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The List - 5 Worst Anime Relationships

StarfighterPegasus wrote:

bennyl wrote: At this point, the NPC hate for Shield Hero is just funny. I mean the romance is just all sorts of messy. She is a slave to him but instead of wanting to stand on equal footing with him she instead wants to remain his slave because she views that as love. I get it she really loves him and all but she doesn't have to keep the spell on her. It feels less like love and more like a dependency. And I'm willingly to overlook the father daughter type of relationship they had in the beginning.

Devotion and dependence are too different things. It doesn't matter however, the author destroyed her own premise when she said the list was only about bad romantic relationships, and Naofumi has never expressed any romantic interest in Raphtallia at all during the anime. So by her own admission this was click bait and nothing more than a long winded way to shout "Shield man bad!" again.

P.S i have a question? why is that when it comes to master and slave contract everyone talks about SH but no one mentions other titles that had a similiar thing if not worse? Like How Not To Summon a Demon Lord, The Familiar of Zero and even Death March in a parallel world? I feel like SH gets singled out a bit too much.

I wouldn't put Shield Hero here, and for the record, this isn't me trying to defend the series (I've barely seen it). Yes, the slave angle is extremely discomforting, and there's also the age gap that I'm surprised the article didn't mention considering how it's the anime's biggest meme. But there's one crucial detail: Raphtalia likes Naofumi, but Naofumi doesn't feel the same way. At the most, he sees her only as an adoptive daughter, not at all a romantic partner. Considering the kind of show Shield Hero is, I wouldn't be surprised if it DID become romantic, but as of now, we can't really put something that isn't mutual here.

I have three others to give shout-outs to:

First, Saito and Louise from The Familiar of Zero. There aren't that many taboos involved here, but everything that can go wrong in a normal relationship DOES go wrong here. For starters, there is literally no precedent for the characters to like each other other than that they are main characters who spend a lot of time together. At least most other shows with main characters quickly falling in love have a catalyst moment - this show does not. Meanwhile, neither partner is a good one. Louise has all the trademarks of an abuser: she constantly beats up Saito, refuses to let him see other girls, and is always belittling him for being human - and poor. Saito, meanwhile, is a massive player who is always thinking about the bodies of women other than Louise and, while not actively seeking to cheat on her, ALWAYS does so when other women make a move on him. And in the end, spoiler[he's also basically married to Louise and Tiffania at the same time, and polygamy is a big no-no regardless of context].

Next, Chise and Elias from The Ancient Magus' Bride. I still remember when this series was first coming out, the anime fanbase was basically split into two camps: one where they were heavily anticipating the series more than any other that season because of Wit Studio, and the other where they just could not get behind the series for committing pretty much every taboo in the book. Massive age difference involving a teenager and an adult? Check. Different species? Check. Stockholm syndrome slave angle? Check. spoiler[Trying to murder an innocent girl just because you fiance is spending a lot of time with her]? CHECK. But what really irked me about the romance in this series is not the taboos, but that this series did not need romance to work. You could literally take away everything about the bride angle, and not only would you lift most of the taboos, but NOTHING about the story would change. Aside from a few jokes in the second episode, one scene around the midway point, and the final scene, this series could easily be seen as a decidedly more wholesome story about a master helping his apprentice overcome severe depression. You don't need romance to tell that story, and what was already put on paper would remain 95% intact.

And finally, Daikichi and Rin from Usagi Drop. We all know what happened, I don't even feel comfortable thinking about it, so... yeah, I'll just leave it at that.

Much of Love Hina's comedy is built around Keitaro's relationship Naru,

You forget Super Lovers Haru and Ren in the list. Probably it would be number one.
And if you go after Shield Hero because of the slave crest, you forget that years before there was a anime that also have a crest and the one with it suffers allot, what doesn't happens with Raphtalia. Don't you remembers Zero no Tsukaima? Saito was really treated like a slave by Louise.

Slow day at the office (or at home) I see...
With most anime on hold, noting better to dig up and dust up some old skeletons to spice things up.

Well, with Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaosh (Redo of Healer) coming up in the near future, and with so many LN and manga that will probably be animated in the future to make some peoples heads blow-up, the anime future will be very bright in therms of discussion.

For now, stay safe, ANN staff and ANN forum posters.

Jonny Mendes wrote:

You forget Super Lovers Haru and Ren in the list. Probably it would be number one. And if you go after Shield Hero because of the slave crest, you forget that years before there was a anime that also have a crest and the one with it suffers allot, what doesn't happens with Raphtalia. Don't you remembers Zero no Tsukaima? Saito was really treated like a slave by Louise. Slow day at the office (or at home) I see... With most anime on hold, noting better to dig up and dust up some old skeletons to spice things up. Well, with Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaosh (Redo of Healer) coming up in the near future, and with so many LN and manga that will probably be animated in the future to make some peoples heads blow-up, the anime future will be very bright in therms of discussion. For now, stay safe, ANN staff and ANN forum posters.

The difference is Saito is given a crest that gives him unbelievable power, while Raphtalia's slave crest only benefits the owner. I don't like Saito and Louise's relationship either and I found Raphtalia and Naofumi to be above there (Inuyasha and Kagome is also bad)

It doesn't look bright since the discussion was manly a few people on the site didn't like the show and the discussion become ANN attacks Shield Hero. People should step back and realize sometimes people will have a bad reaction to a show you like. If people learned that, I think the anime community would be a lot better

Jonny Mendes wrote:

You forget Super Lovers Haru and Ren in the list. Probably it would be number one. And if you go after Shield Hero because of the slave crest, you forget that years before there was a anime that also have a crest and the one with it suffers allot, what doesn't happens with Raphtalia. Don't you remembers Zero no Tsukaima? Saito was really treated like a slave by Louise. Slow day at the office (or at home) I see... With most anime on hold, noting better to dig up and dust up some old skeletons to spice things up. Well, with Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaosh (Redo of Healer) coming up in the near future, and with so many LN and manga that will probably be animated in the future to make some peoples heads blow-up, the anime future will be very bright in therms of discussion. For now, stay safe, ANN staff and ANN forum posters.

The difference is Saito is given a crest that gives him unbelievable power, while Raphtalia's slave crest only benefits the owner. I don't like Saito and Louise's relationship either and I found Raphtalia and Naofumi to be above there (Inuyasha and Kagome is also bad)

It doesn't look bright since the discussion was manly a few people on the site didn't like the show and the discussion become ANN attacks Shield Hero. People should step back and realize sometimes people will have a bad reaction to a show you like. If people learned that, I think the anime community would be a lot better