones with harem lead male protagonists (which would be a different breed).

[Chiibi]

Right, right we are WAY off topic. My bad....

I don't know if this cliche is overused, but I HATE when the villain begs the protagonist to "give him a second chance", the protagonist does, and then the villain attacks him the second his back is turned.

....facepalm emote....I need a facepalm emote....none here, huh?

Ah, this'll do:



DAT VILLAIN IS OBVIOUSLY STILL EVIL. DON'T BE STUPID YO!!

[Archon_Wing]

A protagonist suddenly becoming the most powerful because he was born with the blood of some powerful demon, spirit, other overpowered ancestor and it's used as an excuse to win.

It makes me facepalm since at that point you just realized the hero was a slacker with too much talent, and the slap in the face is usually that kind of story stresses the importance of hard work and effort. But apparently it only works if you're the main character... In the majority of cases it just removes the value of the characters' struggle.

[mechalord]

1) All men are perverts. Older ones and salary men just have fewer inhibitions. Even the most innocent pure hearted shonen hero will take a peak if no one is looking. Oh yeah, boobies. If you are any sort of priest or monk in any religion, all you think about is women and you have a huge porn stash.

2) all badasses have huge appetites.

3) 19 is middle aged. If you survive the war to 17, you make General, specially if you are a bitchy female teen.

4) You peak at 15. This is when you are at your prime to save the world in a super robot or kill the Dark Lord.

5) No woman looks older than 17 unless she's over 60. 55... she looks like a 17 year old in heavy make up. She's 35... looks 15. 18... looks like she's 12 but with breasts.

6) all women wear white cotton panties.

7) breast size is equivalent to power. Women in positions of authority always have enormous breasts. The bigger the breasts, the smarter or more talented/capable the woman... specially if she is an older woman... older than 19.

8) If your dad is a complete and utter flake, moron, and a-hole... he was once the ace killing machine of a secret sect of badasses. "But father I just thought you drank liquor, farted, and called me a failure all day. I didn't know you were holding off a demon invasion." "I hope all that verbal abuse and neglect toughened you up, son. You gonna need it."

9) Your cooking ability is proportional to your killing ability. Chefs are natural born killers 'cause they work with blades and fire. They watched Under Siege and Wheels on Meals, then ran with it. All badasses can cook... extremely well.

10) Muscles, exercise, weightlifting... just for looks. They don't make you stronger. Big spiky hair, girlish looks... now that let's you lift a car above your head.

[ion475]

6) all women wear white cotton panties.

Whatever happen to Shimapan...XD

Hey hey now, not ALL of us are clueless rednecks. >_> I'd rather you have said "Republicans" (less insulting). Though I am right-wing, I'll acknowledge America has pretty bad stuff going on (just like every single country in the world) because no country is perfect.

[OT]It has more to do with the extreme right-wing people dominating the media more than anything anyway...

And seriously, people have to realized that ignorance is not limited to American...[/OT]

As far as cliche goes...it does depend on the type of anime. Mecha anime has its own cliche (Mostly have to deal with "Who in the right mind would let a teenager pilot a prototype machine to save the world"), slice of life/harem anime has its cliche (The weak, average male lead cliche, of course...). School anime has its cliche (Clubs that do nothing, a usually more fancy Gakuensai than real life, etc.).

[Guernsey]

I hate how the rival only exists to make the spiky haired hero look good. Soem shows buck the trend but this is what I see in most shows.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Whenever there’s a “swim together” lesson in highschool, the boys’ sole and only focus is to see how the girls look in a swimsuit and cares for nothing else. I found this kind of cliches made the impression that highschool boys are really really perverted even in the middle of a lesson. Or are Japanese boys really like that?

I’m gonna tell you something, back when I’m in highschool, we often have that “swim together” lessons. In fact, whenever it’s time for swimming PE, boys and girls always did it together. And you know what, we boys rarely focused or stared at the girls even though we fully aware that there were some cute girls and they wore bathing suits which often more sexy and revealing than those Japanese school swimsuits. Instead, we focused more on the swimming lesson and how to do it well.

[Flawfinder]

I thought this was an overused cliche list, not a "worst" cliches list. As for what I think is the most overused...Yuji Everyleads, definitely.

[Kirito]

The one that's overused most of the time is...The first girl in a harem or love triangle series always wins -_-. I don't mind harems or love triangle romance series, but at least make the outcome not to blatantly obvious to the point where it's laughable.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Kirito

The one that's overused most of the time is...The first girl in a harem or love triangle series always wins -_-. I don't mind harems or love triangle romance series, but at least make the outcome not to blatantly obvious to the point where it's laughable.

And I’m glad that SDF Macross & Ichigo 100% manga didn’t go that route . For SDF Macross: I like the second girl more coz she’s more mature, as for Ichigo 100%: the main guy doesn’t deserve the first/main girl .

@Flawnalyst
I'm sorry that I didn't list 10 cliches. It's coz others are already mentioned so I don't bother . And yeah, boys staring/peeking at the girls during swimming PE IS overused.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by molotov_sp

I have been watching animes for quite some time and I have a deep respect for them. However after watching two fine old 80's anime, (legend of the Galactic Heros and Rose of Versailles) it made me find out that anime storylines in general have been having sort of a slump in creativity. None of these cliches are bad by themselves, and in fact lots of them are what make lots of anime series special still I hope anime in general will start getting off thier asses in the creativity department so here is my list in no particular order.

10. Im hoping this aint true but .... Every third working Salaryman in Japan can't Possibly be a skirt lifting pervert!!!
Sure Porn is generally regaurded as a acceptable passtime in Japan, but isn't that supposed to make them less horny during the day? Obviously not according to anime. The only reason for hot chick to walk across the street or take the subway is so they can be accosted by another no name collared pervert and in turn to be rescued by some sort of teenage hero.
Greatest Culprit in recent memory: Tenshi na Konomiki (every 5th episode is another pervert)

9.Japanese: The ultimate survivors ..... errr, not really!
Japanese manga writers are thoroughly convinced that in case of holocost, alien invasion, or demonic invasion, japan will be the only country left standing. Sure they got alotta pluck holding their islands as they showed us in WWII but mostly it was a lost cause. GET OFF YOURSELVES ALREADY! enjoy some new vistas! You dont even need to kiss up to the evil Americans! Here are 3 nations that got some REAL grit.
Russians: They stopped 2 megalomaniacs from taking their country. First Napolean, then Hitler. They didnt even win through tactical genius or superior technology. They won through blood spent, pure and simple.
Britain: Showed us that Quality always beats quantity by spanking two great "Armadas" first in sea when faced up against the spanish armada, then in the air by stopping the German Luftwaffle in the greatest air battle in history. Always outnumbered, never out spirited.
Arabs: Did you know that the middle east used to be green untill wars raveged the landscape permanently? Well the people still live there, and for the most part, they are still fighting.
Greatest Culprit in Recent Memory: Gunparade March (the world tries nukes on aliens then promptly expires except for japan)

8. Earths Greatest Weapons will be weilded by our children .... IF WE WERE ALL FREAKING NUTS.
There never was, never is, and never will be a time when we will create a super weapon to be piloted only by 13 year olds. I'm sorry, but it aint gonna happen. We can barely get by the thought of giving our 13 year olds paintball guns and we sure as hell aint gonna teach um responsiblity by giving them a 50 ton 10 story large robot that can level cities in a single missle salvo! Im sorry, it just aint gonna happen no matter how amazing these children may or may not be!
Greatest Culprit in Recent Memory: Sokyuu no Fafner (13 year olds with lots of angst no less pilot mystical robots)

7.Lets go off to fairy tale land!!!
Alice in Wonderland is sometimes compared to an extremely long and surreal acid trip. So when I see another pre adolescent get transported to another fairy tale land I grimace a little and when I hear the words "never never land" I only can think of Micheal Jackson. Honestly Mangakas, it's time to stop! (this point includes fanciful underground worlds invisible to the real world, I'm talking to you Tokyo Underground)
Greatest Culprit in Recent Memory: Inuyasha (After ranama the creator had a chance to create something truly origional .... he didn't!)

6.Japan has the most toughest gangsters in organized school history!!!
Kind of hard to beleive considering people kill themselves over failed college exams in Japan. If there is anything we know in America, it's that little aisian kids wearing gangster colors, rapping, and swearing their heads off is only one thing: DAMN FUNNY! It was pretty novel to see rough and tough japanese kids back in the day, like in Slam Dunk, but I think the jig is up already and this particular cliche should be put to rest.
Greatest Culprit in Recent Memory: Midori no Hibi (main character beats up gangsters from other schools constantly, apprently they are all just wussbags, HEY JUST LIKE REAL LIFE)

5.Americans in the future are all self absorbed, insensitive, and power hungry!
Cmon I don't need you guys to kiss up to us but as an American, it's disturbing to see people think that we are gonna go the way of the Dodo in the near future. Heck we get enough flack from AMERICAN sci-fi writers as it is. If american somehow does manage to survive we are always trying to cover things up or masscring civilians. Puhleeze Japan, stop acting like the ethnic purgings in Africa are that much more bearable than our screw ups just because we are embarrased about it and they are not! (And you know in reality you love us Japan, and WE LOVE YOU!)
Greatest Culprit in recent Memory: Ghost In the Shell: Standalone Complex (the americans appear in the 1st season twice, and they both aren't glowing reviews)

4.The human body is the most effecient design for future military vehcles!
There is a reason why planes,subs,spacecraft,cars are shaped the way they are. It's because it's the most efficient design for the task they built for. The human body is horribly inefficient, and the only reason we stand on 2 legs was because it frees our hands to do other things, NOT because it allows us to fly, swim, or even travel on land more efficiently. So it is laughable from a design standpoint to see large man shaped robots as the kings of the battlefield. Lets see something truly magnificent and strange in military technology.
Greatest Culprit in recent Memory: Kenran Butoh Sai (If there is anyplace where design is important to increase mobility its IN THE WATER!)

3.Aliens don't just look like humans, THEY ARE ALSO DAMN HOT!!
Look in live action sci-fi shows, the reason all aliens look human is because it's damn expensive to make them look like anything else. I mean in star trek it's alot cheaper to put someone in a rubber costume than make a completely computer generated or animatronic main character alien not to mention the fact that if you dont have a monstrous budget this particular character would look like complete crap next to their real life counterparts. BUT THIS IS ANIMATION. If there is any place to make cool alien characters that REALLY LOOK ALIEN, its in Anime and if it's possible ... please make the most horrendous looking one the GOOD GUY rather than the BAD GUY for a change. This is just a case of complete lapse of creativity.
Greatest culprit in recent memory:WOW i cant think of any at the moment, maybe i can have a little back up in this area, I'm pretty sure it's true though, if not, let me just say i was really grabbing at ideas by this point to reach my goal of 10!

2.Whats better than a sexy hero? A HAREM OF SEXY HEROS!
I'm sorry, this particular cliche is especially disturbing becuase frankly even I dig it sometimes. I mean they are sexy and already half dressed......the only next step to REALLY please the fans is to make them all open lesbiens with eachother (they would all have to be lesbiens because we already have animes where just one of the group has acute homosexual tendencies). Let's just take a tiny step backwards here ... boys can be heros too after all! AS A MALE I DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS!!!!
Greatest culprit in recent memoryivergence EVE (Look at them, I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THEM ... oh GAWD stop staring will ya?)

1.Japanese History is the only history worth exploring!
This brings me back to old 80's anime. From an old family friend who went to Japan, he said that in the 80s there was a heavy fascination with European culture which is easily refelected in their Anime's. Instead of using that to explore other cultures, like perhaps obscure African or south American folk stories and histories. Animes has actually regressed into, ITS ALL ABOUT JAPAN. Frankly ive been really getting into those film festivals where they showcase foreighn hits. There is some damn good stuff out there, its just a matter of finding them and then putting a good anime spin to it.
Greatest culprit in recent memory:Samurai Champloo (yet another timeless classic in Japanese fuedal period, OH BOY!)

Whoah, I hope you enjoyed my rant. Frankly I liked most of the animes I mentioned. Still as I watch more animes, the similar cliches are becoming more and more obvious. There are probably things that are completely wrong in this list as it is my own impressions on the state of anime and manga stories in general and I havent really watched all of the animes in the world so i cant really be a good critic of them. Still I hope most people agree with at least half of my points and hopefully got a few good laughs out of it too.

If you have any cliches to add that would be cool too!

I have to agree with you on the overuse of mecha, especially when they make them the be all and end all of future warfare. If you actually built a human-shaped fighting platform, it would be easily knocked on its face by a shell for a conventional tank. Really, I see nothing a mecha can do that a tank can't do better. I also agree that under anything resembling normal circumstances, humanity's deadliest weapons would be operated by professional soldiers. The only time I don't mind the "well armed teenager" is when there are plausible reasons for them to be carrying such weapons, for instance Akemi Homura in Madoka (

Spoiler for Madoka spoilers:

time manipulation powers

and the fact the she is fighting something unknown to normal humans. I also prefer Homura as she uses realistic weapons. As opposed to the average teenage mecha pilot, who is simply pulled out of school one day to operate a 20-story giant robot rather than have a professional soldier drive it.

Also, another thing, why is it that mecha and other super weapons are so often painted a color that give them no camouflage properties, such as red or orange.



Another thing that is overused are overpowered characters. Basically, characters that are immune even to nuclear weapons. Obviously, the Dragonball series are a major offender, and some of the works of Kinoko Nasu (Fate series, Tsukihime), are even more plothax. As for Nasu, I preferred Kara No Kyoukai's heroine, Shiki Ryougi, who has to power to kill anything, destroy any object, etc, but has no extraordinary defensive abilities, if she takes a bullet to the head, she dies. Makes for a more interesting character if their not another boring invincible hero, and the possibility for the "badass normal" character keeps things more interesting.

Related, Power levels and ranking systems are overused, not to mentions people taking whatever game or sport featured in the anime WAY to seriously.