Using 'cheap' tatics to make the viewer emotional

blumenbalt said:
So, I just finished Made in Abyss, and honestly it was astonishing. Either way, as I was reading reviews all over the internet, an opinion got my attention:

" I don't like when the autor uses cheap tricks to make the viewer emotional, as using children or animals( dogs, cats whatever ) to appel. "

I never thought much about it, but I do know that there are tons of anime, manga, LN, books, movies, that uses this, and I would like to know what do you think about it, and why it's really effective sometimes. If you could give some examples about, that would be nice as well.

I personally don't really care about it, I have times where animals or children being * insert doing bad thing here *, don't bother me at all, like the famous NINA event in FMA, but there are other moments where it gets me a lot. That's why I don't agree with it as it is a 'cheap trick', since, for me it works sometimes or is not effective at all.

holysauron said:
Cheap tricks don't work. If you get emotional it means you got invested in the story and started to care about the characters.

Gridley said:
This is why many script writers haven't watched any anime directed by Osamu Dezaki, he's the master of drama directing and writing.

jal90 said:

Or they probably watched his Clannad :P

GwaziMagnum said:
I don't mind child characters, if it makes sense for the character to be a child.
But shows where the characters seem to be children just cause? They almost immediately lose a point or two in my MAL rating just cause it messes with my immersion that much.

Bourmegar said:


Would you like to give me some examples?
Like Anohana for example?

GwaziMagnum said:
I'm more referring to cases like Made in Abyss. Where the story could quite easily of been done with Adults, it just seemed make it kids cause cute factor and... They have some fetish for kids being hanged naked... Ew.

jal90 said:
A great deal of what drives Made in Abyss happens because the characters are kids. Specifically Riko: her enthusiasm and lack of patience to explore the abyss is perfectly and appropriately childish, and the problems they find through the journey are by a great deal caused by the lack of experience and the fact Riko ignored the scale and natural growth of cave raiders, which took her a lot of trouble to even start her journey. Reg is a child matching his own innocence and his personal journey learning about both the abyss and himself (themes of puberty). Both are too innocent and unsuspecting of the abyss and they suffer the consequences even though Riko has encyclopedic knowledge and Reg is almost indestructible.

GwaziMagnum said:


I can understand the connections there. But a lot of that could also of been communicated if Riko was a fresh graduate will minimal exposure, and had the new miner urge to just break free and be independent. As well as that much more built up impatience to find her mother.

While Reg being a robot could of easily been physically an adult and still have the curiosity and innocence of a child cause of a memory wipe or being a newer model.

jal90 said:
Uhm, I get your point on Reg. He could certainly have been portrayed as an adult-looking robot and there wouldn't be much of a problem logically speaking, but I think Reg's existence and aesthetics are also influenced by Riko, so one was a consequence of the other. On the other hand, it would kind of feel like a disconnect to introduce themes of puberty in an adult-looking Reg.

However Riko to me had to be a kid under the very premise of the show, because it takes her lack of experience and vulnerability into account. Doing this with a fresh graduate Riko would have much less of an impact to the overall idea that she is completely helpless in the abyss, particularly in a society like the one portrayed in Made in Abyss where people grow to become more profficient and skilled in the abyss. Riko being a child was the show's own way of creating the most dangerous case scenario, as well as making sense to her personality. And either way the series also shows major narrative consequences to this so it's not like it exists justs for the gimmick.