That's pretty specific, but I'm drawing a blank. Do you have some examples of shows that do this? I think usually the 'back corner by the window' characters are quiet and unapproachable, to explain their unpopularity. You are describing something else?Originally Posted by MFauli
Didn't have any specific anime in mind here, but just recently there was this isekai anime where the whole class got isekai'd and the hero got to choose his ability last and ended up with, dunno, he was able to build a nice cozy cave with furniture, and ofc it ended up being a cheat ability that let him overpower everyone else in the end. And he was introduced as a quiet, shut-in type person. But ofc he was good-looking, capable and courageous.
But this type of character appears a lot, hence why it's such an annoying trope to me. If you introduce a character as a social outcast, give us a REASON for why he is a social outcast. Something beyond his own choice. Tbh Subaru from ReZero fits in here, too. When we got to see his flashback, I was like "okay, so you're not the best at something and that's why you're depressed. Uhuh." Guy was perfectly normal, normal-good looking, and had no reason to be a social outcast. And as soon as he's isekai'd, he's super confident and surrounded by hot chicks. The author had no idea what it means to be a true social outcast. Welcome to the NHK is a good example of how to do it.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
So this trope literally doesn't exist in isekai, but you hate it. Cool.
It does exist in school romance series, and I'm not real fond of it there, mostly because it makes the series boring after a while if they don't adjust and make it integrate properly and give a sustained excuse for it being present before.
e.g. "The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All" is an example of this trope in school romance done right, which will be getting an anime in the future.
"Horimya" was an example of it not done that well, and "I'm Sick and Tired of My Childhood Friend's, Now Girlfriend's, Constant Abuse, so I Broke up With Her" is an example of the trope done poorly and worth complaining about, though it started out promising.
Welcome to the NHK is nowhere near as good as it is frequently claimed or remembered to be. It's deeply bland and medicore. Honestly, possibly the most overrated series I'm aware of.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Fri, 05-09-2025 at 07:16 PM.
Rofl, at this point you're just the personified version of this meme whenever you read my postings:
29b23077a300b72432952cbf49278c40.jpg
Anyway, some more shitty tropes:
- "Stark colorful hair"; I'm not gonna put this against older anime, it is what it is. But it annoys me more in modern anime where we have enough quality to differentiate characters without the use of silly hair colors like green, blue, purple, pink, etc.. This gets even worse when its basically a SPOILER for the characters' personality, aka "the red haired character is hot-headed"; "the blue-haired girl is quiet", "the white haired guy is mysterious", "the pink-haired girl is lovey-dovey", etc.. It's not clever and if your story requires it, it's probably not a good story. And there's a third layer of shittiness to this trope: When you have an anime where MOST characters have normal hair colors, but the QUIET, INTROVERT protagonist has some outrageous hair color and style. I spontaneously think of Yugi from Yugioh, that boy had no business sporting such a hairstyle, lol. But there's plenty of modern anime where you'd think the introvert would try to be less conspicuous, but no, colorful hair, like he/she wants to attract bullies. Anyway, colorful hair needs to go. You got black and brown, and on rare occasions blonde and red, that needs to be enough. And it is, we have plenty of anime that manage to do with it.
- "The Incest Tease"; oh my. Look, I don't NEED incest in my anime. But when you imply incest, and do so intensely, then either go through with it or quickly put a stop to it. Most recently, this was dumb in "Anya speaks Russian" with the sister of the MC, but then you also have entire shows like Oreimo, and then just a myriad of shows where incest is being casually teased in various ways. Stop. Pls. Either take the incest and make it a relevant part of the plot (rare anime do that), or just don't bring up any incest at all. Like what the hell.
- "Heroes being more powerful than villains from the start"; this really is something that I feel became more prevalent in the past circa 10 years, maybe 15 years: The heroes are more powerful than the villains from the very start and there's never even a SHRED of a doubt that they'll defeat any opponent. Like, don't get me wrong, it's ultimately expected that a series' hero wins, it's kinda required. But there's a meaningful difference between Guts or even Naruto barely defeating some monstrous villain, or ... what happens nowadays. Perfect example is the recent "Maou 2099" or whatever its title was. Demon Lord awakens after hundreds of years of sleep in a futuristic present, story happens and while there's a brief time of "weakness" in the beginning, that vanishes almost immediately and now he just goes on to fuck over any opponent he encounters. No matter who gets in his way, he just pulls out another special move. Then there also was "I parry everything" where you knew the hero would easily handle any opponent with ease. Then, for a more popular example, there was "Solo Leveling" where we had like one episode of "hm, how will he overcome that monster?", but then the rest was just basking in Jinwoo's aura, lol (and I'm ngl, it was somewhat okay here thanks to the quality of the animaton and music). But if we went through any battle-anime, this trope has become so ubiquitious, it just removes any excitement and tension. Heck, it makes me root for the villains, because why would I root for a hero who gets to win with ease?!
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
You don't actually want a discussion in this thread, as usual, you just want to hear people agree with your fringe takes.
I think DEx was right, you just hate anime at this point, or at least your imagined version of what the totality of anime is because you only watch a narrow type of shows that you've gotten burnt out on.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Sat, 05-10-2025 at 04:16 AM.
Haha, yeah, MFauli simply hates anime now, after watching it for long years. That's plain as day already. He can come up with "tropes" he dislikes endlessly, until no characteristic of anime is left unlisted. Beautiful character designs is such a weird thing to say that it's also be strongest evidence. Dude should find another hobby, quickly.
A. This is an iconic part of the medium. It's like complaining about big eyes.
B. If anything, this trope has become more realistic over time. As those hair colors have become much more common in the real world.
I agree with this one.
I like having the hair colors.
anyways, is it just me or that many stories no longer feature a rival character?
sig made by Itachi-y2k5, thanks, dude!
Currently Watching: probably a show directed at 9 years old girls, lets be honest.
You know the important distinction between Batman and me? Batman is fictional. In real life, there isn't always an alternative.
Not sure if that was "common", but some in recent years certainly still have them.
Mostly sports ones.
And shounen. Those typically have rivals.
How about nothing-burger cliffhangers? Less frequent, I know, but how many times does an anime have a dramatic 'twist' at the end of an episode only to completely undo or brush it under the rug within seconds of the next episode starting? I can almost smell the cynicism. Especially eye rolling when someone confesses in a romance or rom-com jus to play it off as a joke seconds later (but a week for those of us watching and hoping for some progress).
Great pick! I vaguely remember countless situations even here in the forum where I was furious and people were like "wait" and then it turned out to be a nothingburger like you mention. Biggest offender that I now remember: Boku no Hero Academia.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
I get less pissed off at undoing a twist seconds later than I am doing undoing a dramatic climax seconds later.
Like the incredible ending of Ep. 19 of Demon Slayer. Only for the next episode to go, "Actually, nah. None of that actually worked."
If you look at how big a portion of anime/manga isekai, and generic fantasy that borrows elements from isekai, is these days, it would explain some reduction in rival characters. Typically isekai can't suffer the presence of a rival. In the first place, the MC must be everone's only focus. He must not need to compete for the girls' attention. Having a rival would considerably lessen the "everything is served to the MC on a silver platter" effect.
I haven't actually watched any of late, nor even read that many manga of the type in the recent years, but obviously any title where competitiveness is at the center of it, rivals are there in one form or another. Be it sports or music competitions. Otherwise romcom, and those bordering it, seem to mainly possess an arc of two of a rival character. Based on comments, those arcs aren't among the most popular ones, but on the other hand, hating a character is a strong emotion, so the plot is doing its work.
In shoujo/josei, rivals maybe haven't lost their presence as much.
Woah. Big ass thread.
The only character trait that I actually dislike I think are those who are dumb as shit. It gets frustrating at times.
I dislike stories that build towards some mystery or thing, only to end the series without concluding anything. It's disappointing and dissatisfying.
After the Rain (Koi wa Ameagari no You ni) comes to mind.
You can also pick any handful of stories from PA Works.
Correction: I like the stories, I dislike the endings.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
school rom-com shows that spend too much time on seasonal events that don't relate to the characters:
* valentines day + white day
* Christmas + Japanese new years
* sport festival
* culture festival
* school trip
sig made by Itachi-y2k5, thanks, dude!
Currently Watching: probably a show directed at 9 years old girls, lets be honest.
You know the important distinction between Batman and me? Batman is fictional. In real life, there isn't always an alternative.
How much time is too much time?
Peace.
I suppose if it's a 13 episode cour and you have 5 of the 13 episodes dedicated to the above, that'd be too much time if there is seemingly nothing to gain character-wise.
5/26 episodes isn't bad.
5/52 is just once a year. It probably needs a Golden Week and Summer Holiday episode to pad it out.
(Cue episode beginning with cicada audio, montage of hot summer sun, trees and a plane flying overhead, pedestal fan blowing, barley tea with ice cubes that melt just enough to visibly move+make noise, character lying face flat on tatami - rolls over and says it's hot)
Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sun, 05-18-2025 at 03:26 PM.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
I actually don't remember any "golden week" episodes. what tropes are there for it?
and yes, I forgot about the summer holiday episode with the yokota, festival, lost child and some loud fireworks to drown out the dramatic sentence about the girl moving the next day.
sig made by Itachi-y2k5, thanks, dude!
Currently Watching: probably a show directed at 9 years old girls, lets be honest.
You know the important distinction between Batman and me? Batman is fictional. In real life, there isn't always an alternative.
I don't think there's actually a trope. I just threw it in there as another "setting" for an anime that runs for a whole year. The only specific anime I remember that prominently features or mentions Golden Week was one of the Bakemonogatari arcs. If other anime mention it, it's mostly as a time-off-school setting, like a mini-holiday.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
So you hate anime, huh!!1 /s
I actually have another trope I hate:
- "Retarded characters accepted as normal"; so let me be clear, I'm not talking about characters who actually are mentally handicapped. I'm talking about characters like Mayuri from Steins;Gate who behave in ways that is NOT acceptable in any environment where adult people do anything. When adult characters behave like complete freaks, and the anime portrays it as acceptable, that totally takes me out. I guess Tokyo Revengers is an entire anime about this shitty trope, because NOBODY among the normal adults says anything against all those freaky gang posers, instead it's all allowed to continue. I'm okay with out-there-characters to exist, but then please present them as such and don't make me believe that what I'm seeing is supposed to be socially acceptable.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
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