Forum - View topicThe sameness of anime romance
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naruto fan 09812
 Posts: 499 |
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Maybe,I imagine this but what is with the sameness of anime romance. For example,an average anime romance has two opitions to work with,either person A is to shy to tell her feelings to person B. Or person A treat person B like crap but secretly love person B. Cmon,they can think out of the box more with anime romances. Futhermore,is this a is its ain broke broke do not fix its type of thing. Heck,if real romances was this basic,life would be a whole heck lot more boring.
Last edited by naruto fan 09812 on Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:42 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Mirrinus
 Posts: 230 Location: La Thiene Plateau |
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I find that the pattern you're trying to describe mostly applies to shows that are not really focused on romance, but merely have romance as a sub-plot. For actual shows dealing with romance and drama, what you suggest really doesn't apply as often.
I think the reason is because in both those instances you're describing, the romantic aspect is being pushed aside so that it won't overshadow whatever the main focus of the story is. When one character has a crush on another character, but is too shy to show it, this allows there to be some sort of token romance without having to actually deal with the real aspects of romance, since the characters won't ever be talking about it due to their shyness. I find this to be most common in action shows, where the lead male protagonist can't really have too much romance to distract them from fighting, so the romance is just shoved aside conveniently this way. A similar effect occurs when one character treats another badly to hide their affection (tsundere archtype). This is pretty common in shows that emphasize comedy, since it will usually involve one character beating on another in a comical fashion. Once again, this allows some sort of token romance without actually having to deal with it, since the tsundere archetype, like the situation described above, is disinclined to ever reveal their affection openly, so no real romance blossoms all that often. Now, actual romance shows usually don't always follow these conventions. Since romance and drama become the real focus, they're not afraid to deal with the issues involved in romance. These shows tend to deal more with themes like jealousy, emotional loss, and neglect. |
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gary leeman
 Posts: 70 Location: The Big Apple |
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What about the type of romance that is forbidden?
A likes B, B likes A, but circumstances prevent the two from being together... Until the last episode. Also, the saying goes: "If it aint broke, don't fix it." But thanks for trying. |
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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Anime romance is entirely unrealistic because if they showed how romance normally happens, it'd be boring. Person A and person B meet at a party or something. Things go okay. They go out a few times. A spends the night with B. They keep going out for several months or maybe up to a year. A and B get married and have little alphabetical children. See how interesting that is?
The whole thing with "I hate you and I love you" or "I love you and I'm too shy to tell you" is tossed in because it creates conflict, which, as we all know, is the essence of drama. Sure it's totally fabricated, but it's entertaining. I'm personally a fan of "We're in love but we can't act on it because we have to focus on our goals." |
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naruto fan 09812
Posts: 499 |
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Last edited by naruto fan 09812 on Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:37 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Ramadahl
Posts: 325 Location: MK, UK |
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So gonna try not to read too much into that... Anyway, an anime about a marriage breaking up? Can't think of one. And you know why? People don't want to see one. Anime romances are unrealistic, because that's what people want - a little fantasy that they can enjoy. And as to them all being the same? Have you heard the theory that there are only 7* stories in the world, and every story ever told is a variation on these? While it may be easy enough to pick out a general pattern, it's the details of a story that make it interesting. *I think it's 7. Please correct me if you know better. |
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dgreater1
 Posts: 307 Location: in the Phillipine's AIR space with Misuzu |
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Sounds like Emma 
Actually, there are many kinds of romance pattern... Let's ignore those tsundere , yandere, boke types or normal types, etc. etc... Anyway, I'll give you an example: a guy is always together with a girl, but then, he never realized that he liked the girl until it's too late or vice versa (there are plenty of anime(s) like this). Or, how about the classic love triangle of Kiminozo but where the third person doesn't know that her friend and his boyfriend were dating? Or, a couple that was being separated due to the girl being the worlds most dangerous weapon or due to some other reason, and how about the harem type romance where all the girls are trying their best to win a single guy. Anyway... being shy, and being aggresive towards a person she/he likes is actually a normal thing if you think carefully. I mean, is it really easy to act normal in front of the person you love? Sure you can act normal, but not your true normal self... a little bit of your personality will be holding back (if not holding back... then it's going all out... I mean being aggressive to get his/her attention, or maybe will go crazy because of love) its true nature. Anyway, what the hell am I talking about :3 |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18447 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Divorced/widowed characters are actually not all that unusual in anime; I could probably name dozens of examples if I thought about it. Seeing two characters get a divorce during a series is unusual because that kind of drama doesn't usually play out in anime. In fact, the only example of that I can think of is Kodocha, where the parents of one of the major supporting characters get divorced relatively early in the series and the consequences are played out from the childrens' POV. Honestly, though, you don't see that happen so much in live-action series, either, and when it does it's usually long-running comedy or drama series. The 13-ep or 24/26-ep series just don't have enough time to properly develop and deliver the circumstances surrounding it, and it would be a hard sell for typical anime fans anyway. As for anime romances being unoriginal, they're no more or less formulaic than live-action romances, and some do take daringly bold or original approaches, or at least ones whose tenor and tone feel way different than the norm. Excellent relatively recent examples include Koi Kaze, Saikano, Voices of a Distant Star, and to a lesser extent Blue Gender (yeah, I know it will look like a pure mecha series at first, but it does gradually develop an excellent romantic side). If the upcoming Kashimashi plays out like its manga version does then that one could well fit into that category, too. And concerning romance-oriented series ending in marraige? That's fairly normal in live-action series, too. It's often been said in American TV that nothing kills a romantic comedy faster than the characters getting married, and rare are the series/franchises that survive that. |
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
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I guess someone hasn't read Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga 
Girls' romance -> Passionate crush leads to marriage! Women's romance -> Dead-end marriage leads to passionate affair! Mainstream anime romances use marriage as an "ultimate goal" because they usually come from mainstream manga for kids and teens. For most teens, their real-life romantic goal is to get a first date and go steady, with marriage being a long-term dream. An anime series about married life would fail to appeal to young viewers because they have no experience with marriage. On the other hand, they have plenty of experience going to school, hanging out with friends, having a crush ... and that's what anime romances are about, because the target audience can relate to that. If you wanted to find a series about the issues of married life (or long-term relationships), you'd have to look at stuff that's targeted to adults, which anime is typically not. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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However, the story would have been rather boring to read or watch. Guess what that "formula" y'mentioned does -- it creates drama. That's what makes a story interesting. Without that drama, y'may as well look at a story of dull everyday life. Boring... |
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BrothersElric
 Posts: 1996 |
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Having experienced this myself with a girl I was in love with (and had my heard torn out and stuffed into a blender by), as well as the whole "I didn't realize I loved her until it was too late" thing, I'd say it's quite realistic if you asked me. What happened was that I had never experienced anyone like her or any feeling of love before, so I didn't realize it for a very long time. Then when I did realize it, I was too shy to tell her until it was too late. I also actually knew she felt the same way about me as well because of what someone had heard her say about me as well, but I guess she was too shy or was in denial herself. (she was kind of a crazy, over dramatic and over complex-minded b**** who wanted and would expect no less than what she would never have: the "perfect guy") I also realized that I acted around and treated her differently than I would in normal situations. I hate to lay down all of this crap on you guys, but I'm just giving an example of how from personal experience I know how realistic that kind of romance is. It is the type of romance I personally prefer though, mostly because I can relate better being a still unmarried collage student. As far as it being too cliche goes, the way I see it is that by definition, romance needs to follow that kind of formula, just like how by definition, shonen needs to follow it's formula as well. But it's when you get something that does more than just follows that formula that we get something truly special. |
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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And it hurts. Don't it? 
This bring about another point. Many of us can relate to some of the stories. Why?
Because these things happen. 
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Trivial
 Posts: 58 Location: Ottawa, ON |
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I am a hopeless romantic, hence why I love to watch romantic anime. No matter how cliche, the fact that I can relate to most of the male lead characters keeps me interested. I am not even picky about the quality of the show.
I am in a distant relationship, but I have issues being around people so I am not the best companion. From what I've seen of NHK I am similar only it was me who initiated the relationship and ours is not quite a comedy. If it wasn't for me being in a relationship than I probably would have no interest in anime beyond Dragonball Z. |
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kolibri
 Posts: 712 Location: Vancouver |
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*hugs little brother senseless* You'll find that the set-up differs quite a bit, depending on the target audience. For shonen romances are very subtle - he likes that girl, the girl doesn't like him, the girl likes someone else, other girl is too shy... you'll never see it going further than that. Shoujo is much more romance oriented - she likes him, he likes her, but something happens and they have a misunderstanding but things get better and it's all right in the end. For seinen and josei it can be anything - but especially for josei unhappy romances are very typical. Because, well, most probably are in real life. But my point is, different things happen to people at different times in their lives. And they want to see different fictional romances at different times. I've personally had few long term relationships of varying happiness levels, some really tragic one-sided romances, and currently I'm happily married to someone I've been with for ten years. I've probably experienced, either directly or by watching my friends, most common "romance types" in real life. |
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BrothersElric
Posts: 1996 |
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Thanks guys, I apreciate it. It did hurt like a mother, and for a very long time too. But it happened like, 3 years ago, so I'm well over it by now. And overcoming it made me a whole lot stronger as well. It's like what they say: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I do think I need to e-mail this to her, though:
Also,
*gently places hand on shoulder* I know how you feel, man. Okay, I'll stop now. Back on topic everyone. |
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