Discussion Dealbreakers

[jakensama]

There is a wide assortment of manga and anime that caters to nearly every taste. What are some possible aspects in manga or anime that you find so abbhorent as to dissuade you from even giving the series a chance?

For me...

-Mecha
-Chibi
-Moe
-Yaoi
-Traps
-Gender Bending
-Over powered protagonist

 

[Asarii]

I don't think I've ventured into horror and probably never will. I found a shoujo horror manga I read in Nakayoshi and two shows for children (a '90s anime about Japanese folktales and another one about a ghost girl living at a school) to be pretty creepy. These were frightening even though they were aimed for a young audience so imagine what I would get myself into for something that's targeted for an older demographic.

I have absolutely no interest in moe that has cutesy characters with grating, high-pitched voices. I tend to pick something based on the premise, and my expectation for the storytelling quality for these kinds of anime are pretty low.

Nevertheless I regard myself as a relativist when it comes to picking up an anime or manga: mecha in general does not interest me, but I'm open to watching a mecha show if there's something that stands out from the pack.

 

[Doraku]

So sad that more and more people are not into mecha nowadays..

To be honest I don't mind moe as a genre, anime like K-On! or anything like that are still providing a good amount of entertainment for me, regardless of how "empty" their plots might be. But I'm not really into moe where the amount of fanservices are getting ridiculous like what they do with Vividred.

I'm not a fan of sport anime. I have read a good deal of sport manga, but somehow the idea of picking up a sport anime doesn't really interest me, if it's not really stands out or extraordinary.

 

[Teeba]

Interesting topic! But maybe you could explain more by how those tropes/cliches/stereotypes turn you off from certain manga? Like, with moe, to me moe is a really broad term that could mean anything. Yes, there are "moe" series, but there are also manga/anime where the moe gets hyped up despite the plot being different. People also describe certain art styles to be moe. A specific character could be drawn moe and have their sole purpose be moe too. I just wanna know your reasoning. :P

As for me:

-Confusing/overcomplicated pilot chapters. If I can't follow along in the first chapter, I get frustrated. I understand a lot of mangaka want their story to start out with a bang, but I'd rather the plot start simply, and then build up on complexity.

-horror & gore Like Asarii, I really cannot stomach horror or gore. Yes, I've read horror manga before, but I'm more used to mainstream gore, like Hellsing and Gantz. But true horror manga/anime, I'd never be able to handle it. I just wouldn't sleep at night.

-sports manga Like Doraku, I really have no desire to pick up sports manga. I understand their popularity, but I think it would take a lot more investment. But its not because I don't like sports, its because of the next dealbreaker...

-lack of prominent female characters. Truth is, the reason sports manga tend to be dealbreakers for me is because the ratio of male to female characters get seriously out of whack. Sure, its nice to look at well-drawn men fighting and breaking into sweat, but it gets boring for me after a while. And this extends to beyond sports manga. If I look at a manga's promotional images, and there's a lot of Men Doing Things with maybe one female side character, it just doesn't cut it for me. Its frustrating.

-love triangles. Love triangles aren't quite the dealbreaker for me, but they do lower my opinion of a manga. And it seems to be the bread-and-butter for a lot of manga. They'd have to be executed extremely subtley and well-done in order for me to tolerate them, otherwise I cannot stand them at all. The indecisiveness is often terribly done and I end up feeling the author assumes I'm an idiot for not knowing who the main guy (or girl) will ultimately end up with.

 

[Bromamura]

I'll agree with Yaoi and Genderbending since I just have no interest whatsoever in them, the premise does turn me off. Ecchi and fan service heavy are not for me either, they're too distraciting.

Shonen protagonists tends to get on my nerves. I don't like overly optimistic guys that never gives up and pulls through fights via sheer will power. Also not a fan of main characters who inherits gamebreaking power through bloodline or have ridiculous potential because it was destined in one way or another to be so.

Cockroaches, centipedes, and other sorts of creepy insects in manga might not turn me away completely, but will make me think twice. Also, I have no problem with violence in general, but seeing entrails just disgust me for some reason.

 

[jakensama]

Interesting topic! But maybe you could explain more by how those tropes/cliches/stereotypes turn you off from certain manga?

Mecha-The problem is I generally find it cheesy and humorous, when the impression it is supposed to give is being badass. Seeing people piloting giant humanoid robots, just isn't my thing...and I can't take it seriously. I might check out the Neon Evangelion reboot set of movies when it finishes though, it is so legendary I feel obligated to give it a chance.

Chibi-Nothing takes you out of the story/moment more than random chibi scenes. The art quality goes down many notches as well. Now I can tolerate it, if it is only once in a rare while, however if it is frequent I can not.

Moe-I guess moe is tough to concretely define, but when I think of it...I think of overly adorable characters with overly cute voices just for the sake of being cute and the audience to go "aww...". I have no interest in it, and generally series whose main focus is moe is more concerned with 'moeness' than telling a powerful story.

Yaoi, traps, gender bending-Eww? Nothing against those interested, just for me these are huge turn offs. Let me add anime/manga with heavy loli overtones. That's just disturbing, and I don't understand its popularity.

Over powered Protagonist-This goes with what Bromamura was saying, about shonen protagonists. It makes for predictable battles, and you knowing essentially how the plot is going to go. It just really irks me for some reason as well.

 

[Charlie]

There is a wide assortment of manga and anime that caters to nearly every taste. What are some possible aspects in manga or anime that you find so abbhorent as to dissuade you from even giving the series a chance?

For me...

-Mecha
-Chibi
-Moe
-Yaoi
-Traps
-Gender Bending
-Over powered protagonist

I usually don't read much manga, but when I do I tend to stay to the fantasy theme / realm.
I like mecha a lot in anime and I don't have anything against the highlighted ones above. Just generally tough, its not what I read / watch.

I guess my taste has been something like: In no particaulr order...

Action /Scifi / fantasy / adventure / romance.

 

[Doraku]

Hey, I was referring to sport anime, not sport manga. I don't know why, but when I'm watching sport anime in particular, I'm easily getting sleepy and unmotivated. Even though one can argue that sport anime provide more dynamics compared to the static pictures drawn in the manga, I still find sport anime is incredibly boring, although I admit I have watched several titles. Not all sport anime is centered around man though, some shoujo or josei sport manga are centered around woman. In fact, one of my favorite sport seinen series ever is revolved around woman character.

As for gender bending, it depends. What's the purpose of gender bending? If it's "pure" gender bending, then it's an absolute no for me. But if the gender bending troupe is needed for comedic purposes or revealing bigger plot, I don't mind about that. Manga like Ouran High School or Cuticle Tantei Inaba have characters who're doing gender bending, but fortunately I could fathom the reason for author to create such characters, thus I don't feel disturbed.

Mecha is my favorite genre ever. I agree for some people may find reading/watching mecha stuff are ridiculous because the idea of human riding a giant robot is funny or very unlikely. But mecha anime and manga have been enriching my imagination more than anything else. That's why to this date, I'm still loving stuff like Gundam or Macross. Or even classic anime such as Votoms.

---------- Post added at 02:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

also I read my first horror gore manga when I was a toddler - though it made me stay awake for days - hence why I always admire Umezu Kazuo's works until now.

 

[jakensama]

It's good you enjoy mecha, I wish I did...cause there are quite a few highly acclaimed mecha series, Neon Evangelion, Escaflowne, Gundam, Macross, etc.

I'll also miss out on Steins gate cause it contains one of my dealbreakers, unfortunate, otherwise I would have checked it out.

 

[Bromamura]

I prefer anime over manga when it comes to mecha. In manga the various color schemes of the mechas are lost, battles involving beam spams are also less visually attractive in black and white.

 

[Zeltrax]

Dissuaded from any sports animanga because I'm lazy and don't like physical stuff, but then read Slam Dunk and that opinion completely changed.
Especially like sports manga for their awesome double-spread moments(like getting a slam dunk or kicking the ball into the goal.)
I do prefer it if they don't go into ridiculous ways like Kuroko and PoT where it is mostly humanly impossible.

I hate Ecchi and usually anything that has to do with Harem, y'know with those one guy + 4 girls stuff.
It's completely incomprehensible for me to believe that one guy can have 4 beautiful girls to fall in love with him,
and it also pissed me off because I'm jealous. But most harems have terrible storywriting and is just there for fanservice.
And yes, female characters that contribute nothing to the plot or have shallow to none character development is a dealbreaker for me too.

But hey, I don't hate it that much. Tell me if there is a harem with a well-written romance and I'll jump on it if it doesn't deter me 5 episodes in .

I'll also miss out on Steins gate cause it contains one of my dealbreakers, unfortunate, otherwise I would have checked it out.

That's a waste, Steins;gate is a fantastic anime. What turns you off there?

 

[jakensama]

That's a waste, Steins;gate is a fantastic anime. What turns you off there?

There's a trap in it.

 

[Asarii]

An example of moe to me is something like Lucky Star or Ichigo Mashimaro: the characters are cute but as jakensama has said in his post, that's basically all there is to them. It seems as if characters in moe greatly overshadow the story, and it's too bad since I'm usually drawn to the premise before reading/watching a series. It's not to say that I don't enjoy something without a linear plot, but the characters offer something much more than an adjective.

I'm not opposed to moe characters in other genres though: Victorique from GOSICK could be considered one, but the story and mysteries in that anime is its main focus; she's also a well-developed character.

 

[REN KOUEN]

awesome thread, you know i have tried eliminating certain genres that i thought i wouldnt like

but when i objectively watch the series i am sometimes surprised

a few examples, i always told myself that naruto looked too kiddie and childish, i watched it and loved it
i told myself k-on! was for girls, and i liked it
i told myself luffy was way to retarded looking to ba a hero, and one piece is my favorite anime of all time
i figured gintama was too much of a comedy, and it is all comedy basically but its the best comedy ive ever seen
i told myself i didnt like harems but boku wa tomadachi ga sukunai (hakanai) is amazing
i told myself inu yasha had too much romance, but i loved it


and their are even more series that i figured i would love that were dogshit

the moral from kisame, dont judge and anime by the previews or its caregory/genre
judge for yourself

 

[k-dom]

I myself is not much into mecha too. I like sci-fi but teenagers riding robots to fight other giants machines isn't a very good premise for me. I tend to ignore even series highly acclaimed like bokurano just because they have big robots.
Gender bender is also not really my thing. Seriously, how could this could even become a genre, it's not like it was common hobbies even for homosexuals.
Sport tend to rebuke me but I've read quite a few in the last year so I dokn't reject the genre as much as I use to. Mechanical sports and cars manga are still a no go though because I really am not interested in that.

 

[M3J]

Sports, mainly
Ecchi being the main plot (I don't just want ecchi, there's porn for that... I want ecchi with good storyline or something)
Boring
Bad story
Too long (started, stopped, started again, and now stopped Detective Conan)

 

[kindredxiuxiu]

I have a few of them:

1. Guys acting like they "own" a girl either through marriage, chance encounter, or a relationship. He'll likely be a popular guy in school or a successful, wealthy business owner. He'll have loads of experience with women where the heroine will have little to no experience with men. Then she'll become submissive towards him while he goes about his business before he'll soften up a little bit towards her. Maybe it's because I'm a female, but the portrayal of women in these sorts of manga/anime are disgusting, IMO.

2. Mary Sue female protagonists - exacerbated if they're the central character in a reverse harem.

3. Sports anime/manga in general

4. Excessive ecchi. I don't mind a little fanservice here or there, but when it's the central component driving a series, it's a deal breaker.

5. Excessive moe. I won't watch an anime that has a high number of high pitched female voices.

6. Idiot male protagonists

7. I like gender ambiguity. I don't mind gender bending, boy/boy love, or girl/girl love, but I can't stand provocative yaoi or yuri (if it exists) manga.

8. I'm a big fan of the Gundam and Macross franchises, and I love space operas, but I prefer watching these in anime form over reading the manga.

 

[k-dom]

6. Idiot male protagonists

Really ? Isn't that suppressing half of mangas (especially shounen) from your reading list ?

 

[kindredxiuxiu]

It depends on the degree of idiocy. For instance, I couldn't get past the first few chapters and episodes of One Piece, Fairy Tail, or Naruto because of it. I appreciate DBZ for nostalgia's sake, though (I watched it when I was much younger).

 

[k-dom]

Well big idiots make generally good easy comedies. Classics like GTO or City Hunter are great mainly because of their main character stupidity.