Forum - View topicAwkward High School Romance
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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So I was watching Karin the other day, and I got to thinking on the topic of romance and how it is generally portrayed in anime, or at least, that I have noticed.
It always seems to tell about very very awkward first romances, where one or both of the characters involved are too shy to say anything to the object of their offections or even speak to them. Its very different then the Western ideal of romance entertainment, which usually follows the basic plotline of "Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy looses girl, boy wins girl back" Whereas I have become very frustrated with anime romance comedies which seem to derive great enjoyment from using the same dumb "Haha she's too shy to talk to him isnt that cute?" gag over and over again. They follow this more aggravating typical plotline: "Girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, girl is too shy to speak, so girl avoids boy, relationship goes nowhere" The point is, that anime seems to, in my experiance, focus on people who are insecure and shy, and it frustrates me. For once I'd like to watch an anime where the characters just fall for each other instead of playing "He loves me, he loves me not" tag. Why the insecurity? I realise that it might be trying to relate to the Average Joe, and while Karins insecurity regarding her crush are familier territory to me, I still can't help but feel that I if I'm getting enough meaningless angst and aggravatingly non progressing relationships in my own life, why would I want to WATCH something about another one? For me personally, TV is an escapism from the unpleasentnesses of reality. Not to mention that NOT everybody out there goes through such incredibly slow started, haltingly mutually embarasing antics to get a signifigant other. I'v known plenty of people who just met, eventually fell in love, and that was that, without any shyness. The entire "Oooh should I tell him? I dont know. No, I dont think I can tell him.. ohh but I should tell him!" deal gets old quickly. |
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DKL
 Posts: 1962 Location: California, USA |
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Watch Paradise Kiss if you want to see unconventional romance in anime (meaning that... uhh... there's this semblance of reality?... yeah... when you think about that as being as "unconventional"... that's... kinda not cool...).
That said... I dunno... I find the way it's structured in anime pretty cute... I mean, it holds my attention; Shana wouldn't be as much fun otherwise. But yeah... I can totally see how people could see that crap getting old real fast... |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Well Karin is a vampire, which makes it hard for her to fall in love with someone out of her species. Plus, spoiler[she gets nosebleeds from being too close to Usui Kenta because his blood type (sadness) is Karin's taste].
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LuckySleven
 Posts: 426 Location: Refer to page 2 |
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Aishiteruze Baby has a story that's pretty different from the conventional love story. Though I have to say that the manga ending was better than the poorly low budget fast ending.
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chrisb
 Subscriber Posts: 664 Location: USA |
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Most anime like that tend to play on otaku's fantasy of the shy girls watching them from afar so that's why they never get hit on. That's just my guess though.
Recent shoujo are kind of breaking from that, I mean the whole shy girl/shy guy thing is still in a lot of them, but shows like NANA that are a bit more realistic are showing a real portrayal of romance. |
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Viga_of_stars
 Posts: 1240 Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier |
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i used to think that the shy girl who loves boy thing is a reflection on a shyer modest japanese society...but i could be wrong about that. or maybe the moe shy gal is hot to the otaku across the sea! to the one who mentioned NANA i second that because it much more realistic romance and a kick ass story of friendship added in. sometimes it almost makes me forget the series is set in japan and not america. but thats just me! its hard for me to think of a title...well ai yori ayoshi starts off quick and leads to love within the first 3 episodes. |
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nbcaznmaster
Posts: 29 |
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Maybe thats teh way relationships are in Japan? Japan has a different culture, so teh relationship style would be different also.
No doubt, that style gets frustrating after 50 episodes and no1 can admit their feelings! And i admit, its even more annnoygin when it ends the sereis wtih a conffession! the relationship didn't even begin and the series is over? |
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digitalkikka
 Posts: 462 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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I'm very tolerant of the formula used for HS romance in anime. The whole "shy girl" aspect is what hits close to home for me and experiencing the shyness and worry that comes from those new relationships are what enables me to relate to the characters. Plus it usually brings with it cute, comedic moments centered around young love
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Sometimes when they drag those moments out for too long without any progression in the relationship it can get dull and repetitive so I understand how someone could get tired of it... it just hasn't hit that point for me yet  .
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jetz
Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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I think NANA is considered as josei anime rather than shojo. I read somewhere that josei anime is more realistic when it comes to romance. |
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Eruanna,
I like the points you make, and for the most part, that the culteral differences you listed (boy gets and loses girl vs. girl and guy are shy and can't hook up)are portrayed fairly routinely in animes. It got me thinking about what romance animes were my favorite and if they fit into that standard as well, and some don't, of course, that still doesn't make them the norm, and perhaps I enjoyed them because they weren't the norm. My favorite romance anime has to be His and Her Circumstances. This did for a bit go thru the "falling for guy and how to tell him", but really, it's awkwardness was very natural and didn't last very long as they actually get together fairly early in the anime and the rest of the show is about their struggles together and while together. This has always been an anime I apperciate in that the relationship does develop normally, just like a real persons would, and the way the feelings were so honest in this, even if the comedy parts were out there, they never detracted away from the quite moments. Wow, I will have to watch this again soon. Another anime romance I really liked was Ai Yori Aoshi which doesn't fit the norm as well, and perhaps that was part of it's appeal. Aoi clearly knew what she wanted from the beginning and went for it, letting nothing stop her. People can say she's a doormat, but I can't see that, she was too insistent on what she wanted even if her personality made her someone who was calm, well mannered, and thoughtful of others. I can't say it was only because this anime didn't follow the "I can't tell him how I feel :blush:" formula, but it certainly helped anyway. Nana is another (I have only read the released manga so far) where I really appreciate the romance being portrayed in a realistic manner. Here when they waffle on feelings, it seems honest as in "what do I want?" rather than "I cant ever tell him." When you listed the westernized standard of "guy loses girl and wins her back" the show that immediately sprung to mind was Flame of Recca, and I am sure they may be others, however that is a distictly shounen action and certainly isn't straight romance, despite having some. It isn't the norm by far either. I certainly have seen more than enough however were the norm of being" too shy" kept people away for far too long, to the point you want to throw shoes at them. It is usually done in a way however where it doesn't feel like the character actually has a shy personality, just when it comes to that "special one" which is why it is less enjoyable. Thanks for the thoughts, I enjoyed them. |
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