| Madoka is so kawaii she is mai waifu; best meguca.. also smart enough not to fall for kyubey's tricks Shinji is also super cool very relatable , fapping to Asuka, not Rei is the best choice. Yuki from Mirai Nikki is an expert in darts, destroys teacher's phone, and also edgy teen, very realistic. he know what he's doing really. And better than most people with darts. Just that yuko outshadoews him Don't know digimon soz |
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| My main issue with most "realistic" characters is that a lot of the time, they either don't develop past their initial issues at all, or take far too long to do so, often resulting in a personality 180. It's also somewhat irritating that you only get "realistic" characters mostly when dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma, and generally the more negative anime. Honestly, I'd consider a highschool kid not getting a nosebleed and fainting when he brushes past a female in the corridor to be highly realistic, but we don't seem to get that much. But to go through your given examples :- Yuki from Mirrai Nikki doesn't develop at all. He starts off whiny and weak, and he ends whiny and weak. . It's one thing to have a protagonist be on the backfoot and not react to everything with bravery and heroism, but at one point or another you begin to adjust to your surroundings and the events happening. He never did. Apparently it's "realistic" to have someone develop not one iota over the course of the story. Shinji I never saw what the issues were. They portrayed his internal struggle fairly well, IMO. People draw comparisons between Shinji and Yuki, but at least with Shinji they showed his thought processes, they showed him struggling to try and cope with everything. Sometimes he was more confident and forward, other times he regressed. He wasn't just a static whiner the whole way through. He was a far better character than Yuki could ever hope to be. As for the Madoka example, she fell into the "character didn't develop until near the end." Whilst I personally thought the run up to the end and her swaying back and forth between deciding whether or not to accept the contract with fine, it just sucked that the anime was only 12 episodes long. Had it been a few episodes longer then it would have allowed for more development; there could have been one or two more episodes of her having accepted the contract, rather than finally deciding right at the end of it. It was somewhat annoying to have the main character be nothing but a sideline character for the vast majority of the series, but it made sense in the context. It was just rather unfortunate. As far as the general appeal of realistic characters go - it can be a nice breather from getting archetype character #134134134. Just having a normal character is quite refreshing at times. But like I said at the start, it's a shame that a lot of the time the "normal" characters are only thrown into darker stories. |
MazApr 11, 2016 3:46 PM
 It's an entirely different kind of flying, altogether! It's an entirely different kind of flying. |
| I like it. I watch my anime and I expect realistic characters at least on their feeling and choice. That includes making mistakes or being naive. I noticed that a lot of people get mad when the characters make mistakes and would like them to make the most logical choice every time even though they are in a stressful situation. (Charlotte episode 11) Those people probably don't want to watch anime about human being anymore. Let replace these humans by robots. |
| What. I consider Shinji one of the fakest anime characters in history. Makoto from School Days and and Kei from Ajin are far more realistic in my opinion, but with that in mind, yes realistic characters like that do work to help me gravitate towards certain anime. |
   I envy your delusion; I wish I could live in it  |
| The most important thing, in my opinion, it that the character isn't... one-dimensional? Also, character development is pretty important, for a MC especially. I personnaly find it hard to come to really dislike a character, though there are characters that I'm not particularly fond of, like Yuki and Madoka. I think Yuki is illogical, I can't understand him at all haha. And Madoka is just plain. The way they are supposed to be realistic isn't really in cause I think. It can get on my nerves when I see people complaining about a MC being a wuss right after watching only one episode. But then, there are all kinds of animes for a variety of people. To each their own! |
| If by "realistic" you mean a relatable character with understandable development, dimensions, and relationships then of course it's a good thing. |
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15poundfish said: People on MAL anime discussion tread always disregard this genre.. *sigh*The most realistic characters you probably will find in anime are usually the slice of life genre like Mushishi, Koi Kaze, Wandering Sons, Only Yesterday, etc. |
| This salad is salty favored |
| Death note the most realistic character I have ever seen |
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| I've never watched any of these shows, but I think characters portrayed as close as possible to how we react to real-life situations are significant in establishing solid character personality and providing an avenue for good character development. For good character development to ensue, a sort of weakness, traumatic past, or incapacity has to exist within a particular character which he/she has to come up with a resolution - either the character must be able to overcome that weakness, or he/she must be able to accept it and compensate for it. To be able to realistically portray that weakness, such characters must not be all-powerful and able to take things under his control, and this is why there exists characters who react the way we do under real-life crises, such as how we try to run away from danger or problems, or how we panic in adventitious situations. Besides realistic characters reach out to the viewers better. |
A retard is trying to prove his point, thanks. |
| Realistic characters are easy to defend because you can justify every action with lame excuses like 'most people do that,' 'not everyone is the same,' and other generalizations. |
| Shinji is my least favorite thing about NGE, he's so depressed he can't even function and his internal monologues are way too in your face. He repeats the same phrase over and over for like 30 seconds, I feel like I need to go outside and get some fresh air after that. Asuka does the same thing in EoE, equally annoying. Oh yeah, he jacks off to Asuka, that was probably Shinji's best moment. Gikiseima said: This, I can't think of a more "realistic" character than Light. My Little Monster's characters are pretty realistic, they act like idiots sometimes but I always understand why they do the things they do.Death note the most realistic character I have ever seen RLinksoul said: Gurren Lagann did well here, Simone is certainly my favorite male pussy MC archetype.Whereas in a more fantasy work like Digimon Adventure, Sailor Moon, or Gurren Lagann, it would be considered unrealistic for the protagonist to be able to move on from a character's death within a one episode, even if they still show signs of the effect. Apparently they're excepted to break down and spend five episodes crying about it, and that's not only really boring but also wears out its welcome pretty fast. |
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| I do like realistic characters but only if they are done well. If I go with your examples I think Shinji from NGE is a very good and well thought out character, but yeah if you are suffering from depression yourself it shouldn't be hard to write about it. Madoka however is nothing but whining, so I can't even call her realistic at all even if she's supposed to be. |
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| Don't you dare to compare my beloved Shinji with that pink haired loli bitch Madoka |
 Nico- said: Conversations with people pinging/quoting me to argue about some old post I wrote years ago will not be entertained@Comic_Sans oh no y arnt ppl dieing i need more ppl dieing rly gud plot avansement jus liek tokyo ghoul if erbudy dies amirite |
| So, for a character to be "realistic" he needs to be a whiny, ordinary wuss with traits & insecurities many of us share? Because there aren't anyone irl with charisma, clear goals, leadership skills, confidence/arrogance, exceptional skills in a certain field, courage, belief in himself? Assuming only a certain selection of traits make a character realistic or because you can rationalize or relate to their actions they must be realistic is a flawed belief itself. Can you even rationalize or relate to the actions of people around you? I fail at that quite often? Does that mean they are unrealistic people? What makes Edward Elric or Eren Yeager any less "realistic" than Shinji Ikari? |
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| I don't understand why anyone would want a "realistic" character when one of the biggest points to anime is to escape into an unrealistic world of adventure and intrigue. |
| I appreciate it because it is realistic. The appeal of realistic characters is actually seeing how they would react in such fantastical situations. JustALEX said: I don't understand why anyone would want a "realistic" character when one of the biggest points to anime is to escape into an unrealistic world of adventure and intrigue. Some of us don't have shitty lives and simply just enjoy animation, thus we don't feel the need to escape our lives, and enjoy things a little grounded in reality. |
RLinksoul said: It seems like whenever a show does something like this, having the protagonist be constantly scared and crying, responses come in two forms. "What a wuss! That character should man up!" or "This is how a character would realistically respond!" So I ask, what is the appeal? Do people simply ignore the boring, scared protagonist and just appreciate everything else about the show? Do people who love Eva appreciate Shinji or just consider him the worst aspect of the show? Do people really like having a protagonist respond "realistically" to horrible traumas even if it means they spend 90% of the show on the sidelines, crying? Your definition of 'realistic' seems a bit low in judgement theory. How do you expect realistic can only be seen from whining and crying? What do you mean by 'ordinary' by the way? How about the other criteria or 'tons of personality' from the 'tons of people'? People can judge the character how they want to either negatively (because they don't like the character) or positively (because they feel so sad about him) or vice versa in their own definition of what they think that character is positive or negative. People faces different experience in different environment. There is neither realistic or unrealistic because there is always hundred or thousand of possibility in can be 'realistic'. Like what @Doomdoctor has argued... Doomdoctor said: So, for a character to be "realistic" he needs to be a whiny, ordinary wuss with traits & insecurities many of us share? Because there aren't anyone irl with charisma, clear goals, leadership skills, confidence/arrogance, exceptional skills in a certain field, courage, belief in himself? Assuming only a certain selection of traits make a character realistic or because you can rationalize or relate to their actions they must be realistic is a flawed belief itself. Can you even rationalize or relate to the actions of people around you? I fail at that quite often? Does that mean they are unrealistic people? What makes Edward Elric or Eren Yeager any less "realistic" than Shinji Ikari? I agreed with you. @Doomdoctor.... (AoT and FMA..you make a nice example there) Authors or directors make certain personality in a character in how they want to, because either it is 'realistic' or 'unrealistic', there is always possibility like one in a thousand or one in a million or billion that character can be realistic. You just don't find it or they are not exist around your environment. Or That character which the authors made is actually as reflection to what people in the real world think in their heart, they just do not express it, that's why anime makes that possible to happen from various characters' personalities. (psst..this is my personal opinion) I don't know what the heaven am I saying right now.... Example: Evangelion (read what Director Hideaki Anno made before making Eva and Shinji the 'protagonist' into anime or during the production) compares to Psycho-Pass (do Makishima Shougo the 'antagonist' can be realistic?).....or Death Note (Light) ? Are they 'realistic' or 'unrealistic'.... 'realistic' is everywhere...people just think differently...I think... |
Toasty_One said: Some of us don't have shitty lives and simply just enjoy animation, thus we don't feel the need to escape our lives, and enjoy things a little grounded in reality. Who said anything about having a shitty life? Regardless how good or bad you got it, it's still fun to see things that are very differently from real life. The only anime that comes close to reality are Slice of life anime....but the focus is always on the characters in said anime, and even then, the characters have some quirk to them. Anime is very effective thanks to it's very imaginative worlds and ideas. And BTW....look at the most popular anime....none of them are even close to "grounded in reality". |
Doomdoctor said: So, for a character to be "realistic" he needs to be a whiny, ordinary wuss with traits & insecurities many of us share? Because there aren't anyone irl with charisma, clear goals, leadership skills, confidence/arrogance, exceptional skills in a certain field, courage, belief in himself? Assuming only a certain selection of traits make a character realistic or because you can rationalize or relate to their actions they must be realistic is a flawed belief itself. Can you even rationalize or relate to the actions of people around you? I fail at that quite often? Does that mean they are unrealistic people? What makes Edward Elric or Eren Yeager any less "realistic" than Shinji Ikari? This. Why do people think realistic = cowardly and weak-willed? I mean sure we have people like that irl, but we can also be strong-willed, brave, charismatic, etc. Im pretty sure humanity isnt just made up of "shinjis". I bet we also have Kaminas, simons, erens, satsukis, ryukos, etc. |
 The peasant is bound by the king. The king is bound by the peasants and their kingdom. But the Viking is bound to nothing but themselves. |
| From certain point of view, Kirito is realistic as fuck. |
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JustALEX said: And BTW....look at the most popular anime....none of them are even close to "grounded in reality". You're implying the majority don't accept mediocre trash that's shoved in their face. |
| Is this your only definition of a "realistic" protagonist? Because if it is, then it just falls into yet another character archetype. |
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| I wouldn't call Future Diary realistic. It's fantastical and Yukki is an exaggerated portrait of that type of protagonist. I don't think being scared is automatic realism. Future Diary is clear proof of this. Tamers is realistic because it's deeply psychological. Takato isn't an 'everyman'. He's a good-natured kid with wide eyes, with a childish outlook who wants to have fun with his monster. He doesn't reflect children but the specific children who found wonder in the original Digimon. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| Honest to gosh, I've never watched anime for the "realism" and I truly don't understand people who give less credit to an anime because of unrealistic aspects. It's a fuckin cartoon, what do you want ? |
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RLinksoul said: Takato Matsuda of Digimon Tamers Madoka Kaname of Madoka Magica Shinji Ikari of Evangelion. So I ask, what is the appeal? Do people simply ignore the boring, scared protagonist and just appreciate everything else about the show? Do people who love Eva appreciate Shinji or just consider him the worst aspect of the show? Do people really like having a protagonist respond "realistically" to horrible traumas even if it means they spend 90% of the show on the sidelines, crying? 1) A lot of people might consider Shinji too weak and stuff. But I think courage is not about not knowing any fear, it's about being afraid and overcoming it. And Shinji does it well. 2) Evangelions are really powerful. So powerful that they need their pilots as a handicap. KaiserNazrin said: From certain point of view, Kirito is realistic as fuck. As soon as you stop thinking he is an ordinary nerd, and take your time to notice he's the best virtual swordsman out of several thousand people (who were selected for being avid gamers), with his biography being 50% swordsmanship training as per family tradition, and 50% gamer training as per his own desires, his abilities are quite realistic. His personality is rather hard to grasp, probably because he's a realistic collection of different impulses, as opposed to a one-dimensional single-purpose character. Hrybami said: I noticed that a lot of people get mad when the characters make mistakes and would like them to make the most logical choice every time even though they are in a stressful situation. (Charlotte episode 11) Those people probably don't want to watch anime about human being anymore. Let replace these humans by robots. I hope those people like watching Mahouka. |
| Tfw people start to associate edgy and angsty as realistic. Realism is a relative term, most people lead different life in a different situation, so how one define realistic differs to others,, this also appy to anime, when talking about realism you should've take into account his personality and the situation in the said character world. Eren is realistic if you take into account his personality, background and the world he live in, Luffy is realistic, all JoJo protagonist is realistic, Issei is realistic. Most anime character are realistic in the world they live in, so the term ralistic itself is already meaningless by this point imo especially when people definition of realistic is angsty whiny edgy kid. What matter is relatability and likability, I honestly don't understand people obsession with realism. |
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romagia said: Madoka is so kawaii she is mai waifu; best meguca.. also smart enough not to fall for kyubey's tricks Erm sorry, Kyoko is best, if you disagree you have objectively shit taste. As for whether a "realistic" lead is good it all depends on the setting and tone. tr1ckst3r said: What matter is relatability and likability, I honestly don't understand people obsession with realism. This is also true. |
| Did realistic just become a buzzword, or has it always been one? |
Irrelative said: Did realistic just become a buzzword, or has it always been one? It's always been one really. Especially when people approach it with the attitude that realism = good, non-realism = bad. |
Irrelative said: Did realistic just become a buzzword, or has it always been one? It has always been one. Probably before anime even appeared. See also: Socialist Realism. |
| I don't know but I have a tendency to like a realistic characters as well, but also I have a preference of a dull males or females that have bright aura, perhaps because I myself as a male are dull and dense. and Also most of my liked characters are INTP just like me, I found that it's..relatable? |
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tr1ckst3r said: Tfw people start to associate edgy and angsty as realistic. Realism is a relative term, most people lead different life in a different situation, so how one define realistic differs to others,, this also appy to anime, when talking about realism you should've take into account his personality and the situation in the said character world. Eren is realistic if you take into account his personality, background and the world he live in, Luffy is realistic, all JoJo protagonist is realistic, Issei is realistic. Most anime character are realistic in the world they live in, so the term ralistic itself is already meaningless by this point imo especially when people definition of realistic is angsty whiny edgy kid. What matter is relatability and likability, I honestly don't understand people obsession with realism. Well said! Especially the last phrase. |
  ♰ ἡ φύσις οὐδὲν ποιεῖ ἅλματα. ♰ συκεροκυ™ |
| I don't care about realistic characters ,I want my perfect looking badass smart mc If you want realistic characters go outside you will find a lot of them |
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| I guess most of characters can be realistic, but as their situations are not very realistic, they change accordingly. We mustn't forget some animes happen in different time and place and the meaning of "realistic" change. Someone who thinks of homself too much would be considered weird today, but when he's a noble suddenly it's not that strange. I don't remember watching many "impossible" characters (but I did encounter unrealistic characteristics) |
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| Can someone explain to me how that hollow, cardboard cut-out, plot device of a protagonist, Madoka, is realistic? |
| Jesus Walks |
| Realistic? More like ordinary, like harem protagonists, but in a much less happy situation. As long as they aren't annoying like Shinji, it's fine I guess. I prefer well developed characters, whose don't do things too far from what their personality would otherwise allow them. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
| It's better if the character following common sense instead like apologizing when making a fault or listening to someone explaining their situation before making any judgement. |
 Kickstarter for Rokujouma is fully funded. Good work everyone. Lets wait for the result of our hard work together. |
Savage_ said: Honest to gosh, I've never watched anime for the "realism" and I truly don't understand people who give less credit to an anime because of unrealistic aspects. It's a fuckin cartoon, what do you want ? Realism is good, but it isn't the be-all-end-all. The problem with 'unrealism' is when it's a show that's meant to be realistic. A harem surrounding an average dude in a realistic show looks weird, for example. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| I think most "realistic" protagonists have appeal because you can empathize with them. |
| Realistic means that you can relate yourself with them. I can relate myself to every masochist guy in anime and others may not. |
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You said: Realistic means that you can relate yourself with them. I can relate myself to every masochist guy in anime and others may not. What makes you relate to these characters, though? I think it's not something specific like "he's antisocial like me". Rather, it's merely by making them feel real that we relate to them. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
TheBrainintheJar said: You said: Realistic means that you can relate yourself with them. I can relate myself to every masochist guy in anime and others may not. What makes you relate to these characters, though? I think it's not something specific like "he's antisocial like me". Rather, it's merely by making them feel real that we relate to them. Well that's probably a thing too. THere's many realistic protag rather than Shinji tbh. |
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RLinksoul said: Typically in their specific genres, these characters respond to danger with courage and determination, no matter how grand the scale of the situation is. So naturally whenever a dark subversion, deconstruction or whatever happens, the protagonist has to be incredibly meek and fearful, which gets praised as responding realistically to dangerous situations. Aren't you trying to skew this too much to one side? If you're really interested in hearing contrasting perspectives, it's best to let go of preconceived notions. No, cowardice is not what defines a 'realistic' character, and a realistic response to a dangerous situation can be an irrational one. To me, a realistic portrayal just means that the characters are appropriately bound by their circumstances. RLinksoul said: I remember seeing Madoka described by the creators as "an ordinary fourteen year old, that you could meet anywhere" and I can definitely see that. The problem is that she's too painfully ordinary. She widely considered to have the weakest characterization in a show that's most common criticism is its weak characterization. Ordinary as in the lack of extreme quirks? Maybe you think she's a boring character, I can undersatnd that part; I'd disagree, but that's fine, people have opinions. The part I really don't understand is how you fit weak characterization into this. I honestly fail to see the link here, it's as if insulting a painting of apples because you think apples are boring, paying no mind to the actual artistry in your critique. I take it you have things you left out in between, please do expand on it, I'm interested to hear. |
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