Forum - View topicINTEREST: Readers Rank Over-Played Shojo Manga Tropes
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GATSU
Posts: 15542 |
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The magical girl thing in general's the most annoying, 'cus I can't tell those damned outfits apart. But that gimmick is not necessarily a trope exclusive to shoujo, so... |
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bj_waters
 Posts: 234 |
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Wow, I'm surprised that "main character's love interest is (sometimes secretly) rich and has a bad relationship with/is misunderstood by his father/family" didn't show up, because that's one that makes me roll my eyes on a fairly regular basis.
I just finished a series that had this in it, and I found it quite disappointing because, once again, the plucky lead has to use her personality and quirks to "save" her guy from his family. I mean, I get that there's a wish-fulfillment/power-fantasy angle to the whole thing, but it does get to be a bit much. But then I'm a (straight) guy, so maybe I just don't get it. |
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MajinAkuma
 Posts: 1199 |
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There should also be "the (rich) alpha bitch, who bullies the main characters because of jealousy".
Or, "the main character is too shy in terms of romance". |
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MajinAkuma
Posts: 1199 |
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I think this is mostly your problem. The Pretty Cure fans can call all 40 main characters apart. And the color pattern is basically the same since Yes! 5; there is always a pink, blue and yellow one. |
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Royalq
Posts: 1 |
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- Met when they were super young, like 4, and made a promise to find each other and get married when they are older. Get older and dont recognize one another.
-Super ridiculously negligent parents move away and leave 15 yr old girl to live by herself. Hot guy next door. -Super focus on something frivolous like her after school club, violin, helping people. Doesnt notice the 15 smoking hot guys throwing themselves at her. - Likes the guy thats super mean to her and treats her like crap. Persistent as hell. - willing competes with another girl for her own boyfriend. Who does that?? |
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Z-Raid
 Posts: 132 |
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Personally, I'm sick of really poor communication between the main character and the love interest leading to this huge misunderstanding and conflict. It's not something exclusive to shoujo series but good god sometimes half of the problems that pop up in shoujo wouldn't have happened if people just TALKED to each other.
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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*WARNING! Long post ahead. Proceed with caution*
Not surprisingly, almost all of these recurring tropes, with a little-to-no modification, can be applied to shōnen mangas as well:
(Well, no need to touch-up this one  It's also possible to change 'scatterbrain' with 'unnaturally dense')
(Swap 'guy' for 'girl' and Voilà)
(Again, pretty common for blushing moments in shōnen mangas as well. Also, the rate at which those 'little touches' happen, one would think at some point someone is gonna scream 'SEXUAL HARASSMENT')
(School prince -> school princess)
(The infamous 'childhood friend/osananajimi trope, we meet again)
(We know that one as well all too well)
(Tsunderes, Yanderes, Kūderes, danderes and derederes. Also, former-enemies-turned-friends)
(Again, a small change from passive to active action and we're done -> the girl who was saved by him is also the transfer student)
(It turns out that their sibling isn't blood-related, so it's cool  )
(Would a 'rich lady/ōjo-sama' still count? I would)
(Daughter of the MC's parents' rival company)
(OK, these two clauses just had me scratching my head. Seriously?) There are still a lot of other annoying tropes, and were quite a few as well (the I'm-late-so-I'm-running-with-the-bread-in-my-mouth hasn't been used as often as it used to be, so now it mostly for self-parodying, for example) |
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DjAlmostFive
Posts: 16 |
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THIS! It's by far the thing drives me nuts more than anything in Shoujo. For example, season 2 of Kimi Ni Todoke. Communication! |
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secondkas
 Posts: 95 |
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I shut down from a shojo series once the love rival appears and the love triangle/polygon starts. The main couple is so perfect together that they need other people to tear them apart? Really? Their own individual baggages are not enough to cause conflicts? Plus I feel sorry for the hapless third party who exists just for that role; he/she has no value in the story other than to ruin lives.
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Keichitsu0305
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I actually like the whole 'your crush moves in with you' because the odds of it happening in real life is hilariously low and it shows how desperate the author is trying to pair the two.
As an avid shoujo manga reader (new and old content) here are a few I dislike: The first love is the only love PERIOD. Anyone else is trying to 'ruin' your chances of being with your soulmate. The abusive jerk is aloof because *insert tragic past cliche* and the heroine feels sorry for them which must means its love! (Bonus points if the message is that only romance can cure past trauma) Actually, irredeemable abusive jerks are uninteresting sob stories unless written well. Love polygons. (This for any genre or demographic) Poor communication because the author needs to drag out whatever stupid misunderstanding to gain false tension. Ditsy heroine who, despite being drawn generically pretty, thinks she's the most plain Jane in her class. Bonus if they are super shy or girly to the max. Anytime when rape or sexual assault is used for the heroine's love interest to save her (Again this is for all genre's or demographics) The best friend(s) who are only good for providing an ongoing joke, wisdom, a Yankee, or weird kink. I could go on (I haven't even talked about the love interest) but then that would take a full blog post. 
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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More of a general manga trope: "Their still only teens, but they each live alone"--I can't count the amount of series in which the teenaged characters don't have any parental figures whatsoever. Or only one parent is ever mentioned, and the fact that generally people have two parents is just never addressed.
I first noticed this in Inuyasha when Kagome's missing dad--and Miroku & Sango's nonexistent moms--never got an explanation, and it's bugged me ever since. And who raised Naruto?! We see him living alone with nominal supervision at 11, and the gap between his disastrous birth and then is never addressed! And who the hell are Konohomaru's parents? We only ever see his grandfather and uncle! Once you start noticing it, it gets annoying. <_< |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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From the article
The only one of those that I remember is Inuyasha. Is that shojo?
Sailor Moon is the only one like that that I can recall. Most of the others are things that I know well. Though they are frequently used, perhaps over-used, they really do not bother me at all. |
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Wingbeats
 Posts: 272 Location: Boise, Idaho |
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The two I find myself rolling my eyes at the most nowadays:
1. The "oops we tripped and now he's on top of me! Awkward sexual tension and blushing commence!" -To be fair, that one is not just shoujo, but all over anime and manga in general....I just laugh at it now every time it happens. 2. The "Oh we suck at talking to each other and communicating so queue a massive misunderstanding!! Oh noes!" -also all over anime/manga/media in general. So tired of it! xD |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6370 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Wow, this is a very interesting list to read.
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shiranehito
 Posts: 793 |
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I don't read shoujo very often because of these overused tropes. Most of the time the plot really predictable and there's nothing surprising anymore.
But shounen manga also have their overused tropes, like wimpy protagonist who'll turn out to be super awesome over time, etc etc. |
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