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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.

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Does Light Novel-based, slice of life anime in general have a clearly defined setting?

Something I noticed while watching a lot of popular anime based on Light Novels that focuses on slice of life for the most (Oregairu, Haruhi Suzumiya, Oreimo, etc.) is that they never stated where in Japan is the story actually taking place. In a…
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Why are these animes called so? (something;something)

There are manga/anime called "something;something", what for? does it server any purpose for identifying it as a series? example: steins;gate, robotic;notes.
Leigh Flix
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What are these designs based on?

I've noticed a recurring design in anime, manga, and other Japanese art and I'm wondering where it comes from. It's basically a jet-like machine or creature with a pointed head, tufted "ears", long neck, and sharp wings attached to a back-heavy…
Graph Theory
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Why does damaging something sometimes make it more powerful?

For example, the end-of-season fights in Dragon Ball Z, the fights between the Eva and the Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion. I've noticed it in far more things but these are the most recent in my memory. When a fight is occurring, the more damage…
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Why didn't the Kill-T-Gang drain (and kill) Akari's Libido during the Oberon's battle?

Amara told Daichi that Capt. Manatsu (Daichi's father) died before crashing into his Kill-T-Gang form: he drained the Libido (lifeforce) out of the spaceman. It is stated mid-series that merely approaching a Kill-T-Gang can have this effect, and its…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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What do vampires have to do with the phase of the moon?

I've seen a few animes that linked a vampire's powers to the phase of the moon. Where does this idea come from? Are there actual Japanese myths about vampires that this stems from? Or something odd that got mixed in when the Western myth was…
user7812
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How do the cards work?

I've seen these cards in several series now including Arcana Famaglia, and more recently in Nobunaga the Fool, where Da Vince shows Jeanne du Arc a set of cards after which she draws one. And Da Vince makes some sort of prophesy. So what is the…
Dimitri mx
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Why do characters in anime rarely change their hairstyles?

In real life, people wouldn't change their hairstyles every month, but they will change one day. However, most of the characters in anime never change their hairstyles, even if the time span of the story last for years. Why do characters in anime…
Michael
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What are these rhombus/triangles around the neck?

I saw these rhombus/triangles around the neck in a few stories but do not know what it is: I'm Not the Evil God's Lackey character - Original Witch Silver I'm the Grim Reaper (webtoon) character - Satan What are these?
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Is there a name to describe the shonen trope of "secret power systems"?

In some shonen anime, there is this trope of a hidden power system that is sometimes foreshadowed throughout the series, and eventually learned by the protagonist(s). Typically, it's a power used by essentially all characters past a certain…
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Why do anime villains always wait for the whole duration of whatever character is giving the speech before attacking?

I mean, yeah I would like to listen to Naruto's speeches and his 5000 flashbacks with that swing in front of the Academy, but does the villain want to listen also? They wait for the characters to stop talking or planning or whatever to attack. I…
Just_another_bean _
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Gathering energy from other people to create an energy attack, which was the first anime to feature it?

In Black Clover in one of the last episodes (I dont recall if it was #118 or #117) Litch the elf leader gathers energy from the other elfs to create an energy attack, similar to Goku's genki dama, to be more precise more similar to Trunks's "Genki…
Pablo
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How does ki work in Black Clover?

In Black Clover, people has mana and ki. Mana is an energy source for magic and ki is.. well, that's what I want to ask. We know Asta can sense others through ki, but is there anything else? Does ki give people some power like in Dragon Ball? Is …
Pablo
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Which was the first anime to feature mana as energy source for magic?

Many animes use the idea of "mana", an energy source for magic that if it's consumed deny magic users the possibility of casting more spells. Some animes which uses this are A Certain Magical Index (2008) (and spin offs such as A Certain Scientific…
Pablo
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What does it mean when an anime character has small eyes?

As we know, the Japanese have smaller eyes than western people, apparently as the result of an evolutionary adaptation against snow-blindness. But in anime, the Japanese draw everyone with big eyes. If an American cartoon were to draw a character…
Pablo
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