Do you have time to answer a really short survey for us ?
(5 questions; 35s to answer on average
Yes I'll do it later No
(5 questions; 35s to answer on average
Yes I'll do it later No
Forum - View topicAn anime character you did NOT fall for?
|
|
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
|
|||
|
I would like to dedicate this thread to those unusual characters that you were supposed to fall for but did not and in fact could not.
The one I am thinking now is the lead character from Emma, which I started watching. This is a magnificent anime in every respect except the central premise, Emma herself, I just can't relate to. About 5 episodes in we have two rich gentlemen, one a scion of a rich merchant family and an Indian prince no less, and also a string of more common suitors all compelled to pursue her. Yet there seems to be absolutely nothing remarkable about her. She's nice, does her work, is sort of mousy, needs glasses (moe? feh.) and does nothing unexpected. Just another obedient house servant. I actually get the impression that if her mistress said "Emma dear, run to the book lenders and return these for me and when you are done with that, hang yourself from that tree in Yardley commons?" Emma would go ahead and do it -- then life would go on as before. Not that I am giving up on the series just yet. Everything else about it is so great I am wondering if my impression is going to change. Anyone else react to a character this way? |
||||
|
||||
Pseudo-Chan
 Posts: 3 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
|
|||
|
Ever since I watched Toradora I haven't liked any other main female characters. That is too say I haven't found any of them in the least bit attractive compared to Taiga.
I must be insane. |
||||
|
||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||
So it is a Reverse Harem. Big deal. I don't know what gender you are, but in normal Harem, female viewers usually don't fall for the male leads. That's because Harem is designed as a male wish-fulfilment fantasy, where one loser guy gets a bevy of beautiful girls all vying to get into his pants (even the Tsundere, when she isn't physically abusing him). Okay, not all of them are like that, but many are. Now, Emma is a female wish-fulfilment fantasy, where a plain girl can attract the attention of guys who ordinarily wouldn't give her a first look, let alone a second. Some of the viewers are indeed male, but the premise is aimed at those girls who dream about finding a definitely good-looking, maybe kind-hearted, and very well-to-do man of "high social rank" (in modern parlance, "popular"). Are male viewers supposed to fall in love with Emma herself? No, not really, because the show isn't aimed at them. Just as Harem isn't aimed at females, although that isn't to say that females cannot enjoy it. Anyway HaruhiToy, I think you could have come up with a stronger example to start off with. Although, I have to wonder if people are supposed to fall in love with any fictional character, outside of those dating-sim games (gag me). |
||||
|
||||
Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25616 |
|
|||
|
Ugh, my least favourite female anime lead is Yujin from Winter Sonata. There is nothing special about her, but I came to despise her for her boneheadedness. She first meets her "love" in high school and appears to be attracted to him because he is an a-hole. Oh wait, an a-hole with a "sensitive" side that only she can see.
 Naturally, her nice guy child hood friend doesn't do it for her because... well, he's not an a-hole, so what's the point? So it seems like spoiler[her a-hole bf dies in accident, but he doesn't and shows up 10 years later with his old memories wiped and with a new identity. Naturally, Slutzilla immediately forgets all about her Nice Guy Childhood Friend who she's supposed to marry and gets all gooey over Mr. A-hole again. I finally gave up on this p.o.s. show, but I sincerely hope it ends with Mr. A-hole chainsawing this dumb bimbo.]
Oh and of course, the sound of Korean dialogue, which is no where near as melodious as Japanese, certainly didn't help matters with respect to my feeling about Yujin. Last edited by Blood- on Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
ZakuAce
 Posts: 525 Location: SE Wisconsin |
|
|||
|
I absolutely hate weak female characters. Weak and stupid, only they are stupid in ways that is supposed to be "OMG thats soooo cute!" while my cynical and impatient self goes "WTF STOOOOOPED!" Which brings me to one character I have recently come in touch with again and had to drop watching the show because I could not stand her. I am talking about...oh wait a minute...
..... ..... Okay I had to go get my riot shield, because when I talked with some other people about it they went rage fu on me. Nagisa from Clannad. Yep. I revisited Clannad to see the Sentai dub (which was good, btw) but even the dub could not get me to stop going UUUUURRRRRGGGGGHHHHH seemingly whenever she appeared on stage. spoiler[In episode 2, when she is waiting in the rain for Tomoya to play basketball...omfg...that's pretty much when I knew that she was the antithesis of any girl I'd want to "fall for" or even be friends with.] I'm going to stop here before I go on some tangent about hating the KyoAni moe shows altogether. |
||||
|
||||
|
HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
|
|||
Also don't say that males cannot enjoy stories crafted for girls. I always have.
I'm with you on the dating sim stuff. But I think you miss my point if you think my problem with Emma has something to do with male/female orientation. The thing is that even a fantasy has to have some kind of plausibility within itself. This would be true in both harem fantasy and reverse-harem fantasy. The protagonist has to have some quality (after all it is a fantasy so why not) which turns out allow him/her to prevail against the odds. The quality is usually more or less hidden or undeveloped but it has to be there. If not I don't see the difference between that and a porno/hentai reel, where the only requirement is that the characters show up, are reasonably not deficient in physical attributes, and start doing it. It's a fantasy all right (to some) but what's the point? |
||||
|
||||
WarpWarrior
 Posts: 61 |
|
|||
|
I DID NOT fall for Taiga in Toradora!.
That's about it. The only character I can think of that is meant for the watcher to like her.
Definitely. |
||||
|
||||
Niomo
 Posts: 516 |
|
|||
|
I did not fall for Toradora!'s Taiga either. I think Minori was a better choice all around.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Ringking
Posts: 338 |
|
|||
|
Ellis in El Cazador. They tried to do the "Im dumb but its cute so its ok" thing, but bombed it really badly. They just didn't get the effect they wanted and she turned out to be someone i just want to beat wit ha stick.
|
||||
|
||||
doctordoom85
 Posts: 2094 |
|
|||
|
I also disliked Nagisa from Clannad, but for totally different reasons than ZakuAce. Not because she's weak (though that did make her stand out from Kyou, Tomoyo, Fuuko, and even Kotomi), but because she turns into an idiot in the final arc of the first series. spoiler[All that angst nearly destroyed the play her friends worked so hard on with her, and she had nothing to be upset about. It was not her fault she was born and made her parents' lives busier, and it certainly wasn't her fault that her parents were dumb enough to leave her alone for that long when she was just a child. It'd be bad enough if only she felt this way, but none of the other characters or even her parents bring this logical point up, instead it's "OMG, how tragic!" shoved down our throats for no reason. After the solid writing of the Fuuko and Kotomi arcs, this just stuck out badly.]
Actually, in terms of reverse harems, I always found Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club to be attractive, not to mention smart and fun to be around. I never understoof why people thought she was a guy (in the beginning of episode 1, sure, but after she gains her default appearance, not so much), and I really couldn't understand Tamaki's daydreams of Haruhi with long hair because she looked 10x times better with short hair. I think the Haruhi series expected us (guys, at least) to like and/or be attracted to Mikuru, but it never happened with me. Every time she was focused on, I just got bored and thought, "uh, could we get back to Kyon, Haruhi, Yuki, and/or Kouzimi?" She's average, but it really sticks out considering the other 4 main leads are all solid, and even supporting characters like Tsuruya (I'm sure I mispelled that) and Taniguchi are more entertaining. |
||||
|
||||
Porco Rosso
 Posts: 14 Location: Hotel Adriano |
|
|||
|
In my mind this business of "falling for" is not one thing but there are several different types of it. You can fall for a character who gets your protective instincts going, like she would be your cute kid sister (or daughter, depending on your age). You can fall for a character who you think is excellent waifu-material, but you can also fall for character who would be great just for weekend fun (you know what I mean...).
For the characters discussed here, I would say that I would definitely book Taiga (Toradora!), and Haruhi (Melancholy) for my next weekend with no hesitation. Mikuru (Melancholy) would rather be "kid-sister" material whereas Minori (Toradora!) and Yuki (Melancholy) I have already in my list of waifus. For Clannad and Clannad ~After Story~ the girls go like this: Nagisa, Fūko and Kotomi would be my "kid sisters", Kyō and Tomoyo I'd book for the weekend, and in my waifu-list i have Misae (dorm manager) and Yukine (the girl in the library) already. Maybe Ryō too, but she doesn't have too much screentime to be 100% sure. Back to the topic: one anime which fell flat big time for me was Neon Genesis Evangelion. It has large cast of girls, so on paper it was right up to Uncle Porco's alley, but it just did not work. Ayanami Rei I of course will marry, but the rest of the cast left me cold. Maybe it was the liberal dose of psychological issues everybody had which made them generally impossible to relate to. |
||||
|
||||
|
HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
|
|||
I'm glad you mentioned that. The only time Mikuru is even remotely interesting is when Haruhi is tearing off her clothes by brute force. The rest of the time it is rare for her young incarnation to be anything but trembly and whiny and generally useless. Maybe that makes someone feel more like a manly man but I don't get it. |
||||
|
||||
Penguin_Factory
 Posts: 732 Location: Ireland |
|
|||
|
What character have I not fallen for? As a rule, if a series is actively trying or expecting me to get attached to a female character I don't. This definitely includes harem female characters, none of whom I have ever found in the least bit endearing or attractive.
I really don't get how that's supposed to work. When I see characters like that I'm interested in watching them grow and overcome their problems, but feeling protective of them is like blocking character development- if they succeed on their own or change that "protective" hook is gone so there's an incentive to make sure they don't. /geeky overanalysis
I haven't seen that show in a long time, but I remember quite liking Emma. It was interesting to see a mature, reserved female character in among all the underage girls and hyperactive psychos you usually get in anime. And does needing glasses really make a character moe? |
||||
|
||||
|
Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16983 |
|
|||
|
Given the OP's username it's ironic but the one big example of a character I could not like, let alone fall for, despite the hype and fact everyone else seems to is Haruhi Suzimiya herself. I just could not even get to the stage of not finding her annoying. I understand she was meant to be overbearing and pushy but to me there's a fine line in anime without a character like that between hitting the mark and just being obnoxious/annoying. For me Haruhi fell in the latter category.
|
||||
|
||||
Ta-kun The Black Kitty
 Posts: 132 Location: Where the truth isn't hated. |
|
|||
|
For one, I never fell for the ultra-popular Bleach characters, such as Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Ichimaru, Ichigo or Aizen (whom I hate). Truth be told, I just don't like overhyped characters. Maybe that's why I like the more secondary ones, like Kira, Hanataro or not-so-secondary Yoruichi.
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group