I have been a long time lurker on this website and always thought about signing up for it, but never did I feel more confident to join after seeing this thread. Being the fan of anime that I am and having the luck of being born in the 90's, which I wholeheartedly believe to be the epitome of amazing anime releases, I can firmly say that I am sick and tired of the amount of cookie cutter anime that have made their way to television in the last couple of years. Okay, I will admit, not all anime that came out in the 90's were perfect, but I do believe the ones that wound-up being the most popular aided in setting the bar for higher quality anime to be produced today. Anyway, as of around 4-5 years ago, my interest in anime has declined significantly because of the excessive amount of cliche's. So, here are a few cliche's I have grown incredibly tired of seeing for the past 4-5 years.
*Takes a deep breath*
1)Openings: Oh my God I am tired of this! As pointed out by another poster here, practically every single opening to anime is the same. It's all over-the-top action or comedy with constant screen swapping between the male character, who is typically the protagonist, and the harem of women who hate him for no apparent reason, then like him because they found out he wasn't a pervert/freak/lolicon, then hate him again but not really because they are hiding their true feelings for him, then like him enough to express a slight amount of their feelings, then hate him again for (insert stupid reason here), then like him again by the end of the series just enough to express their deeper feelings for him. And speaking of male protagonists...
2)Male protagonists: Yet another cliche I am tired of seeing. It's always some bland and boring high school kid with either short black/brown hair or crazy, over-the-top, spikes sharp enough to puncture a truck tire hair who no one notices, specifically girls, or doesn't like him for one reason or another, but it's usually because he's a pervert who looks at and trades porn magazines with his other geeky, awkward, never going to see a girl naked in real life friends who, apparently, just talk and display that junk out in the open to every female student in their class or in the school period because EVERY single girl knows who they are, which is a contradiction because the girls don't know the guy and his friends but they acknowledge his existence enough to know that he and his friends look at porn...wait, where was I going with this? Oh yeah, so he's basically a loser but then, for one reason or another, something wild happens and he has to go save the world because the most popular and most beautiful girl in the school just happened to be some kind of alien/demon/super-powered weirdo/etc. who relies on him now because he has an overwhelming amount of power locked away that never gets fully explained except that it is either A)in his genes, B)Natural talent, or C)Blessed by some ultimate being.
3)The hot chick: Every anime that comes out now has a smokin' hot, double-D and beyond bra wearing, straight "A" student who encounters the male protagonist at some point or another. Whether they were childhood friends or the boy was attacked on his way to/from school by a monster/demon/alien/etc. Either she is a ditzy moron or a cold and calculating killer. Either way they still end up falling for the male protagonist because they were able to look past all of the horrid rumors about him and see the kind and loving sex addict that he truly is.
4)M.C.S.P. (Main Character Super Powers): For every anime that comes out that involves the supernatural or some kind of science fiction element the main character, typically a guy, who is about as exciting as watching paint dry, has some kind of ultimate power that allows him to take on the looming evil force that is bent on taking over or destroying the world. Seriously, we couldn't find anyone stronger then a sexually frustrated, awkward, absent minded idiot who breaks down if a girl so much as holds his hand? Really? A whole planet full of people and this is the one who is going to stop (insert stupid villain name here) from ending all life as we know it? And how is that going to work? Oh, he has some kind of ultimate power capable of destroying (insert stupid villain name here) and his evil minions, you say? Alright then! Hey, you know what would be a good idea? Let's get that 20 something, incredibly powerful, mentally matured, super soldier we already have to train him! It's not like he was more than qualified for defeating (insert stupid villain name here) to begin with!
5)Clumsiness: Oh-My-GOD, you know what scene I am completely tired of seeing?! Allow me to play it out for you. Guy is talking to girl who obviously doesn't care about him now because he is trying to explain whatever stupid thing he had done and she had seen was an accident, then she tries to leave, but he chases her, trips, falls on top of her, and with eyes closed he will squeeze the apparent squishy object now clutched between his sweaty fingers and start to guess at what he is holding before actually opening his eyes. And they all say the same thing. "Hmm, what is this? It's so soft and round" or "*Squish* huh? Squish?" (because breasts apparently make a squish sound when you squeeze them). Seriously, how brain dead do you have to be to not know you're holding her breast. I know they've never in their life so much as seen a bare breasts for real, but HOLY CHRIST how stupid can you be. I mean, come on, what other part of the body, aside from the butt, will have such malleability to it? Oh, and on that note, WHY DOES THE GIRLS SHIRT AND BRA FLY COMPLETELY OFF WHEN THEY LAND ON THEM?! Seriously, what happened between falling forward and hitting the ground?! Did the guy undress her as they were falling? I guess he must have being the sex crazed creep that he is.
6)Loli ecchi: A friend of mine tried to get me to watch an anime called Strike Witches and I had to stop watching it after only 5 minutes because they had flashed four different prepubescent girls panties on the screen more than a dozen times. I'm sorry, I do not like watching anime's about little girls, and I definitely don't like seeing them either in their underwear or completely nude. This is starting to worry me as a lot of anime that seems to have come out in recent years have these elements. I don't know why, and I don't ever want to know why, but I sure wish it would stop.
7)Slice-of-life: I just hate these unless they happen to be funny, but most of them aren't. A lot of them are boring melodramas that aren't very compelling or interesting to watch. Yes, some are funny, but most end up being about some socially inept little girl trying to make friends.
8)Overly ecchi: There is to much of a good thing. Sure, I do enjoy an ecchi anime from time to time, but when your show basically consists of showing off a butt or breast every 10 seconds then you are trying to draw in a crowd to watch a show that has about as much appeal as a plank of wood leaning against a wall. I wish companies would actually try and sell me on a story for it's plot and character development rather than the promise of flashing me a girls undergarments faster than I can blink.
9)"What? She's hanging out with that loser?! I'll kill him!": Yet another cliche in which the male protagonist is seen walking together with the most popular girl in school by EVERY FREAKIN' GUY IN THE SCHOOL! Seriously, did the word just spread through the school like wild fire that the school's top social pariah is hanging out with the smartest, most beautiful girl ever to grace their halls? And why is every single guy just waiting in the hallway for him and her to pass? Seriously, for the amount of whispers, threats, and gossip that flow through that one scene you would think a passing teacher would, I don't know, call the cops, or at least a psychiatrist because, obviously, the children of that school seem to have some major mental disorders if they are willing to attack another student just because he is going out with a popular girl.
10)Bully/Punk: So it has become a recurring theme to have a student, our protagonist mostly, get beaten up by a bully who looks like he could pass for a professional wrestler. Why is that a thing? furthermore, why is that kid even in school?! The bully is always some 7 foot tall, muscle bound moron who looks like he could tear a car in half! Jeez, how many years was that kid held back because he could clearly pass for an adult. Puberty just didn't hit that boy, it beat him with a shovel until he couldn't stand up anymore! Which now leads me to the punk. You know, that guy with the tacky clothes, stupid hair cut, who threatens to kill you and take the hot girl with him because you aren't man enough for her all because you accidentally bumped into him. Why are these guys allowed to walk down the street hunched over, hands in their pockets, and their two goofy toadies all alone? Clearly they are thugs. Can't you hear them spout off what gang they represent? They do it every time someone bumps into them. Oh well, it doesn't matter because our leading hero or the popular girl will beat 'em to a bloody pulp without a hitch and be on their merry way, that is unless some guy who will be relevant to the story 7 minutes later does it for them and casually walks off like nothing happened.
11)Hands behind the head: Stop it. Just stop it. Stop putting your hands behind your head and doing that goofy walk. You look like you have to take a massive dump. It's not appealing, it's not funny, so please, for the love of all things pure, stop doing that. Stop putting your hands behind your head when you want to nonchalantly play off your ignorance. Stop shoving those sweaty palms behind your head and turning away from the person you are talking to in a manner to pretend like your feelings weren't hurt or that you weren't embarrassed. You're not cool, you're just an idiot.
12)Obligatory Beach/Town Festival/School Festival: Not a single anime appears anymore with out some kind of beach or festival episode that acts as a cool down between all of the crap that is currently happening to them. The beach episodes are nothing but fan service, which is stupid because every female from every anime wears the exact same bathing suits while playing the exact same beach-based games and activities(volleyball,watermelon smashing,etc.), and the festival episodes are so mind-numbingly boring you could fall asleep on them.
13)Secondary characters: Why do we have these guys again? If it's time for a fight they always have their butts handed to them on a silver platter, they always wind-up being more boring, forgettable, and perverted than the protagonist, and they provide nothing to the series except to make the main character stronger if they happen to lose in battle, which always happens as I have previously stated, or for some type of comic relief. If you're not going to go through the trouble of making them important or even semi-important then please don't make them in the first place.
14)Bystanders: Why does every main or secondary character in anime have some kind of wild hair, clothing, etc. that sets them apart from the other students, because, heck, every anime is about high school nowadays, while everyone in the background looks about as appealing as wet cardboard? Heck, in some animes I have seen background characters who literally look like one another. What, is everyone in the crowd a clone? I know it would take more time, but could we not have everyone who isn't the main or secondary character copy and pasted from one or two character models?
And finally (or at least the last one I can think of right now)...
15)Harems: My God! Okay, so as I've already explained, the main protagonist, more than likely a guy, is suddenly surrounded by a slew of gorgeous women who all hate him but love him. I swear I am so sick and tired of seeing this! Can we have one anime, just one, where our main hero isn't surrounded by teenage girls with breasts the size of fully grown watermelons? Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot the one who is usually flat chested and is jealous of her ample chested companions who thinks she has no chance with the main character because he is too busy drooling over Busty McDoubleknockers breasts when he accidentally tripped and landed face first between them!
