Notice me, Senpai !!

Hi, Renxkyoko Iglesias here ! !

 

So, I’ve been wanting to write about clichés in  shoujo romance manga   for a long time. They’re so common in almost 100 % of romance mangas I suspect they’re computer generated.    We have to understand that since it’s shoujo, the stories are geared towards young girls, maybe from 12 years old to 18, the age students graduate from high school in Japan.  This is the demography that is specifically  targeted  by  mangakas,  those impressionable  schoolgirls who tend to daydream of  having a romantic relationship with the perfect boy . Have you ever wondered  why almost all the male protagonists in shoujos  are ” jaw – dropping ” handsome and take note, the female counterparts are, more often than not, plain Janes ? I’ll take this as the number one shoujo cliché.

 

So, without further ado, these are the most common clichés in romance mangas.

 

a)  Love triangle.

It seems we cannot get away from this.  On Forums,  we get to read comments like, ” I knew it ! “,  ” Okay , guys, here she comes”,  : Why am not surprised ? ”

 

b)   The female rival is almost always, rich, pretty, and aggressive. She has better hairstyle. She has friends that bully the main girl. ” You’re ugly. You don’t deserve him. Break up already . ”  or  “Don’t get close to the Prince. He belongs to everyone. ”

 

c)  The main guy is the school’s Prince. He’s rich,  handsome, good at sports, and gets the highest grade . He’s # 1.

 

d) The main guy is a tsundere.  He also has a past that prevents him from showing his feelings for the main girl.  The ” past ” , more often than not, involves issues with his family, or  with another girl, usually his ex, or a girl he has to take care of, ( she has medical or a family issues , and this girl likes him too, and  stupidly, he has to sacrifice his feelings for the main girl to be with that other girl.  Ex: Ao Haru Ride

 

e)  Amusement park and festival firweworks.  First dates happen at amusement parks, and if the main girl gets to watch the fireworks with the guy,  10 out of 10, they will get together.

 

f)  Indirect kiss…….  one or the other gets to drink from the same beverage can. The main guy is oblivious, the girl swoons with excitement, or gets totally flustered.

 

6) Accidental kiss….. girl trips and falls on top of the guy, and they accidentally kiss.

 

h) Cold=fainting=bedridden, and that;s from mere drizzle

 

i)  The girl gets a scratch on the knee….. and that’s enough for the guy to panic and princess -carry her to the infirmary.

 

j)  rooftop…… a lot of confessions happen at the rooftop.

 

k) The girl makes home-made chocolates ( it has to be home-made ) for her crush on Valentine’s Day.  Meanwhile, the object of her affection gets  a ton of chocolates from all the girls at school. The tsundere guy accepts all the chocolates with a smile, then throws everything into the waste can ( except the main girl’s, awwww !

 

l)  the obligatory visit to the shrine on New Year’s eve

 

m)  the main girl falls down the stairs, and somehow, the guy is always there to catch her…. of course, she falls on top of the guy, and they accidentally kiss, or not.

 

n) one of the parents of either the guy or the girl  had passed away.

o) The male rival is almost always the better guy, but cliché on top of cliché, the nice guy never gets the girl..

 

p)  And last, but not the least,  the  guy the main girl first meets or sees, is the one she ends up with.

 

I’m sure there are dozens more out there,  but these are the only cliches I can come up with at the moment.

 

Please add more clichés on the Comment section.

 

This is all for now.  Thank you for reading.