How cringe do you like romance anime/manga?

@RainyEvenings @Commit_Crime @SawronZXZ
I would put those annoying repetitive tropes under bad cringe.
But just romance in general is kind of built on awkward moments, as part of a regular relationship.
Even a healthy relationship can be made pretty awkward, depending on the character's personality.
And then that can be spiced up with large amount of melodrama, or just you know, "spice".
Like you'd kind of need like at least 50 years of marriage to fully grow out of it.

@JaniSIr

If there was an anime about a couple married for 5 years, raising their first kid, not getting enough sleep because all babies act like air raid sirens, fighting over the remote, I'd 100% watch that.

@Commit_Crime The closest I got is this manhwa that starts with the protagonist getting pregnant on page 1...
https://myanimelist.net/manga/140921/Positively_Yours

I'm much more interested in your idea about romance being cringe.
You've said it before elsewhere. But you're watching romance anime, including Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World which is in its 2nd season (so I assume you watched the first)

@SuperAdventure Romance inherently requires a sort of emotional vulnerability to be displayed that's going to be inherently awkward, causing second hand cringe.

@JaniSIr Hmmm... well okay, so if it's giving you 2nd hand cringe, why are you watching it? That's what I'm interested by. Do you like that feeling? Dislike the feeling?
Or is your idea of what romance shouldbe only the kind of animalistic humping done in hentai, anything emotional being cringe? (I hope it is not this)

@SuperAdventure Cringe is part of the genre. Like how people who had more relationship success than me describe their first kiss as extremely sloppy clumsy and awkward, but that's kind of needed to not die alone you know.

"Like" is a weird term, fiction is allowed to invoke almost any emotion, as long as the viewer is invested, and not just angry because the writing went to shit in season 8 or something along those lines.
Not long ago someone made a thread about why people don't like sad shows, but I do like the really depressive stuff.

I read smut for the plot. As stupid as that sounds, that's not a joke.

@JaniSIr Championship job dodging my question, where the word "Like" is now suspect (although it was utilized in the very next sentence). So you have explained that you like depressive stuff, and smut. But not whether you like romance or why. Which everyone else reading this will make the same assumptions I will make....
And if that's the answer then say no more!

This is what I was wondering too. I don't see moments of emotional vulnerability or awkward moments, even with the melodrama, as "cringe." It's usually closer to "sweet."

So is the question really, how much emotional vulnerability and/or awkward moments do you like in your romance anime? Is it possible you're uncomfortable with people's more tender feelings and that's why you cringe?

@SawronZXZ Usually the characters aren't particularly uncomfortable with their own feelings either.

@LoveYourSmile Probably the most memorably hard to read thing is that sequence Lilith 2 starting in the second half of chapter 21, but you already took this from my favourites.
Or the last arc of Yosuga no Sora, you probably already know why... I'm not sure you want to take this as a recommendation. lol

You know this is actually really hard, I never really rated romance stories by their cringe level, so I need to do it from memory, also I'm not sure I would even give a 10/10 to something that's non-spicy.

But bad cringe, that's really easy to max out, Rent-a-girlfriend is one obvious example, but that's mostly on the protagonist being pathetic.

Who even watches romance anime shows anyways? I'm genuinely curious of who does?

@JaniSIr I'm guessing you meant they aren't particularly comfortable with their feelings, which is probably true to some degree in many romance series, though it would depend on the situation, characters and particularly their age. I don't think it's universal to the genre. I would guess this would be more common in student/coming-of-age/young romance than more mature or adult titles.

Do you empathize with their discomfort in confronting their own feelings? Because I would certainly understand that.

In that case would it be accurate to say the question is, how much discomfort/inner conflict/unfamiliarity with characters' own feelings do you like to see in romance?

Or is it just that tender "sappy" moments make you cringe and the question is how sappy do you like your romance?

@SuperAdventure Of course I like the romance genre, wouldn't read so much of it otherwise, doesn't mean I can't be uncomfortable while reading it.

@SawronZXZ Romance featuring adults is also very awkward usually. There aren't characters who can say cringe things with a straight face, that's considered a superpower usually...

I guess empathy is a part of it. But definitely not everything, and I never prepared a full list...

@JaniSIr I've definitely seen some adult romances with very awkward moments. The difference in my opinion is usually a more mature person will either lean into the awkwardness or laugh at themself, whereas the more immature might feel self-conscious or critical about it; perhaps this is related to that cringe feeling? (Note, I'm not calling you immature, I'm talking about how the behavior is portrayed in romance-focused media).

Do you find romance in real life to be cringe as well? I don't mean drama shows, I mean romantic behavior. Not talking about something like making out in public, but more along the lines of candlelit dinners and wine kind of thing.

@SawronZXZ I've been to a wedding recently, it was super cringe. I can't imagine doing all of that in public, must be nice.

@JaniSIr I get you. I've heard cringe described as secondhand embarassment, so especially if you are someone who doesn't like putting their feelings on display that reaction makes total sense. This is the interesting part to me. Does that mean you wish you were the person who could show off all your cringe romantic feelings?

I think I understand where you're coming from now and I used to feel that way a bit myself. To put it in your terms, I decided to embrace the cringe and suddenly it wasn't as cringe anymore.



That's not even romance cringe that's just bad writing cringe.

"How cringe do you like romance?"

I don't like cringe at all.

Who even watches romance anime shows anyways? I'm genuinely curious of who does?