May 26th, 2022
Damsel in Distress is Poorly Done in Shounen Fight
Intro
Ok so I tried making a discussion about this before and I worded it really bad so hopefully this is more understandable. Some female characters specifically in shounen fight are poorly written damsel in distress characters. This seems to be a reoccurring problem in shounen fight where I feel as though they make the female characters have a terrible personality. Also I don’t want to say that these characters weren’t helpful, because they all were, but just going to point out their personality and how they’re written.
Some Examples:
Sakura from Naruto
DSICLAIMER! This may include slight Shippuden spoils and will be discussing about her before Baruto.
Sakura had an unhealthy obsession for Sasuke to the point where she let it dictate her life decisions. Every time she had the chance to kill Sasuke, she didn’t because of her one-sided feelings for him. Naruto did have the same unhealthy obsession with Sasuke but for a friendship reason, Naruto felt like he was a brother to him(also they’re brother reincarnations). Sukura’s reason, was because she was a fan girl that wanted to marry him. She also begged to leave the entire village to be a rouge ninja with Sasuke. It’s really hard to like a character when your decisions are for a boy and not yourself. She’s relies on Naruto for selfish reasons but is supposed to be seen as this courageous, intelligent character. Sakura as a whole wasn’t useless, she saved many lives and at least 1-2 good fights but her personality is lacking.
Orihime from Bleach
There isn’t much to to say about Orihime as I cannot name one interesting thing about her, besides her ability and that she’s kind. In the anime she doesn’t have much of a history except for the passing of her brother and living alone. Orihime is also the type to say how much they’re not getting stronger but when combat is involved she doesn’t do anything and relies on comrades for her help. Her only contribute to the story currently in the anime was healing her friends. She seems very likable but I don’t see what else people would like about her besides that she can save people and is extremely nice.
Tamaki from Fire Force
Tamaki’s is supposed to be boastful and loud but that is easily forgettable due to the obsessive fan service. She’s also falls into the trap of wanting to become stronger but does absolutely nothing to fulfill that. Only near the end of season 2 do you see Tamaki train to get stronger. I don’t think she’s done anything in the story that was helpful. The first thing to mind when you think of Tamaki is just the fan service or being a gag character, not her personality.
Conclusion
This is a repetitive trope issue I feel like is common in shounen fight and the thing is, you can still have the damsel in distress trope without them having a poor personality. I mean look at Kagome from Inuyasha, she’s constantly being saved by someone due to her lack of powers, but contributes to the story, and is given chances to prove how courageous and intelligent she is. Yes, shounen is catered for a young male audience and can see why they use the common damsel in distress trope. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that they’re still poorly written even for a male audience.
Ok so I tried making a discussion about this before and I worded it really bad so hopefully this is more understandable. Some female characters specifically in shounen fight are poorly written damsel in distress characters. This seems to be a reoccurring problem in shounen fight where I feel as though they make the female characters have a terrible personality. Also I don’t want to say that these characters weren’t helpful, because they all were, but just going to point out their personality and how they’re written.
Some Examples:
Sakura from Naruto
DSICLAIMER! This may include slight Shippuden spoils and will be discussing about her before Baruto.
Sakura had an unhealthy obsession for Sasuke to the point where she let it dictate her life decisions. Every time she had the chance to kill Sasuke, she didn’t because of her one-sided feelings for him. Naruto did have the same unhealthy obsession with Sasuke but for a friendship reason, Naruto felt like he was a brother to him(also they’re brother reincarnations). Sukura’s reason, was because she was a fan girl that wanted to marry him. She also begged to leave the entire village to be a rouge ninja with Sasuke. It’s really hard to like a character when your decisions are for a boy and not yourself. She’s relies on Naruto for selfish reasons but is supposed to be seen as this courageous, intelligent character. Sakura as a whole wasn’t useless, she saved many lives and at least 1-2 good fights but her personality is lacking.
Orihime from Bleach
There isn’t much to to say about Orihime as I cannot name one interesting thing about her, besides her ability and that she’s kind. In the anime she doesn’t have much of a history except for the passing of her brother and living alone. Orihime is also the type to say how much they’re not getting stronger but when combat is involved she doesn’t do anything and relies on comrades for her help. Her only contribute to the story currently in the anime was healing her friends. She seems very likable but I don’t see what else people would like about her besides that she can save people and is extremely nice.
Tamaki from Fire Force
Tamaki’s is supposed to be boastful and loud but that is easily forgettable due to the obsessive fan service. She’s also falls into the trap of wanting to become stronger but does absolutely nothing to fulfill that. Only near the end of season 2 do you see Tamaki train to get stronger. I don’t think she’s done anything in the story that was helpful. The first thing to mind when you think of Tamaki is just the fan service or being a gag character, not her personality.
Conclusion
This is a repetitive trope issue I feel like is common in shounen fight and the thing is, you can still have the damsel in distress trope without them having a poor personality. I mean look at Kagome from Inuyasha, she’s constantly being saved by someone due to her lack of powers, but contributes to the story, and is given chances to prove how courageous and intelligent she is. Yes, shounen is catered for a young male audience and can see why they use the common damsel in distress trope. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that they’re still poorly written even for a male audience.
Posted by sailorday- | May 26, 2022 11:02 AM | 0 comments