ART + LIFE
Top Ten Shoujo Clichés
Top Ten: Top Ten Shoujo Clichés
| 1. | The Love Triangle |
| 2. | "I Want to be By Your Side" - It's a nice line and sentiment, but there's a variety of phrases that are availabe as well. |
| 3. | Girl heroine getting bullied because the boy she loves is so popular among other girls. |
| 4. | Oh, it's INCEST...but not really. |
| 5. | The oh-so-very clueless female/male lead that is aware of everyone else's feelings but his/her own. |
| 6. | The come from behind hug (mostly initiated by girls). |
| 7. | Excessive crying from the female heroine - They seem to cry at the drop of a hat. |
| 8. | More often than not, the other guy in the love triangle was a childhood friend |
| 9. | Twins - There seems to be a fascination with twins with the frequency that they do pop up. |
| 10. | Pat on the head - Not sure if this is a common gesture in Japan, but it's not frequent that couples pat each other on the head (at least IMO). |
Just because it's a cliché doesn't mean that I don't like seeing some of these things in shoujo. In truth, I'm a big fan of cliche number one (if done well). I'm not one to nitpick on some of these elements because often times, it's these same things that makes shoujo so much fun. If executed well and used sparingly, a lot of these elements can be charming. Yet these days, it seems like every shoujo incorporates these things into their story and it only serves to dilute the initial appeal of these said clichés. Feel free to comment and list any I may have missed or left off the list. (I may create a blog entry going into more detail listing both good and bad examples for these items)
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AHH! I knew I was missing a crucial cliche! The "accidental collapse" is classic, definitely top 5!
LINT
2007-10-20 19:03:16
You forgot the accidental falling on top of each other. And I have seen every last one of these in Love Hina (Except twins). I've never really thought about it.
MRGBH
2007-10-20 07:22:28
Ah, I should amend number 10 (there wasn't enough space for me to put all that I wanted to say). I guess I can attribute that to individual personalities and people's levels of affection. Personally, I've never been patted much on the head, and if it happened it was when I was a child ;) Nonetheless, I guess it happens more often than I thought (thanks for pointing that out :) The list of characteristics for typical male/female leads in shoujo are endless so I was intending to save that for another list. It's a good one though!
LINT
2007-10-17 21:34:00
XP the last one.....my boy friend does that to me all the time. i do num. 6 a lot. o, and also, theres the one with the hero is always a very beatiful, feminie, or macho man. they are ussaly shy of their feelings and blush a lot when they come around the heroine.
GINKAZERYUU
2007-10-17 17:36:26