ZeiruliousMakavar
The Archon of Madness
So after spending quite awhile watching some of the newer animes and reading the newer mangas, I've noticed a slight trend in Manga and Anime lately. That is, most of the 'mainstream' animes and mangas seem to be about fan service only, with extremely predictable plots if any at all.
I personally do not mind a fan service scene here and there in an anime or manga. But when the fan service is the main thing, then it gets boring really quickly. On levels bordering on annoying. I have dropped several animes because of this.
Now, I'm not an expert on market trends, or on anime/manga in general. I do understand that fan service indeed is one thing that can keep an anime or manga alive, especially when talking of the merchandise that comes with such things. How ever, I feel bad for the manga writers/artists, who have to either change their work or cancel it all together, because they don't have stereotypical characters and cliché scenes/plots in their mangas/animes.
It seems the trend for plots nowadays is this: Guy gets sent to another world and meets several attractive women. All of these women fall in love with him, despite him having no redeeming qualities, as he's either a jerk to them, or completely useless. He then has to save the world from some dark evil, and gets the prettiest girl in the world as his wife/girlfriend because of this.
This plot line is EVERYWHERE in anime and manga nowadays, and it's reached the point where it's become cliché. In my opinion, for an anime/manga to be interesting at all, it needs to do something unexpected. Yeah, it can have fan service, but not focus solely on the fan service, such as shows like Highschool DxD (In which the plot to me seems to be the fan service.). It can have cliché characters, such as the childhood friend who grew up to be 'sexy,' but it shouldn't just be all cliché characters, such as shows like To Love-ru. (Clumsy idiotic protagonist, with all of the 'love interests' being either Tsunderes, Ditzy girls, or 'childhood friends') The plot can be slice of life, but it shouldn't follow a stereotypical plot, such as shows like Clannad.
Shows such as Konosuba (A harem-esque anime/manga where the male lead is the only competent character.) and Urara Meirochou (A 'moe-fest' anime/manga that has a cute plot to go with the cute characters.) don't exactly follow these clichés. Yes, they do have clichés of there own, but they are still interesting in that they do something different. Konosuba is interesting, because the 'useless male lead' is the only one who's competent. Urara is different because, despite all of the characters being a type of moe, there is next to no romance in the anime.
Either way, after that long rant, I want to know your guys/gals opinions on clichés in anime/manga. Are they a good thing, or a bad thing?
I personally do not mind a fan service scene here and there in an anime or manga. But when the fan service is the main thing, then it gets boring really quickly. On levels bordering on annoying. I have dropped several animes because of this.
Now, I'm not an expert on market trends, or on anime/manga in general. I do understand that fan service indeed is one thing that can keep an anime or manga alive, especially when talking of the merchandise that comes with such things. How ever, I feel bad for the manga writers/artists, who have to either change their work or cancel it all together, because they don't have stereotypical characters and cliché scenes/plots in their mangas/animes.
It seems the trend for plots nowadays is this: Guy gets sent to another world and meets several attractive women. All of these women fall in love with him, despite him having no redeeming qualities, as he's either a jerk to them, or completely useless. He then has to save the world from some dark evil, and gets the prettiest girl in the world as his wife/girlfriend because of this.
This plot line is EVERYWHERE in anime and manga nowadays, and it's reached the point where it's become cliché. In my opinion, for an anime/manga to be interesting at all, it needs to do something unexpected. Yeah, it can have fan service, but not focus solely on the fan service, such as shows like Highschool DxD (In which the plot to me seems to be the fan service.). It can have cliché characters, such as the childhood friend who grew up to be 'sexy,' but it shouldn't just be all cliché characters, such as shows like To Love-ru. (Clumsy idiotic protagonist, with all of the 'love interests' being either Tsunderes, Ditzy girls, or 'childhood friends') The plot can be slice of life, but it shouldn't follow a stereotypical plot, such as shows like Clannad.
Shows such as Konosuba (A harem-esque anime/manga where the male lead is the only competent character.) and Urara Meirochou (A 'moe-fest' anime/manga that has a cute plot to go with the cute characters.) don't exactly follow these clichés. Yes, they do have clichés of there own, but they are still interesting in that they do something different. Konosuba is interesting, because the 'useless male lead' is the only one who's competent. Urara is different because, despite all of the characters being a type of moe, there is next to no romance in the anime.
Either way, after that long rant, I want to know your guys/gals opinions on clichés in anime/manga. Are they a good thing, or a bad thing?