Do a bunch of people just hate tension in fiction now?
It hasn't been all that long since I wrote about The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity. My feelings on it haven't changed: I think it's a cute, pleasant, enjoyable show that ultimately did not leave much impact on me, for a couple reasons which I explained in that post. For me personally, for a story to really hit the highest emotional highs, you've got to take characters through some real lows, too. I felt that for the type of story Flagrant Flower was going for (or at least seemed to be going for based on the beginning), it needed more drama.
I probably wouldn't even be thinking about the show still if I hadn't seen so many random people online hype the series up as one of the greatest romances in years. But this hype is actually what I want to talk about, because I've realized that it may actually be part of a pattern.
See, it seems like there's a lot of manga/anime fans online today who want stories to keep the tension and drama to a minimum.
It's like people are seeking a smooth ride to their desired destination. The destination for a battle series may be "They beat a strong enemy and looked really cool doing it!" and for a romance the destination would be "A couple professed their love to each other!" If it's a journey with tension, you'll wonder at times how the journey can continue. You'll feel worried that it'll come to a premature end, yet somehow, the characters prevail. But if it's a journey without tension, sure the road may look dangerous at times, but ultimately the driver seems to be able to handle every turn with ease, and you never really doubt that you're going to make it to the destination on time.
If all you want out of a story is to just imagine something nice, get a bit of wish fulfillment or a "power fantasy," then sure, it's cool that you can get that. But for me, I've found that (unless it's a good comedy) the types of pleasant shows that lack interesting conflicts are rarely gonna get a higher score from me than a 7/10. Because they just don't make me feel very much.
What do I mean by "interesting conflicts?" Well, in a nutshell, it's literally anything that makes you think, "I wonder how they're gonna get through this situation" or maybe even more so, "Man, I really feel for them being in this situation and I really hope they make it through." There's a spectrum of intensity here. Some movies can have you in suspense at max stress level for two hours. Which can be good. On the other hand, if you make things too consistently easy with no twists, the viewer will only sarcastically wonder how things are gonna go, because they've already seen the characters easily overcome every situation so many times that the tension is gone.
Interesting Conflict Can Be Ordinary
Interesting conflicts can absolutely consist of everyday human challenges. I love that stuff. When a story peeks into characters' minds and examines why they do the stuff they do, that really intrigues me.
In the previous post about Fragrant Flower and other romances, I mentioned Skip and Loafer. That series has a laid-back vibe, but I'd never call it boring. The characters feel so human and have fairly grounded problems, so I was quite interested the whole way through.
Have you ever watched Hyouka? It's one of my favorites. It's a mystery series, except unlike most stories in the mystery genre, no one is ever murdered, nor are any other major crimes committed. The soundtrack is chill, the characters are adorable, there's a nice sense of humor, so overall, this is a relaxing show I like to rewatch (though I haven't done so in a couple years).
Once again though, although I say it's relaxing, the story, which is adapted from novels, really keeps me interested consistently. Partially this is because, believe it or not, mysteries don't actually have to be scandalous to pique your curiosity. A question doesn't need to be urgent, life-or-death, or high-stakes for you to want to find an answer to it.
Perhaps even more important than the mysteries, the characters in Hyouka have layers, and you see the relationships between them evolve over time. Also, it's KyoAni and their work is gorgeous as always, but that's beside the point.
What these examples show is that characters don't have to exist in a world where nothing bad ever happens for a series to be relaxing. Now, again, I'm not trying to say that stories that lack drama and tension don't have a place. But am I gonna be excited about them? Am I gonna be moved to tears by them? Probably not.
Of course, I should probably say that comedies don't necessarily need to have gripping conflict, as long as I'm laughing. However, there are also comedies that are only sort of funny, but are definitely cute. One example from 2024: Pseudo Harem. A fun concept, and the anime had two great actors leading. Mildly funny. Mostly just cute and amusing. 7/10.
Now, CITY: The Animation last year (CITY being by the same mangaka as Nichijou), that was KyoAni doing some wildly creative stuff I couldn't have imagined, and I mean, the absurd comedy was actually pretty funny, and there were some real heartfelt moments too. And they introduced me to my new favorite singer Furui Riho. 10/10 anime
But let's get back to talking specifically about how tension is good actually. I want to get into an example of a romance manga that takes its time and isn't afraid to throw some drama into its characters' lives...... Blue Box!
Drama in Blue Box
I've been reading Blue Box since the serialization began in 2021. It's a good manga. The recent anime adaptation made me like it even more. It's really sweet and takes the teenage characters' feelings quite seriously. For my tastes I think the characters all come off as a bit too introspective and philosophical—but eh that's kind of a stupid criticism anyway.
I think one big aspect that kept me invested early on is how the male protagonist Taiki is crushing on this girl Chinatsu, but you never quite know what she's thinking, because she's pretty quiet. That sort of mystery is inherently interesting to me. Anyway, the manga has reached 231 chapters now, which is truly impressive for a romance manga in Weekly Shounen Jump. Deservedly so, because it's a real good series.
I gotta tell you. There are certain points where the story reeeeeally hurt me!
I LOVE BEING HURT BY STORIES.
(Now the caveat to this is that the characters have to be behaving in a believable way for the hurt to work. But if they're not, you won't be so much "hurting me" but rather "ticking me off." There's a subtle difference).
I'm not going to actually recap Blue Box here. You should just check it out if you like sweet and wholesome teenage romances. I will discuss recent events in vague terms, but uhhh it's probably going to still be a spoiler, if you care about that.
Recently I checked out some discussion on some new Blue Box chapters—I don't know why I did this, considering I wrote a post about how there's really no need to do this—and I noticed that some people seemed angry at the recent turn in the story where Hina sort of backslid, you might say. Oh boy, my low opinion of the internet's manga reader community continues to sink. Personally, when I read these chapters, I was thinking, "Oh gosh, she's just going to get hurt again." Yet as unfortunate as it was, certainly I found it a believable direction for her to go in. Characters making self-destructive yet understandable choices is relatable as heck which is a big reason I tend to like it. However, internet people were immediately throwing flags. Bad writing, unnecessary drama, blah blah blah. I don't know, I didn't read that much of it but that's what I saw.
Sorry, but I don't sympathize. Y'all just sound like babies to me.
What, you wanted this poor girl to just figure out her feelings permanently and never cause any trouble? You expect her to just act like everything's cool and let go of the past? Heaven forbid we try to portray the complicated feelings of youth right?
Not every story has to show the messy side of humans. There are stories that can get by with overly simplistic characters. But in a high school romance, where the whole story is gonna be about how kids deal with their feelings, if you want all the characters to be super emotionally intelligent and understanding and direct... well, like I said, you can have a story like that, but it doesn't have much suspense to it.
Anyway, this little Blue Box arc ends with a change in a relationship for the better. None of this conflict was actually pointless, from a story standpoint. It was a case where a troublesome question that had been lurking quietly in the background suddenly came to the forefront and was resolved.
Hm. This manga is probably getting close to its final chapters, huh?
Many chapters ago, there was that one part where the second most-important ship in the series Kyo and Ayame, which had been gaining momentum, suffered a major blow. I don't even remember the exact details of what happened, but I do remember the pain I felt. But like I said: I LIKE WHEN STORIES MAKE ME FEEL PAIN. Meanwhile redditors are like "ughh a misunderstanding this is so stupid" YEAH DORKS WHY NOT JUST FINISH THE STORY IN THREE CHAPTERS IF IT'S SO EASY, THAT'D BE MUCH BETTER
Hey, I'm sure it's easy for people who spend most of their time at home on a laptop using Reddit to imagine scenarios where, unlike romance manga characters, they're easily resolving conflicts with their superior communication skills. But the truth is that real humans are messy. They have anxieties and insecurities, and they simply don't think rationally all the time. That's why any fictional story that makes relationships super easy is one that I can't buy into fully.
You know a series with characters who have some real messy moments? Toradora. And that messiness is one of the things I adore most about Toradora. Did I mention I love when stories hurt me?
I took this picture in December 2020 during my second time watching through Toradora, probably because I wanted to share my suffering on the internet
I don't deny that when drama feels contrived, it becomes really bad and annoying. But if the characters' motivations are understandable and it's not a case where the author has clearly given the characters some sort of Stupidity Potion to force a plot twist to happen... then it's not going to feel contrived!
Admittedly, what each reader/watcher finds believable in a character will vary. But I do think if you're too focused on the "meta" instead of just immersing yourself in the story, your suspension of disbelief will become very fragile.
But maybe, there are people who just don't want any form of stressful conflict at all which oh yeah was the whole premise of this article I'm writing here
I can't help but think a lot of the internet-obsessed manga readers of today would actually hate Rumiko Takahashi's work if it wasn't already considered classic. A couple years back I read Maison Ikkoku, a seinen manga series. I really liked it. It's interesting how the main relationship really has its ups and downs, and sometimes those are some major downs, but when they finally get together it's so sudden and it's like... wait, is this actually, finally happening for real?!
The Best Love Live! Anime Series Doesn't Pull Its Punches
It's zero. We practiced that hard together, made songs together, made costumes together, made the video together. We really tried our best. We just wanted to sing well for everyone. To shine as school idols. But it was still zero!! It's so frustrating!! I don't care if there's a big difference, or that it's not like it used to be! It's frustrating! It really is frustrating!
Chika Takami, Love Live! Sunshine!!, episode 8
Hey everyone welcome back to part 12 of the Love Live! Sunshine!! agenda.
So, they haven't yet made a bad anime series in the Love Live franchise. Any of them will, at the very least, give you girls doing funny goofy stuff in between performing fun songs. For instance, in Love Live! Superstar!! season 2, Shiki did some like mad scientist stuff. Ren became very addicted to video games. Wien Margerete stood around waiting for Kanon to show up so she could say "Shibuya Kanon!" villainously. However, in terms of the drama of that season, I was left wanting a bit more. I mean, winning Love Live used to be a pretty big deal. But there was so much going on at the end of the season that it kinda felt like just a mildly cool accomplishment. And Liella's path to victory felt... unremarkable.
To be fair, it was the third anime about a group of girls trying to win Love Live, so maybe it was just hard to surprise me at that point.
Still! You know what would make it more exciting? Tension. And how do we create tension? How about we do what Love Live! Sunshine!! did and stick some dream-crushing trials on the path to victory so that the characters might be tempted to give up? See, now we're cooking.
Love Live! Sunshine!! was the second entry in the Love Live! franchise. For the first series, starring the 9 members of µ's, it's not like the journey was super easy, but Sunshine definitely amps up the difficulty for Aqours, the group who will attempt to follow in µ's' footsteps despite coming from a rural seaside town.
This change in difficulty isn't obvious at first. Sure, there are plenty of obstacles in the beginning, but with every challenge, a miracle seems to arrive just in time. Riko moves to town (kiseki dayo!), Mari appears suddenly and uses her authority as the new school director (???) to give the school idol club a chance, and the perfect name for the group "mysteriously" appears on the beach. For Aqours' debut, the town is so supportive that they fill the gym completely (some things go wrong, but I'm skipping a lot of details here). In episode seven, after growing to six members and finding success with an online video, Aqours gets invited to Tokyo for a special event. Everything seems to be looking up.
But it's at this Tokyo event that Aqours learns just how brutal the world of competition can be.
A bunch of school idol groups perform (though Saint Snow is the only group we actually get to see), and a winner is determined by audience vote. Afterward, the girls are given a sheet of paper showing the vote tally. Chika searches for the name Aqours and finds it at the very bottom of the list. Total number of votes: zero.
Zero. (I repeated it for dramatic effect)
Plus, as if to kick them while they're down, immediately after getting this news, those girls from Saint Snow come over to pretty much call them pathetic, so uh, that probably didn't feel good.
Looking back, this is a foundational moment for Aqours. It will forever stand as a reminder that before they were able to fight their way up to the best of the best, they started at zero.
Ugh, there are so many things this show does well. But I'll just leave it at this single example today, because it's enough to prove a point.
This sort of heartbreaking moment shows the audience that victory is not to be taken for granted. The girls are going to have to work even harder.
For any story like this, you as the viewer pretty much will assume that, in the end, the protagonists are gonna win. There aren't a ton of sports movies where they lose in the end, right? (It ain't really a sports movie but I was so ticked at the ending of Pixar's Cars as a kid—of course, they were really trying to drive home the character arc there). But if the show can get you, the audience, to doubt the inevitably of success just a little bit... then you create some suspense. A couple of twists here and there is all it takes to get on me on my guard and make me think, "Well, yes I think I know how this will go, but maaaaybe it could go different...?"
That aside, hardship and failure are parts of life, and dang it, when I see a normal girl like Chika rising from despair, it inspires me to work hard too! YEAHHHHHH!!!
I sure am a grump for getting annoyed by positive comments about a series I like
This anime season we got an adaptation of You and I Are Polar Opposites, which is another manga I jumped on early and followed weekly to its completion. I really like the manga, and I didn't know how hyped I should be for the anime, but as luck would have it, it's a very high-quality production! And the anime has gotten a decent amount of attention.
I've clicked on clips of the show on YouTube, just out of curiosity for the comments. Alas, comments disappoint me again.
I mean, everyone likes the series. I'm not mad about that. But they don't understand why it's good!
"Oh yeah it's so refreshing to have a confession in the first episode! Oh yeah it's so nice to see them talk out problems quickly!"
MAN IS THIS THE ONLY THING YOU PEOPLE CAN THINK ABOUT
I have a bit of inner conflict here, because I don't totally disagree with what they're saying. I remember being quite delighted by the first chapter. It is fun to have a series focus on a new couple rather than the traditional romcom story of overcoming all the stuff that keeps a potential couple apart. But on the other hand... what the heck do you people have against all the classic romcoms where they won't get together until the climax??!
Moreover, I don't think these comments are actually identifying what makes this a good story. In them, I see this underlying idea that love confessions and hand-holding are "the good stuff." But if that's "the good stuff" that we want to see, what's the purpose of the rest of it? It's because you need to build up to "the good stuff," of course. So if the buildup is so quick, then what even makes this good at all?
Ok this is sounding weird.
I'm gonna tell you what makes this story good: characters. The series spends so much time examining characters and their various ideas about human relationships.
You and I are Polar Opposites was originally a one-shot manga. That's not surprising, if you've seen the first chapter/episode of the series, because this chapter tells a complete, satisfying story on its own. Suzuki is a girl who tries hard to fit in and say all the right things. She has a crush on her classmate Tani, who is the opposite of her, in that he doesn't seem to care what people think about him. He'll say what he thinks, very straightforwardly, unlike others who would be worried about conflict. In the end, Suzuki finally breaks from her self-conscious ways and loudly declares her love for Tani. Nice little character arc, huh?
In the series, other characters get the focus too, like the easygoing boy Yamada and the shy girl Nishi. Actually, when Nishi was explaining how she majorly overthinks sending messages online I totally related to that. Could these two vastly different personalties also be a good match?? (Yeah probably)
When I think about this series in relation to Fragrant Flower, I have to challenge myself: why do I like Polar Opposites, which doesn't really do major long-term drama, yet at the same time criticize Fragrant Flower for not having enough drama? Well, I think I know why. Like I said before: it's about the characters. Fragrant Flower's characters are so idealized. Subaru can ask Rintaro not to talk to Kaoruko anymore, but it's only because she's super worried about the possibility of her girl getting in trouble. It's quite admirable. Very understandable. But you know, what I really prefer is to see a character who's straight-up wrong, for reasons that aren't noble but are understandable. Like, Suzuki being overly self-conscious is not really a healthy thing. But many of us can relate to it.
Then you have Taira, the most cynical character in Polar Opposites. He seems quite insecure and negative, but not in a cheesy super-unrealistic way. A different flavor of cynicism is found in Azuma, a girl who admits finding herself consistently drawn to bad boys instead of anyone who'd be good for her.
So yes, seeing these quite realistic negative traits under the microscope gives me a lot to latch onto with Polar Opposites. This story is not one I go to for major drama, but it gives me enough to chew on that I leave satisfied. Yes, it's better than a 7/10! It's an 8/10!
But yeah I like seeing cute moments too of course.
You know, if you like the idea of characters getting married in the first chapter, you can always read Tonikaku Kawaii (aka Fly Me to the Moon, or Crunchyroll's version Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You!). Which has been going for over 300 chapters now. (Feel like I just did an advertisement segue in a YouTube video, but nah. I just felt like that series was worth mentioning for the people seeking cute crud). Tonikawa actually name-drops Blue Box you know. And there is one part where an in-universe manga character has hair that looks awfully similar to Suzuki's from Polar Opposites.
Anyway that last part wasn't important but it was fun.
To wrap this thing up: ultimately, I have no control over audience's tastes. If what they want is stuff that's purely fluffy, This Says a Lot About Our Society. I just don't know what.
Me though, I will continue to enjoy romances that involve pain. Like Fruits Basket. Or Persona 3. And uhh alsooooo other genres should have tension too but we mostly just talked about romance huh?!