Anime has gained reputation among its wide varieties of genres, colorful characters, and gripping plot development. Most anime however tend to carry common themes, archetypes and story types that have become associated with the art form. Such repetitive things can be called anime tropes, which contributes to the development of a unique anime style and allows the anime to be recognized by fans.
Today we are going to dab into some of the most popular anime tropes that have managed to become favorites of fans. Such tropes encompass over the top transformations and archetypal characters among other elements that form part and parcel to enjoyment of anime.
1. Tsundere
The tsundere is one of the most well-known character types of anime. The tsundere character is normally cold, rude or even mean with the main character and will eventually become warmer and loving as the show continues. Tsundere is a Japanese term which derives its meaning out of two Japanese words viz tsun meaning cold or aloof and dere meaning affectionate, or loving.
Example:
The asuka Langley of Neon Genesis Evangelion is a classic example of a tsundere, beginning rough and aggressive with an aggressive personality before revealing her gentle side.
2. Shounen Protagonist
Shounen protagonist is a trope of action based anime, particularly of the ones targeted towards young men. Such characters are usually active, dynamic and sense of justice possessed by them is high. They would be initially underdogs and would become stronger, suffering personal problems and conquering a lot. The shounen main character is usually characterized by their quests of friendship, endurance and the never-ending quest to improve oneself.
Example:
Naruto Uzumaki in Naruto is by the definition a typical shounen lead, as he wants nothing but to be a Hokage even after his hard childhood.
3. Magical Girl (Mahou Shoujo)
This magical girl trope can also be deemed synonymous with transforming heroines who combat evil through magic. These are normally young girls endowed with supernatural powers and pursue a mission of saving the world. Magical girls are also characterized by the transformation sequences, which usually feature sparkles and costumes of various degrees of flashiness.
Example:
Sailor Moon of Sailor Moon is arguably one of the most famous representations of the magical girls theme as she combats the dark power using the power of her magic.
4. Mecha
Mecha is the use of anime that depicts giant robots which are controlled by human beings. One can commonly see such robots in huge battles, being the epitome of technology or forms of power and authority. Mecha anime can be everything including high octane action and speculations on the nature of world, war and humanity.
Example:
One could probably even call Mobile Suit Gundam the most popular mecha anime due to the combination of its rich characters and political messages with the huge scale of the battles involving robots.
5. Harem
The harem plot is about a male character who is swarmed by a variety of female characters all of whom have romantic interests in the character. It can also be inverted in order to depict, where the female protagonist is enveloped by male characters. The harem can be considered a focal point, which gives conflict, humor, and love triangles.
Example:
Keitaro Urashima of Love Hina is in a harem situation with the girl he is staying with under the same roof, each one having various feelings towards him.
6. Yandere
A yandere is a character that tries to seem loving and sweet at the surface and yet will turn to be dangerously obsessive and violent when they sense that they are being threatened by the prospect of being denied the affections of the person that they love. The yandere trope brings a more dark destructive pattern, which became more like a horror element in anime.
Example:
Yuno Gasai of Future Diary is an archetypical yandere character being in love with the main hero to an extent of possessiveness and violent aggression towards him.
7. The Power of Friendship
Friendship is one of the eternal tropes of the anime. The trope really focuses on the significance of relationships among characters, especially when they need one another the most or when they are in a tough situation. Encounters with difficulties usually empower the characters with their friends, presenting topics of collaboration, unwavering devotion and emotional development.
Example:
Dragon Ball Z also focuses on the strength of friendship, particularly when battling very important situations in which the characters manage to exceed their own potential when supported by each other.
8. Super Deformed (SD)
Super Deformed (SD) characters have been represented in a compact exaggerated design, an enormous head and littler body. The trope is utilized in order to signal comedy, light-hearted situations, or cases of child-like innocence of characters. The SD trope is quite widespread in the scenes of humor or when the emotions of one of the characters are generated in a humorous manner.
Example:
In One Piece the characters will sometimes be displayed in SD when a scene has a comedic feel to it, when this happens it helps in making the scene funnier.
9. Rivalries
Anime can include a lot of hyped up jealously between the various characters as one character is the foil to another or vice versa. Such rivalries may provide a lot of drama and character shifts in the entire series and one rivalry may push the other towards being stronger or transforming.
Example:
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha of the show Naruto have a traditional rivalry that carries saturates a lot of the emotional character in the program.
10. Senpai/Kouhai Dynamics
The senpai/kouhai relationship (upperclassman/underclassman) is a particular trope in most anime, more prominently in high school anime. The senpai is normally more senior and provides the role of guide or mentor, and the character showing less experience and respect and sometimes flattery of a senpai is the kouhai.
Example:
In My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, the series features a relationship between senpai Yukino Yukinoshita and a kouhai Hachiman Hikigaya being at the heart of things.
11. Transformation Sequences
The transformation of characters in most magical girl or shounen anime often performs elaborate transformations during which the character brings out all the power or abilities within him. Typically, such scenes include a dramatic score, flashy visual expressions, Anime Tropes and motifs specific to characters to ensure the scene is grand and exciting.
Example:
Sailor Moon is also well known because of its transformation scenes when the main characters trade up their regular clothes with shiny outfit of their magical warriors with that glittering effect and dramatic breaks.
12. The Hero’s Journey
The hero path is a common narrative formula that most anime take the form of which is that the main hero goes on an adventure and goes through challenges and at the end goes through a drastic change. It is quite an opinionated trope on the theory of monomyth by Joseph Campbell, which focuses on the transformation and self-actualization of the main character.
Example:
Naruto Uzumaki is a story that tells the journey of the hero who out of loneliness becomes a strong leader himself, great and has friends that can mean a lot to him.
13. The Underdog
In anime there more often than not exists a type of underdog who is initially weak, unskilled or ignored but through affirmed resolution and effort manages to go through tremendous difficulty to accomplish excellence. This is an especially popular trope with sports anime or shounen series.
Example:
The perfect example of an underdog is Hinata Shoyo in Haikyuu!!, a petite player who bucked the trend and became one of the best volleyball players.
14. Unbeatable Villain
The unbeatable villain type of character brings in a villain so overpowering that defeat is unimaginable. These bad guys usually become the greatest challenge to the main character that leads to the denouement.
Example:
Frieza in the Dragon Ball Z is a good example, an almost unstoppable villain that tests Gogotaku to his limits until he is eventually defeated.
Conclusion: The Enduring Appeal of Anime Tropes
The use of anime tropes is also not new to the medium and has been there over the years contributing to the anime storytelling style or breaking down character growth. It is possible that most of these tropes are very familiar, yet they still delight people by providing comfort and familiarity. Can we blame the tsundere love interest, the shounen protagonist, and the dramatic transformation sequences for the everlasting popularity of anime and its capabilities to impress the viewer on an emotional level?
Knowing these tropes can add to your enjoyment of the medium, as you will be able to recognize common things in new shows, Anime Tropes and data on how these tropes can be creatively played and varying them, rather than just following them.
