Digimon: Dial Up!

So I started my morning with a J-Drama on Netflix called Good Morning Call. It's based on a shoujo manga by the same creator as Kodocha, one of the first shoujo manga I ever read and the drama stars Kamen Rider Wizard so I said hey, that's right in my wheelhouse.

So far so good but one thing finally came to irk me in Japanese storytelling that involves high schoolers: What the hell is up with the "no one is allowed to date the cutest/hottest student in the school" trope?

The male lead is one of the Top 3 of the school, though the Freshman candidate is totally ignored in the explanation in episode one. The first few minutes of the episode are used to show the pecking order when some first year girls offer a party invite to the male lead only for him to turn them down and three older female students covering the Class Rep, Mean Girl, and Fashionista tropes drag the girl off as if she broke a goddamn law and justifying it by saying "he is for everyone". The fuck you say?

And this isn't the first time I've seen this nonsense, but I guess it's just now I start to question why it's a thing. I mean are you really telling me students make pacts to not touch some dude or some dudes make pacts to not touch some chick and to stop anyone who dares to try? Is this a thing in Japanese high schools?

Can you imagine this shit in DU? Like if some bitches just said Dagrus was off limits and that he was everyone's Dagrus? Some pricks decide that Robyn must never be touched, just gazed upon as a flaming haired goddess? I mean MAYBE I can see this shit with Yukito since he's bishoujo manga pretty as is and him being with Erica is most definitely a class and attractiveness level difference but even then. X____X Fuck, can you imagine the number of Contracts that would be born out of something this stupid?!

So why? I can see jealousy being a thing but this is a Geneva Convention set up over pretty girls and guys in order to avoid...what? All out war? The only way to keep everyone happy is to Cold War your own hormones?

It's far too extreme to actually happen, I imagine, but I understand the idea of "Once someone gets him/her, there's no chance for the rest of us."

It's absurd, and dumb, but there's a lot of stuff in anime like that. xD

I'll admit I'm a fan of a lot of harem-esque situations, less for the fantasy (My god, could you actually imagine getting tugged in that many directions?), and more for the comedy that comes out of it. Let's face it, a group of girls, all fighting over one guy and him being oblivious enough to not notice that they are DEFINITELY trying to get in his pants? It's dumb, but entertaining to me. e ve;

It's probably the same with this sort of trope. I remember a similar, but different, situation in...Mayo Chiki? I just vaguely remember something where one group liked the main guy and another liked the girl-disguised-as-butler and it escalated to practically a literal war on school campus.

It was entertaining, but extreme and stupid. I put it in the same catagory.

It's most certainly a Trope, yeah.

I think it's a way to guarantee a struggle or conflict in a story. I did it in my Sailor Moon/Knights fics because it felt like it fit, but I realize it might be because any sort of "breaking barriers" or "going against the set rules" may not be your only conflict in a story, but it can be a good springboard or motivation for a character.

Using SM, Knight Aiko is considered cursed, sort of an outcast with only a few friends; who happen to be the other (Inner) Knights. Knight Yairu is considered the 'School Prince', the girl who's considered 'Princess' is so stuck up and possessive of him despite his not caring for her at all.

Just that set up gives me a basis for her emotions to be manipulated by 'the villain' and escalate the conflict to a level that makes it unusual and strange; allowing the introduction of 'powers' and 'magic'. Adding in how Yairu actually likes (and falls for) the underclassman; Aiko; allows me to show that he's human, can make his own choices, and; through Yairu; shows that this whole thing isn't as perfect as you're led to believe.

Narrative-wise, we have 'two people of differing class/rank coming together to overcome [something]'. Usually with an underlying tone of 'underneath it all, we're all the same'. ( Usually. >>; )

It's a very simple and easy story base. The trouble comes when it's done the same way over and over. >>;

As for why it's usually a school setting? I think it's easier to relate AND there's a bonus of not having to define the structure and setting as much. It's been successful as a job environment once in a while, but I feel it's more accepted that high school kids will act out and take more risks than college students or workers.

I certainly find it easier to work within a school environment when writing. Knowing the chars have something already in common and something they all have to deal with helps conversations along as well as events and personalities. It can also help springboard into the greater conflict.

As far as Japan, even with changes in how people feel and think, it's still slow. You're still expected to fit into a specific type of role and not stick out too much. Only now is Abe considering looking to single mothers as potential workers. That's a huge step, but it's grinding against such stubborn resistance. (...and his shitty economic policies, but hey.)

Besides all that, did your high school not have Cliques? It's practically built in to the setting. X_X; I had the whole "How dare you think you can talk to him!" bullshit in Middle School that didn't get any better in High School. :/ I made the mistake of obviously crushing on the most popular boy in school. Being one of those who sat at the 'outcasts table' meant I never stood a chance in the first place, but it meant they saw nothing wrong with setting me up either.

Kids are dicks.

[ Post made via Android ]

...Actually, yeah, that is a really common animu trope and I'm honestly surprised we haven't played with it before now. Like, shit, that's a really great way to ensure low-level conflict, especially in a school setting! It's also less blatantly discriminatory than the "you're the wrong ______ type for them", because now everyone is the wrong _____ for them so it's fair, right? No one's getting a big head! 8D That actually would have been great back in the day, aaaaaaaaaa.

I don't think it'd work now, we've gotten way too far on in the story and everyone's roles are way too set. u_u But back at the beginning it would've been perfect. It eliminates external conflict and violence, encourages internal turmoil, and creates school drama that doesn't feel too melodramatic or out of nowhere.

Sadly, it must go in the box of Things That'd Have Been Great Back at the Beginning. u 3u

Shit, I'm starting to have enough of those to fill a topic of their own. >_>; Like for example, the Alma Arc? That would have been called the "Five Arc", would've started earlier, and would've involved a lot less breaking into anything and a lot more hey, who's this mystery little girl who doesn't know her own name wandering around Cyan? And why is her DE so cray?

(Also for maximum effect I would've wanted to do these twists while a certain person was still around to totally mindfuck him because I am awful. u_u)

Haha, ya, there's a part of me that misses such low-level conflicts. There's something really charming about starting back from zero, tweaking things, and seeing how things change as a result. That's part of why I like playing AU versions of chars so much.

Doesn't help I'm totally latched onto this goofy sukeban Celia idea. The one where she doesn't realize how totes fuckin gay she is and just thinks pretty girls make her heart race because they're secretly super strong, while similarly thinking the opposite of the guys.

Poor, silly, confused sukeban Celia. xD Tough, hardened delinquent, gets so nervous around pretty girls that she keeps trying to fight them.

It's an idea forever stored away in my 'Just In Case I Need It' folder.

It's simple; we create an Alternate Universe DDT that's literally just a series of random pages from TvTropes played out to a T. Each new thread just picks up another random trope as a topic and generates a story based off of it.

In that vein though, it is kind of weird that they just constantly use and reuse the same concepts. I guess familiarity breeds complacency?