Questions tagged [tropes]

A recurring element across anime, manga or works in other media. Tropes cover clichés, genre conventions and other recurring plot points, character types, narration styles, …

A trope, in the general sense used here, is a feature that is found in many creative works (anime, manga, or any other media), for example a plot point, a character type, a setting, a narration style, etc. It is expected that at least some readers or viewers will recognize the trope. Some tropes have a well-identified source that other works have imitated, departed from or alluded to; others are so old that their origin has long been lost.

The website TV Tropes collects tropes (in all media, including anime and manga, despite the name). If you're looking for a list of works using a certain trope, TV Tropes is the place to look. You'll also find lists of tropes seen in a particular work.

284 questions
4
votes
1 answer

What's the origin of the "accidental boob grab" trope?

I was just wondering where the trope of the protagonist tripping and accidentally groping someone first came from. What's the origin of this trope?
dolchspitz
  • 41
  • 1
4
votes
2 answers

Why is Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" so prevalent in anime?

Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is an important song in Evangelion. The song is also important to the Read Or Die OVA. And in the 13th episode of Gunslinger Girl, the girls start watching a meteor shower and want to listen to this particular as background…
Vixen Populi
  • 908
  • 1
  • 7
  • 23
4
votes
1 answer

Why is "bioroide/bioroido/bioroid" used in different animes?

In the 1984 anime series Super Dimensional Calvary Southern Cross, there are some alien mechas called "bioroid/bioroido/bioloyd" (depending on the translation) Bioroids SDC. In Appleseed there is an artificial species called bioroide Appleseed…
Pablo
  • 12,699
  • 55
  • 193
  • 348
4
votes
1 answer

What is the relevancy between the common theme of Knight’s & Magic, In Another World With My Smartphone, and KonoSuba?

These three anime: Knight's & Magic In Another World With My Smartphone KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World. and perhaps others anime as well begin with the common theme of a guy dying and get born on another world. That made me…
Bruno Costa
  • 185
  • 8
4
votes
1 answer

Is there a name for when characters eyes are hidden from the shot when emotional?

The eyes of characters in anime always disappear when they're upset or when they're going to get serious. Is there a name for when a characters eyes disappear like that?
Touma_ko
  • 81
  • 1
  • 3
4
votes
2 answers

Story-telling technique where the drawing style briefly gets much simpler?

I'm a big fan of web comics, and have a question about a drawing or story-telling technique that I've seen. It seems effective, but I'm not quite sure what it's effective for. Here's an example, from the most excellent Questionable Content by Jeph…
4
votes
0 answers

What's the origin of characters flying through the night sky during the ED?

Here it is in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: and here it is in Blend S: Is Blend S just referencing Dragon Maid or is there an earlier instance of this?
John
  • 41
  • 1
4
votes
1 answer

Why are there so many tragic ocean promises?

Quite often in a promise is made to go see the ocean. Just as often these promises can not/ no longer be achieved due to some events occurring. Is there some symbolism at play here? Leading to a character always having to dramatically fail at going…
Dimitri mx
  • 22,062
  • 32
  • 118
  • 200
4
votes
0 answers

What is the origin of posterior wing trope?

Before and usually, characters with wing are shown to have the wing grow from his/her upper back area. Example for angel/light-side characters that have such wing are Shidou Irina (High School DxD), Ikaros and the other angeloids (Sora no…
絢瀬絵里
  • 12,752
  • 12
  • 60
  • 127
4
votes
1 answer

Why are some characters shown to only eat one kind of food?

I noticed that not only protagonists/main characters, but also other characters in an anime are shown to love a certain kind of food. Here are some examples: Naruto loves ramen. It's pretty much the only thing he ever really eats (as seen in Boruto…
Kym NT
  • 2,366
  • 2
  • 17
  • 43
4
votes
2 answers

What are some of the more popular and well-known film noir style anime series?

Are there any popular, well-known anime series that share characteristics with the film noir or neo-noir style or setting?
4
votes
0 answers

Is there a "snot-nosed kid" trope?

I can think of several anime series with recurring characters who I would classify as "snot-nosed kids". Two sympathetic, recurring, characters are Udon from Naruto and Komugi from Hunter x Hunter. Is there an actual trope for this character…
RichF
  • 3,134
  • 3
  • 20
  • 42
4
votes
1 answer

What is the origin of the "this is a work of fiction" explanation? Is it a trope?

At the beginning or end of episodes of anime I sometimes see a disclaimer similar to this: This program is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people, parties, or situations is purely coincidental. Is this a trope? Or is there some Japanese…
YetAnotherRandomUser
  • 2,749
  • 7
  • 21
  • 45
4
votes
1 answer

Why do Japanese anime characters shout so much?

I would like to point out this incident from NHK ni Youkoso - Episode 21 (11:12 to 11:34). The main character Sato is escorting his friend Yamazaki to a subway station to bid final adieu to him. Yamazaki is a game creator (gal games) and MC helps…
Jony Agarwal
  • 395
  • 3
  • 11
4
votes
1 answer

Is Nadia voluntarily inspired by Castle in the Sky?

It is pretty obvious that Nadia and Castle in the Sky shared a lot of their basic premise: both of them feature a girl who owns a mysterious glowing blue pendant, meets a boy who is interested in flying machines, and is chased both by a small pirate…