A Few Anime Architypes
Maybe you've noticed like me, or maybe you've simply taken it for granted and stored it in the back of your head, the oft-repeated pairs of opposing characters found in anime over the years.
I mean specifically. There is a distinct pair of molds I'm talking about. One the one side there is the brash, hot-headed, spoiling-for-a-fight character, designed with warm colors. (Messier hair, too, usually.) On the other side, there is the prissier, haughtier character in cool colors who acts like he's too good to fight the first character but always seems to want to fight them (repeatedly) anyway. The two are main characters, and whether or not they fight on the same side at some point, whether or not they also fight more important things than each other, they do for a good long while act as each other's main, or at least recurring, opponent. Is anyone else a little tired of them?
I mean, take the easy ones to pick out:
Naurto and Sasuke...
Ichigo and Ishida, from Bleach...
Mugen and Jin, from Samurai Champloo...
Kyo and Yuki, from Fruits Basket...
I even recall Kazuma and Ryuho from that weird (bad) show s-CRY-ed that I caught on CN awhile back...
Now, I know there are plenty of anime series out there that don't have these archetypes, but there seem to be a lot that do. There are probably more I can't think of, and if you know if any, I'd love to be clued in, just to be thorough. I can almost include these two...
...since they fit all my criteria but for Sesshoumaru's lack of predominant cool colors. Although as many times as he's shown at night, in the moonlight... the thought's there, I'm sure.
Now maybe these character designs were unconscious decisions, simply easy fallbacks and easy to set against each other, and maybe they were deliberate. I'm not sure if either is better or worse. But to be sure, I'll notice them anywhere now, and I'll probably have a bias against them because of it. They're just too easy, and I prefer characters with more thought put into them.
Erm...
That said, I absolutely adore Samurai Champloo, and you will never change my mind.
Right, so if you know of any others, possibly from animes I haven't seen, do fill me in. Although keep in mind my list of attributes. I would not include, say, Vash and Legato in this list, since Vash is not a hot-headed twerp, and Legato was not much of a recurring opponent. I would also not include, oh... Raito and L, from DeathNote, even though the anime tried so hard to hint at those archetypes by casting them in red and blue. So if any other battling pairs come to mind - perhaps not even from anime, just from anywhere - that fit the descriptions I put in the second paragraph there, I'd love to know about it!
This concludes another installment of the ramshackle workings of Meg's mind. You may now return to your usual internet perusal.
I mean specifically. There is a distinct pair of molds I'm talking about. One the one side there is the brash, hot-headed, spoiling-for-a-fight character, designed with warm colors. (Messier hair, too, usually.) On the other side, there is the prissier, haughtier character in cool colors who acts like he's too good to fight the first character but always seems to want to fight them (repeatedly) anyway. The two are main characters, and whether or not they fight on the same side at some point, whether or not they also fight more important things than each other, they do for a good long while act as each other's main, or at least recurring, opponent. Is anyone else a little tired of them?
I mean, take the easy ones to pick out:
Naurto and Sasuke...
Ichigo and Ishida, from Bleach...
Mugen and Jin, from Samurai Champloo...
Kyo and Yuki, from Fruits Basket...
I even recall Kazuma and Ryuho from that weird (bad) show s-CRY-ed that I caught on CN awhile back...
Now, I know there are plenty of anime series out there that don't have these archetypes, but there seem to be a lot that do. There are probably more I can't think of, and if you know if any, I'd love to be clued in, just to be thorough. I can almost include these two...
...since they fit all my criteria but for Sesshoumaru's lack of predominant cool colors. Although as many times as he's shown at night, in the moonlight... the thought's there, I'm sure.
Now maybe these character designs were unconscious decisions, simply easy fallbacks and easy to set against each other, and maybe they were deliberate. I'm not sure if either is better or worse. But to be sure, I'll notice them anywhere now, and I'll probably have a bias against them because of it. They're just too easy, and I prefer characters with more thought put into them.
Erm...
That said, I absolutely adore Samurai Champloo, and you will never change my mind.
Right, so if you know of any others, possibly from animes I haven't seen, do fill me in. Although keep in mind my list of attributes. I would not include, say, Vash and Legato in this list, since Vash is not a hot-headed twerp, and Legato was not much of a recurring opponent. I would also not include, oh... Raito and L, from DeathNote, even though the anime tried so hard to hint at those archetypes by casting them in red and blue. So if any other battling pairs come to mind - perhaps not even from anime, just from anywhere - that fit the descriptions I put in the second paragraph there, I'd love to know about it!
This concludes another installment of the ramshackle workings of Meg's mind. You may now return to your usual internet perusal.