Anime and Manga Stack Exchange
Anime and Manga Stack Exchange

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
3
votes
1 answer

Are things like huge drops of sweat or flashes of light in anime and manga diegetic in any possible way?

So I'm used to the fact that symbolic things like huge drops of sweat, huge aneurystic veins, etc. are more or less abstract exaggerations of intense emotions rather than literal drops of sweat or veins. But now I'm drawing a character with a big…
Vun-Hugh Vaw
  • 230
  • 2
  • 8
3
votes
1 answer

Why do most Naruto villains end up not just being bad guys to be hated?

Is there a reason why almost all Naruto villains end up having very good excuses for becoming villains and start being seen as fighting for a different cause as opposed to just being the bad guys who need to be killed? What I mean by this question…
Beha
  • 79
  • 4
3
votes
1 answer

Why do characters recite π (pi) to distract themselves?

I know that some characters recite pi digits to either calm themselves, or to distract themselves. I remember a particular case in the series r-15. Is there any particular reason it is pi?
Ch.Siva Ram Kishore
  • 622
  • 1
  • 6
  • 18
3
votes
1 answer

Is Edermask based on some legend?

My question: Is Edermask from the manwha Magician by Kim Sarae based on some old legend/myth? An immortal man searching for the source of his immortality to become a mortal again. If seen this concept before in quiet some anime/manga. Usually these…
Dimitri mx
  • 22,062
  • 32
  • 118
  • 200
3
votes
1 answer

English letters in anime titles

I've frequently noticed in anime seasons the title of a series or film will have an English letter at the end of the title (for example: Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon S)- what is the significance of the letter?
Nu'Daq
  • 131
  • 1
3
votes
1 answer

What is the trope of a leader being overburdened with paperwork, and is it specific to anime?

In many anime where a protagonist makes it to the top of an organization, they are often seen diligently sitting at a desk signing documents, and often times they will attempt to escape. Sometimes this is only an episode or 2, other times it's a…
YetAnotherRandomUser
  • 2,749
  • 7
  • 21
  • 45
3
votes
1 answer

What is this paper fan used by some student council president/senior member called?

In many anime, a student council president or senior member uses essentially a paper 'fan' to discipline others. Kind of looks like a paper that has been folded up. Is it really a fan of some sort or something different? Does it has a specific…
Mike Hearthstone
  • 31
  • 2
3
votes
2 answers

Who is this person from commercial break "The World God Only Knows" manga?

I rarely have seen this guy in other manga. First time i saw it in The World God Only Know manga, volume 2, chapter 13 and in Kunimitsu manga, chapter 4. Does anyone know where is this guy come from ?
Gagantous
  • 3,260
  • 19
  • 46
  • 91
3
votes
1 answer

Who was the first young character in anime to appear with white hair?

By now the trope mystical white hair is used by everyone and their cat, we have loads of characters who appear young yet have white / silver hair, either because they were born that way / used magic or other powers / had a traumatic experience…
Ekaterin Nile
  • 331
  • 1
  • 11
3
votes
3 answers

Why are light-haired male love interests common?

It is relatively common for series (especially shoujo) for the/a love interest to be blond. This appears in Ouran High School Host Club, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama, Tokyo Mew Mew, and a number of others. Why is this common in Japan, where the population…
kuwaly
  • 23,601
  • 40
  • 124
  • 231
3
votes
1 answer

What does this grinning gesture signify?

The gif below shows Noriko from minute 11 of GunBuster's episode 3. This is the dialogue directly preceding it: Noriko: I should at least memorize basic space manoeuvring patterns. [...] Smith: All that stuff is useless in real combat. Noriko: Why…
mivilar
  • 2,597
  • 2
  • 23
  • 40
3
votes
1 answer

Why does Lupin have both prowess and infantile behavior when it comes to women?

Why does Lupin seem to be both skillful with women but also devoid of seriousness and is infantile towards women? What is the source and purpose of this equivocated attitude towards women? And Lupin is by no means the only male character to do…
Eduard Florinescu
  • 365
  • 1
  • 6
  • 20
3
votes
1 answer

Trope where objects are physically harmed and receive giant bumps?

During the series, it happens quite often, where Naruto does something stupid (usually sexy jutsu related) and gets hit on the head, which follows by this huge bumps on his head. This happens quite often even in other series. What caught my eye is…
Dimitri mx
  • 22,062
  • 32
  • 118
  • 200
3
votes
1 answer

Why go through so much trouble to show a character is staring by having her say or shout "stare"?

In several anime shows, when a character is staring at another, the character actually says "stare" (sometimes with the "stare" in written form too not unlike manga - not the subtitles). From the context and the animation, the stare is obvious, so…
Mindwin Remember Monica
  • 10,686
  • 17
  • 58
  • 129
2
votes
1 answer

Why does this kind of places often appear in anime?

In many anime, there are places where you can get an overview of (part of) the town, just like in the pictures below. From Koi to Uso From The Quintessential Quintuplets From Shuffle! Where I live and in places around, there are no such places…
Michael
  • 1,668
  • 2
  • 15
1 2 3
…
18 19