| For me a generi kun is a protagonist who has no flaws, no human desires, no personality traits, never does anything wrong and solves every problem by protagonism or by "training". Asta on Black Clover is the greatest Generi-kun of all time. Kirito and the guy from smartphone isekais are other Generi-kuns. Gon from Hiatus X Hiatus is not. The generi-kun aspects of Gon makes him go into hard troubles and without Killua, he would end up dead on many occasions. Gon also has angry moments and is less annoying than most generikuns. Edward Elric is not a generi kun. HE has attachments with other people that fell more real than "i wanna protect my friends", he tries to make strategies to defeat some enemies instead of relying only on effort and protagonist. He has a small stature complex, is prone to rage, some times ignores the law to free people like in the mining city, he fell like a human. I an not saying that Black Clover is a bad manga, but if Asta was less generi kun and spended all his time searching a way to increase his magic, not only training, was more mature, and when he got the demon powers, the demon powers actually affecting him, making him more prone to rage and impacting him in other negative ways he would be a much better protagonist. Yuno, a talented guy in a ultra aristocratic world would be interesting too. Yami, a foreigner outcast that needs to adapt to a complete alien society too. Every other guy, would be far better protagonists than Asta. Because they are less generic and more relatable. |
L0rdV1ct0rMar 14, 2020 11:10 AM
| This should be obvious. It's to relate to the target demographic. That's why many generic protagonist don't have flaws, have much personalities. |
| Because most anime is aimed for a younger audience. |
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| So that all the viewers can easily self-insert and fantasize about living in generi-kuns generi-world with his generi-harem. |
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L0rdV1ct0r said: I feel that if everything in the picture you posted is true for the character of Asta you have made a mistake because almost all of the things there are character flaws that probably shape his overall character and can be considered personality traits For me a generi kun is a protagonist who has no flaws, no human desires, no personality traits, never does anything wrong and solves every problem by protagonism or by "training". Asta on Black Clover is the greatest Generi-kun of all time. From what Ive heard from fans of the series also Asta does have desires so your example seems rather bad Not that having these things make the character less generic though since almost every character in fiction is generic so its not real critic |
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Mirai said: So that all the viewers can easily self-insert and fantasize about living in generi-kuns generi-world with his generi-harem. The things I'd do for this generi-fantasy |
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L0rdV1ct0r said: So you admit he has human desires since gaining high standing in society is a human desire?Deknijff said: Asta has a harem of woman interested in him but don't hookup with anyone and the desire to be the magician king is too generic...From what Ive heard from fans of the series also Asta does have desires so your example seems rather bad Shouldn't that mean you should change your definition of generic when using Asta as an example to fit his character I guess I should also answer the question why so many generic characters exist in fiction Is because story telling is one of the oldest things we have in human history. I mean several stories from the Bible or Quran which are old as fuck for example are just retellings from older stories from older religions that predate them. Fiction is full of recognisable tropes that people love and draw inspiration from even when making their own fiction. I recommend this excellent video from Rick Worley which shows how authors are influenced by other fiction and how they incorporate ideas they like into their own fiction You don't have to have watched Star Wars to understand the topic of the video |
DeknijffMar 14, 2020 11:56 AM
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| Weak bait mate. Your rant against Black Clover disguised as criticism towards generic anime mcs is too sad. |
| I never lie on the internet. What's the point of it... the chinese noodles ad is an anime and avatar isn't! triggered Check out my taste and my profile. |
| I wouldn't say Asta is a generi-kun.You are referring those Gary Stus/Mary Sues as generi-kun but Asta isn't.He may be annoying but he has his own flaws.He cares for his squad mates and has to work hard.He worked hard even when his hands were cursed and he couldn't use them.He has his own desires and has a goal in mind.He has some character as compared to YUNO.Yuno is a fricking Gary Stu.He's good at everything and the top guy from the very first moment we meet him.He has zero character traits and personality. |
| Are you sure you're not just referring to Gary Stu/Mary Sue characters? lol |
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| Asta have no flaws, yea correct. He is the best magic knight since the day he's born. No desires, you nailed it bruh, he doesn't love the Sister at all back in the orphanage. He doesn't want to be a wizard king either. His dream is to hibernate in his own delusion like you. No personalities, yes, the fact that he always go the extra mile to annoy everyone cannot be called a persona/indivuality/traits because everyone in the world is like that. Never does anything wrong......... Yes, trying to save everyone and even some enemies is stupid. It's only allowed in a crafted world. Solving everything by training........ Oh goodness please, spare me from making a sin anymore. |
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| A generic protagonist, to me, is usually just a self-insert. Just look at Shōichi Kamita from Seiren. He's not just plain toast... he's a darn piece of plain bread. |
| "You know you've reached peak quality when a doujin is better than the actual source series." (Eg. To LOVE-Ru) Just to list a couple of biases. Likes: A good story, characters, writing, romance, a good plot twist or something that breaks expectations (In a good way), 'backstory' and justice. Dislikes: Bad romance, too much fanservice, the harem genre, yuri, yaoi, and bad writing. |
| A generi-kun is a product of lazy writing. It is like creating a blank palette to be filled up by colors later. Character development of a generi-kun is easier to portray. Also people can always try and relate themselves who doesn't have some specifically unique traits that doesn't overlap with the person himself/herself. |
| "All truth is meaningless. In the end, 'meaning' comes from the mind of each individual human. Even when there is a single truth, it can mean different things to different individuals. The truth has no meaning in itself!" - Erika Furudo |
| "Generi-kun"s are everywhere cuz self-insert qualities are what's hot in the industry atm. Gotta stick to trends to ensure some guaranteed cash. Not that puzzling of a mystery. |
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| Because Japan likes it. Anime is made mainly targeting japanese teens, not us. |
| If you want to write a best seller, just write about legends, heroes, fkin' cool plot and world concepts then put in a teenager as protagonist. This work well on anime nowadays. Isekai gerne proves it. |
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| I'd call those guys mary sues or gary stus. For me a generic protagonist is a nice guy, pure hero of justice always willing to sacrifice himself for others fueled by pure nakama power. |
| MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST |
L0rdV1ct0r said: It sounds like you just don't like certain personality traits, so you discount them and call them "no personality traits".For me a generi kun is a protagonist who has no flaws, no human desires, no personality traits, never does anything wrong and solves every problem by protagonism or by "training". Asta on Black Clover is the greatest Generi-kun of all time. Kirito and the guy from smartphone isekais are other Generi-kuns. Gon from Hiatus X Hiatus is not. The generi-kun aspects of Gon makes him go into hard troubles and without Killua, he would end up dead on many occasions. Gon also has angry moments and is less annoying than most generikuns. Edward Elric is not a generi kun. HE has attachments with other people that fell more real than "i wanna protect my friends", he tries to make strategies to defeat some enemies instead of relying only on effort and protagonist. He has a small stature complex, is prone to rage, some times ignores the law to free people like in the mining city, he fell like a human. I an not saying that Black Clover is a bad manga, but if Asta was less generi kun and spended all his time searching a way to increase his magic, not only training, was more mature, and when he got the demon powers, the demon powers actually affecting him, making him more prone to rage and impacting him in other negative ways he would be a much better protagonist. Yuno, a talented guy in a ultra aristocratic world would be interesting too. Yami, a foreigner outcast that needs to adapt to a complete alien society too. Every other guy, would be far better protagonists than Asta. Because they are less generic and more relatable. That image about Asta that you spoiler-tagged is a laundry-list of flaws about him, which directly contradicts your point. I haven't watched any of the shows you mentioned, but I've watched a few that have been similarly criticized for having seemingly generic protagonists, and what's interesting is that these criticisms seem to be based pretty much entirely on first impressions about the character and the role and tropes that he (it's basically always a guy lol) fits into in the story. Sure, there are similarities, but there are also an abundant number of differences should one look even a little further into the story. And they certainly have flaws, have desires, have personality traits (just not necessarily loud ones), make mistakes, and solve problems in a variety of different ways. I wouldn't say they're all interesting or relatable to me -- in fact, they generally aren't anywhere near my favorite character in the show. But I can't agree that they're "generic". Saying so is so shallow and ignores the depth of information the show actually presents about them. (Meanwhile, no wonder some people dismiss others for being "normies" under the impression that those others have their lives all fine and dandy and ordinary and unrelatable to themselves...based solely on seeing them briefly on the street or at school, and without actually getting to know them.) crush_on_Kona said: If you think that people need to look to "anime nowadays" to see this, then you haven't paid attention to basically the rest of the anime medium stretching back to its origins, and basically any storytelling medium, where teenager protagonists are aplenty.If you want to write a best seller, just write about legends, heroes, fkin' cool plot and world concepts then put in a teenager as protagonist. This work well on anime nowadays. Isekai gerne proves it. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
Mirai said: So that all the viewers can easily self-insert and fantasize about living in generi-kuns generi-world with his generi-harem. Fario-P said: "Generi-kun"s are everywhere cuz self-insert qualities are what's hot in the industry atm. StormShaun said: A generic protagonist, to me, is usually just a self-insert. Maneki-Mew said: There are so many of them, because the writers don't like to take risks and they are targeting their work towards those weebs, who like to self-insert themselves. It's easier to find ways to project yourself on a character that is more "vague" and more like a half-empty paper. Nemo_Niemand said: Those characters are made with empty personality and overpowered traits intentionally. It is called self-insertion. It is made specially for viewers to maximally relate. A pathetic trash becomes successfull, gets superpower, becomes popular etc. And otaku viewers imagine themselves at his place Jessibelle said: I don't think self insert is the right word here. First of all if viewers wanted to self insert they could do that for any type of character they like or look up to. Like for example the viewer could self insert into Light Yagami because they love his sense of justice along with the portrayal of overwhelming intelligence compared to other characters. The whole blank main character thing is common so that the watcher/s can project themselves onto them, especially for harem anime 'cause you know, one dude and lots of girls is supposed to be the dream or whatever. Saying self insert doesn't really reveal any of the character tropes of said character without explaining which tropes you think are apart of said self insert character but truly self insert is also meaningless as you can call any combination of tropes which reflect human behaviour to be self inserty for a viewer |
DeknijffMar 15, 2020 5:16 AM
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| Those characters are made with empty personality and overpowered traits intentionally. It is called self-insertion. It is made specially for viewers to maximally relate. A pathetic trash becomes successfull, gets superpower, becomes popular etc. And otaku viewers imagine themselves at his place |
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uninventive said: you know damn well why, you just made this thread to use that title uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu |
| misato > asuka > rei |
| The whole blank main character thing is common so that the watcher/s can project themselves onto them, especially for harem anime 'cause you know, one dude and lots of girls is supposed to be the dream or whatever. Could also tie in with NEET culture, how like... lots of people that don't really have much of a social life don't really know much about themselves. The kind of person that, when you ask them what they're into or what their ambitions are (aside from consuming media like anime and video games), they can't answer you. That's me hard generalizing though. |
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| As the person above said, character projection. Also, asta is not even a "generi-kun". He has talents. He has flaws. He has goals in mind and shit. Plus that image you showed mentioned actual flaws of him, which contradicts your statement. Bro if you just wanted to rant about asta not being a good protag then like find a community on the internet or something, I'm sure there is one out there (there always is) |
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| Because it just works the same as the branded ones. |
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Deknijff said: I don't think self insert is the right word here. First of all if viewers wanted to self insert they could do that for any type of character they like or look up to. Like for example the viewer could self insert into Light Yagami because they love his sense of justice along with the portrayal of overwhelming intelligence compared to other characters. Saying self insert doesn't really reveal any of the character tropes of said character without explaining which tropes you think are apart of said self insert character but truly self insert is also meaningless as you can call any combination of tropes which reflect human behaviour to be self inserty for a viewer That is a fair correction. My definition of "self-insert" was more... formerly dumb and dictated by the public flow. Anyway, yes, you are certainly correct! There are good characters in good series that plenty of people place them into. Like Shield Hero (not a "good series" to some, but I find it a fitting recent example); most people would most likely sympathise with Naofumi, and hell, some of those unfortunate souls might have shared some of that guy's misfortune and take great pleasure into self-inserting when he goes ahead to get some of that juicy retribution. I also forgot to think about how all of this changes when you switch from the genres. I mean, "generic" will always change when you enter a different field with different characteristics. Maybe I just have it out for those meek, brown-haired kind of guys? |
| "You know you've reached peak quality when a doujin is better than the actual source series." (Eg. To LOVE-Ru) Just to list a couple of biases. Likes: A good story, characters, writing, romance, a good plot twist or something that breaks expectations (In a good way), 'backstory' and justice. Dislikes: Bad romance, too much fanservice, the harem genre, yuri, yaoi, and bad writing. |
StormShaun said: That could very well be the case Maybe I just have it out for those meek, brown-haired kind of guys? People do tend to try and lower things we don't like as much as possible after all but I can't say for sure here |
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Deknijff said: Mirai said: So that all the viewers can easily self-insert and fantasize about living in generi-kuns generi-world with his generi-harem. Fario-P said: "Generi-kun"s are everywhere cuz self-insert qualities are what's hot in the industry atm. StormShaun said: A generic protagonist, to me, is usually just a self-insert. Maneki-Mew said: There are so many of them, because the writers don't like to take risks and they are targeting their work towards those weebs, who like to self-insert themselves. It's easier to find ways to project yourself on a character that is more "vague" and more like a half-empty paper. Nemo_Niemand said: Those characters are made with empty personality and overpowered traits intentionally. It is called self-insertion. It is made specially for viewers to maximally relate. A pathetic trash becomes successfull, gets superpower, becomes popular etc. And otaku viewers imagine themselves at his place Jessibelle said: I don't think self insert is the right word here. First of all if viewers wanted to self insert they could do that for any type of character they like or look up to. Like for example the viewer could self insert into Light Yagami because they love his sense of justice along with the portrayal of overwhelming intelligence compared to other characters. The whole blank main character thing is common so that the watcher/s can project themselves onto them, especially for harem anime 'cause you know, one dude and lots of girls is supposed to be the dream or whatever. Saying self insert doesn't really reveal any of the character tropes of said character without explaining which tropes you think are apart of said self insert character but truly self insert is also meaningless as you can call any combination of tropes which reflect human behaviour to be self inserty for a viewer I agree, should one not rather describe what one percieve and compare with the work itself? If someone is unable to relate their judgement to the appearance in the show, then their judgement is wrong. Only by showing insight into the work itself do one show comprehension of what a show does right or wrong, thereby being able to contrast and compare with other shows. |
| Because writers know that they could make an uninspired generic and boring story with bland characters and still make a whole lot of money from it, and for the most part they're right. These things sell because they are aimed at a young audience who will usually not think too much about how generic and bad the show is, I sure didn't think that way when watching fanboy and chumchum but now I see it for the trash that it is, and the same goes for all the kids who used to think kirito was a badass but now know better And ye I know that it can be self insert, but this kinda stuff can be done a lot better with a character that has no personality rather than a generic one, a lot of animes make a bland protagonist but try making them look like an interesting person and building them like a character and not like a placeholder that you often play as in video games Anyway, its something that saturates every type of media and anime is no different |
yotiMar 15, 2020 1:10 PM
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