Am I the only one who feels this way about romance anime??

[Halo354]

I have always feared consuming anime/manga which involved romance/cute girls who crush on the MC. However, the art style in these anime look so good that I often cant help myself and check them out, only to always… ALWAYs end up crushing hard on the girl. Some examples of such anime I have tried are Nisekoi, Quintessential Quintuplets, Bunny Senpai something-something, and most recently Duke of Death and his Black Maid.

The scenarios the MCs find themselves in are always so perfect and ideal aside from relatively minor inconveniences, whilst the world and events move around them to cause the girls to develop feelings and aggressively chase after the rather bland MC.

For example, I just watched the Duke of Death, and almost immediately crushed on Alice. The thing is, its not just that the girls are all extremely beautiful/cute, but something about their mannerisms characteristics and actions make them extremely desirable. I just cant put my finger on what.
I then spend days moping around disappointed with reality and life, feeling jealous of the MC “like why do they have to be so perfect together? Why is what they have so sweet?” And it makes me long for someone who is as exclusive, devoted and perfect as the female protagonist “like oh I wish I have what they have, but all I have is this sad reality”.

I mean I try to tell myself that these are just lines on paper animated by people. They are just puppets whose actions and situations are dictated by the imagination of the animators… But it still just makes me feel so sad and empty y’know?

Is this a trick the authors/animator use to draw you into their work? Does anyone have any advice on this?

[Tsundere Magus]

Anime is a colorful, idealistic world. It is not a mystery in Japan either, since anime turns into a way of escapism here and there. Boys are handsome. Girls are pretty. Situations get solved most of the time (unless you are in the wrong genre). And that is what it is. I do not think your vision is wrong. Anime is also meant to make one feel good. Actually, I do watch a lot of slice of life because... well, it makes me relax and forget about problems for a while. The same goes with romance, considering my own love life is a disaster. This is actually the same kind of scenario.

A trick? I don't think so. There are a lot of things wrong in this world, but let's not forget that entertaining is basically a way of escapism as well. Just enjoy what you have, have fun with everything that gets close to you, even if it is at the other side of a screen. It is its function, either way. Be careful with the bad thoughts attached to it, and you will be fine.

It is not the first time I see someone crushing on characters. Keep it healthy, though! They are meant to be perfect, aren't they? Reality is sometimes messy, but we need to go on with it. I am sending you some cheering from here!

[RZ.]

I understand where you are coming from and I used to do the exact same thing. Not with romances specifically but any kind of anime with cute girls, particularly if they were intelligent. Kurisu from Steins;Gate springs to mind. However, I only got those feelings when I was quite isolated in my everyday life. This was when I was at university near the end of my second year and the flat mates I'd been living with had all gone home for the summer. I spent about 6 weeks completely alone in my flat with nobody to speak to except my friends from Xbox.

Since then, I've half gone-off relationships, partly from observing other peoples and partly because of my own experience with one. I'm Asexual too so I don't have the desire to look for sex as most other people do - and it's sad how many people get into relationships for this reason alone. Since all that, idealized relationships in anime have seemed just that - idealized.

As far as advice goes, I'm not really sure what to suggest. If you are quite isolated, try and meet people new people and put you mind into the real world so you don't get wrapped up in the ideal too much.

[Clayton_n]

I have always feared consuming anime/manga which involved romance/cute girls who crush on the MC. However, the art style in these anime look so good that I often cant help myself and check them out, only to always… ALWAYs end up crushing hard on the girl. Some examples of such anime I have tried are Nisekoi, Quintessential Quintuplets, Bunny Senpai something-something, and most recently Duke of Death and his Black Maid.

The scenarios the MCs find themselves in are always so perfect and ideal aside from relatively minor inconveniences, whilst the world and events move around them to cause the girls to develop feelings and aggressively chase after the rather bland MC.

For example, I just watched the Duke of Death, and almost immediately crushed on Alice. The thing is, its not just that the girls are all extremely beautiful/cute, but something about their mannerisms characteristics and actions make them extremely desirable. I just cant put my finger on what.
I then spend days moping around disappointed with reality and life, feeling jealous of the MC “like why do they have to be so perfect together? Why is what they have so sweet?” And it makes me long for someone who is as exclusive, devoted and perfect as the female protagonist “like oh I wish I have what they have, but all I have is this sad reality”.

I mean I try to tell myself that these are just lines on paper animated by people. They are just puppets whose actions and situations are dictated by the imagination of the animators… But it still just makes me feel so sad and empty y’know?

Is this a trick the authors/animator use to draw you into their work? Does anyone have any advice on this?

So was Romeo and Juliet. Romance is all in your head in any case.

But if you need advice on cartoons, there's a song about it by Aqua




As for them just being lines on paper...



Who cares?



Besides with VR these days... well think about it.