Are cliche anime characters bad?

Yes and no.

See the thing is, Cliche are a thing because they are more or less building blocks.

It would be like saying

“Are wood houses bad.” “Are stone houses bad!”

Well no, not in and of themselves you can totally build a house out of wood that’s bad…

A few things can be said about Cliche’s.

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#1: Some stories actually require Cliche’s.

Let’s say your doing a slice of life high school show… simple put, not every person in the school is going to be a wonderful snowflake of a character… Hell in real high school there are Cliche PEOPLE.

#2: Some stories will always be harmed by Cliche’s.

You want to make a war story worse? Fill it with Cliche ‘tough’ guys. Its the reason a lot of world war II movies are actually more or less unwatchable now. Because simply put, people don’t answer well to the John Wyane world war II tough guy now….

#3: Some Cliche’s are ALWAYS going to be bad… With few exceptions of maybe using them as the but of the joke.

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Let’s actually give some examples how Cliche Characters that work really well… And actually I’m going to use one show to give the examples.

Tenchi Muyo….

This show basically started the Cliche of Harem Anime… And its FANTASTIC. In a group of Anime that is basically hated by most people. (Myself included)

And the reason is that they pick the right Cliche. And use them in the Right Amount and with the right variation.

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• The Guy. - The main character is a pretty Cliche “Nice young man” But that’s why it works, Because most Haram Anime go with a Cliche Loser/Perv. So they use a Cliche but they use it in a Non-Cliche way.
• Mihoshi. - If you watch this show I can just sum up Mihoshi for you… She’s the “Blonde” Character…. That is to say a huge digbat. Accident prone. I.E. A cliche… however…

She’s also not stupid. (She’s actually one of the smarter character in the show) Sh’e just absent minded. (Which is a Cliche in and of itself) She also not… well a slut. (Which is a bullshit term / Cliche anyways) She actually a perfectly ‘nice girl’

• Ryoko. - A cliche ‘asshole with a heart of gold’

I can go on and no.

But there are a few things that actually set them apart.

#1: The show actually only uses PART Of a larger Cliche. I.E. It does not make the character nothing but a Cliche. Or make the Cliche there defining quality.

#2: All… Characters in Media.. Are Cliche’s. And if they are not.. there going to be soon. Because literally if you make a 100% original character. Some one else is going to see them and say. “That’s amazing! I can do something different and awesome with the same character concept!”

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And this brings us to a important point?
Is there a word for the proper use of a Cliche?
Yes… yes there is..

A trope..

Which brings me to .. HomePage - TV Tropes

This is literally one of the greatest web sites on the internet. Its great for time killing. And it actually shows my point.

You can’t find a TV show / Movie / Comic book.. That’s not chock full of Tropes and Cliche’s. Literally none.

Because and this is my final point.

People are Cliche…. NO really..

I can fit almost everyone I know into a Cliche. They might not fit 100% but that’s because good character should not fit into a Cliche 100% That’s lazy story telling.

My best friend is a Ass hole with a heart of gold.

My brother is a party animal.

His best friend is Ambiguous Disorder…..

I’m “The Spock”

• Simply put, I might get the joke, but I cant stop myself from over analysis…