
I have to ask. How does it feel to know that you're gonna get lapped by the anime?team mirrei, rise up!!!! oraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! let's fucking gooooooo!!!!!!!!
anyways, it's already morning and I haven't gotten a wink of sleep yet, plus the fact I have class in 3 hours. I really hope you're enjoying my barely decent quality so far.
Her drills might not pierce the heavens but it definitely pierced our hearts.
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It's the golden rule of everything in manga, anime, and light novels.Why is it that, like 90% of the time, the losing heroine is far better than that winning one?
Because you choose to self insert instead of read. 90% of the time the losing heroine is a cardboard cutout of every other losing heroine. Often times the only defining characteristic they have is "They like the MC". It's fine to like a character, but don't delude yourself into thinking what is best for you is also what is best for someone else. There are layers to this, and half the time the losing girl is the least developed character outside of their crush on the MC. They have no real autonomy. No depth to their feelings. It's just "Ooh he helped me during my arc", but people don't see the big picture. They only see the "Flavor of the month girl", and not the FMC who has been developing naturally over time in a more organic way, and not drastically through their own individual arc but slowly over time. Their bond is the most natural and isn't some "Saved heroine #13734", or "Chf who chose to keep the relationship ambiguous until another girl shows up". The losing heroine usually maintains status quo, and lives for the ambiguous stage of a relationship and never tries to make a move until it is too late.Why is it that, like 90% of the time, the losing heroine is far better than that winning one?
for a serious answer, my guess is it's down to something I'll call 'permitted characteristic deviation'.Why is it that, like 90% of the time, the losing heroine is far better than that winning one?
Its also because the main heroine usually does not get her "arc" until towards the end of the story. She is allowed to develop naturally throughout the series. Then towards the end when it's about time to wrap up the story. They get the last push. The problem with shippers in that regard is they see their character who got their single arc and then got side lined get rejected, so they try to discredit the fmc because they can't look past their own individual biases. They don't look at the natural development that occurred leading up to the big "Main heroine" arc, and refuse to actually see the slow and steady growth that happened throughout the entire series.for a serious answer, my guess is it's down to something I'll call 'permitted characteristic deviation'.
Japanese media (specifically otaku media) relies heavily on character traits and tropes.
The reason you see a lot of manga have similar clichés in plot or in situations characters get themselves into is because the medium is generally (from my own observation) more cast-based than story-based.
The pull is that characters are set up to have their traits and recognisable (in a meta-pattern sort of way) connections to each other right from the start, and therefore they will act differently within each cliché (or the same if there's lazy/uninspired writing).
The problem is that this makes it quite difficult to change and grow your main character(s) in meaningful ways since they're the characters that initially get the readers reading, whilst side characters or losing heroines are almost 'permitted' more of this growth.
Obviously there are some amazing manga where the main characters develop and grow throughout the series, but to me it feels like a very awkward balancing act for the editor and mangaka between 'we need the main heroine to keep her traits/tropes otherwise she'll lose her appeal' and 'we want to make a genuinely good/meaningful piece of fiction'.
At least that's my view of why I think main heroines often fall a bit flatter than side/losing heroines, because side/losing heroines are almost 'permitted' to have their character develop and change more drastically and quickly over a single arc or two than the main.