[0:00] Spend enough time watching or 
reading any type of fiction,  
[0:03] and you'll begin to notice 
certain recurring themes and 
[0:06] archetypes. There are always good 
and bad examples of such tropes,  
[0:10] but when--like me--you see both in 4 seasons
of anime over and over again each year for  
[0:16] years...eventually, it wears on your 
spirit. I need to express my frustration 
[0:22] somehow so, yeah, now is the time.
By his own free will and NOT because he  
[0:27] is being held captive in any way at all, 
SquidtheCynic and I are joining forces 
[0:32] to expose 8 of the most annoying tropes in anime, 
to us, or also to you, if you agree with our list.
[0:42] We're all familiar with the harem 
trope, also considered a subgenre,  
[0:47] since it's often combined with other genres
like Ecchi, Isekai, and slice-of-life.  
[0:52] According to formula, it features a 
male lead with the vaguest personality 
[0:56] possible and AT LEAST 3 women 
his age...most of the time,  
[1:01] all desperate for his attention. A crucial
yet unspoken rule of anime harems is that  
[1:06] although, in more cases than not, the protagonist 
is attracted to the women surrounding him, 
[1:11] he must never act upon it. The harem-haver 
never commits to dating, never romantically  
[1:16] pursues anyone even outside of
the harem, never does ANYTHING that  
[1:20] a real person--or at the very least, 
a compelling character-- would do in 
[1:24] his position. The harem dynamic usually 
goes something like: "I LOVE HIM." "NO,  
[1:29] I LOVE HIM MORE." "LOOK HOW ATTRACTIVE
I AM." -- "Uhh-huhhuh you guys and your  
[1:35] jokes. W-W-wait a b-b-b-boooob?"
So yeah, I'm not personally a  
[1:41] fan of the average ecchi harem show.
But I'm not trashing on the subgenre  
[1:43] as a whole, just a specific trope within 
it--the witless, reluctant harem-haver. 
[1:43] Some may prefer there be no sense of progression, 
and that the protagonist remains clueless  
[1:48] and single so he's easier to relate to.
But why not make him an absolute chad?  
[1:54] Why not make him a scumbag taking 
advantage of how lucky he is in 
[1:58] the romance department? Maybe instead 
of stumbling into a harem situation 
[2:02] he wins different women over to assemble 
a harem. Not as easy to route for,  
[2:07] sure, and okay whatever, not realistic
or relatable, but are you seriously  
[2:12] going to tell me you find it easier to 
believe that not one, not two, but SEVERAL 
[2:17] conventionally attractive women all 
want to bear children with this dude  
[2:22] AT THE SAME TIME, despite him having no stand-out
traits and being tolerant of them at best,  
[2:28] their unwilling victim at worst? 
I just think it would make harem 
[2:32] 'plots' far more interesting if the protagonist 
was zany, deranged, flawed, anything..?
[2:42] The first in my anime tropes I hate list is one 
that I’m having a little trouble describing,  
[2:47] and Frenemies is the word that comes 
to mind but it isn’t quite accurate. 
[2:52] What I’m referring to specifically is a 
relationship like Naruto and Sasuke from  
[2:58] the Naruto anime or Deku and 
Bakugo from My Hero Academia. 
[3:01] And it's really a one sided 
friendship where one person  
[3:05] harbours legitimate hatred 
towards the other person who 
[3:09] keeps persistently claiming that they are 
in fact friends. Then eventually y'know  
[3:14] they go through a lot, maybe 100 maybe 
200 episodes together, and do in fact 
[3:19] become friends in the end. And I’m not even mad at 
this trope in the way you probably are thinking. 
[3:24] If anything I sympathise with the Sasuke or 
Bakugo type characters. Imagine, if you will,  
[3:31] making it very, very clear that not only do you
do not want to be friends with someone  
[3:36] you actively hate them and wish ill 
upon them and yet time and time again 
[3:41] they just pop up into your life randomly 
insisting that you guys are actually very close. 
[3:46] Whenever the hate filled friend finally 
breaks down and accepts the stalker weirdo  
[3:51] I'm just sitting there like,
“oh no oh lord he has stockholm  
[3:55] syndrome someone please save him, 
please save this little baby boi!”
[3:58] I've always been a sucker for sports 
anime, especially the kind that are  
[4:02] about sports I play and understand.
And even if I've never heard of the sport,  
[4:07] learning about it through the story 
is part of the fun, not to mention the 
[4:10] supreme levels of hype!
At first you think you're safe,  
[4:14] I mean it's just a show about teenagers tossing 
around a ball, right? But what I love most 
[4:19] about sports anime is how the team 
members' relationships and problems are  
[4:23] intertwined with the sport they play.
Like how the bonds we form with our  
[4:27] teammates can change us for the better or 
how hard work and passion lead to success 
[4:31] no matter who you are or where you come from. 
Using sports as a foundation for character  
[4:36] drama like that is a near-perfect 
formula for an entertaining show... 
[4:40] SO PERFECT, I GUESS, that almost no anime 
I've seen for a very long time has bothered  
[4:46] to switch things up. Let me clarify.
Search the seasonal lists of anime 2010  
[4:51] to present, read the plot summaries, 
and you will find the following:
[4:54] "Character A, lonely and/or unmotivated--insert 
optional sad Sport-related backstory here-- 
[5:01] discovers or re-discovers Sport, and 
is inspired to join the Sport team." 
[5:07] The story then follows Character A as they get 
to know the colourful cast of side characters,  
[5:12] who battle with their inner demons right up to  
[5:14] the end only for their shared love of 
the sport to save their souls right in 
[5:19] time for that FINAL match with 
the legendary opposing team!!!
[5:22] If I may throw out a few ideas of 
my own, how about a story where the  
[5:26] main character uses the sport to become famous, 
[5:29] or escape an unknown world 
they've found themselves in? 
[5:32] Switching up character motivations and 
the setting of the story is the quickest  
[5:36] way to turn stale archetypes into
something new, but before I start  
[5:40] to feel like I'm teaching some kind of writing 
class let's move on to the rest of the list.
[5:44] Trope number two is female characters 
who start out as real people  
[5:50] and then morph into love interest drones
when they meet the main character. It's a  
[5:54] pretty long name for the trope but 
I think that describes it the most  
[5:58] accurately. And I guess this actually isn’t 
a problem exclusive to female characters but 
[6:04] I see that far FAR more often than the 
male counterpart. And, the worst part  
[6:10] about this trope is that the initial
badass female or good character female  
[6:14] will oftentimes make a reappearance 
for comedy purposes, just as a joke,  
[6:19] and anime that come to mind that have this
particular character trope in them would be:  
[6:24] Welcome to Demon School, My Hero Academia 
or Shokugeki no Soma--that's probably like,  
[6:30] my least favourite example of it.
What’s most annoying is that this happens,  
[6:35] right, and the character is presented 
normally at first and then changes 
[6:39] after a little bit to this non-character. 
Don’t--Don't play me like that, don't show  
[6:44] me someone cool only to then take them away and
bring them back occasionally as just a recurring  
[6:50] joke. Just introduce them as a 
dumb love interest from the start 
[6:53] and boom no more issues my expectations 
have now been properly tempered.
[6:59] Another common theme in anime I don't like 
is the other category of self-insert anime  
[7:05] protagonists, one that can tie in
with harems but is a trope all its  
[7:10] own. An underdog who no one appreciates, 
wrongly accused, outcast from society. 
[7:15] Chosen few know the truth of his 
unparalleled power. But I--uh,  
[7:19] um, I mean, this ch-character I'm writing--
has been corrupted by betrayal, disallusioned  
[7:25] with authority, um, so, that's why he 
has no friends, he's a lone wolf, he uh 
[7:29] chooses not to let anyone get too 
close because he's cool like that.  
[7:34] The protagonist is barely even willing to protect
the society that cast him out from danger,  
[7:39] but he does it anyways since, deep down, 
really deep down, he's just so kind. 
[7:44] You know that thanks to the one specific 
character who quote on quote "sees  
[7:48] right through him" and monologues to the
audience about how one time they saw the  
[7:52] protagonist rescue a feeble kitten from a river.
Looking at power fantasy type anime I and many  
[7:58] others enjoy like Overlord, it's clear the 
issue isn't how powerful the main character is 
[8:03] because that really is fun to watch. 
Overlord's protagonist is even the  
[8:07] villain of his universe with grey morals
but a rapidly growing group of loyal  
[8:11] admirers who never question anything he does.
I probably have to look further into why  
[8:17] THIS works when another anime that 
matches my summary, Arifureta, doesn't  
[8:22] at all. (CLIP: "Take it in the ass and DIE!")
But I suspect it comes down to, What did the  
[8:28] protagonist do to warrant how others treat 
him? Not only should those on his side 
[8:33] have respectable reasons to admire him, 
those against him should have respectable  
[8:37] motivations as well. Too many intended
power fantasy protagonists are straight-up  
[8:41] cruel to everyone around them, 
trying very hard to seem badass. 
[8:45] He may SEEM to make mistakes or be in the 
wrong, but REALLY, everyone else is just too  
[8:51] dumb to understand why he's in fact, right.
As I said, it's not about the fact that  
[8:56] it's a power fantasy--it's about 
the protagonist being untouchable.
[9:03] My third trope is one that I know a 
lot of people are going to agree with,  
[9:07] it is talked about constantly in every corner of 
the internet that discusses anime, and that is  
[9:12] the holier than thou main character 
who refuses to kill anyone or freaks  
[9:17] out when someone else tries to kill someone.
Now I get it, I understand, murder is not the....  
[9:24] ideal solution to your problems. It’s 
kind of lame, it's kind of cringe. 
[9:28] So it should always be the hero's last 
resort, right? In good storytelling,  
[9:32] in a hero's story you don't have the 
hero just go out of his or her way to  
[9:37] murder someone. That being said, trying 
to imply that killing someone who has 
[9:42] destroyed the lives of dozens, hundreds or 
sometimes even thousands of other people  
[9:47] will somehow result in the loss of your
humanity goes WELL beyond idealism and  
[9:53] straight into stupidity. There is a difference, 
right, between elevating yourself to judge, 
[9:59] jury and executioner and just trying to do the 
right thing to save as many people as possible.  
[10:04] This happens in, I dunno, probably 
70% of battle shounen but I think 
[10:09] the funniest possible example is actually 
Batman. I know it's not anime but uhhh, fight  
[10:15] me. You won't. Imagine though, being a random 
citizen of gotham and seeing that once again 
[10:20] Batman has sent the joker to arkham asylum and 
knowing that--"Oh, damn"-- in 8 days he is going  
[10:26] to break out for the 63rd consecutive time
and once again wreak havoc on my community  
[10:31] all because a billionaire orphan won’t 
just let the cops shoot this guy.
[10:38] I'm not the first to point out that "comedy" 
in anime doesn't always translate well,  
[10:45] or that what certain prominent
creators find hilarious  
[10:48] is just...kind of irritating. You could say it's 
a culture gap but I would disagree, some writers 
[10:55] are better at characterization than they 
are at plot, or better at worldbuilding  
[10:59] than they are at comedy, and where media
comes from doesn't change that. Though  
[11:04] I can't understand how behind the scenes you 
could pick one barely intriguing characteristic 
[11:11] and decide it will be the crutch of your anime's 
sense of humour. Oh look, he's a coward and  
[11:17] a pervert, AND he yells? If that doesn't
get you rolling on the floor, I don't know  
[11:22] what will! Not to mention how this trope is 
a 2-for-1 deal with the other character who 
[11:27] has to physically assault him every 
episode to reign in his shenanigans. 
[11:31] You could make a character's goofiness 
another thing to like about them,  
[11:34] or you could make them the butt
of the same joke over and over  
[11:38] again until the unfunniness of that joke 
is all your audience associates with them. 
[11:43] Like Zapp from Blood Blockade Battlefront, 
except that character is at least actually funny. 
[11:48] (CLIP: "I got a big-ass sword shoved down 
my throat chief! *screeches pathetically*) 
[11:52] Even if this character serves a purpose in the 
narrative besides being the comedic relief,  
[11:56] which is more than I can say for most examples,
if you're a fan of them you'll have to endure  
[12:01] all those moments while waiting 
for something cool or meaningful. 
[12:04] It feels insulting because if you've watched anime 
that is funny you know you don't have to sacrifice  
[12:10] depth or nuance for comedic relief.
I get how you want a contradiction between the  
[12:15] seriousness of the main plot and the light-hearted 
interactions a loud reaction character brings. 
[12:21] But I also hate it, and wish it didn't 
exist. I know no amount of complaining will  
[12:27] make that happen, but I do feel slightly better,
I guess, now that I've ranted about all of this.
[12:36] Now then. I have saved my least favourite 
anime trope for last. And that is...anime  
[12:41] diets. My least favourite trope in anime, I’m not 
even joking, I'm not trying to pull a meme on you.  
[12:47] What I mean by anime diets is not like anime fad 
diets--what people are doing to lose weight or  
[12:52] whatever--I just mean, diet in the general sense 
of what people are choosing to eat. And this is a  
[12:58] really big problem in sports anime. I mean I say 
really big problem but people probably don't even  
[13:02] notice this I guess. But for me this is a really 
big problem in sports anime which often show  
[13:07] people changing their diet and eating more to help 
their training. But then they just eat a gigantic  
[13:14] bowl of plain, white rice. Some examples of this 
are: it happens in Hinomaru Sumo, it happens in  
[13:19] Dragon Ball, Hajime no Ippo does this...
There are many more, I know I've seen this  
[13:24] dozens if not millions of times but I googled 
“anime boy eating simply too dang much rice”  
[13:30] and somehow that did not prove nearly as helpful 
as I expected it to. But, as someone who knows  
[13:36] the struggle of forcing yourself to eat in order 
to gain muscle it is especially annoying to me 
[13:41] I think. Time and time again someone will be 
training, putting in the work, and as a part  
[13:47] of that they are eating more food, makes sense
so far, right, eat big to get big. What makes  
[13:51] NO sense whatsoever is choosing plain 
white rice as your extra calories. 
[13:57] A 2 cup serving of white rice 
has--what--500 calories, over 100 grams  
[14:02] of carbs and under 10 grams of protein??
A McDonald's hamburger is a better,  
[14:08] more weight-friendly optionfor bulking 
than a bowl of plain white rice. 
[14:12] (That’s true by the way you can 
actually look that one up). Please,  
[14:15] Japan, please just do this one thing for me--stop 
showing young boys eating massive amounts of 
[14:20] white rice in order to get bigger and stronger. 
That's all I want from you right now...
[14:25] Don't forget to check out SquidtheCynic's channel, 
a big thank you to him for helping me out with  
[14:29] this video. It was a lot of fun, despite the pain.
And again despite the pain I will not be quitting  
[14:36] my anime career. Anime never 
stops...It...it never stops. 
[14:40] Thank you very much for watching 
and I will see you next time!