I got into a discussion with this with a friend earlier while we were discussing anime. After watching some anime involving unresolved sexual tension and/or flirtation (School Rumble, Haganai, Gantz, High School of the Dead, Btooom, Steins;Gate, Code Geass, Speed Grapher, the list goes on...) and a fair share of hentai as well, I became aware of a trend: Nobody dates in anime.

This first began as a discussion about consenting sex in anime. Being somewhat of a caricature of American culture, Japanese stigmatize yet exoticize sex to an even greater extent than us, so it makes sense that fetishes revolving around power play come out in a repressed culture, but what I found perplexing was not how prevalent rape fantasies were in hentai, but how absent healthy, consenting sex was. This translated into a realization that healthy relationships don't appear frequently in anime, and then to the realization that unhealthy relationships aren't shown a whole lot either. It's no surprise that hentai typically doesn't want to spend a wealth of time getting into character development or interaction, but it's a little more perplexing that this carries on into other anime as well.

Sure, there are a few anime that feature a kiss here or there (Code Geass, HotD,) or some that end with the "happily ever after kiss" without showing the actual aftermath (Steins;Gate, Speed Grapher, Midori Days) but rarely does an anime focus on a couple as their relationship evolves or becomes damaged. Rarely do anime talk about the very real situations of having a partner simply lose interest in you, or the struggles of being incompatible, or complex issues of dependency, or long-term effects of abuse and enabling behavior. At the same time, you don't see two romantically involved characters emotionally supporting each other or working as a team very much, either.

I'm sure some of this has to do with fanservice. It's a lot easier to imagine characters dating other characters when they have no canonical relationship with anyone, and fans can't be mad about a couple that doesn't exist. But I doubt this is the only factor at play here.

Thoughts?

DBZ has a good share of dating. hell Bulma spent like 10 years dating Yamcha.

At 3/26/16 04:54 AM, Kwing wrote:

Nobody dates in anime.

Watch Amagami SS.

=)

You rarely will see relationships in a TV show develop into anything beyond the most basic idea of one. It's to keep that dumb audience who only watches shows for the romance subplot.

Look at Futurama for example. They never go into detail about what Fry and Leela saw in one another.

Stop watching shonen if you want romance in your anime. One Piece, Dragonball, Naruto and the like are for younger kids.

Josei typically has dating stories, but I'm struggling to recall animated bits beyond Paradise Kiss. Still miffed that Hiroyuki took Yukari back, was kind of hoping he would have ended up with a different gal.

Romance in real life is usually complicated, which rarely makes good storytelling, much less an exciting one beyond certain set-pieces if that. With the exception of josei anime/manga, romance is either treated as a secondary B-plot, sexual titilation for the MC and the audience, or simply just gets in the way of the sexy violence and... well, sex in anime. Most people don't have the time to sit through the romantic monotony, especially if it doesn't lead into any sort of payoff in the end.

I wouldn't say that they don't get dates in anime, as much as you don't see a relationship bloom between dates. Unless it directly is about the relationship itself, then it would usually be put on the back burner as that is usually nothing more than either filler, fanservice or simply a piece of the plot. Movies and literature do have this problem as well, though in the former, it's often because of screen time, and in the latter, they have much more space to attempt a realistic romance in the story.

At 3/26/16 10:27 AM, Hoodie wrote: HAVE YOU SEEN SAILOR MOON FUCKLORD

In addition, Rosario+Vampire, Jitsu wa Watashi wa, Yu Yu Hakusho, Urusei Yatsura, Yu-Gi-Oh (both season 0 and the card game series), Midori Days, etc.

In other words, the OP is a retard.

@MemeFiend3
@supergandhi64
@belthagor

Clearly, OP needs to watch this nice boat of a show.

At 3/26/16 03:25 PM, YomToxic wrote: @MemeFiend3
@supergandhi64
@belthagor

Clearly, OP needs to watch this nice boat of a show.

The actually like the ending theme of the series, also the original visual novel has the harem ending.

it usually skips to marriage idk didnt read the post

I thought Sekirei had a bit of romance in it, despite being an harem/ecchi series.

YES. No dating in anime. XD

At 4/2/16 12:14 AM, Se7en wrote: YES. No dating in anime. XD

At least according to those who are vastly unexposed to anime.