Anime & Manga Favorite Anime Tropes

[BunnyDemon]

It's true that there are certain tropes that need to stop completely, but there are others that make anime awesome, and those are the ones that we are going to discuss here!

For me, I like the school festival and school trip episodes.

 

[SentinelSevn]

Love the second-wind trope! Where a character who was originally losing miraculously turns the dire situation around and wins the battle.

I usually play RPs involving action, and the parts where this is played out well is by far some of my most epic reads.

 

[HeathertheGamer]

I love any trope where it pulls the opposite of what you expected.

 

[Idea]

Oh boy there are so many!
For this response, I'll assume "plot" and "characters" (which are, by definition, tropes) don't count.

Lethal Chef- I'm using the denomination that Tv Tropes gave this one here, but basically, it's that trope where a character is so bad at cooking it's bizarre and potentially deadly. Cooking a simple soup ends up looking like a witch's cauldron. Nomatter where I go, it always cracks me up.

Snappy Inner Monologue- This one is another ridiculously funny one (tbh most of my favorite tropes are based on their comedic success with me) and it also can give some really deep, interesting insight into the characters and the ideas being explored

KAWAII OVERLOAD LOLI! - Yeah, yeah, I hear the sirens. Cause appearantly the only way to like something is to want to bang it( In case anyone didn't understand it yet, those sentences just now were sarcastic). Still, it really melts my heart and brings a smile to my face to get washed with cuteness, and it's so relaxing too.

Misunderstandings (done right)- Some misunderstandings are just plot stall, cringy, or completely out of scale. A good misunderstanding is either downplayed dramatically or overplayed comedically, otherwise it will just be a drag. But when it hits the right conditions? I won't be sitting on my chair much longer.

VRMMORPG Plots- What can I say, I half-grew up on world of warcraft and I am a stickler for orderly magic systems which actually have stakes instead of people pulling random magic #703 out of their ass. Plots like these are also often easier to comprehend in terms of narrative stakes. Speaking of which...

Concrete Magic Systems- this one is a lot less anime-specific but I just love these in general. You can keep your vague barely understood magic. I prefer magic which is awesome because it is awesome, not because it could be awesome. I want to see what's behind the curtin and be amazed, I want to be amazed at something that is truly incorporated into the immersive story, not be kept behind the curtins wondering they couldn't just use their damm billion spells to end all conflict. Sorry, I'm starting to rant. But anywya, anime goes to great lengths with this. I think perhaps the fate series and re:creators had the two best magic systems I've seen in anime, and for sure among the best five at least that I've encountered in general.

Harems- Now I know a lot of people have problems with this, but I never really got it. I've grown to have a better understanding of the issue, a lot of harem relies on tropes and/or is downright uncomfortable in terms of fanservice. I get the idea of being fed up with somehting. But classifying the genre as inherently bad, even if itself is based on a trope is something I find very short-sighted. Not that you have any obligation to enjoy this trope as much as I do (especially when it's the guy that has to track the girls like in Date a Live and World God Only Knows), you don't need to enjoy or not anything, but I'd really appreciate people stop automatically assuming just because it's harem or has tropes it's automatically bad. Anyway, rant over.

Gender Flip- A character having their gender changed in either a certain episode or as the central concept of an anime/manga. It's funny, interesting and often cute. I also enjoy traps, usually for it's factor relating to this.

Noble Self-sacrifice- Less when it comes to sacrificing one's life and moreso when it comes to sacricing one's reputation or a reward they've been seeking...it's also gotta be actually followed through on or it's pointless. But when it is properly done, it's one of the most heartbreaking types of drama for me.

Anime categorical mood symbols: When a character has some emotion like a water dropplet sliding by the side of their face or that weird red lines coming together thing... Those are great for lightheartedly conveying emotion quickly. O///O

Magical Girls Get Dark- This HAS to be considered a trope at this point, and I love it. A lot of these are just incredible in their exploration of themes and combining an interesting set of magical girls and their powers with a dark twist they have to work to solve.

Idol character- the songs they bring, the cuteness...O//O

Adoption stories that actually explore the raising of the child-just incredible heartwarming

Minor distaste causes stupidity- this is surprisingly relatable. The best examples I think I've come across are in Pet girl of Sakurasou, which was basically ABOUT exploring the theme of envy and Kokoro connect with perhaps the most relatable character I've ever encountered in anime.

I also love, as HeathertheGamer said, parody humor.

 

[TPBx]

This one is super cheesy but my favorite trope is when a character hates what they do or who they are despite being incredibly talented or gifted, but after an encounter with the main character ends up loving the thing they used to loathe or accept and who they are, and then move on with a goal to surpass the main character.

See: Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia), Aila Jyrkiainen (Gundam Build Fighters), Kite Tenjo (Yugioh Zexal), Vegeta (Dragonball Z) etc.

 

[BunnyDemon]

Anime categorical mood symbols: When a character has some emotion like a water dropplet sliding by the side of their face or that weird red lines coming together thing... Those are great for lightheartedly conveying emotion quickly. O///O

This one!!!! I wanted to put it, but didn't know how to put it plus I was kind of distracted. I love the exaggerated facial expressions. To me, it gets the point across how the character is feeling along with adding a bit of comedy.

 

[Idea]

This one!!!! I wanted to put it, but didn't know how to put it plus I was kind of distracted. I love the exaggerated facial expressions. To me, it gets the point across how the character is feeling along with adding a bit of comedy.

Yeah, the term I used is for for sure not the right one either, but meh