As much as we love anime, there’s no denying that the medium is, for better or worse, full of cliches. But as I’ve mentioned in past posts, this isn’t always a bad thing; I’m of the opinion that a cliche doesn’t necessarily equal poor writing if it carries out an appealing cliche well or adds something memorable to it. Not only does anime have its own set of unique cliches not found in other mediums, but because it caters to a lot of different genres, it naturally has cliches to match all kinds of tastes. We all have our anime cliches we like and don’t like, so today I’d like to look at my favorite and least favorite ones…
I use the term “cliche” rather loosely as it’s sometimes interchanged with “trope” (though apparently the consensus is that a cliche is the result of an overdone trope). So some of the things I mention here might also be called tropes, but the main idea is that they’re things in anime we’ve seen over and over. Also, I tried to list cliches that are more anime-only and not cliches for media in general. My lists aren’t in any particular order either.
Since I’d like to end on a positive note, let’s begin with my least favorite anime cliches:
Least favorite cliches
Excessive, pointless fan service
Like I discussed in my post about fan service, I don’t have a problem with it if it’s used sparingly; if it actually serves a purpose such as being genuinely funny or if it enhances the story or develops the characters somehow, then it’s fine. Which is why the cliche I have a problem with is “excessive, pointless fan service” rather than just “fan service.” When it’s used to the point of overriding things like story and characters, and basically serving no purpose in the show other than being just what it is – blatant catering to a specific otaku taste – is when I get annoyed. Luckily I’m good at identifying these kinds of shows beforehand (often of the harem and ecchi genres) so I tend to not watch them anyway, though I know they exist.
Yakuza-esque
I don’t mean depictions in anime of the real Yakuza – what I mean is the common character archetype of overly macho, violent, and arrogant male characters most often seen in shonen or other action anime. I don’t dislike all characters who have these traits, only the excessive ones who are shown to have few other “nice” qualities. I often use Bleach characters such as Kenpachi and Ikkaku, and more recently, Baccano characters such as Ladd and Claire, as examples of this. Even if they’re shown to have some redeeming qualities, I’m just not into watching blood-thirsty, self-absorbed characters who get into fights and inflict pain for self-satisfaction, especially when the show gives the impression that they’re not supposed to be viewed as bad for doing so.
Token yaoi/yuri
Like with fan service, I don’t have a problem with yaoi or yuri in anime I watch…only when it adds virtually nothing to the story or characters and is so obviously there to cater. I tend to see more of this with token lesbians in anime, for example, in the currently airing Kokoro Connect, Fujishima’s creepy interest in Iori shown in the early episodes didn’t seem to add anything to the story or characters at all (that didn’t even have to happen and her actions in later episodes wouldn’t have felt out of place or anything). Miharu from Baka Test is another example. However, I don’t have a problem with Kuroko from Railgun because what she does is actually kind of funny and she’s actually shown to be a likable character with other good qualities that are tied into her love for Mikoto. So again, I only have a problem when it’s forced, obnoxious, or pointless.
Favorite cliches
Tsundere
For those who remember this post, I made it clear that the tsundere is my most favorite anime trope. I explained all about it there, but again, I only like tsunderes when they’re done right. A poorly done tsundere, especially one that’s too much “tsun” and not enough “dere,” could easily become one of my least favorite tropes.
Animal mascot/companion
Some of you may know that, besides anime, animals are my biggest interest so naturally I love seeing them in anime. Even if the animal mascot/companion doesn’t have much of a purpose in the show other than to look cute or cool, that’s fine with me =P But if they are given some kind of personality, whether they talk or not, that’s even better! Ever since my anime fandom began with Pokemon over ten years ago, it’s always fascinated me how the Japanese can come up with such a diverse array of cute and cool fantasy creature designs in their anime, games, and merchandising. I always like seeing anime animals whether they’re a heartless evil alien creature like Kyubey or a normal animal like Tadakichi from Azumanga Daioh. My top ten anime animals can be found here.
Normal (guy) meets abnormal (girl)
So many anime I’ve enjoyed have the common setup of “normal or mostly normal (usually high school aged) guy meets abnormal girl (or girls) and she subsequently changes his life.” The clincher is that they usually end up romantically involved by the end (or the show at least hints at that) and I’m a total sucker for this kind of “opposites attract and bring out the good in each other” romance. Toradora!, Angel Beats!, Kannagi, Air, Shana, Spice and Wolf, Bakemonogatari, Sankarea, OreImo, Chobits, Eureka 7, and of course, Haruhi, are all anime I like and they follow this cliche in some way. The reason I put “guy” and “girl” in parenthesis is because sometimes the roles are reversed, with “normal girl meets abnormal guy (or guys)” and I usually like it that way too, such is the case with Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, and Ouran for example. But anyway, even though this is a cliche premise we’ve seen over and over, I for one think it’s always full of potential =)
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I was originally going to do five each for a total of ten cliches, but surprisingly I could only identify these six as my most major ones – there are many more anime cliches I like and don’t like, but I decided to only list the six I feel most strongly about.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll be back next week~
How interesting! I like everything on your list, except when the fanservice is REALLY over the top (like in Rosario+Vampire’s uncensored second season, for example). Obviously I don’t necessarily think any of the clichés are brilliant things to have but I sort of smile indulgently at all of those, and genuinely enjoy the brash yakuza type stomping through everything, being awesome.
Perhaps as a result, I feel like I can sort of take the arguments you’ve made for the things you dislike and apply them to the things you DO like, but I can totally understand having a gut reaction against any of the things you listed too.
Weren’t there lots of guys you disliked for being too ‘normal’ in that sort of boy-meets-girl scenario? Like in Gosick?
I’ve noticed that you watch a lot of…very fan service-y anime XD But if you don’t have a problem with it, then hey, that means you’re watching a better variety of anime than the average fan.
There are actually a lot of yakuza-ish guys I like, such as Inuyasha and some characters on One Piece and Naruto. But I like seeing some kind of compassion in them too and not just 90+% fighting for self-satisfaction. (fighting for the sake of others or some good cause is admirable though). And I don’t have a problem with normal guys as long as there’s something interesting about them and they’re not just totally bland.
I used to avoid the fanservicey stuff like crazy…but lately I’ve been wanting to turn off my brain more often, and felt like I was missing out on moéblob stuff everyone was talking about, so swung in the wrong direction for a while. XD
I think most of those brash guys will turn out to have more than one dimension, but if it tries your patience to even get there, there probably isn’t much point!
Interesting post as usual! My taste in cliches runs almost totally opposite to yours in the terms of what you listed – while I also hate pointless fanservice and enjoy cute animal companions, I actually enjoy pointless yaoi (not so much yuri though) and violent, badass characters but don’t particularly enjoy tsundere and ‘normal (boy) meets abnormal (girl)’.
Tsundere feels a bit overdone because people like it so much. Things have died down now (or maybe I’m just watching different stuff) but I felt like a few years ago I couldn’t watch any anime without there being a tsundere or three thrown in. It’s fresh the first few times, but like anything that’s overused, it gets old fast.
As for ‘normal meets abnormal’, often the guy is too boring and the girl is too weird and I get the vibe that it’s just catering to male viewers in the sense that the bland male template allows them to more easily insert themselves into his place. The same goes for the ‘normal girl’ template, too. Maybe it’s just because so many of these type of shows overlap with the harem and reverse-harem genres.
I was going to try to think of some other cliches I’ve come across, but it’s surprisingly hard to come up with them off the top of my head…
I actually feel like most English-speaking fans don’t like tsunderes XD But it is a famous trope nonetheless so there are plenty of lovers and haters of it. And I tend to more often get turned off by pointless yuri than pointless yaoi because for some reason the yaoi depictions are often more dignified than the yuri ones, like the examples I mentioned in the post, which are very not dignified =P
You pointed out the main problem with the “normal guy meets weird” girl cliche. But when it’s done right, i.e., the two main characters are interesting and fun to watch, then it’s great, which is how I feel about most of the series I mentioned for the cliche. But again, one person’s “interesting” and “fun to watch” is another person’s “stupid” and “boring” so it’s still very dependent on taste.
Cliches! Excellent subject!
I have to say, Normal meets Abnormal is probably my favorite cliche when it’s done perfectly. Sometimes the characters aren’t too separated by the two worlds like with Hyouka’s Oreki (the ‘normal’ energy preserver) and Chitanda (the excitable ‘abnormal’ girl in Oreki’s gray world). Or Bakemonogatari’s very strange cast (lets face it, Araragi is just as weird as the rest of the girls but he’s our ‘normal guy’ since we’re following his story and thoughts). As far as the extreme case, Saikano is a good ‘boy meets abnormal’ (although it’s a pretty extreme case).
Tsundere is also another one I like, but only when it’s done right. If it’s too over the top, I just can’t stand the character at that point. Same with fanservice, too much equals ruining the show (just like how they ruined Sankarea! Damn you Wanko!!!)
Another cliche that I love is glasses. I like when they use a glasses character for different uses like Angel Beats’ Takamatsu (nerdy looking, but is actually a ripped idiot) or the moe glasses girl like Lucky Star’s Miyuki. Then there’s the classic ‘squinty-eyes’ moment when they drop them. 3__3
A rare cliche that you don’t see often would be serious medical-eye-patch girl! I bet the first one that came to all your minds’ is Rei from Evangelion (even though it was only a temporary look, it always seemed to be her most popular one). These characters are tend to be quiet and very mysterious. I think they add suspense and suspicion to certain animes like Mei in Another. Though, I think Chuunibyou’s Rikka takes away from the serious part, I think she knows something we don’t and so I can still say she’s building suspense and suspicion, even though it’s not that kind of anime.
Heh, you’re right that Araragi isn’t exactly “normal,” which is why I said “(mostly) normal guy” XD I added the “mostly” part when I thought of him actually, LOL. But usually the male character is normal in the physical sense but abnormal in personal, emotional ways, like how he affects the girls he meets.
The glasses girl is a favorite otaku trope, but the eye patch girl is newer. It seems to be catching on with the characters you mention (I believe a character from ef has one too). I never thought of Rei as the original one though – good call XD
I guess it all depends on how it is implemented in the anime we are watching. I generally dislike excessive/pointless fan service, or very crude comedy (poop jokes, or other jokes in that category). However, sometimes they seem to get all those right, and we get a funny anime series like Binbougami ga!. It has crude jokes, lots of “boobs” references, fanservice, but at the same time, it has quite a heartwarming story behind it and some really funny episodes.
Ok, that sounds a lot like a review, but what I wanted to point out is that even some series with genres we dislike, can be ‘something more’ depending on the characters or story behind it.So while I may say that a show may not attract my attention, I’ll still give it a chance. I learned that with shows like Oreimo, which I hated at first. It had a tsundere gone awry, the plot was kind if tasteless, the main protagonist was weak-looking. It had everything it needed to be a show I could completely hate… Yet it is one heck of a good show…
So I’m trying to be even more open minded now, and giving more shows a try. Well, almost… there is one cliche I would add to the list, that is very hard for me to overcome. The “endless” type shows. Those series that have been going for 400 or so episodes. They could be the best show on earth, but I don’t think I can sit down to watch one of those all the way through :S
It’s funny that you mention crude comedy because I see very little of that in anime, even kids shows, compared to Western shows. I think the Japanese just don’t find crude humor (or sarcasm for that matter) funny and find things like poking fun at character flaws, or fan service jokes, funnier.
I agree that even if a show has a cliche you dislike or turns you off in the first episode, you never know if you’ll end up liking it. It’s happened to me before, which is why I try not to drop anime very often. But when you have limited free time, watching things you don’t enjoy just for the sake of giving them a chance becomes a chore. So sometimes it’s good to wait until they’re finished airing and see what people say.
Heh, the long-running shows you’re talking about with hundreds of episodes are a very different beast than your average late-night otaku anime with 12-26 episodes. They’re marketed to the general Japanese populace rather than just young adult anime fans and their staying power goes along with their merchandising (Pokemon) or their manga (the shonen trio). How they’re marketed and who they’re marketed to is just very different from other anime and warrants them a lot more episodes due to their popularity as mainstream entertainment…but it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to sit through that many episodes if you’re not interested =P
This is really interesting! I’ve been meaning to do something like that for a while. Our dislikes share some similarities too, although I can’t complain about token yuri, it almost always adds something for me ^.^
Heh, I know there are some who get a kick out of token yuri…obviously or it wouldn’t exist XD It can be good for a laugh if it’s not too interrupting in the show. Like I said in the post, Kuroko from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun is an example of the cliche done well =)
Funny, I’ve never thought of the normal guy-abnormal girl set-up as appearing frequently enough to be considered a trope or cliche – but you’ve certainly listed a lot of examples! That set-up adds to the sexual tension in Spice and Wolf – along with the fact that Lawrence is kind of a stuffed shirt, which means he has that much farther to unwind and let go of himself as well. ;)
It sounds like you have the same gut reaction to Yakuza-esque characters that I have to weak, whispery-voiced female characters. XD I actually like Yakuza-esque characters because their sheer over-the-topness makes me laugh. I do think Kenpachi has one redeeming feature: he cares about little pink-haired Yachiru, his vice-captain. =D
You probably haven’t encountered the “normal guy meets abnormal girl” cliche because it’s typical for slice-of-life series (or pseudo slice-of-life such as Shana and Haruhi) and series with more female characters than male, which you don’t watch that much. But for general otaku anime, it’s pretty common I think. It’s not always done well, but when it is, I love it ;)
I’m not thrilled with the weak, whispery-voiced female characters either (unless there’s something interesting or memorable about them), but they don’t turn me off as much as the macho, violent guys. It’s normal for them to have some redeeming quality, especially if the series portrays them as more of a good guy than a bad guy (like Kenpachi). But sometimes it’s not enough for me to overlook the fact that they’re self-absorbed and blood-thirsty 90% of the time XP I guess when it comes to male characters, I’m more into the compassionate, gentle guys (as long as they’re not terribly bland =P)
least favorite cliches…
The accidental falls that end up in compromising positions.
Yes, i know it falls under fanservice. But still it deserves its own shout out. The worst type of this is the tit grab ones. Even a show like Sword Art Online isn’t immune to this.
longwinded speeches in the middle of battles/action.
It seems like every other character has to do one “final this is why i must kill you” speech to their opponent. Or the even worse two allies conferring while the enemy somehow sits patiently waiting for them to explain things to each other.
The resurrection of dead characters.
A touching scene where one of the main characters dies. Don’t worry. I’m sure the anime producers will find some obscure contrived way to bring them back. It just seems a cheap gimmick to add emotion to a series without having the consequence of death be absolute.
favorite cliches…
childhood friends (of the opposite sex)
A lot of people hate them. I actually love them, especially outgoing girls. The girl grew up with you. Knows almost everything about you, including all your obnoxious faults, and still loves you for who you are. Sign me up. They get a bad rap for being a “normal” life contrast to the exotic tsundere late entry that seems to entice drama.
Yeah, I don’t like the “accidental fall” cliche either. It’s a really cheap way to use fan service and it just seems totally out of place in otherwise non-fan service series (like SAO). I don’t really have a problem with long-winded speeches unless they drag on for a long time and, like you described, you wonder what the enemy is doing waiting around for them do finish. And resurrecting dead characters is okay in some situations – as long as it makes sense and doesn’t seem like a half-assed plot twist.
And I don’t have a problem with childhood friends. I often feel bad for them actually because they typically end up on the losing end of the love triangle.
Nice article. It’s interesting that two of your three favorite cliches happen to be two of my favorite – the Tsundere and the “normal boy meets abnormal girl” scenario, especially the latter.
Pardon me for the short comment; I would normally elaborate a bit more, but I have to go somewhere soon.
Glad we share a couple of favorite cliches =D
Well fan service is fine until the moment when they’re having a serious conversation and there’s a sudden pantyshot (11 Eyes for example). As for me yuri vibe is always welcome but you know, fans always connects yaoi/yuri pairs even if there’s no relationship. Tsunderes… not many people like them. So you like Shana but don’t like Kirino… I never understood that but many people thinks that way.
Anyway, hi, my first post here. I must say your blog is very interesting (like the subjects) and I saw a few blogs, yours one of most appealing.
First off, thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you continue to enjoy my posts ^_^
Yeah, the disruptive fan service in an otherwise dramatic show is the worst – either be straight up low-brow crude comedy or don’t be…mixing the two just doesn’t work for me.
I like Shana because her character development was consistent; she was cold and basically a lot more tsun than dere in the first season and by the third season, she practically isn’t even a tsundere anymore. Kirino on the other hand was not only much more mean and abusive (Shana at least had a reason to be callous – she’s not even human) but just when she starts to change for the better she suddenly reverts back to her old self.
Hmm, this is a pretty solid post. My only disappointment is that I’m trying to think up cliches that I least and most like, and I…can’t really think up anything I think is tangible. I guess the only one I can come up with is the one Cirris mentioned: the accidental falling. It’s rarely done right, and it feels like that moment is in every anime nowadays…why? Because I guess I will laugh at it right? It rarely works for me, because it’s just not used at an appropriate point.
I could do without the accidental falling too. It is in quite a few anime but not in the ones that aren’t specifically geared towards otaku (like Sakamichi no Apollon and Space Brothers for example). I feel like I’m seeing less of it in recent anime though, which is a good thing (unless I’m just lucky at avoiding the anime that have it).
Tsundere! Tsundere is definitely my favorite trope as well, and I’m also liking kuudere as well.
To add on fanservice, I also had no problems when the fanservice itself turns into an art, like Nisemonogatari. The monogatari series is known to feature abstract art and animations, and I feel their use of such visual styles on fanservices itself is creative, dat toothbrush scene!
As for “Yakuza”, I think it’s more on less on how we relate to them. I read some characters recently that literally tortured on a lot of other weaker characters, and just after one or two chapter, there are some slight revelations which expect us to look at him in a new light, which is… quite impossible to say the least.
I dare not comment on yuri, since I’m a hardcore fan :D Might come off as biased.