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Shonen tropes are usually an essential part of the genre. They are the very skeleton of shonen and usually shape the characterizations and plotlines that will become iconic. But, as fun as these tropes can be, some of the story tropes outright ignore logic and realism completely. Be it the totally convenient power-ups at a most opportune time, the villains who always wait their turn to attack their enemy, or the fact that the protagonist just as easily survives an attack that can destroy or shatter a planet, there are many shonen tropes that fall flat and fall apart under inspection.
Fans accept them as part of the charm, but that still doesn't mean they hold any real sense. In a genre characterized by fiery spirit and infinite battles, a few cliché tropes seem to stick out against the rest, but usually for all the wrong reasons. Here are 8 shonen tropes that make no sense in real life.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's opinion. This list is not ranked in any particular order.
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Main characters never die and 7 other shonen tropes that make no sense
1) The main characters never die
The main characters simply never dying is one of the shonen tropes that is nonsensical because it relieves the story of any actual consequences when fighting fiercely. No matter how damaged they are and how hopeless the situation is, they always find a way to survive.
This acts as a detriment to emotional stakes and makes the outcome predictable. Even if a character dies, they are usually resurrected in some manner. In worlds filled with dangerous enemies and high-stakes missions, these characters' survival becomes less reliable.
2) Villains waiting for their turn in the fight
In many shonen battles, the villains manage to surround the hero, yet for some reason, they all decide to only attack the hero one at a time, so the hero gets to counter each attack fairly. This makes absolutely no sense, especially when the villains madly outnumber the hero and could easily cause chaos by using teamwork or attacking all at once.
It creates a fake tension and gives the hero an unrealistic advantage that destroys the immersion. In real scenarios, opponents would strike all at once. This makes it one of the shonen tropes that makes no sense.
3) Explaining power during battle
An explanation in the middle of a fight slows everything down and breaks the sense of urgency. Characters regularly halt in the midst of high-stakes combat to explain how their powers work, allowing the opponent critical time to counteract their attack.
In actual combat, exposing your tactic is the last thing you'd ever do, but in shonen anime, it's a dramatic requirement. It also gets stretched to realism when enemies listen patiently rather than attacking. This storytelling convention trades logic for exposition and pacing for clarity, and that is why it is one of the shonen tropes that do not make any sense.
4) Nosebleed as a sign of arousal
Characters suddenly gushing blood from their noses whenever they see someone attractive; this is medically impossible and absurd. There is no physiological reason that arousal would trigger such an extreme response, but it's treated like a natural reaction, as if it's instilled within the human body in multiple shonen.
It disrupts immersion, especially when done during otherwise emotional scenes or on the part of characters who have no natural tendency to go overboard. It's obviously a visual joke, but it usually subverts the tone and seriousness of a moment. This melodramatic overreaction is one of the shonen tropes that don't make sense.
5) Training arcs with unrealistic gains
Characters in most shonen shows gain ridiculous power increases within a few weeks or days of training. Goku gaining Ultra Instinct-level reflexes after recovering in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, or Deku realizing multiple Quirks within a short period of time, makes real progress irrelevant.
These sudden upgrades disregard physical limitations, mental fatigue, and, most importantly, time. This makes a sudden powerup of an anime character one of the shonen tropes that makes no sense in real life.
6) Power of friendship suddenly wins battles
A character who is just about to be defeated suddenly remembers their friends, screams loudly, and becomes invincible. This moment is a classic move of shonen anime. Fairy Tail and Naruto rely on this final, melodramatic emotional boost to turn around desperate circumstances, even when logic says their character was hopeless.
Like some other shonen tropes, little thought is put into the destruction caused by the previous battle. This makes it one of the shonen tropes that does not make any sense.
7) Characters yell attack names out loud
Characters yelling their moves mid-fight takes away from the shock and element of surprise. If one announces a move in real combat, it gives the opponent enough time to dodge, counter, or at least prepare to defend himself. But, in Dragon Ball, Naruto, and almost every shonen, the characters yell out names of their techniques as if they were part of the choreography of the fight.
In fact, oftentimes, the opponent just stands there and lets it happen. While this adds to the drama and flair, from a tactical or logical standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense.
8) Near-death means a power boost
Characters getting stronger after nearly dying is a bizarre pattern across shonen anime. For example, Goku survives deadly injuries and comes back even more powerful than before. Ichigo suddenly gains all sorts of new abilities after sustaining brutal beatings. Naruto finds new energy reserves and unearths hidden strength each time he is on the brink of collapse.
These developments often come with no training and no planning, thoroughly breaking any sort of real-life rules of physical recovery or resurrection. Instead of weakening them, near-death moments are shortcuts to growth and evolution. This makes it one of the shonen tropes that does not make any sense.
Final thoughts
Shonen anime has brought us amazing stories and characters we all know and love, but some things about the genre simply do not make sense when it comes to any sort of logic. From Goku calling out his attack names in the middle of a battle to Naruto overcoming impossible odds solely because he had friends by his side, there are elements of the genre that stray way too far into no longer being believable.
Other examples include the sudden power-up Ichigo gets after getting beaten into the ground and the villains present in the Dragon Ball universe that stop to attack one by one. These may be quirks that fans have come to accept as part of the charm of the genre, but they still defy common sense. These are undeniably some of the shonen tropes that just don't make sense.
Related links:
- 10 worst Shonen tropes and the anime that saved them
- 5 shonen tropes that are still fresh (& 5 more that are way too overused)
- 5 anime which used reverse Shonen tropes (& 5 that use too many)
- Bleach: How Aizen breaks one of the biggest shonen tropes, explained
