if you watch enough anime you see these
patterns and tropes over and over again
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
cliches in anime to think I almost got
sent away today
number 10 overuse of archetypes soon the
day girl I don’t get it you’re cutting
me in on the action too right
better not to save time on character
development many anime have characters
that fall into certain archetypes making
it easy for the viewer to understand
them quickly every opportunity we’ve
called this conference to solve the
world’s problems not to fight about the
problems of our past one of these common
types is the tune today or a character
who is initially cold in any
relationship but then warms up to the
other characters soon today is not
strictly a female trope as Germany from
hetalia can be considered a male tune
the day I go to bed before I beat you
even senseless ER and yeah I can’t go to
bed someone has to stand guard for us
number nine transformations
now our next entry it’s been around for
a very long time transformations are
often used to essentially level up the
abilities of a certain character or
change outfits on the fly when it’s time
for a fight
a highly recognizable example of this is
Serena sukhino transforming into Sailor
Moon we also see villains transform into
monstrous final forms in a desperate
attempt to thwart the heroes
unsurprisingly transformations in anime
come in a variety of different forms so
you never know what to expect
number eight overuse of exposition we’d
even found some gasps we were gonna dole
out to you guys but then everything went
to hell so you’re saying everyone who
isn’t here now didn’t huh you know anime
can be complex and complicated we get it
exposition is a useful tool that gets us
up to speed on a character’s backstory
past events or frames a setting many
anime use this in excess via flashbacks
endless voiceovers and unnecessary
descriptions what do you want here
before giraffe bought a farm he asked me
to come here to help you an example of
this is saya Takagi from highschool of
the dead who due to her outstanding
intellect will often analyze the group’s
condition and sum it up for the audience
hell of a plan let’s do it
number seven harem sir good Tomas and se
but Anya Heidi Masuka oh let’s face it
anime and romance go hand in hand this
cliche finds a young man ignorant of his
own good fortune living in a house with
several attractive young women these
women are often a rainbow of archetypes
from naive exhibitionist to
short-tempered hothead sometimes
multiple women fall in love with the
male character at the same time making
for some amusing rowdiness reverse
harems multiple men falling in love with
a single woman do exist but it’s not as
common
selfish but I wonder if she’ll wait for
me yeah you’re right that is pretty
selfish of you
number six the power of friendship
trumps everything so long cuz as soon as
she needed it
if anime has taught us everything it’s
that anything can be accomplished as
long as you have friends by your side
I’m always amazed by how carefree kids
can be appearing and mainly Shonen anime
during battles or struggles when all
hope is lost our heroes will become
stronger through teamwork and friendship
when integral to a character’s
motivation this cliche can actually be
necessary in many action slash shounen
anime yet still remains way overused to
this day BFFs assemble yeah number five
the Logan’s Run rule that’s a sanitary
taking its name from the William F Nona
novel Logan’s Run this unwritten rule
applies to many of our younger
protagonists
the characters will be any combination
of professional adept wise badass and
still be at the tail end of puberty it’s
not possible no one’s ever been able to
call him done to make the main character
relatable to the audience it makes it
hard to believe that someone so
competent can still be in middle school
it’s time to stop adventuring and get to
bed kid I never imagined that the
younger one would pass it – is that a
problem sir
number four here principle number one
the problem with this guy is this so the
best part about being a main character
in any anime is you get to have the
sweetest hair this cliche dictates that
the protagonist needs to have outrageous
gravity-defying hair as though his or
her strength is directly proportionate
to the mass of their hair hitting its
peak in the late 80s this distinctive
style remains a nightmare for cosplayers
everywhere
seriously Goku what’s that stuff on the
top of your head cuz it doesn’t look
like hair hi won’t let you get away with
this number three high school holy hot a
must my high school can be held
literally one of if not the most common
setting and some of our favorite anime
is middle school
can you please translate the following
sentence into English
what else does drama and teen angst come
from and what better way is there to
appeal to your target audience then by
having the shit hit the fan in the
middle of geography class these kids
need to focus on their studies also
where are all the teachers especially
those ones who can’t admit that they’re
stupid number 2 / sexual ization of
women young and old
bring on the fan service usually found
in comedy anime short skirts busty women
and gravity defying physics are staples
of this trope
we know hot baths or onsen are common
enough in Japan but come on some of
these things are definitely not safe for
work as the line between humorous
situation and softcore pornography often
gets blurred oh yeah that’s the spot yes
I’m sure it is m’lady before we unveil
our top pick here are a few honorable
mentions
Serena cartola dawn Ione syllabi in the
show Google everybody all right fash the
day has finally come to tell you what is
written on the outside of the ship
it says project seeds it’s okay
cool guys see naked women all the time
I’m totally used to it first things
first
why don’t you lose that mask
number one anime facial expressions
that’s for him to say note you taking
our number one spot are these distinctly
anime expressions an easy way to show a
character’s emotion things like large
sweat drops show embarrassment or
exasperation while feed eyes show
confusion and helplessness used in
almost every anime under the Rising Sun
these gestures serve as a sort of
shorthand for the animators sorry I
didn’t share any of my liver first with
you this invasion was going so well I
forgot about feeding munch turkey friend
this cliche is so iconic in anime that
actors in live-action adaptations do
their best to duplicate them in real
life what’s that mean do you agree with
our list goodness number one again
what’s your favorite anime cliche form
or not so cliche top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
patterns and tropes over and over again
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
cliches in anime to think I almost got
sent away today
number 10 overuse of archetypes soon the
day girl I don’t get it you’re cutting
me in on the action too right
better not to save time on character
development many anime have characters
that fall into certain archetypes making
it easy for the viewer to understand
them quickly every opportunity we’ve
called this conference to solve the
world’s problems not to fight about the
problems of our past one of these common
types is the tune today or a character
who is initially cold in any
relationship but then warms up to the
other characters soon today is not
strictly a female trope as Germany from
hetalia can be considered a male tune
the day I go to bed before I beat you
even senseless ER and yeah I can’t go to
bed someone has to stand guard for us
number nine transformations
now our next entry it’s been around for
a very long time transformations are
often used to essentially level up the
abilities of a certain character or
change outfits on the fly when it’s time
for a fight
a highly recognizable example of this is
Serena sukhino transforming into Sailor
Moon we also see villains transform into
monstrous final forms in a desperate
attempt to thwart the heroes
unsurprisingly transformations in anime
come in a variety of different forms so
you never know what to expect
number eight overuse of exposition we’d
even found some gasps we were gonna dole
out to you guys but then everything went
to hell so you’re saying everyone who
isn’t here now didn’t huh you know anime
can be complex and complicated we get it
exposition is a useful tool that gets us
up to speed on a character’s backstory
past events or frames a setting many
anime use this in excess via flashbacks
endless voiceovers and unnecessary
descriptions what do you want here
before giraffe bought a farm he asked me
to come here to help you an example of
this is saya Takagi from highschool of
the dead who due to her outstanding
intellect will often analyze the group’s
condition and sum it up for the audience
hell of a plan let’s do it
number seven harem sir good Tomas and se
but Anya Heidi Masuka oh let’s face it
anime and romance go hand in hand this
cliche finds a young man ignorant of his
own good fortune living in a house with
several attractive young women these
women are often a rainbow of archetypes
from naive exhibitionist to
short-tempered hothead sometimes
multiple women fall in love with the
male character at the same time making
for some amusing rowdiness reverse
harems multiple men falling in love with
a single woman do exist but it’s not as
common
selfish but I wonder if she’ll wait for
me yeah you’re right that is pretty
selfish of you
number six the power of friendship
trumps everything so long cuz as soon as
she needed it
if anime has taught us everything it’s
that anything can be accomplished as
long as you have friends by your side
I’m always amazed by how carefree kids
can be appearing and mainly Shonen anime
during battles or struggles when all
hope is lost our heroes will become
stronger through teamwork and friendship
when integral to a character’s
motivation this cliche can actually be
necessary in many action slash shounen
anime yet still remains way overused to
this day BFFs assemble yeah number five
the Logan’s Run rule that’s a sanitary
taking its name from the William F Nona
novel Logan’s Run this unwritten rule
applies to many of our younger
protagonists
the characters will be any combination
of professional adept wise badass and
still be at the tail end of puberty it’s
not possible no one’s ever been able to
call him done to make the main character
relatable to the audience it makes it
hard to believe that someone so
competent can still be in middle school
it’s time to stop adventuring and get to
bed kid I never imagined that the
younger one would pass it – is that a
problem sir
number four here principle number one
the problem with this guy is this so the
best part about being a main character
in any anime is you get to have the
sweetest hair this cliche dictates that
the protagonist needs to have outrageous
gravity-defying hair as though his or
her strength is directly proportionate
to the mass of their hair hitting its
peak in the late 80s this distinctive
style remains a nightmare for cosplayers
everywhere
seriously Goku what’s that stuff on the
top of your head cuz it doesn’t look
like hair hi won’t let you get away with
this number three high school holy hot a
must my high school can be held
literally one of if not the most common
setting and some of our favorite anime
is middle school
can you please translate the following
sentence into English
what else does drama and teen angst come
from and what better way is there to
appeal to your target audience then by
having the shit hit the fan in the
middle of geography class these kids
need to focus on their studies also
where are all the teachers especially
those ones who can’t admit that they’re
stupid number 2 / sexual ization of
women young and old
bring on the fan service usually found
in comedy anime short skirts busty women
and gravity defying physics are staples
of this trope
we know hot baths or onsen are common
enough in Japan but come on some of
these things are definitely not safe for
work as the line between humorous
situation and softcore pornography often
gets blurred oh yeah that’s the spot yes
I’m sure it is m’lady before we unveil
our top pick here are a few honorable
mentions
Serena cartola dawn Ione syllabi in the
show Google everybody all right fash the
day has finally come to tell you what is
written on the outside of the ship
it says project seeds it’s okay
cool guys see naked women all the time
I’m totally used to it first things
first
why don’t you lose that mask
number one anime facial expressions
that’s for him to say note you taking
our number one spot are these distinctly
anime expressions an easy way to show a
character’s emotion things like large
sweat drops show embarrassment or
exasperation while feed eyes show
confusion and helplessness used in
almost every anime under the Rising Sun
these gestures serve as a sort of
shorthand for the animators sorry I
didn’t share any of my liver first with
you this invasion was going so well I
forgot about feeding munch turkey friend
this cliche is so iconic in anime that
actors in live-action adaptations do
their best to duplicate them in real
life what’s that mean do you agree with
our list goodness number one again
what’s your favorite anime cliche form
or not so cliche top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
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