Hey everyone,
Today, I‘ll write about something other than the weekly anime review. I
decided to take a step back to look at an entire genre as a whole. Picking
which genre proved to be a difficult challenge; I thought long and hard about
which genre until I had narrowed it down to two choices, the classic favorite,
action, or the emotional roller-coaster, drama. I was about to make my decision
when all of the sudden, I started to hear another genre call for
my attention, Harem RomCom (short for romantic comedy). For those of you that
are unfamiliar with this genre, it centers around one guy who is surrounded by
a bunch of girls who are all candidates to become the guy’s
girlfriend. I chose this genre because of its overall high production values
and excellent plot. But today I will focus on its plot and how it relates to
one of the greatest literary discoveries of all time, Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. The monomyth is a plot
structure that can be found in many great stories around the world and is sometimes
used as a guideline for successful movies such as Star Wars. The Monomyth
takes the form of several stages that the hero goes through in his journey, but
I’ll only be looking at the call to adventure and supernatural aid. As seen
through these stages, the Harem RomCom genre of anime has ascended beyond
modern story telling by creating conventions that allow the authors to skip
character back story and force comedy and plot anywhere the author wants.
The Call to Adventure
The call to adventure is the first stage in the monomyth and is defined
as when the hero is called out of his world and into a new mysterious world. So,
in the Harem RomCom genre this stage is when the hero is first introduced to
the heroines. Unfortunately, in harems introducing the several heroines would
take way too many episodes dedicated to back story, so, out of necessity, the
heroines are usually spontaneously introduced into the main character’s (MC’s)
life. This spontaneous introduction of characters is an ingenious move by the directors
since it eliminates the need to give heroines any back story and lets the anime
focus of what’s important, the plot.
For example, in Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen LoveComedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru (NouCome) the main heroine, Chocolat,
literally falls from the sky and lands on the MC. No context and no backstory.
This isn’t an isolated case though, several directors use this convention to
make room for more plot. In Sora no Otoshimono the main heroine, Ikaros, also
falls from the sky –nearly killing the MC. And, in Rokujoumano Shinryakusha!?, The MC is sitting in his small apartment when
all of the sudden a mahou shoujo(magical girl) breaks through his window, a
miko (shrine maiden) digs a hole into his room from underground, his room is haunted by a ghost, and not one but,
two aliens beam into his room. The author introduces five new characters in less
than five minutes, saving the author countless minutes of trying to introduce
each one individually.
Supernatural Aid
Supernatural Aid is defined as a stage where the hero is given an item or
power that helps him in his journey. Ironically, in Harem RomComs the MC’s
supernatural aid often comes in the form of a curse that the MC is forced to
deal with. Again to reduce back story the hero is one day cursed. The curse forms
the basis for the comedy and plot development in the series. Wanting to be able to throw out any
joke at any time, the authors came up with another convention of the Harem RomCom
genre, the open ended curse. Authors of
the Harem RomCon drama use the MC’s curse to force stagnant plot forward and
introduce action into uneventful scenes.
In NouCome, the MC’s curse is that at random times the MC is given a
couple of options and is forced to pick one and follow through with his choice
or else her gets a progressively worse headache.One time the MC and heroine are
talking casually after class when the MC’s curse activates and he is forced to say
to the heroine, “Hey, let me touch your boobs” or alternatively “Hey, touch my
boobs.” By using the curse, the author turns a boring classroom encounter into
a tense moment of anticipation and dread.
Similarly, in Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara the MC has the ability to see flags above the heroines’ heads that
tell him what they are feeling or what is going to happen. Similar to NouCome,
the author uses this curse to force the MC into action. In one scene one of the
heroines walks into a rundown building and the MC sees a death flag on her head
indicating that she will die if he doesn’t interfere so, he rushes towards her and
tackles her to the ground. The author turned the simple event of walking into a
building into a dire life-or-death situation that forces the MC into action and
pushes the plot forward.
Conclusion
Authors of Harem RomComs have a firm grasp on the desires of their
audience who are only interested in action and comedy. So, they skip the back story through spontaneous character introductions and they developed a
method to inject action where there is none. When it comes to catering to the
audience other genres have much to learn.
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