| While reading trough various anime reviews on this site as well as others I noticed a very large common thread shared by a lot of people in their reviews from their own distinct points of view.That being the importance of friendship and how much it added to the title in question. In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. And this goes for numerous series from various genres aimed at different demographics out there,like you literally see it everywhere from One Piece to HunterXHunter,to Nana,Oregairu ,Kids On The Slope,to Code:Breaker,Kimi Ni Todoke,Samurai Flamenco..... (just random examples without any connections) Hell even manga series like Kokou No Hito where this whole concept was initially pushed aside and had a downright extreme "lone wolf" type of approach towards its main character began to slowly decrease towards the end and do a complete 180 and go for the usual routine we all know by now.Leaning towards the politically correct if you will. So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? |
amateur said: While reading trough various anime reviews on this site as well as others I noticed a very large common thread shared by a lot of people in their reviews from their own distinct points of view.That being the importance of friendship and how much it added to the title in question. In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. And this goes for numerous series from various genres aimed at different demographics out there,like you literally see it everywhere from One Piece to HunterXHunter,to Nana,Oregairu ,Kids On The Slope,to Code:Breaker,Kimi Ni Todoke,Samurai Flamenco..... (just random examples without any connections) Hell even manga series like Kokou No Hito where this whole concept was initially pushed aside and had a downright extreme "lone wolf" type of approach towards its main character began to slowly decrease towards the end and do a complete 180 and go for the usual routine we all know by now.Leaning towards the politically correct if you will. So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? I think there's a big difference between nakama powerups as shown in FT and the actual development of relationships between characters as shown in HxH. |
amateur said: While reading trough various anime reviews on this site as well as others I noticed a very large common thread shared by a lot of people in their reviews from their own distinct points of view.That being the importance of friendship and how much it added to the title in question. In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. And this goes for numerous series from various genres aimed at different demographics out there,like you literally see it everywhere from One Piece to HunterXHunter,to Nana,Oregairu ,Kids On The Slope,to Code:Breaker,Kimi Ni Todoke,Samurai Flamenco..... (just random examples without any connections) Hell even manga series like Kokou No Hito where this whole concept was initially pushed aside and had a downright extreme "lone wolf" type of approach towards its main character began to slowly decrease towards the end and do a complete 180 and go for the usual routine we all know by now.Leaning towards the politically correct if you will. So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? You are yet to read my reviews. :3 |
| Hello |
| No usually in battle shounens/action . At the moment before sudden power explosion or some shit . |
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| First time, reading about this, outside of One Piece. Review examples for other series? What does the ''actual driving force of anime'' even mean.. |
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| friendship is magic! amateur said: fleshing out the friendship > characters > story lineWhile reading trough various anime reviews on this site as well as others I noticed a very large common thread shared by a lot of people in their reviews from their own distinct points of view.That being the importance of friendship and how much it added to the title in question. In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. yeah the first 2 are arguable, but anime can do fine even without story line ; do you even slice of life amateur said: yes because friendship is something every demographic can identify with, and has a place in every genreAnd this goes for numerous series from various genres aimed at different demographics out there,like you literally see it everywhere from One Piece to HunterXHunter,to Nana,Oregairu ,Kids On The Slope,to Code:Breaker,Kimi Ni Todoke,Samurai Flamenco..... (just random examples without any connections) amateur said: So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? if you mean anime as in all anime, then the answer is no if you mean anime as in many anime, then the answer is yes Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? nah How could it be handled better? with more friendships and interactions between every character in a series! |
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amateur said: In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. I don't actually see this that often, and if I did, I would have to say it's a wrong statement. Having good friendships which often lead to fun and interesting character interactions obviously help the show to be more entertaining, but they definitely don't negate the criticism. Anyone saying it does is wrong. If, on the other hand they were saying that the great friendships present - which made the show a lot more enjoyable for them - helped make the flaws a lot less noticeable or less detrimental to the overall enjoyment of the show, then that can be excused. |
romagia said: At least in MLP FiM, It has senses...friendship is magic! In a universe where violence-war and stuffs are the main theme, It's damn annoying... But I've seen others forms of this power of friendship. -In my childhood animes (like in Dragon Quest: Dai No Daibouken), It's the power of Justice. Like to say, Justice is always with hero side. -If It's makind versus a random non-human races, It's the power of Humanity. Because humans are the best creation of the universe. - In some others animes-mangas, the main hero has right, is pure, young and fresh and his opponents are not right, old, impure even after years and years of trainings, It's power of the Heart and Youth because youth has always right. -Or just simply scream like a Hardrock Heavy Metal Singer stereotype and you'll have power of Guts because It's for "awesome" moments. --Gives It a "physical" form in this awful TTG, and you've Spiral Energy...(and It's still dumb..) In my opinion, It's just an easy trick to give a over-the-top dramatic moment while It's just to say "Don't f*** with the hero!". And honestly, this is my third worst cliches in mangas/animes. |
BalongJun 1, 2015 1:28 PM
| Not always, but very often indeed. And fuck, I like it. I might have seen it so many times but still. I only watched FMA:B less than a week ago, and the scene in episode 63 when Ed made me smile like nothing in a long, long time |
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KLKfanboy said: Not always, but very often indeed. And fuck, I like it. I might have seen it so many times but still. I only watched FMA:B less than a week ago, and the scene in episode 63 when Ed made me smile like nothing in a long, long time Indeed, It's kinda nice but with the message of... ...It kills my appreciation for this show (even I still consider it like the Best Shounen I've seen.) It's one reason I prefer the 2003 FMA's anime with the tough but realist message of... |
| is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? Why wouldn't it be? Stories of friendship are always important. Same with rivalry and revenge. Wouldn't we get bored without familiar human bonding being in an anime? No It doesn't overshadow the flaws a show has. It just makes it a little more tolerable and more entertaining. I suppose they could try to make the storyline better than just the characters. |
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| Probably is because most anime don't a give fudge about family. It's all about friends and friendship. |
   I envy your delusion; I wish I could live in it  |
| Well friendships are one of the main relationships a person has so it makes sense it gets a lot of attention... I mean, you can say the same about any of the big relationship areas: romance, family, friends, and of course all three can be split again into positive interactions and antagonistic interactions. I think it is quite cool to try and explore a character or situation without implicating any of the above but the result would be something like Angel's Egg which isn't very accessible to most anime watchers. |
| "Friendship" certainly is at the core of magical-girl anime. Psycho-Pass didn't have strong friendship themes. But in anime aimed at children/teens, friendship will always be there. |
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| No. Go watch some grimderp seinen. |
| But Kimi ni Todoke is all about friendship. |
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| nakama power ups and talk no jutsu are rampant on shounen anime at least |
| I thought family is the de facto standard behind the entire anime medium...... Titles like Eccentric Family, Natsume's Book of Friends, Sazae san, Only Yesterday, etc. are all centered at family love and care. |
| Twitter and it's consequences had been a disaster for the human race |
| i think depend on genre, and even each genre have antimainstream title. |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| Yeah, friendship is one of the main cores of anime. I can't even list an anime that has no developing friendship in it. But when it gets retarded like random nakama power ups that is so prevalent in FT then the friendship is strong in that one. |
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| It's far overused in battle shounen's. You won't see it anywhere near as often in anime targeted at other demographics. So yes it is overused and no it's not overused because it's mostly in shows for a single demographic. |
 Ahhh... Is this the blood... The blood of the Dark Soul? |
| Though protecting you friends is important, it's very "cheesy" to brag...... LOL |
#CHEXIT |
| nah It's more like love and dreams. Friendship is MLP business lel |
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| What I don't get is why some people get so touchy over so called friendship powerups? Increasing your strength by 10 times by eating a pill or turning into an adult version of yourself by sacrificing your future are perfectly acceptable, but any hint of friendship powerup causes some people to descend into apoplectic rage. When it comes to physical performances, you can't separate the psychological from the physical and biological. Desperation, anger, and other extreme states of mind can change our body's biochemistry which in turn can affect the release of adrenaline and other hormones, which can lead to greater strength, stamina and other physical capabilities. Even simply rinsing your mouth with a sports drink can help your brain fight fatigue. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/going-all-out/ In the same article: But there are problems with the idea that fatigue involves only the muscles. “We know that people speed up at the end of exercise,” says Ross Tucker, a researcher with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, who has extensively studied fatigue in athletes....Instead, he and many (but not all) physiologists now believe that exhaustion isn’t just in the muscles but also involves the brain. “What we now think is that the muscle isn’t acting on its own,” he says. “There’s an interplay of central processing and muscular exertion.” A classic (albeit anecdotal) example of mind over matter, or in this case, kinship 'powerup': http://www.occultcenter.com/2008/02/mother_lifts_car_to_save_child ...a mother lifting a car to rescue a pinned child, performing a feat of strength not usually available to humans Do such powerups really exist? Perhaps, perhaps not, but there is at least a plausible theory (despite little actual evidence beyond anecdotes) for it. http://mentalfloss.com/article/27333/does-hysterical-strength-really-exist When adrenaline is released by the adrenal medulla -- an interior region of the adrenal glands, which are located just above your kidneys -- it allows blood to flow more easily to your muscles. This means that more oxygen is carried to your muscles by the extra blood, which allows your muscles to function at elevated levels. Skeletal muscles -- those attached to bones by tendons -- are activated by electrical impulses from the nervous system. When they're stimulated, muscles contract, meaning they shorten and tighten. This is what happens when you lift an object, run or throw a punch. Adrenaline also facilitates the conversion of the body's fuel source (glycogen) into its fuel (glucose). This carbohydrate gives energy to muscles, and a sudden burst of glucose also allows muscles to strengthen further. Why is it so absurd that a plausible theory in real life is applied to a shonen fantasy fiction? That are things in shonen anime that are much more absurd than the so called friendship powerup. |
TorribleJun 2, 2015 1:22 AM
amateur said: In that the particular argument usually goes like: "well the series was okay it might not have done a great job of completely fleshing out its story line and characters ,but at least it it managed to create this nice bond of friendship between those characters..." as if that completely negates any flaws the shows has. Pointing the positves in show despite its flaws is not denying the anime has flaws. And this goes for numerous series from various genres aimed at different demographics out there,like you literally see it everywhere from One Piece to HunterXHunter,to Nana,Oregairu ,Kids On The Slope,to Code:Breaker,Kimi Ni Todoke,Samurai Flamenco..... (just random examples without any connections) Duh, all those involve friendship. You're probably not going to see that in a review of Monster, though. So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? In a lot of anime it is indeed one of the driving forces for the story and characters. Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? If you mean that it can make up for flaws an anime may have, then yes, it can. |
BatoKusanagiJun 2, 2015 1:29 AM
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Torrible said: Because it's cheesy and very overused.What I don't get is why some people get so touchy over so called friendship powerups? Increasing your strength by 10 times by eating a pill or turning into an adult version of yourself by sacrificing your future are perfectly acceptable, but any hint of friendship powerup causes some people to descend into apoplectic rage. When it comes to physical performances, you can't separate the psychological from the physical and biological. Desperation, anger, and other extreme states of mind can change our body's biochemistry which in turn can affect the release of adrenaline and other hormones, which can lead to greater strength, stamina and other physical capabilities. Even simply rinsing your mouth with a sports drink can help your brain fight fatigue. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/going-all-out/ In the same article: But there are problems with the idea that fatigue involves only the muscles. “We know that people speed up at the end of exercise,” says Ross Tucker, a researcher with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, who has extensively studied fatigue in athletes....Instead, he and many (but not all) physiologists now believe that exhaustion isn’t just in the muscles but also involves the brain. “What we now think is that the muscle isn’t acting on its own,” he says. “There’s an interplay of central processing and muscular exertion.” A classic (albeit anecdotal) example of mind over matter, or in this case, kinship 'powerup': http://www.occultcenter.com/2008/02/mother_lifts_car_to_save_child ...a mother lifting a car to rescue a pinned child, performing a feat of strength not usually available to humans Do such powerups really exist? Perhaps, perhaps not, but there is at least a plausible theory (despite little actual evidence beyond anecdotes) for it. http://mentalfloss.com/article/27333/does-hysterical-strength-really-exist When adrenaline is released by the adrenal medulla -- an interior region of the adrenal glands, which are located just above your kidneys -- it allows blood to flow more easily to your muscles. This means that more oxygen is carried to your muscles by the extra blood, which allows your muscles to function at elevated levels. Skeletal muscles -- those attached to bones by tendons -- are activated by electrical impulses from the nervous system. When they're stimulated, muscles contract, meaning they shorten and tighten. This is what happens when you lift an object, run or throw a punch. Adrenaline also facilitates the conversion of the body's fuel source (glycogen) into its fuel (glucose). This carbohydrate gives energy to muscles, and a sudden burst of glucose also allows muscles to strengthen further. Why is it so absurd that a plausible theory in real life is applied to a shonen fantasy fiction? That are things in shonen anime that are much more absurd than the so called friendship powerup. It also doesn't make sense. "Willpower" may affect adrenaline and may even induce the placebo effect, but nonetheless it won't give you so much power as to be able to suddenly beat someone above you by several levels. Friendship is not hysteria, nor is it an emergency. I usually find the "friendship powerup" somewhat lel (Unless the said anime/game is Persona). Also, because said pills and whatever the latter is (I don't even know where that came from) are usually explained, unlike the power of friendship. I know it's a fictional world, but unless the certain anime's selling point is that it's nonsensical, it still needs a nick of sense. |
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amateur said: So as the title suggest: is the concept of friendship really the actual driving force in anime? The answer to this question depends upon the particular anime you are talking about. There are lots of anime in which friendship is the driving force. But to me, this can get annoying at times. Yes, Friendship is important but blindly doing something to save your friend, who wants to kill you is something which really pisses me off. amateur said: Is it completely overused to the point where if overshadows a lot of obvious flaws a show might have? How could it be handled better? Yes, this friendship thing is overused. I dont know if it overshadows the plot though. The only way to handle this better would be to keep it realistic. You can't expect people who've only met a week ago to give lives for each other. If the friendship is developed and not just thrown to anyone who enters the frame, that builds up a sweet relationship between the two. Maybe these unrealistic trope of friendship in so many anime done without thinking is why I like anime which are dark and have hardly any importance of friendship with everyone.(One guy can go crazy to save another one of his best friend but when he does the same thing for everyone, that's when the story crashes to the ground. The guy should do everything for his closest friends but wont go to such lengths for strangers is the right kind of friendship that should be used in anime). |
| for teenage directed animes (shonen/shoujo) its a very popular theme. You watch animes like fairy tail or law of ueki and u wouldn't believe how many friendship speeches your going to be in for. These shows are often quite shallow though in that theyre not trying to be particularly deep or complex and that's fine. They know theyre medium and their audience. They focus more on other stuff like action or romance depending on the anime. character relationships and interaction can be a big thing depending on the show, but its hard for me to believe that most really flawed shows can be somewhat saved just because of how cute a friendship is. |
| https://combosmooth.itch.io/ - I make free-to-play browser games for PC and I sell pixel art animation here |
| Fuck modern shounen anime! This is why many modern shounen anime is filled with Nakama Power up cliches. I missed the old school shounen anime ;-; The only Shounen anime that`s saving the shounen genre is Jojo`s Bizarre Adventure. The reason why i love Jojo just because it`s GARTASTIC! Power of Friendship is the epitome of bad writing in every form of media ever. Power of Friendship is always degrading the plot and character of the show itself. Power of Friendship is also the equivalent to Fanservice because both were bad writing! MC doesn`t need friends and doesn`t give a fuck = Real good writing. |
GridleyJun 3, 2015 6:55 AM
| Do you play Azure Lane? Then please join my fanclub https://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=74907 |
Loli-Sazanami said: MC doesn`t need friends and doesn`t give a fuck = Real good writing. If only that were the case ,but like I said in my initial post even if in some series it might start out that way (Code Breaker and Kokou No Hito were the ones I mentioned ,Wolf Rape Guy is another) it still somehow always finds a way to shove in the friendship factor later on and shove the "its good to have friends and that's the moral of the entire story" concept straight out of kindergarten right down the readers/viewers throat. |
| Actually this is quite the interesting topic and something that has lately been annoying me quite a bit: In a lot of cases it's either "power of friendship overcomes EVERYTHING" in many of the more popular shounen-demographic series, or it's the other extreme "you can't trust anyone, life is bad, you must always feel depressed and if you don't do that you will be horribly betrayed and exploited by those you thought are your friends" in "edgy" series. It's two very extreme and unrealistic outlooks at life. Even though the fans of the latter mentioned category would claim their "edgy" series are "mature", they are not. Neither are the "power of friendship" series. Instead you need to show that humans have multiple aspects and are driven by BOTH logic as well as feelings (with "feelings" neither being limited to "lust", nor being limited the whole "shojo-esque awkard love-stories"). |
Grey-ZoneJun 3, 2015 9:00 AM
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