and following up on the Hollywood romances bit earlier...
*mostly babble, I believe*
I think a lot of the reason most Hollywood/western romances these days feel like "I love you now" more than "I'll love you forever" is because of the "if it doesn't work out, I can try again" mentallity. Most people look at relationships and marriage as trial and error. Get married too soon? No problem just get a divorce. Etc. Even in something set in a time where that wasn't the case, the writer's mindset for life seeps in...I often read a historical romance and think "yeah...but after living together for a year..."
I started paying less attention to Hollywood romances and romances novels more and more when I got into anime and manga a few years ago, and now with doramas. I think this is because they have a much stronger feeling of permanence. Even though divorce is now more possible, it's frowned upon much more than in western cultures and marriage and relationships are approach with the idea if starting anything means being willing to stick with it for 50 years. Even the oddest pairings tend to feel more functional and permanent than most of what Hollywood puts out. Reading/watching Yamada and Ueda in Trick or Kyo and Yuya in Samurai Deeper Kyo or Kyohei and Sunako in Wallflower/Perfect Girl Evolution, or Domyoji/Makino in Hana Yori Dango, anyone used to Hollywood romances wouldn't see how they could ever possibly last, yet if you actually read/watch, you know that they're bizarrely functional in their way, and even though they may sound like they're 5 minutes from killing each other, they're solid(heck, the entire Trick series is essentially one long, bizarre courtship)
There's also the handling of the romance when it's not the focus of the series. With Hollywood and american TV and books, if it's not a romance, the love interest is usually essentially there for googly eyes and the occassional sex scene. It doesn't matter if the love interest changes, they're there to fill a void and can be changed if needed. The fact that Bourne deliberately passes on the chance to randomly move on is proof that he's a wuxia hero reborn(Wuxia Bourne will not go away for a long, long time...) I think one of the appeals(for me) is that a pretty hefty chunk of fantasy, both urban fantasy and high fantasy, avoids this...outside of the "sex with hot otherworldly people" books, or those that treaten to turn into them, the romantic relationship, whether realized or suppressed, tends to be necessary to the characterization of the lead, and often doesn't go away to make room for someone else.
I'm not going to get meta-y on any single thing here(though a couple things and pairing in the post have mountains of entries) but in anime, manga and doramas, even when the pairing is secondary or even a side subplot, it's treated with great importance. In Full Metal Alchemist, neither Ed/Winry nor Mustang/Hawkeye is the focus, or even a main focus, of the book. But it's made very clear from almost the start that, for the characters, those relationships are absolutely crucial, as far as canon goes, as much so as the relationship between the brothers or the central plot. If you've read the printed volumes of Rurouni Kenshin, there are interviews with Watsuki where he says in the early volumes that he's not sure whether or not Kaoru will eventually be a romantic interest for Kenshin. Obviously, she does, but it wasn't originally set in stone. Even though it's not outright stated, it's obvious that Watsuki is writing them to be compatible in case he did go that route. In contrast, when Hollywood or American TV need a new pairing(or, for that matter, books and comics) friends only/barely know each other are suddenly making googly eyes at each other, or a new character pops out of nowhere and BAM! romance 5 seconds later.
I don't know that I'm saying they get romance and relationships better in Asia really, just pondering why they seem to work better for me these days than American versions.
Also, for personal preference, no matter the country of origin, I tend to go more for when the romantic relationship is a supporting or side thing than when it's the main focus...I guess because A) I like the bigger plot, and B) I like the reassurance they'll last through more than other interested parties and disapproval from various sources.
Completely unrelated, but The Boys are watching Fearless dubbed. As disconcerting as the very out-of-sync voices and mouths are, I find this preferable to Roseanne and it's obnoxious laugh track.
ETA: Apparently if people mention I haven't been posting enough, I spam...and neglect my reading even more than I already am.
I think a lot of the reason most Hollywood/western romances these days feel like "I love you now" more than "I'll love you forever" is because of the "if it doesn't work out, I can try again" mentallity. Most people look at relationships and marriage as trial and error. Get married too soon? No problem just get a divorce. Etc. Even in something set in a time where that wasn't the case, the writer's mindset for life seeps in...I often read a historical romance and think "yeah...but after living together for a year..."
I started paying less attention to Hollywood romances and romances novels more and more when I got into anime and manga a few years ago, and now with doramas. I think this is because they have a much stronger feeling of permanence. Even though divorce is now more possible, it's frowned upon much more than in western cultures and marriage and relationships are approach with the idea if starting anything means being willing to stick with it for 50 years. Even the oddest pairings tend to feel more functional and permanent than most of what Hollywood puts out. Reading/watching Yamada and Ueda in Trick or Kyo and Yuya in Samurai Deeper Kyo or Kyohei and Sunako in Wallflower/Perfect Girl Evolution, or Domyoji/Makino in Hana Yori Dango, anyone used to Hollywood romances wouldn't see how they could ever possibly last, yet if you actually read/watch, you know that they're bizarrely functional in their way, and even though they may sound like they're 5 minutes from killing each other, they're solid(heck, the entire Trick series is essentially one long, bizarre courtship)
There's also the handling of the romance when it's not the focus of the series. With Hollywood and american TV and books, if it's not a romance, the love interest is usually essentially there for googly eyes and the occassional sex scene. It doesn't matter if the love interest changes, they're there to fill a void and can be changed if needed. The fact that Bourne deliberately passes on the chance to randomly move on is proof that he's a wuxia hero reborn(Wuxia Bourne will not go away for a long, long time...) I think one of the appeals(for me) is that a pretty hefty chunk of fantasy, both urban fantasy and high fantasy, avoids this...outside of the "sex with hot otherworldly people" books, or those that treaten to turn into them, the romantic relationship, whether realized or suppressed, tends to be necessary to the characterization of the lead, and often doesn't go away to make room for someone else.
I'm not going to get meta-y on any single thing here(though a couple things and pairing in the post have mountains of entries) but in anime, manga and doramas, even when the pairing is secondary or even a side subplot, it's treated with great importance. In Full Metal Alchemist, neither Ed/Winry nor Mustang/Hawkeye is the focus, or even a main focus, of the book. But it's made very clear from almost the start that, for the characters, those relationships are absolutely crucial, as far as canon goes, as much so as the relationship between the brothers or the central plot. If you've read the printed volumes of Rurouni Kenshin, there are interviews with Watsuki where he says in the early volumes that he's not sure whether or not Kaoru will eventually be a romantic interest for Kenshin. Obviously, she does, but it wasn't originally set in stone. Even though it's not outright stated, it's obvious that Watsuki is writing them to be compatible in case he did go that route. In contrast, when Hollywood or American TV need a new pairing(or, for that matter, books and comics) friends only/barely know each other are suddenly making googly eyes at each other, or a new character pops out of nowhere and BAM! romance 5 seconds later.
I don't know that I'm saying they get romance and relationships better in Asia really, just pondering why they seem to work better for me these days than American versions.
Also, for personal preference, no matter the country of origin, I tend to go more for when the romantic relationship is a supporting or side thing than when it's the main focus...I guess because A) I like the bigger plot, and B) I like the reassurance they'll last through more than other interested parties and disapproval from various sources.
Completely unrelated, but The Boys are watching Fearless dubbed. As disconcerting as the very out-of-sync voices and mouths are, I find this preferable to Roseanne and it's obnoxious laugh track.
ETA: Apparently if people mention I haven't been posting enough, I spam...and neglect my reading even more than I already am.