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It is nearly impossible to find an anime series without a cliche. Over time, many tropes have become so common that they appear in almost all storylines.
The reason tropes have become a significant part of the anime industry is because they used to be a piece of art that fans appreciated. Such themes easily connected with the fans were overused until they became a cliche.
Ten anime tropes that are overused blatantly
1) The popular high schooler trope feels very unrealistic
The idea of a popular high-schooler character is prevalent in a typical romance anime. The most famous examples of this trope are Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket and Komi Shouko from Komi Can't Communicate. A kid who remains the center of attention without putting in any effort.
Everyone in the school fawns over them. They get it because they are so attractive, good-looking, and dignified. In reality, though, that is hardly the case. Rarely does any high schooler have that kind of influence. This trope feels very unrealistic and makes the character less relatable.
2) The idea of an overly dense male protagonist is a relatable cliche that has hit the rock-bottom
A dense male protagonist is such a widespread trope in anime shows. This trope is an excellent example of a relatable idea overdone to death. The male protagonist is too dense to understand and respond to a person's feelings. Men are often depicted as less perceptive toward a person's feelings than women.
There is nothing wrong with a male character who has difficulty reading the room. Instead, it makes the character a bit more relatable to fans. The dense-as-rock protagonist, who is utterly numb to others' feelings, makes it worse. Fuutarou Uesugi from The Quintessential Quintuplets is a famous example of a brilliant yet dense protagonist.
3) The rival in a similar goal often gets sidelined
The protagonist, in this trope, struggles to set things in motion. Usually, an opponent in such an anime would be somebody with the same goal but different ways to achieve them. The enemy here proves to be a prominent character in the protagonist's overall character development.
But, the problem in this trope is that rivals fail to make any significant impact as individual characters. One prime example of this trope is Sasuke Uchiha from the Naruto series. Other notable examples include Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia, Yuno Grinberryall from Black Clover, and Uryu Ishida from Bleach.
4) Revealing a hero's hidden inner power is no longer exciting
This cliche is something that the Anime Industry can't get enough of. The protagonist has some hidden power that comes to light when he is on the verge of defeat. When the villain overpowers the protagonist in a battle, he somehow unlocks his "Hidden Inner Power."
This used to create quite a buzz among fans in the earlier days. However, this trope has a relatively long past now. It has lost its element of surprise, and it only gets tedious over time. The most famous examples are Naruto Uzumaki with "Kuruma" and Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach with his "Inner Hollow."
5) Conversations in a conflict make the most of the battle
This cliche can be seen in almost every anime with a fight scene. It doesn't matter if it is a new generation anime or something old school. The characters always find enough time to talk in the middle of the battle. Moreover, the conversations are as long as the fight scenes. This needlessly prolongs the fight scenes and gets boring at some point.
These days, fans prefer well-executed, fast-paced action sequences. It also ruins the overall pace of the scene. The cliche has taken part in several anime series, including popular anime titles such as Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball.
6) Overuse of power of friendship is disrespectful to the antagonist and their hard work
It has been quite epic a few times, but it gets old after a while. The protagonist recalls his friends and becomes strong enough to defeat the villain. It does matter who he is fighting against. He will be the victor because he has friends.
It sometimes looks as silly as it sounds. A strong villain to challenge a god gets defeated by a character with some friends. It is OK to see the protagonist using the power of friendship a few times. However, it becomes annoying if repeated many times. Fairy Tail is a popular anime where the power of friendship becomes a recurring theme.
7) Unnecessary fan service knocks down the potential of an anime
Fan service is not necessarily bad. There are scenes where it is OK to have Fan service. A little fan service can always be appreciated until it's overdone. Fan service sometimes serves as a cover for lack of character depth.
Fire Force, for example, has the potential to be one of the best new-gen anime if it avoids any unnecessary fan service. Many famous series like Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic and The Seven Deadly Sins are loved by fans but often criticized for their lousy fan service.
8) Last minutes arrivals can be a little better
This cliche can make a significant impact on fans if executed well. It creates the necessary atmosphere among fans, wary of their favorite character. It gets them even more pumped when a miracle happens and the help arrives in time. Demon Slayer has some of the best last-minute arrival scenes.
However, too much of anything is always worse. Overdoing this cliche makes it predictable and monotonous. The lack of innovation can make it even less impactful. It becomes too predictable to surprise the fans.
9) Female characters with a lack of character development have become a familiar stereotype
Most of the female characters in a shonen anime are not fortunate enough to get a strong character development alongside the protagonist. Though the shonen hero gets stronger over time, the female cast is often left out. They are treated as damsels in distress who always need saving.
The most notable examples are Sakura Haruno from Naruto and Elizabeth from The Seven Deadly Sins. In the beginning, Sakura was part of team 7 and showed great prowess with the other two main characters. But her character development was sidelined entirely while the other two got stronger over time.
However, popular anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia are known to have well-written female characters with decent character arcs.
10) Overpowered main character cliche is overused enough to make it an entire genre
It is a very common Shounen or Isekai formula. The protagonist usually starts weak, becoming overpowered as the story progresses. Also, he is supposed to become the strongest among all the other characters just because he is the main character.
However, this cliche can make a significant impact if executed elegantly. The protagonist growing stronger due to his hard work is something every fan can appreciate. It was nicely done in the popular Shounen series, My Hero Academia.
Conclusion
Cliches have become a massive part of anime series, and it doesn't permanently ruin the excitement the series holds for its fans. There are cliches that fans still find enjoyable no matter how many times they have seen them.
