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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | !!The following anime/manga have their own pages: |
| 8 | [[index]] |
| 9 | * ''DeconstructedTrope/DragonBall'' |
| 10 | * ''DeconstructedTrope/YuGiOhArcV'' |
| 11 | [[/index]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | %%* ''Manga/AkiSora'' also takes on BigBrotherAttraction (albeit inverted/gender-flipped), BrotherSisterIncest and {{Twincest}}: |
| 15 | %%** Sora initially finds Aki's attempts at seduction off-putting and traumatizing, primarily because they're blood siblings. But then he realises that he shares the same attraction she has for him, a combination of both lust and love, and loses all shame when he decides to embrace it. |
| 16 | %%** While Aki and Sora share genuine romantic feelings, they're still in a taboo relationship, and while they play it out like most hentais would, they have to constantly be on their toes to keep their true love a secret, going through a lot of dramatic angst in the process. |
| 17 | %%** By contrast, Sora's more realistic affair with his twin sister Nami begins when she rapes and sexually abuses him due to being both [[CuteAndPsycho mentally unstable]] and [[CrazyJealousGuy enviously angry]]. |
| 18 | %%** UnwantedHarem. Sora only has many lovers because he's a [[TheDitherer spineless, wishy-washy pushover]], lacking the willpower and physical strength to fend for himself. Hormone-driven girls take full advantage of this as they use him to satisfy their libido, with or without his consent. While most ecchi/hentai titles would play this for laughs or paint him as a "lucky guy", Sora is shown to go through emotional trauma, as he's merely a sex toy for every perverted lust-fueled girl in his life. |
| 19 | %%** MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces. Aki's intense sexual thirst for her brother leads to them frequently making love both in and out of their bedrooms, which leads to them getting caught. |
| 20 | * ''Anime/AldnoahZero'' deconstructs the concept of a SuperRobot and the incredibly-powerful superweapons generally associated with them. Most Martian Kataphrakts have a single, overwhelmingly powerful ability that's sufficient to take on an entire army, but it also leads to them being [[CripplingOverspecialization cripplingly overspecialized]] towards [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer one type of tactic]]. Additionally, the show takes care to use [[ShownTheirWork real-world science]] to explain how these abilities could theoretically be possible, which imposes its own limitations. In the end, despite their impressive appearance, a SuperRobot can still be taken down by superior tactics from a small squad of weaker [[MechaMooks grunt-unit]] pilots. |
| 21 | * ''Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay'' takes apart DeathOfTheHypotenuse and PuritySue. |
| 22 | ** In regards to the first... Back when they were children, Anaru liked Jintan and Tsuruko liked Yukiatsu, but both boys liked Menma and the girls, despite caring for Menma, felt that they couldn't compete with her. Menma's untimely death, only made things worse for all of them, since such a tragedy ''tore the group apart'' and showed that, in reality, the demise of "the person in between a hook-up" does NOT equal to the others getting together: the guys got so broken (and Jintan already had his own issues) that no girl in their eyes can match the very high standard that Menma had left, with Jintan becoming a {{hikikomori}} and Yukiatsu both considering Anaru as a prospect "back-up girlfriend" (and neither she nor Tsuruko, understandably, are happy with that) [[spoiler: and wearing dresses similar to those Menma used to wear]]. |
| 23 | ** In regard to the second... Not only was Menma ridiculously pure and innocent (and kinda ditzy) because she died as a child and thus got mentally/emotionally stuck as a little girl forever, but it's made brutally clear [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter how much pressure that kind of character would put on her friends]]: as said above Tsuruko and Anaru remember Menma fondly but are also jealous and resentful of her because she (unintentionally) left an insanely high standard for them to meet when she kicked it; Jintan and Yukiatsu are very screwed up due to still loving her for a long time after her death, with Jintan unable to function in social situations and Yukiatsu cultivating an unhealthy obsession; and Poppo constantly has to put on a happy face in order to interact with others [[spoiler:due to his guilt after not being able to save her life]]. |
| 24 | * ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' deconstructs quite a few tropes: |
| 25 | ** AllergicToRoutine and ItAmusedMe. As a child, Shoya always sought a life free of boredom and was actually afraid of the thought of having nothing to do. Sadly, he chose to fight it off with no concern for the consequences either to himself or the people around him, such as by ruthlessly tormenting Shoko, [[BullyingTheDisabled a deaf girl]], to levels just barely avoiding BullyBrutality; when Shoko transfers schools as a result, his entire class uses him as TheScapegoat and subjects him to the exact same cruel bullying, with the ApatheticTeacher telling him point-blank he [[LaserGuidedKarma deserves it]] for what he did. |
| 26 | ** MiseryBuildsCharacter. Shoko and Yuzuru's mother believed this, which led to her forcing Shoko to keep going to the school where Shoya and the other students went above and beyond to bully and torment her, thinking that enduring it would toughen her up and prepare her for how people would treat her. All this succeeded in doing was costing them 3 million yen in hearing aid damage and afflicting Shoko with both PTSD and suicidal depression, with Yuzuru [[CallingTheOldManOut rightfully telling their mother off]] for doing nothing. |
| 27 | * ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' deconstructs DudeLooksLikeALady with its protagonist Nagisa. While it serves mostly as a running gag [[spoiler:it's later revealed that his mother invoked this. Forcing her son to grow his hair and have GirlishPigTails because she [[WantedASonInstead wanted a daughter instead]]. Going as far as to make him wear women's clothing at home.]] |
| 28 | * ''Anime/AshitaNoNadja'' is mostly on the idealistic side, but it deconstructs WideEyedIdealist and PrincelyYoungMan ''very'' painfully through the figure of one of Nadja's love interests, Francis Harcourt. He's sweet, gentle, generous and a philantrope who deeply believes that as a nobleman, he's gotta make sure a good part of his money goes to charity... and boy, when he sees how such donations are ''not'' enough to make people happy, his [[MartyrWithoutACause huge]] [[StepfordSmiler hidden]] [[HeroicSelfDeprecation problems]] [[HiddenDepths come to the surface]] and cause him more than one HeroicBSOD, to the point that [[spoiler:he's willing to pull a TwinSwitch and be sent to jail for the sake of his GentlemanThief twin brother Keith, who is ''not'' happy when he learns about it and [[WhatTheHellHero actually calls Francis out]] on how his "self-sacrifice" is harming him and others.]] |
| 29 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has the deconstruction of the HeroicSacrifice and FaceDeathWithDignity tropes and criticizes them mercilessly. Sacrificing oneself is, ultimately, an extremely selfish thing to do: you may indeed save lives by laying down your own (or by sending others to their deaths for the sake of their survivors), but choosing a "good death"-- one that will ensure that others will remember and praise you after you're gone-- is an act of conceit and vanity; every human death is a loss, and a real hero stays alive at all costs to keep up the fight. Just about everyone who chooses HeroicSacrifice not only [[SenselessSacrifice achieves next to nothing]] in doing so, but their bravery often falters at the last second, and they die crying, screaming, and begging for their lives. We also see that ThePowerOfTrust can result in absolutely horrible consequences, when people rely on their TrueCompanions instead of their own strength. |
| 30 | ** Eren's character Deconstructs HotBlooded, TheDeterminator, and RoaringRampageOfRevenge by not only showing the risks of the tropes, but also playing them to what seems like their ultimate conclusion - [[spoiler: Eren's entire squad getting killed in their first Titan battle in an attempt to avenge a killed ally and him [[KilledOffForReal getting eaten]] [[HeroicSacrifice saving Armin]]. However, these tropes then get played straight when we see that Eren's anger caused him to shift into Titan form, saving his life and continuing his rampage.]] |
| 31 | ** More recent events have given us a Deconstruction of BecomingTheMask. [[spoiler: Reiner Braun's attachment to the others, and guilt over his actions as TheMole cause him to begin suffering dissociative episodes because on some level, he would rather be the human soldier he's been pretending to be the whole time. He later angrily declares that ThatManIsDead.]] |
| 32 | ** LivingEmotionalCrutch and UndyingLoyalty are torn apart when Mikasa believes Eren is killed. She has a mental breakdown, causing her to throw herself and her squad at the Titans, leading to many of her squad's deaths. And later on when [[spoiler: the Female Titan kidnaps Eren]], she loses herself in anger trying to bring it down and would have possibly been killed if Levi hadn't stepped in. |
| 33 | ** The first generation of [[spoiler: the Warrior Program]] have a fairly [[WithFriendsLikeThese interesting]] dynamic. [[spoiler: Reiner]] and Galliard were bitter rivals. [[spoiler: Annie]] barely tolerated interactions with the others. Pieck was amused by it all. [[spoiler: Zeke]] alternated between friendly and threatening. [[spoiler: Bertolt]] and [[spoiler: Marcel]] were the only two trying to keep the peace. It was no wonder that this dysfunction, their conflicting issues and the fact that [[spoiler: most of them are just kids when they were recruited]] would eventually lead to PoorCommunicationKills and the complete failure of their original objective. |
| 34 | * ''Literature/BanishedFromTheHerosParty'': The FantasyCharacterClasses which are common in fantasy stories are shown here in a much darker light. People are given Divine Blessings upon their birth. They can't really choose what class will be bestowed on them and must live with regardless of what they want personally. There are some lucky people who like their blessings, but for other people whose blessings don't match their personalities, for example, a man wanting to be a guard that protects people but has the class called "Bar Brawler", i.e. regularly going to bars and picking fights with patrons that frequently has the guards arresting ''him'', or didn't really want the whole thing to begin with, [[spoiler:like Ruti and her Blessing of the Hero forcing her to be the champion of mankind and defeat the Demon Lord despite her personal desire to just live peacefully with her brother]]. It could be a detrimental issue for a person's whole life. Classes also frequently have impulses that come with them that can affect their day-to-day lives. Tisse's Assassin class make her wants to kill anything and everything, Rit's Spirit Scout makes her want to save people and crave freedom, [[spoiler:and Ruti's Hero makes her unable to ignore healing injured humans near her, even if it's someone she herself utterly '''despises''']]. As for other people, some of them will try to justify making their whole reason for living following their assigned roles, others be damned. |
| 35 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' deconstructs most HeroicFantasy tropes until only a pile of gibs remains. For example: |
| 36 | ** The badass in general. Yes, Guts would drink molten lead when sufficiently thirsty, can mow down entire armies of {{Mooks}} with ease and is capable of winning battles against huge demons that could rip open a tank, but he only became like this because he lived through a lifetime of horrors and has been walking the razor's edge of survival even before he was properly born. It is very obvious that Guts would have been a somewhat brash but mostly average guy if he had led a normal life instead of suffering through [[TrainingFromHell what he got]]. You don't want to be him, but you will respect him even more. |
| 37 | ** Casca deconstructs the ActionGirl. She became one of the best swordfighters in the world due to her intense physical training and dedication to her hero Griffith. But she still has her period every month, doesn't like being covered with scars very much and, being the only female fighter in a gritty medieval war, is a constant target for countless would-be rapists who think a woman has no place on the battlefield. She handles a lot of horrible experiences admirably but [[spoiler: when the gloves come off for real during the Eclipse she ends up permanently broken and insane.]] |
| 38 | ** Most notoriously: the CardCarryingVillain. Supernatural magical creatures who are the "masters of evil" feature a lot in kids shows and are usually rather goofy. When used realistically though, you better brace yourself. |
| 39 | ** Isidro is a deconstruction of the KidSamurai who shows how incompetent and delusional a KidSamurai would really be (believing in CallingYourAttacks, choosing swordsmanship over throwing, which is his true forte, etc), with a bit of parody thrown in for good measure. |
| 40 | ** The King of Midland deconstructs the "TheGoodKing" archetype which he was until it was revealed that he wanted to have [[spoiler: sex with his own ''daughter'']], wants Griffith to become King so that he can be relieved of the loneliness of the throne, and has alienated his wife. |
| 41 | ** He also deconstructs PapaWolf since he had [[spoiler: Griffith]] imprisoned and horrifically tortured and tried to wipe out [[spoiler: the band of hawk]] |
| 42 | ** TheCaligula: as a result of his fixation of wanting destroy the Band of the Hawk along with his SanitySlippage he begins to neglect his duties as a king. When he is [[spoiler: near death, enemy forces invade]]. |
| 43 | ** Griffith also serves as a deconstruction of the typical RagsToRoyalty fantasy hero. Rather than being genuinely noble and heroic, he is actually very [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] and [[ManipulativeBastard scheming]], views his TrueCompanions as tools that belong to him, and romances the princess not out of love for her but instead to get her father's throne. |
| 44 | ** Griffith further deconstructs TheChosenOne. He was made into a hero of prophesy who would deliver Midland from evil, or rather the Kushan Empire led by the apostle emperor, Ganishka. The thing is, the forces that made him the hero are the exact same ones that created his antagonist and the conflict he's supposed to stop. In this, Griffith is not so much a hero as he is an actor knowingly playing his part. Also each Apostle is given a Behelit, which usually requires a sacrifice of someone close to them. |
| 45 | ** TheChosenMany in to become a Godhand requires TheChosenOne to sacrifice many people closest to him. This if what [[spoiler: Griffith]] does to [[spoiler: the Band of the Hawk]] during the eclipse. |
| 46 | ** Which brings us to Charlotte who is a deconstruction of the PrincessClassic. She's lovely, sweet, soft spoken, and always wears wonderful outfits. But no one cares about the actual woman behind that lovely facade, since all she is in the eyes of almost everyone is a womb that must give birth to new members of the royal line... by marrying members of her uncomfortably close family. Everyone knows the only reason Griffith wants her is [[MealTicket gaining access to the throne.]] And as it's easy to see, all of these experiences (including [[spoiler: being almost raped by her dad]]) [[BreakTheCutie are quite hard on the girl.]] |
| 47 | ** Being a MasterSwordsman will not neccesarily ensure a soldier's survival in battle. Guts explains while training Isidro that many skilled swordsmen have been killed in battle due to being [[ZergRush outnumbered by lesser soldiers]] trying to make a name for himself. |
| 48 | ** Guts and Griffith deconstruct the NobleMaleRoguishMale: Griffith is "noble" male who maintains the [[VillainWithGoodPublicity public persona]] as being a well spoken and [[WickedCultured cultured]] charismatic leader as well a PrettyBoy KnightInShiningArmor; Privately he's cares nothing for his comrades and sees everybody as tools to acquire his dreams. Guts is the "Roguish" male who is not a people person as wells as being seen as a brute with a FaceOfAThug. Even though he is generally gruff around people, he deeply cares for his friends and will go to great lengths to protect them. |
| 49 | * Every episode of ''Anime/BikiniWarriors'' has been dedicated to taking a single EasternRPG trope and running its consequences to the ground. |
| 50 | * In the ''Manga/BlackButler'' manga (the anime didn't reach that part), [[spoiler: Elizabeth Middleford]] deconstructs DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel. Unlike most girls that fit this trope, she does this [[spoiler: for the sake of her beloved]], and not because she simply likes being rescued or wants to look more helpless for her own benefit. It also shows that [[spoiler: Lizzie]] actually had to sacrifice a few things in order to [[spoiler: maintain Ciel's pride]]; i.e., [[spoiler: keeping her badassery at bay caused her ''emotional pain'' since she was deeply scared [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon of being rejected by Ciel if it ever came out]]]], and not to mention there's the ValuesDissonance coming from the UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain times (women who didn't act like [[ProperLady proper ladies]] would face scorn and discrimination, so pulling this stunt had quite the bad effect on the girl's self-worth). |
| 51 | ** IWillFindYou was also deconstructed by Soma and Meena. Soma spoke of how Meena was the only person who made his loneliness in the palace better and how he deeply loved her. Having been kidnapped by an Englishman, Soma traveled all the way to England, going to great lengths to find her. When he does, it turns out Meena willingly sneaked out of India, was living happily with the Englishman and flat out told him that she ''hated'' Soma for being a spoiled brat (which he was prior to his CharacterDevelopment). So Soma saw himself as a hero who'd find the DamselInDistress when he was just a selfish kid who clung to her to not be alone and he ended up driving her away with his own actions; Meena's harsh words when he finally found her were a wake-up call that knocked him off his pedestal and made him start to become a better person. |
| 52 | * ''Manga/BlackClover'': |
| 53 | ** BadassFamily. Many noble and royal families pride themselves in having members who go on to become powerful mages, with some associated with Magic Knight squads like the Silva and Vermillion families. However, members who don't live up to their families' expectations, like Noelle for her PowerIncontinence and Finral for failing to use offensive Spatial Magic, are viewed as a disgrace to their name, which gives them ''a lot'' of self-esteem issues. |
| 54 | ** PersonalityPowers: Mages' magics and spells are strongly tied to their personalities. Finral's kind, cowardly nature makes him unable to learn [[PortalCut offensive Spatial Magic]], no matter how hard he trained and even after becoming more assertive. This led him to be disowned by his family as its heir and severely affected his self-confidence. |
| 55 | * ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' deconstructs ImprobableAge, YakuzaPrincess ''and'' YamatoNadeshiko at the same time, through the terrible tale of [[spoiler:Yukio Washimine]]. |
| 56 | ** ImprobableAge is also deconstructed by Hansel and Gretel - sure, they're CreepyAwesome AxCrazy child hit(wo?)men, wielding an axe and a {{BFG}} respectively, but the manga also goes into all the wonderfully sordid details of just ''what'' would screw up two kids that badly. |
| 57 | ** HitmanWithAHeart is also deconstructed through Mr. Chang, a former policeman who became a Triad leader. Also with Rotton the Wizard, who turns out to be one of the few decent people in Roanpur, but not at all the hitman he was trying to be. |
| 58 | ** Exactly how would a [[TerroristsWithoutACause Terrorist Without A Cause]] work in real life without becoming a two-dimensional CardCarryingVillain? Arc Villain Masahiro Takenaka became a political terrorist in the seventies and his cause died long ago. He's spent twenty years helping terrorist groups with wildly differing ideologies from his own just because the act of being an enemy of the system is the only thing left he can find meaning in. |
| 59 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': |
| 60 | ** The Arrancar Arc deconstructs the DamselInDistress and SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl tropes. Ulquiorra emphasises that forcing Orihime into a SadisticChoice gives Aizen psychological control over her making it that much easier to gain a long-term advantage over her [[BreakTheCutie mental state]], regardless of whether or not she's physically rescued. On top of the mental torture, she's exposed to all kinds of abuse (physical, mental, emotional and sexual [[note]](because Nnoitora forcing his fingers inside his mouth actually mirrors a very common kink from Japanese porn.)[[/note]]) and the psychological consequences of this are also explored - the stress of the abuse, the realisation her [[HealingHands healing]] and [[BarrierMaiden shielding]] powers can't save Ichigo or Uryuu from Ulquiorra, the horror at seeing [[KnightInShiningArmour Ichigo]] transform into a [[EnemyWithin monster]] out of desperation to save her leave suffering an HeroicBSOD whereby, like real-life victims, [[ItsAllMyFault she completely blames herself for everything that happened]], a conclusion Ulquiorra guided her into reaching. |
| 61 | ** The Lost Agent arc deconstructs TrueCompanions. The tight bond between true companions is a tremendous source of strength for heroes, and Ichigo in particular, which is precisely why Tsukishima uses his power to insert himself in everyone's memories as a member of that group. Ichigo's hostility towards the enemy therefore comes across to everyone as Ichigo insanely attacking someone he's close to for absolutely no reason. His friends and family don't turn against him because they've been brainwashed into hating him, but because they've been brainwashed into loving Tsukishima as much as they love Ichigo. It doesn't only tear Ichigo emotions apart, it also tears his friends' and family's emotions apart for having to oppose him. [[spoiler:The trope is eventually reconstructed by Byakuya, not because he's able to fight the brainwashing but because he reasons that, no matter how much he owes Tsukishima on a personal level, the debt society itself owes Ichigo means that anyone who opposes Ichigo is opposing society itself.]] |
| 62 | ** Yukio deconstructs EnfanteTerrible. He's cute, he's psychopathic and he verbally revels in having masterminded his own parents suicide for being unable to handle having a CuteMute child. However, when confronted by another child who could have grown up to be hateful and psychopathic because of his isolated childhood and discovering Hitsugaya isn't even slightly sympathetic towards Yukio's past, Yukio dissolves into a VillainousBSOD where all the guilt and self-loathing about his past behaviour is exposed. |
| 63 | ** MissionControl is deconstructed in the Thousand Year-Old Blood War arc. During the Vandenreich's invasion, the Twelfth Division sets up a communications network between all the fighting divisions, and Ichigo and Urahara, to pass on vital information and boost morale. However, when Mission Control is taken out, everyone on the battlefield gets to listen to the division's destruction, shattering morale. [[spoiler:Ichigo, who is trapped between worlds and unable to help, gets a front-row seat to hear not only the Twelfth Division's destruction, but the destruction of all the shinigami right across the battlefield.]] |
| 64 | ** The BloodKnight trope is deconstructed when it's revealed that interpretation is everything. Kenpachi's interpretation, to limit himself as much as possible to ensure a good fight, has ruined his own ability and made him weaker than he should be. His mistaken interpretation is based on his erroneous interpretation of the true personality of the original Yachiru, the only person he ever [[WorthyOpponent admired]]. When that Yachiru returns, it's to strip his illusions bare and [[{{Reconstruction}} fix his interpretation]] of the trope. |
| 65 | ** ImaginationBasedSuperpower is deconstructed by Gremmy. Instead of simply focusing on the flexibility and unpredictability of an opponent who can use this kind of power, the story goes onto explore the vulnerability a user has to his own imagination. Towards the beginning of the fight, Gremmy - who has limited battle experience - realizes that if, at any point during the fight, he imagines the possibility of him dying, he really will kill himself with his own power. [[spoiler: In the end, he kills himself because he believes it's impossible for anybody to contain Kenpachi's level of power and can't understand why Kenpachi's power doesn't rip his body apart. When Gremmy tries to transform into Kenpachi, his imagination makes that belief true and his own body is ripped apart by his own power.]] |
| 66 | ** [[spoiler: Though this assumption was right to a certain degree since as Gremmy said he imagined himself having all Kenpachi's powers, when Kenpachi does actually gets access to them by using his Bankai, his right arm is eventually torn apart due to his body being unable to handle so much power.]] |
| 67 | * ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'': |
| 68 | ** MySiblingWillLiveThroughMe is deconstructed in Touko's backstory. She was initially a shy girl with mediocre grades and few friends, whereas her much older sister Mio was a popular honors student and StudentCouncilPresident. When Mio died in an accident, Touko swore to become Mio, and ends up pushing himself to improve. Touko achieves the same success her sister once had, but ends up not seeing it as hers, seeing herself as a mere copy of Mio and hating her true self. |
| 69 | ** The idea of a GayRomanticPhase is also deconstructed. Sayaka's old girlfriend Chie Yuzuki saw their relationship as a temporary thing, whereas Sayaka saw Chie as her FirstLove. Sayaka doesn't take it well when Chie suddenly dumps her, saying that they're getting too old for such a thing, and when Chie later says that she hopes that Sayaka's back to "normal"- in other words, heterosexuality, since the trope reflects the Japanese belief that homosexuality is a phase in adolescence. The only reason Sayaka is willing to put the relationship behind her is because she no longer loves Chie. |
| 70 | * In ''Manga/BunnyDrop'', Rin deconstructs EmotionlessGirl, as she looks so unemotional that her relatives get [[CreepyChild terribly uncomfortable]] and, when her elderly father dies and her mother disappears, no one but male lead Dankichi wants to take her in. |
| 71 | * ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' does a nasty deconstruction of the HardWorkHardlyWorks and InvincibleHero ideas which are so common in shounen. Throughout the first half of the series, it's very frequently remarked how the hero, Kazuki, experiences dramatic improvement in his fighting abilities in a very short period of time and there are comments from Tokiko in episode 14 about how Kazuki seems to bounce back at his lowest point, fed by the energy of others. Well, come the next episode, he dies, and through said heroic will, rips out the "kakugane" (the source of his power and a replacement for his heart) from his chest and it is revealed to be a "black kakugane". Seems that when you have one of those in your chest in place of a heart, you get superhuman powers, but [[BlessedWithSuck with a catch]]. Those with black kakuganes have PowerIncontinence and constantly drain the life energy of anyone around them. Thus, what at first seemed like stock shounen-hero traits were actually a foreshadowing of Kazuki's [[BlessedWithSuck powers being a curse]]. |
| 72 | * ''Manga/CaseClosed'', as one of the LongRunners, features more than one deconstructed trope in its cases: |
| 73 | ** A good example is what Gosho Aoyama did with RescueRomance, when [[spoiler: a guy who hopelessly crushes on Ran, Sonoko and Shinichi's sempai Asami drugs her when they go karaoke singing and then uses a trick to set the karaoke parlor in fire when Asami is completely alone and defenseless in there, hoping to rescue her and finally make her fall for him. In the end, not only Ran is the one who really rescues Asami, but Conan (through Kogoro) reveals his gambit to everyone, and in the anime he VERY harshly and bluntly calls him out on his selfishness.]] |
| 74 | ** Not to mention, there's quite the deconstruction of how a {{Yandere}} would be seen by others. Every time a {{Yandere}} is the case's murderer, they will claim it's [[LoveMakesyouEvil for the sake of the person]] who was badly hurt and often killed/DrivenToSuicide by the culprit. 90% of times, Shinichi/Conan will tell them something similar to "[[QuitYourWhining No. You're lying.]] You did it '''[[ItsAllAboutMe for your own sake and pride]]'''. They wouldn't be happy with this, and you have also harmed other people to make yourself feel good. '''Shut up'''." And more often than not, he turns out to be right. |
| 75 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'' either deconstructs the IdiotHero with Suzaku or simply plays it for drama. Either way, poor Suzaku ''painfully'' pays the price for his questionable actions. |
| 76 | ** Kaname Ougi is a deconstruction of TheEveryman, since the fact that he's a normal guy in a war-torn world is the reason why he makes many questionable decisions. |
| 77 | ** Oh, Shirley Fennette. What a way to deconstruct NaiveEverygirl through [[BreakTheCutie your heartbreaking tale]], huh? |
| 78 | ** YamatoNadeshiko is deconstructed with Kallen's Japanese birth mother, a gentle family woman who cannot cope with the suffering she goes through and ends up as a drug addict since she wants to relive her happy times, and causes Kallen to be disappointed as she mistakes her devotion to her for devotion to her {{Jerkass}} Britannian father... only realizing her mistake as she witnesses first-hand the devastating emotional damage that her now pretty much mindwiped mother has acquired due to her addition. [[spoiler: Fortunately, she gets better in the GrandFinale.]] |
| 79 | ** GambitRoulette and TheChessmaster [[DeconReconSwitch gets deconstructed as much as it's played straight]] throughout the series. While it's possible to be a brilliant tactician and manipulate others to get what you want, life as a whole is simply ''unpredictable'' and it's impossible to plan for ''every'' outcome. A lot of Lelouch's plans end up blowing up in his face simply because of outside forces he in ''no way'' could have predicted or seen coming, the most infamous example being [[spoiler: [[PowerIncontinence his Geass permanently switching on]] after he jokingly gave a command that ended up costing ''countless lives''.]] |
| 80 | * ''Anime/CrossAnge'' provides a deconstruction of tropes: |
| 81 | ** WorldOfActionGirls: The girls who are Arzenal are technically slaves with delicate equipment very little time outside of combat. Moreover, these people UsedToBeASweetKid until they were apprehended by society and heartlessly tortured by their senior officials until they were comparable to an EmptyShell. |
| 82 | ** TheMagocracy: Everyone has powers, but what about those without them, especially if they're the minority? Treat them like sub-human monsters and terrorists, of course! [[spoiler:And once they lose their power, the society itself immediately falls into chaos.]] |
| 83 | ** Even anti-war themes prevalent in the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise are deconstructed. Sure the world ''seems'' united, resources are plentiful, and wars are obsolete. But without existing enemies or experience in true war, the Mana society fell into utter complacency. [[spoiler:When an invasion comes to their doorstep, they're helpless to stop them.]] |
| 84 | * In ''Manga/CrossGame'', Kou and Aoba meet [[spoiler:Akane]] who happens to look exactly like [[spoiler:Wakaba, Kou's dead love interest and Aoba's Dead Older Sister.]] Looks like we're sailing towards DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest, huh? [[spoiler:Uhm, no. Kou and Akane don't end up together, and the main characters theorize (somewhat bizarrely) that Akane was sent by Wakaba to let them know that it's okay to move on.]] |
| 85 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'' deconstructs VigilanteMan with Light Yagami, showing just what an arrogant {{Jerkass}} someone would have to be to decide their judgment is better than the law. At the same time, it also deconstructs both WellIntentionedExtremist and UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. |
| 86 | ** In the case of the former, while Light might begin with the best interest of the world at heart, honestly believing that using the Death Note is the best way to achieve an end to evil, [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain by the end he becomes so narcissistic that he comes to believe he is a god]]. |
| 87 | ** In the latter case, the "utopia" that Light creates is actually free of war and crime, everything Light wanted to get rid of. However, this is only true because everyone is terrified of Kira, and one wrong move means being inevitably killed by him. That was the point, of course. |
| 88 | ** The show also deconstructs the concept of JusticeWillPrevail; it always will, but only because [[WrittenByTheWinners whoever is victorious will claim it]]. Therefore, there is no genuine justice, only winning and losing. |
| 89 | * ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' Deconstructs IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim late in the season when evil Digimon are released into Tokyo. The Chosen Children attempt to simply send them back to the Digital World, and Miyako and Iori are (pretty understandably) horrified when their Digimon are forced to kill two of them. However it's quickly pointed out that the trope is suicidal naivety and that the evil Digimon would have taken advantage of that had they been allowed to live: they had no problems about killing innocent people and would have killed Miyako and Iori and likely many more had their Digimon not stopped them. Not helping things is that Digimon in most continuities have ResurrectiveImmortality; save for a few cases, any Digimon they kill would be reborn again, so the Chosen Children were stupidly risking their lives for a moral that was completely invalidated in the very first series. |
| 90 | * ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' does this to DueToTheDead and HonorBeforeReason. Once the core cast realize that the Digimon they were killing and whose data their Digimon were then absorbing, are truly KilledOffForReal, they all decide to not have their Digimon absorb their data in the hopes of it finding its way back to the Digital World and reincarnating the Digimon in question. Later on the group encounters a Digimon who learns of this and is offended by it, pointing out that Digimon operate under MightMakesRight, so to kill them and not absorb their data is a combo of CruelMercy and SenselessSacrifice that ignores how the Digital World operates. Essentially, the heroes were slapping the faces of all the dead Digimon by trying to force their concept of mercy and honor onto what are essentially an alien view point. |
| 91 | * ''Manga/DrStone'' points out an often-overlooked issue with the AndIMustScream trope, where someone is made unable to die, but also immobilized and is still aware of the passage of time: the human brain requires energy in order to function, even if no other bodily activity is happening. If everyone on Earth was [[TakenForGranite turned into still-conscious statues]], their minds would still need to obtain energy to keep functioning. Almost everyone just stops being conscious after a while, while the heroes Senku and Taiju, who managed to remain conscious for 3700 years [[{{Determinator}} through sheer force of will end up being revived as their brains started breaking down their petrified bodies for energy]]. |
| 92 | * ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' deconstructs the NebulousEvilOrganization trying to achieve [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]. ACROSS has a charismatic leader whose followers would do anything for him, but Il Palazzo's plans of taking over Fukuoka City and then the world are not well thought out and always lead to failure. Also, since working for a secret organization does not pay, the minions of ACROSS have to find time to enact evil plans inbetween temp jobs. |
| 93 | * ''Manga/FemmeKabuki'' as a whole is already one big {{Deconstruction}} on how much the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration actually sucked, but GorgeousGaijin gets a nice kick in the balls as well. [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold "Saint"]] Jodie Hanabusa-Abbott's [[TasteTheRainbow theme in the troupe]] is "Jodie The Foreigner," a blue-eyed, blonde-haired White woman that somehow ended up in 19th Century Japan and a pair of StupidCrooks kidnap her [[MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome because they think her family'll pay a huge ransom to get her back safely.]] Turns out not only does she (only) [[BilingualBackfire speak Japanese and understands everything they said,]] her only family ''is'' [[TrueCompanions the troupe]] as her [[DisappearedDad White dad skipped town]] [[DeliberateValuesDissonance and may not even know/care that he has a daughter,]] her mother, called a "Rashamen's Child" was driven to an early grave because of how much of a pariah she'd become, leaving her orphaned daughter to be [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer bullied]] [[DramaticIrony for the very same features the audience fetishizes.]] [[FridgeHorror It's never even made clear]] ''how'' many years she went from orphan to a member of the group, but she's ThePollyAnna and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned her happy ending, so it's all good.]] |
| 94 | * ''Manga/{{Freezing}}'' initially had a very romantic view of the BattleCouple concept, with asking someone to be your partner being akin to a LoveConfession and the "baptism ceremony" (when the couple becomes an offical BattleCouple) being one big metaphor for sex. Then it brutally shows you that since the couple is expected to be on a warzone, either of them could die any moment. Not very romantic. Surviving singles are then just told to pair up with each other to get ready for the next battle, reminding you that "battle" always comes before "couple". |
| 95 | ** It also deconstructs TheAce. Satellizer is beautiful, smart, a strong ActionGirl, pretty much a female {{Determinator}}... but the heavy pressure to be the best does ''not'' mix well with her [[HatesBeingTouched trust issues]] [[BrokenBird and troubled past]], and so she's feared and hated by everyone. |
| 96 | *** And RealWomenDontWearDresses, too. In her death bed, trying to make up to Satellizer for not defending her from [[spoiler:her half-brother's physical and sexual abuse]], her mother gives her advice that sounds a LOT to what the "fandom feminists" demand from every single female character: "don't rely on others, don't show any 'weaknesses', never ever give up on any purpose you have, crush your enemies mercilessly so you'll always be the strongest." Did this help Satellizer "get over" her traumatic past? '''''NO.''''' She ''did'' become a very powerful, beautiful and smart SuperSoldier ActionGirl... but her mental issues became '''even worse''' and she ended up driving everyone away from her. Satellizer wasn't seen as a "strong female" and "good example for little girls", but as a monster who hurt everyone mercilessly. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld'' is basically a great big deconstruction of {{telekinesis}}. Some, but not all, of the population suddenly develops it...and some, but not all, of them use their new powers to [[LudicrousGibs go on a killing spree.]] Billions of people die; the more powerful psychics spend several decades lording over everyone else and slaughtering people ForTheEvulz. Conscious and unconscious telepathic DNA manipulation creates all sorts of new species, many of which are very dangerous. [[spoiler:Some people lose control of their powers and/or sanity and become mutants and/or mindless killing machines.]] The main story takes place long after all this, when things have mostly settled down; but it's slowly revealed that the main reason things ''have'' "settled down" is because of the elaborate Literature/BraveNewWorld-isms (hence the title) devised to keep the people's own dangerous powers in check. Such things include: [[spoiler:giving everyone a gene that makes their vital organs shut down if they harm another human, training mutant cat-beasts to quietly devour children whose powers are too weak or too strong, hypnotic suggestion against disobedience and creative thought, contrived religious ceremonies to "block" the powers of young children or troublemakers, encouraging sex with anyone and everyone to reduce conflict, good old fashioned fearmongering]] ...you get the idea. |
| 98 | * For a series with ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove as two of its main themes, ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' has a ''lot'' of deconstructions: |
| 99 | ** AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Because his wife became suicidally depressed as a result of giving birth to the Rabbit and only got better after willingly forgetting about her own son, Momiji's father basically kicked Momiji out of the family and deliberately limits any contact Momiji has with his own mother and sister so his wife isn't in danger of remembering him even though Momo wants to bond with her older brother despite not knowing they're blood related. In the end, the father prioritizes his wife's sanity instead of his kids' happiness. |
| 100 | ** CompanionCube[=/=]TalkingToTheDead: Tohru is incredibly attached to the memory of her [[MissingMom late mother]] Kyoko. Aside from often having {{Inner Monologue}}s where she talks to Kyoko, who she rarely refers to in the past tense, she is incredibly attached to photos of her mother to the point of treating them as if they ''are'' her; in the first episode alone, she has a FreakOut over her mother's picture being buried in a landslide alongside her tent, speaking as if Kyoko was BuriedAlive, and when Hiro takes her wallet, which contains one such picture, she reacts as if Hiro just kidnapped her mother. While PlayedForLaughs at first, it [[CerebusRetcon eventually becomes clear]] that Tohru doing so is ''not'' healthy, and signifies her inability to accept her mother's death and move on. |
| 101 | ** EasilyForgiven[=/=]MyMasterRightOrWrong: One of the aspects of the Sohma family curse is that the Zodiac members ''have'' to forgive Akito, the God of the Zodiac, no matter what she does to them or other people, even if they clearly don't approve of her misdeeds. This has added to many of their emotional issues and Akito continues to abuse the Zodiac's inability to blame her to the extreme. Akito is very reliant on this as its one of her primary ways of controlling the Zodiac, instilling fear and sadness in them, but they're forced to forgive through the curse and love her unconditionally. When Yuki gains the strength to move on from the past thanks to Tohru's healing, he willingly forgives Akito on his own without the curse forcing him. This causes Akito to freak out since it means the Zodiac members are capable of leaving her and the negative influence of the Sohma family. |
| 102 | ** AGodAmI: Akito has let her status as God of the Zodiac go to her head, believing she's automatically entitled to do and have whatever she wants, most notably the undivided attention of the Zodiac members, and throwing destructive temper tantrums the instant she doesn't get her way, and as a god, nobody can punish her or try to stop her. It's later revealed that Akito clings to her title so heavily because she [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex believes]] she doesn't have any self-worth beyond it. |
| 103 | ** ImplausibleHairColor: Although some of the [[EasternZodiac Members of the Zodiac]] have dark brown or black hair, a lot of them have hair ranging from red/orange to blonde, and a few even have grey or white hair (corresponding to their [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting animal forms]]). It's constantly noted by other characters, with most adults suspecting that they dye their hair. It's even worse with other students - ''all'' of the Juunishi with such unusual hair colors ([[ButNotTooForeign except Momiji]]) got teased, or even bullied for it, as kids. Most of them were able to cope, but poor [[CuteMute Kisa]] was traumatized by it. |
| 104 | ** NeverMyFault: Kyo always wanted to blame Yuki for all his problems, particularly him being excluded from the Zodiac, his mother's suicide [[spoiler:and Kyo choosing not to save Kyoko for fear of his curse becoming public]], because thinking of himself as the victim of a bad guy made him feel better about himself. Given he had been [[TheScapegoat blamed by literally everyone]] for things completely beyond his control, like his own existence, for his entire life, it was more of a coping mechanism to keep from mentally falling apart. Towards the end of the series, Kyo acknowledges how unfair and self-serving this way of thinking was and learns to accept responsibility for his own actions. |
| 105 | ** PennyAmongDiamonds: Ren was originally a housemaid in the Sohma main household. Akira, the family head, fell in love with her while she looked after him due to his poor health and they got married. No one in the family approved of their marriage because of Ren's low-class position and Ren was ostracized by the Sohma household except for her husband. When Akira died, Ren basically stayed confined in the Sohma main house with only a few servants being willing to even talk to her, resulting in her unstable mental state and extreme envy towards her daughter who is worshipped by the family as the Zodiac's "God". |
| 106 | ** PushoverParents: Continuing on from EasilyForgiven above, both this trope and that above have significantly contributed to Akito's current issues. Even those who aren't part of the Zodiac's curse did nothing but enable her bratty behavior, with the head maid, her ParentalSubstitute, stating outright that as the Zodiac's god and head of the family, Akito is free to do whatever she wants and they exist solely to live and die for her sake. Near the end of the series, Akito breaks down crying over it, sobbing that she was never taught a sense of right and wrong. |
| 107 | --->'''Akito''': Don't you see? Nobody taught me otherwise! This was the life they gave me! Nobody ever offered me another one! So how do I ask when I don't know ''what'' to ask?! |
| 108 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' deconstructs the TakeAThirdOption variant in which the hero reaches ''both'' goals; logically speaking, if it is possible to bend the rules enough to for achieving both objectives, it's also possible for the rules to bend enough for the hero to ''fail'' both objectives. |
| 109 | ** It also, though much more subtly, deconstructs EquivalentExchange. In the manga, Ed and Al, as part of CharacterDevelopment, [[spoiler:eventually realize no matter how much they try to apply that law to their lives, they always find something missing in the end, and ultimately choose to "give back eleven to every person or thing they take ten from", thus making the world richer]]. It's even further ripped apart in the 2003 anime by [[spoiler:[[BigBad Dante's]]]] BreakingSpeech to Ed, claiming that law of equivalency is 'a lie meant to comfort the oppressed and make children do their lessons'. [[VillainHasAPoint As she points out]], while impressive and accurate in theory, the law of EquivalentExchange is very flawed, especially when one attempts to apply it outside of Alchemy. While someone may put in everything they've got to achieve something, what they receive will not always be of equal value to what has been given ([[KickTheDog like a child pleading for someone to save her life with all her heart, yet may not receive it anyway]]). As a result, Ed and Al ultimately conclude that even though life isn't always fair, they can still believe in the principle of hope: [[ReconstructedTrope that by believing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that all of the sacrifice will ultimately be worth it and that the journey itself is the exchange.]] |
| 110 | * The 3rd OVA to ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' is a deconstruction of the tropes IJustWantToBeSpecial and IJustWantToBeLoved. So many {{Fangirl}}s were expressing their desires to be sucked into the Universe of the Four Gods and get a fairy-tale ending with one of the {{Bishounen}} that the creator decided to deconstruct such a girl into a JerkSue that's meant to symbolize human weakness [[LoveMakesYouCrazy in matters of the heart.]] |
| 111 | * In ''Manga/FutureDiary'', [[{{Yandere}} Yuno Gasai]] deconstructs the SatelliteLoveInterest by showing exactly what kind of obsessive person someone needs to be in order for them to base ''every action'' they do around one person (not to mention the other effects of such obsession, such as taking ClingyJealousGirl to MurderTheHypotenuse levels). This is because, if anyone threatens to take him away from her, Yuno equates it to her entire future being taken away: after the abuse that she went through [[spoiler: and how Yukiteru [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe once was kind to her]] right after she killed her AbusiveParents]], Yuno's life literally depends on having Yukiteru for emotional support. He truly '''is''' her future, and she'd rather kill and die than risk losing him. [[spoiler: And ultimately, she does ''both''.]] |
| 112 | ** The {{Yandere}} itself is also taken apart throughout the series, showing type of life it takes to create somebody as dangerously obsessive and dependent as she is, showing that despite her violent insanity, on the bottom line, Yuno is a psychologically and emotionally broken teenage girl. Yuno even comes to admit this to herself, that while she is obsessed with Yukiteru, she doesn't truly ''love'' him. She was just looking for somebody to use as an emotional crutch and Yukiteru happened to be the most convenient person for this role. [[spoiler: This part of it is eventually subverted in that she and Yukiteru then come to realize that while the two of them only initially got together out of convenience and their own needs, the they also came to develop genuine feelings for each other, which is what drives Yukiteru to keep pursuing Yuno despite everything else.]] |
| 113 | * ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'': High fantasy in general is deconstructed, but most specifically low-level enemies like goblins. A goblin is only as smart and strong as a human child, so they are often dismissed as a threat. But it is important to remember that human children can be cunning and stronger than you expect--and there are [[ExplosiveBreeder many, many goblins]]. They set traps, prepare ambushes, never attack unless they have [[ZergRush overwhelming force on their side]], and [[CombatPragmatist will do absolutely anything they need to in order to survive]]. Sure, high-level heroes could kill armies of goblins easily... but since the only people threatened by goblins are poor peasants, the reward is simply not worth the risk. While heroes fight the GreatOffscreenWar against a demon army, the heartland is slowly being consumed by goblins, wiping out one town at a time. Goblin Slayer is the only high-level adventurer doing anything about it. |
| 114 | * ''Anime/{{Godannar}}'' deconstructs {{Tsundere}} again, but taking a different approach than Taiga and Helga examples above and below - instead of showing the reason for such behavior, it shows the ''consequences''. Shizuru Fujimura notes that this was exactly how she was treating Goh Saruwatari, pushing him away, so before she could finally come to terms with her own feelings and accept the fact she loves him... he married another woman, Anna Aoi. |
| 115 | ** It also [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] and deconstructs BattleCouple. Goh and Anna are married as well as partners, but it doesn't mean their relationship is all wine and roses: there's the 12 years age gap, the fact that Go was in love with his dead partner Milla, the stress of battles, Anna's insecurities and naive concept of love, etc. And then we get the other team-ups... |
| 116 | * ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'' deconstructs IneffectualSympatheticVillain and UnknownRival through Do-ji. In the first episode, Do-ji tricks Riku and Yukio into a battle and quickly gets his comeuppance. Do-ji vows to get back at Riku, but Riku is just excited his first day in GBN was so exciting! When Do-ji's brother Ogre meets Riku, he ends up seeing him as a WorthyOpponent, which scares Do-ji, especially with Riku's Force defeats some of Rommel's latest rookies within the 7th Panzer Division. Not helping matters is Ogre's teammates Oboro, Nuts and Rose, who like to tease Do-ji over mistakes he makes. Seeing as Riku only remembers him as the kid who tried to con him and his brother focusing more on him, Do-ji develops quite the IJustWantToBeSpecial complex for Ogre that [[spoiler:he willingly runs off to find and obtain [[SuperPoweredEvilSide a Break Decal]] from [[BigBad Tsukasa]] so he can get stronger.]] |
| 117 | * The sequel ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'' deconstructs LegendaryInTheSequel. Two years since the events of the original series, team Build Divers are praised for their heroics in the face of overwhelming odds. When Hiroto, Kazami, Parviz and May are dragged to Eldora, the kid who brought them there, Freddie, keeps calling them "Build Divers" and treating them as grand heroes like it's part of a game. [[spoiler:After TheReveal, we find out that the reason Freddie knew of Build Divers was because he was watching videos of Riku and his friends and the only reason Hiroto and company are even using the name was because [[MistakenForBadass Freddie mistook them for the originals and Kazami hit the accept button before Freddie could make sure he got the right people]].]] |
| 118 | * The anime of ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'' provides trope deconstructions that ruin the characters' lives as a whole. |
| 119 | ** Brandon 'Beyond the Grave' Heat's UndyingLoyalty. This puts him under much torment when he has to choose between his best friend, Harry, and his boss and father figure, Big Daddy. [[spoiler: Brandon's inability to choose ends up being one of the main causes of Brandon's downfall, which in turn leads to the suffering and deaths of the people closest to Brandon, including his father figure Big Daddy, his former LoveInterest Maria, his colleagues Gary and Widge, his caretaker Dr. T, his young ward Mika, and ultimately, his best friend Harry. In the finale, Brandon admits that even though he is supposed to enforce the iron law of the syndicate to never betray, he just cannot shoot his best friend Harry.]] |
| 120 | ** Harry [=MacDowel's=] DrunkWithPower, along with AmbitionIsEvil. He starts out as a street punk who struggles to live with his gang in the crime-ridden slums. Once he becomes a mob who rises quickly through the ranks, he starts to forget about his friends. Eager to reach the top, Harry reveals his plan of killing Big Daddy to Brandon (which actually seems to be just a test of loyalty for Brandon, as Bob's wiretapping work lets Harry hear a conversation between Brandon and Big Daddy, which informs him that Brandon is potentially against him since Brandon says that he will execute whoever that betrays the organization, no matter who he is). [[spoiler: This leads to Brandon decking him with a punch and pointing a gun at him out of his loyalty to Big Daddy. Unfortunately, Brandon's loyalty to his best friend results in him dropping the gun instead of firing it. Harry, now feeling betrayed, murders Brandon and accuses him as a traitor to the organization. Later on, Harry starts to regret his act because he doesn't really find any traces of Brandon's betrayal. But what is done is done; Harry has killed Brandon, his best friend, the one he has always relied on. As an attempt to comfort himself, Harry keeps convincing himself that Brandon indeed, betrays him, but he still experiences VillainousBreakdown. In the last few episodes, Harry ends up LonelyAtTheTop and getting hunted by the Millennion splinter-faction, who isn't happy with his reign. Then in the finale, when Brandon reveals that he actually chooses his best friend Harry over his boss and father figure Big Daddy, Harry experiences another VillainousBreakdown and sheds TearsOfRemorse.]] |
| 121 | ** PapaWolf is frequently deconstructed. |
| 122 | *** Big Daddy sometimes refers Brandon as his son, and he is grief-stricken when Brandon is killed by Harry. After reading Brandon's letter, learning more about Harry, and finding Brandon's Necrolyzed body, Big Daddy isn't just sad, but he also makes up his mind to confront Harry by himself. [[spoiler: Harry explicitly states that he has no intention of killing Big Daddy because he still needs his backing, but when Big Daddy brings up about Brandon and his letter, Harry goes mad and snaps. After shooting Big Daddy to death, Harry issues a manhunt for anybody that reminds him of Big Daddy: his wife Maria and his daughter Mika, who is about to be born.]] |
| 123 | *** Eddie, Sid Geralde's son, is supposed to be executed for accidentally killing Bear Walken's guest. However, Eddie begs his father to help him. For his son's sake, Sid agrees and asks him to leave the city forever. He then takes the blame for his son and is executed instead. |
| 124 | *** Like Sid, Bear Walken puts his daughter's happiness above everything. He entrusts his daughter to Harry and allows her to be in relationship with Harry. After Harry murders Brandon and Brandon's Necrolization, he sides with Harry to ensure Sherry's safety and happiness. [[spoiler: This leads to him fighting his apprentice Brandon (now Grave) and ultimately, his death.]] |
| 125 | * ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'' features a ''massive'' deconstruction of [[spoiler: ChildhoodFriendRomance.]] [[spoiler: Due to her NoSocialSkills, Yozora Mikazuki had assumed that her position as Kodaka Hasegawa's ChildhoodFriend pretty much granted her the biggest chance to become his love interest. Therefore she put all her hopes on how she was the "First Girl" in his life and held on the idea that he'd love her back no matter what, constantly telling herself that her love rival, Sena Kashiwazaki, had no chance to win him over, despite all her merits or even all her actual love for him.]] This turns out to not be true: not only [[spoiler: Yozora [[FreakOut is badly shaken]] when she realises that [[WrongGenreSavvy this isn't how real life works]]]], but it turns out that [[spoiler: ''Sena'' is the actual childhood friend of Kodaka, since he met her ''before he met Yozora''. And it looks like ''they're in an ArrangedMarriage'', too!]] Understandably, [[spoiler: poor Yozora [[HeroicBSOD takes neither discovery well]].]] |
| 126 | * In ''Anime/HaloLegends'', an injured [[spoiler: Daisy]] tells their team to leave them behind when they have already boarded a Pelican and are surrounded by the Covenant. They refused, saying NoOneGetsLeftBehind. The Pelican is then blown up, killing the entire team, as well as [[spoiler: Daisy]], the person they stayed behind for. |
| 127 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' deconstructs TheUnwantedHarem and, to a degree, CannotSpitItOut. Despite Kyon showing a strong attraction for [[{{Moe}} a really pretty girl of the harem]] and a strong appreciation for [[EmotionlessGirl another one of them]], circumstances prevent him from acting on anything (among ''many'' other reasons, the words "It's forbidden" come up a lot). Considering the main girl who is available is a beautiful yet borderline sociopathic [[spoiler:RealityWarper]], there's evidence that this is more than coincidental. And ''no'', it [[UnresolvedSexualTension does not get better]] with time... in ''any'' of the three cases. |
| 128 | ** Haruhi ''the character'' deconstructs ManicPixieDreamGirl. Yes, she "spices up" Kyon's ordinary and boring life ever since the first time they speak, but considering [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} how horribly and dangerously out of touch with reality she is]] due to both [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife her disillusionment with the world as a whole]] and [[spoiler: being unaware of her tremendous RealityWarper powers]], her "funny" and "magical" behavior can bring ''genuine'' trouble to herself (not allowing her to connect with other people [[MoralityChain other than Kyon]]) and others (forcing Mikuru, Kyon, Yuki and Itsuki to keep her permanently LockedOutOfTheLoop, which gets harder and harder as time passes). |
| 129 | *** Haruhi can also be seen as a deconstruction of BlackHoleSue, since [[spoiler: having the power to warp the world to your will and being pretty much the God of the story]] is ''not'' necessarily as good as it sounds. |
| 130 | * The anime version of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'' asks the question, "What happens when there are [[SuccessionCrisis two arguably]] [[RightfulKingReturns rightful claimants]] to the throne?" Both Arslan and [[spoiler: Hermes]] are in a race to see who could make the stronger claim while trying to free Pars from the Lusitanian invasion. Parsian officers recognize that because there are two contenders, liberating Pars would not bring peace and has the potential to throw the country into further chaos if a CivilWar erupts from this. |
| 131 | * ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' deconstructs ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections. Diodora Astaroth is a {{sadist}}ic HopeCrusher who's favorite pastime is driving nuns to a CrisisOfFaith before raping and killing him, and is despised by virtually everyone around him even before this gets out, but, as Issei realizes, the other Devils put up with him because he's both the heir of the well-respected Astaroth clan and a relative of Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Four Great Satans]], and killing him could risk a civil war. Once he joins the [[EvilArmy Khaos Brigade]] and participates in a plot that would have killed a lot of high-ranking people, he loses that protection, and nobody gives a shit when Issei beats him senseless and Shalba [[YouHaveFailedMe offs him]], after which not only does his once-respected family end up with their reputation [[HeroWithBadPublicity in the toilet]], but Ajuka himself is briefly MistakenForTerrorist. |
| 132 | * ''Manga/{{Is}}'' deconstructs LikeBrotherAndSister with Ichitaka and Itsuki's relationship. He feels this way towards her while she nurses romantic feelings for him, but [[spoiler:when he finally starts to question if he does like her romantically, she realizes that he doesn't and is just confused, and she gets over him. She later gets a boyfriend of her own in the USA, and Ichitaka ends up with Iori instead.]] |
| 133 | ** Earlier than that, ''Video Girl Len'' deconstructs PurityPersonified by showing a character, Hiromu, who truly thinks that women are pretty much this, therefore Len has to pretty much prove him that girls are, well, just human beings like him. |
| 134 | * ''Manga/InuYasha'' has more than one deconstruction: |
| 135 | ** ReincarnationRomance: a half-demon guy falls in love with a {{Miko}} girl who dies tragically and pins him to a magical tree before dying, and is woken up from said experience by the PluckyGirl reincarnation of the girl he loved. Now, there's the catch of having the {{Miko}} girl [[CameBackWrong forcibly resurrected]] by an evil witch, which brings problems for the three of them: the guy has conflicting feelings and loyalties to both ladies, the original girl is consumed by bitterness and pain, and the reincarnated girl has her self-esteem badly damaged. [[spoiler: The three do get better... but not before lots of heartbreak ''and'' having the original girl die again, this time much more peacefully so both she and the guy can finally move on, and he and the other girl can be together.]] |
| 136 | ** FeelNoPain: During Sango's introductory arc, Naraku slaughters her hometown and family and dupes her into thinking Inuyasha did it. With Sango having been badly injured earlier, Naraku implants a [[MacGuffin Shikon Jewel shard]] into her body to nullify the pain, intending that she'll fight Inuyasha to the death without ever realizing how bad her wounds are. Indeed, she doesn't realize she's bleeding to death until Inuyasha calls attention to her injuries. |
| 137 | * ''Manga/IsItMyFaultThatIGotBullied'' |
| 138 | ** Deconstructs BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. Shinji Suzuki is a non-criminal example. He’s a successful banker because he is sent to handle clients that appeal to the banker's conscience, where he ruthlessly rejects feeling sympathy for them. It’s implied that his boss uses him for that kind of work, and his Coworkers greatly admire him for his ruthlessness, even if some are uncomfortable with it, with one of them viewing him as an elite person. By the final chapters of the story, Shinji's mistress and former victim revealed him to be a cheater and a bully to his boss and coworkers. His boss was disgusted and denied him the promotion and later demoted him to make copies of documents all day. His coworkers wanted nothing to do with him, ignored him, and refused to be threatened by him or even talk to him. They were willing to tolerate and even admire Shinji's ruthless methods when it was good for business, but they draw the line when they see what a monster he really is and cut ties with him. And eventually, one of the people Shinji abused and bullied when he was a banker killed him just as he was planning to put his life back together, showing that there are even consequences when legally doing dirty work because your cruelty will catch up to you when one of your victims sick of your abuse. |
| 139 | ** Deconstructs EvilIsPetty. Ai Nagumo reveals herself as this issue to why she’s a bully. She’s pissed that her basketball coach forced her to sit out essential games while Shiori got the lead in the team. Then Nagumo finds out the only reason their coach favors Shiori is because she’s having an affair with her father. Nagumo considered exposing the affair, but then she hears Shiori talking with her friend, revealing that she had planned to quit the basketball club because her grades have been dropping and that she considers Nagumo a better player than her, and was happy to leave the team to her. [[UngratefulBitch Instead of being happy and grateful towards Shiori, she was angry that Shiori was so happy and decided that exposing the affair would not be enough, so she decides to destroy Shiori's life.]]]] |
| 140 | *** This gets deconstruction by the end of the story because Nagumo's pettiness destroyed her and her friends and her parents' lives; the full instance of her bullying was revealed to the public, which destroyed her and her friends' reputations. Confident that she can escape without consequences, she smugly reveals to Shiori that her father was having an affair with the coach, which is why she wanted to destroy her life and left to go home confident that she can escape consequences by studying abroad, only to be confronted by her parents who revealed that her actions had destroyed their reputation. It finally hits her with the reality that her and her parents' lives have been destroyed and they are going to be living as outcasts, all because she wanted to hurt someone who didn't do anything wrong towards her. |
| 141 | * For the heroine of a ''very'' idealistic show, Sora from ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' deconstructs NaiveEverygirl, by facing crippling losses and rejection ''from the beginning'' and having to work hard for both respect and technical prowess... ''without'' becoming cynical. |
| 142 | ** Sora's ultra-optimistic behavior deconstructs JadeColoredGlasses too: you don't have to become [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids super ultra gritty and cynical]] as time passes and things don't work the way you want, and it's possible to work hard and build a compromise of sorts between maturity and idealism, so you can have both of them. The two persons who ''do'' fall into cynicism and despair after being broken, [[spoiler: Yuri Killian and Leon Oswald]], end up converted as well. |
| 143 | ** Fool deconstructs FairyCompanion. Sora thinks she has lost her mind when she starts seeing him, his advice isn't exactly flawless, [[spoiler: and when Sora goes into borderline {{Wangst}} status she actually stops seeing him for a while, meaning she has to stop feeling sorry for herself ''fast'' or she will lose the chance to be the star.]] |
| 144 | * SwissArmyTears is deconstructed in ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', as [[spoiler: Mai Kawasumi]] is deemed as a freak and withstands lots of abuse when she uses them to heal her fatally ill mother. |
| 145 | * ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' seems to be giving an ongoing deconstruction of the ChildProdigy trope through Chikage Kushinada, the (apparently) youngest member and resident judo disciple of the YOMI group. While she's very versed in facts from different subjects, it's revealed that she learned those facts through rote and not through practical application (for example, she knows the scientific names of flowers but doesn't know when or how they're supposed to be planted and nurtured). It's also revealed that, while she is trained in [[TheStoic masking her emotions]], such training has stunted her social development and has not allowed her to be the child she actually is, so things that most children her age would take for granted (like sweets) are a curious novelty for her. |
| 146 | %%* ''Kodomo No Jikan'' spends a volume or two [[PlayedForLaughs playing]] PrecociousCrush[=/=]FilleFatale[=/=]TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]], then [[MoodWhiplash violently]] [[CerebusSyndrome switches]] to a deconstruction of the latter two tropes. [[spoiler: Sometimes, children and teenagers who have been sexually abused have oversexed behavior patterns - this turns out to be the explanation behind Rin Kokonoe's behavior.]] |
| 147 | * ''Literature/KokoroConnect'' deconstructs AppliedPhlebotinum by showing how traumatizing it is for the cast to be subjugated to the kind of situations you'd usually laugh at (like the FreakyFridayFlip) without knowing when or why it's happening to them, particularly since [[MagnificentBastard HeartSeed]] is forcing them and they can't do much against him. |
| 148 | * ''Manga/KotouraSan'' shows how far {{Telepathy}} can [[BreakTheCutie ruin someone emotionally]]. The show throws in PowerIncontinence of the always-on type, and [[BrokenBird Haruka Kotoura]] has no awareness of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatemae Tatemae]] concept since she can't differentiate between speech and thought. [[HowWeGotHere Growing up]], people slowly began to realize her {{Telepathy}} since [[InnocentlyInsensitive she would always repeat their thoughts out loud]] with a [[CuriosityIsACrapshoot curious]], [[CheerfulChild cheerful smile]] on her face. [[RageBreakingPoint Eventually infuriated]] [[note]](The FlashBack at this point [[DeliberatelyMonochrome gradually layers in more gray and grit as it goes on]].)[[/note]], ''her entire school'' soon [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer casts her away]] as a [[TheCassandra compulsive liar]], a [[MindOverManners mental invader]], and especially [[BerserkButton her most hated insult]]: '''[[YouMonster a monster]]'''. [[FromBadToWorse Worse]], [[spoiler: her parents divorce and blame it on Haruka for revealing their affairs. Shortly after that, her mother Kumiko (herself a rather troubled individual) ''[[IHaveNoSon snaps and disowns Haruka]]'' '''[[DespairEventHorizon right in front of her face]]''' since she cannot hack it]]! Since then, [[BrokenBird Haruka]] [[ItsAllMyFault constantly blames herself for everything that goes wrong around her]] which is a habit that continues well into [[PresentDay her teen years]]. Oh, and this is only the [[DownerBeginning first 10 minutes of the show]]. |
| 149 | * ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'' takes a shot at PastLifeMemories with Ken Murata, in addition to averting ThereAreNoTherapists. Four thousand years ago, Shinou and his right-hand man ([[NoNameGiven known only as the Great Wise Man]]) set up a massive ThanatosGambit which would span the millennia, to manipulate history into bringing them a hero strong enough to kill the BigBad, once and for all. One of the required factors in this was for the Great Wise Man to reincarnate with his memories intact over the course of the millennia, so he could be in the right place at the right time. But each individual lifespan was a different person, with their own personality and desires, and having all those memories right from childhood left Murata with serious identity issues as a kid. He got better thanks to a good therapist who helped him establish his own identity as separate from the other memories, but still has issues around the fact that he himself was literally born to be a helping hand for his best friend's heroic journey, ultimately making his current incarnation a pawn in his own past life's scheme. |
| 150 | * ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato'' deconstructs AffirmativeActionGirl and TheSmurfettePrinciple through Nara-oh Renge. She's the only woman among the Hachibushu Guardians and has both her self-esteem and view of men overall quite damaged due to being surrounded by dudes; as a result, Renge exhibits an unreasonable and extreme willingness to prove her strength and superiority to the others in ''everything'', especially [[AgentPeacock the feminine Reiga.]] |
| 151 | * In ''Manga/{{Loveless}}'', Hitomi Shimonome is a deconstruction of the typical female teacher in anime, the SenseiChan. She's already in her 20's and not only is she unmarried, but a virgin as well - and her [[CatGirl cat ears]] make it ''very'' obvious, since they're supposed to fall off once the wearer [[VirginityFlag loses their virginity]]. Due to this, [[ShrinkingViolet the poor woman's self-esteem]] takes more and more of a nosedive as the series advances. |
| 152 | * ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' deconstructs DefeatMeansFriendship moment by introducing more ruthless and unforgiving antagonists. No matter how bruised the antagonists, and no matter how friendlier approaching by Special Duty Section, the villains think they can get away with things, leading to more stubbornness and aggression or running away rather than doing a traditional HeelFaceTurn. |
| 153 | * Teana Lanster of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' deconstructs IJustWantToBeSpecial by presenting the pressures felt by somebody who has mediocre talent in a group of elites. Being surrounded by people considered geniuses (Nanoha, Fate), people with rare skills (Hayate and Caro), and those with high latent potential (Erio and Subaru), she forces herself to work twice as hard because she feels the need to prove that she belongs to TheTeam (as well as to prove to the world that her brother's skills and by extension her skills are not worthless). When she fails or performs poorly, she punishes herself by working even harder due to her lack of confidence, eventually causing her to have a HeroicBSOD when she felt that her lack of talent was causing others trouble. |
| 154 | * ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' deconstructs tropes about SaveThePrincess. At first, our protagonist trio, Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji, took on the quest to save Princess Emeraude from her rogue High Priest Zagato to save Cephiro. The method to save her turns out to be... [[spoiler:killing Emeraude, because she is the Pillar of Cephiro, solely responsible of the balance of the world, but then she fell in love with Zagato, and that caused serious imbalance in Cephiro, with monsters roaming everywhere. And Zagato played the BigBad part because he didn't want her to die and Emeraude used her last resort magic for this: Summon the Magic Knights (our heroines) to kill her because [[ICannotSelfTerminate a Pillar cannot commit suicide]].]] Needless to say, Hikaru, Umi and Fuu finished their quests and [[spoiler:ended up severely traumatized at the ordeal.]] |
| 155 | * IWorkAlone is deconstructed in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', both by Alibaba in the Balbadd arc and later on, Hakuryuu. While their intentions may be noble, this mindset also alienates them from potential powerful allies and makes them unable to move forward or possibly killed. |
| 156 | * ''Literature/{{Maoyu}}'': |
| 157 | ** DecapitatedArmy: As the Demon Queen points out, a war will not truly end just because the authority figure on one side is killed. His/her killer would be an assassin, not a hero, and such an action is rendered moot if he/she is easily replaceable. |
| 158 | ** InvincibleHero: The Hero is supposedly able to fight entire armies on his own, but his powers made him feel alienated from other people, and with his schooling under the Demon Queen's tutelage, he has since become more of a pacifist. Furthermore, the Hero often becomes depressed due to feeling like he can't accomplish anything noteworthy for the Demon Queen's plans, as all he knows is how to fight. Gradually though, he does see CharacterDevelopment and realizes he can be useful in ways that don't require his fighting abilities. |
| 159 | ** SupportingProtagonist: Although The Hero has all the abilities and fighting prowess that come with the archetype, he can do remarkably little compared to the Demon Queen which frustrates him to some degree. |
| 160 | ** WarIsGlorious: The Youngster Trio definitely think so; their classes led by Lady Knight and Demon Queen show them how there's nothing glorious or good about the Human/Demon War but how nasty it is and it's effects on the people and society. |
| 161 | * ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'' |
| 162 | ** IWorkAlone is deconstructed. Kiritaka Nagare was horribly bullied at school; his bullies were satanic thugs who liked to torture him and his classmates. He chose to endure the torture alone for months without asking for help while he gathered evidence to turn in his bullies. It's unknown why he didn't go to his teachers or if they would have been any help, but it is known that he was isolated from his classmates because of a frame-up from one of the bullies. The reason he didn't tell his parents is because he did not want to bury his mother, who he loved greatly. This backfired greatly when, after months of torture and gathering evidence and when he needed evidence on the leader, his bullies blackmailed him into jumping into a street, and he was killed by a truck. His mother, who witnessed his death, was broken and discovered the evidence he gathered on his bullies. His mother, Mari, discovered the evidence; realizing the instant of her son's torture and angry at losing him, she snapped, swore revenge for her son, threw away her life, divorced her husband, changed her name to Maria Akeboshi, had plastic surgery, and two years later became the nurse at the bullies' school to exact revenge. It would've been better if he had asked for help because his trying to defeat his bullies alone caused his death and destroyed his family. |
| 163 | ** LyingToProtectYourFeelings is deconstructed. Lying to protect your loved ones' feelings has tragic consequences in this story. Kiritaka Nagare came from a good family and had a great relationship with his parents. He especially had a loving relationship with his mother, Mari. He was also horribly bullied at school by a group of satanic thugs. He took it upon himself to gather evidence of the thug's crimes so he could turn them in and endured months of torture. Part of the reason he is enduring all this torture or not telling his parents what he's going through is that he does not want to worry his mother. This tragically backfires when his bullies blackmail him into jumping into the road by threatening to post fake porn of his mother on the internet. He was hit by a truck and died instantly, with his mother witnessing his death. A police investigation told his parents that he committed suicide because of abusive parents to their heartbreak, but then his mother discovers his journal and learns the truth that he was tortured by bullies and killed by them. Mari snapped and swore revenge on the bullies, saying that revenge was too soft and that she would give them judgment. Mari threw away her life, divorced her husband, changed her name to Maria Akeboshi, had plastic surgery, and two years later became the nurse at the bullies' school to exact revenge. Kiritaka may not have wanted to worry his mother, but keeping her in the dark about his struggles when she and his father could've helped him led to his death, the destruction of his family, and his mother destroying her life and being a shell of the person she once was who only wants to get revenge for his death. Tragically, he accomplishes nothing by lying to his mother to spare her feelings. |
| 164 | * ''Anime/MazingerZ'', in spite of it being renowned for kick-starting the SuperRobotGenre, [[UnbuiltTrope deconstructed many of the tropes it codified]]: |
| 165 | ** TheProfessor: In the original manga, Juuzo Kabuto was this AND a MadScientist, because Creator/GoNagai wanted to emphasize that there wasn't much difference between both tropes and Mazinger-Z might have been used to further evil goals. |
| 166 | ** FallingIntoTheCockpit: In the manga, Kouji attempted to drive Mazinger in spite of knowing nothing about piloting it... and he accidentally obliterated half of the city because he kept punching random buttons as he was trying to figure out how to control the robot. When Sayaka arrived at the scene he was ecstatic that someone had come to save him. In the anime, Shiro warned him it was not a good idea. Kouji did not listen to him... and nearly got his little brother killed. |
| 167 | ** BattleCouple: Kouji and Sayaka were one of the {{Trope Maker}}s in Anime... but due to their BelligerentSexualTension, they were a very ineffective one. They couldn't always coordinate in battle, were often fighting outside of it, and one of their biggest arguments in the anime [[spoiler: led Sayaka to not aid Kouji in battle and caused him to be severely injured, leading her to have a huge HeroicBSOD.]] |
| 168 | ** HumongousMecha: In one chapter, [[ButtMonkey Boss]] cajoles several scientists into building him a HumongousMecha. Said HumongousMecha is slow, heavy, clumsy, goofy-looking, easily-breakable, is not equipped with dozens of cool weapons, is unable to fly or swim, and when it falls it takes him a long while to get back up... in other words, it is just like a HumongousMecha would be in real life. |
| 169 | ** RocketPunch: Boss also wanted Boss Borot to be equipped with a RocketPunch. Prof. Morimori shot his idea down, stating the materials (scraps and junk) are too weak and the arm would break upon impact... because it is, you know, ''a missile''. |
| 170 | * ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': |
| 171 | ** The sequel also deconstructed the AcePilot pilot trope long before [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. Tetsuya is an AcePilot due to psychological issues and childhood trauma: he is an orphan that thinks the only reason his adoptive father cares for him is his piloting skills, so Tetsuya is so obsessed with piloting he neglects everyone and everybody else to an unhealthy point. Likewise, he is an ArrogantKungFuGuy {{Tsundere}} due to his fears and jealousy, and that status makes him very hard to work with. And he is a very HotBlooded IdiotHero... a trait which has got him nearly killed several times. |
| 172 | ** Jun - one of the first {{tsundere}}s in anime - suffers from frequent [[MoodSwinger mood shifts]] due to inner tensions that have little to do with her feelings towards Tetsuya: she is an orphan; his adoptive father barely paid attention to her; she puts up with daily crap due to being a woman, half-black and half-gaijin (her father was an American soldier); she is in love with [[NotBloodRelated her adoptive brother]] who is a JerkassWoobie (hence, she is often torn between pitying him and killing him)... the list is long. |
| 173 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Celestial Being's slow downwards slide leads to three new Gundam Meisters showing up - the Trinity siblings, whose quirky, less 'realistic' character designs and role in the plot make them appear to be ''the'' [[TwoGuysAndAGirl trope]]-[[PowerTrio archetypical]] mecha pilots. However, older brother Johann's [[TheLancer methodical nature]] makes him a [[TheStoic soulless machine]]; middle brother Michael's [[HotBlooded aggressive, feisty nature]] makes him an AxCrazy [[PsychoForHire psychopath]] (and his [[BigBrotherInstinct protectiveness of his sister]], instead of being played for comedy, causes him to resort to ''very'' seriously-played violence); and younger sister Nena is [[{{Moe}} very youthful-looking]] and has cheerful GenkiGirl mannerisms, but she's [[FilleFatale in touch with her own sexuality]], and is [[PsychopathicManchild so out-of-touch]] [[CuteAndPsycho with reality]] that she murders guests at a wedding because she thought it was unfair that [[IJustWantToBeNormal they could have a normal life unlike herself]]. |
| 174 | ** Marina Ismail, for all her genuine desire to make [[{{Qurac}} Azhadistan]] better, is a deconstruction of the PoliticallyActivePrincess. She tries to work hard for her goals, but ends up as a figurehead and soon can't do lots more than being an inspiration for Setsuna F. Seiei (who seems to view her as a partial ReplacementGoldfish for his MissingMom, whom she resembles closely) and taking care of children once [[spoiler: Azhadistan is burned down in the second season]]. |
| 175 | ** Saji Crossroad is a deconstruction of many tropes associated with him. First, the NonActionGuy and NaiveNewcomer, by showing the devastating emotional damage that these two roles can bring to an average guy caught up in a military clash and taken in by one of the conflicting sides. Then the ScrewThisImOuttaHere, because not only was he (briefly) captured when he attempted this, but this action led to the deaths of thousands of people and a massive emotional breakdown. |
| 176 | ** Celestial Being during the first half of season 1 could be seen as a deconstruction of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Three Ship Alliance]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Terminal]], in particular their tendency to unilaterally police the Natural/Coordinator wars. ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' depicts the impact of such organizations' actions in real life and takes it to its logical extreme, by having them attempt to literally end ''all'' conflicts. |
| 177 | ** [[spoiler:Lyle Dylandy]] could be seen as a deconstruction of [[spoiler:the BackupTwin]] concept in general. [[spoiler:The first thing he makes known to his teammates in Celestial Being is he's not his older twin Neil's ReplacementGoldfish, even preferring to put on a facade than leading Feldt, a girl who's in love with his deceased brother, on. He also prefers to use [[TheGunslinger a different]] [[GunKata style of gun fighting]] to contrast Neil's sniping method, although he also uses it frequently. It can be said that yes, Lyle ''does'' become Lockon Stratos like his twin older brother, but ''on his own terms'' instead of simply copying Neil.]] |
| 178 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' deconstructs a lot of AU's tropes in general. |
| 179 | ** The ChildSoldier stereotype portrayed by Heero and Setsuna is brutally deconstructed with Mika. Adept at killing with either a gun or mobile suit, Mika proves himself to be Tekkadan's greatest asset. However, his blind devotion to Orga's cause like how Heero was to his mission and Setsuna's to Celestial Being's cause to eradicate conflict proves to much more important that any. As a result, he never recovers either mentally or physically from his actions, losing more and more of his limbs outside of combat and ultimately confined to the Barbatos Gundam towards the end of the series and ultimately dying in it. |
| 180 | ** The SuperPrototype Bael was supposed to be the legendary Gundam that would cement [=McGillis=]' authority as the ruler of Gjallarhorn. Throughout the series, people were led to believe it had secret abilities due it being piloted by Gjallarhorn's founder Agnika Kaeru. In the end it was nothing special except the first Gundam that was built. |
| 181 | ** Iok Kujan deconstructs the RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething trope, Iok while a competent pilot of Gjallarhorn goes out of his depth on several occasions in order to bring the cold war to an end with [=McGillis=] and Arianrhod. Iok's actions often ended up being mutually destructive throughout the series as his rash actions gets more people around him killed and in trouble ranging from awakening a mobile armor that kills his men and a bunch of civilians. Using a forbidden weapon to kill Naze and the Turbines to gain Jasley's support and goad Tekkadan only to end up being suspended from active duty and ultimately dying in what would be a massacre when he decides to personally deliver the killing blow to Akihiro who already had lost everything dear to him. |
| 182 | ** Carta Issue brutally deconstructs the HonorBeforeReason trope. After failing to stop Tekkaden's descent to Earth, she becomes determined to avenge her humiliation but does so expecting her opponents to play nice. However, she doesn't realize her opponents are a bunch of CombatPragmatist ChildSoldiers. This ends up getting her killed during their third encounter as she attempts a three-on-three fair duel only for Mika to bust out and ravage her and her team due to [[spoiler:Carta unknowingly murdering Biscuit]] |
| 183 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' deconstructs CannotSpitItOut. Kira Yamato has feelings for Flay Allster, but since she's already taken, he doesn't act on it. However, after an incident that costs Flay her father and another incident that puts Kira into a HeroicBSOD, Flay decides to manipulate Kira to get revenge on her father's death. Prior to his fated battle with his old friend Athrun Zala, Kira tells Flay he has something to tell her when he gets back. However, Kira is presumed KIA when Athrun's Gundam, the Aegis, self-destructs. Flay realizes, whoops, she ''did'' actually have feelings for Kira. However, events conspire to keep the two separate and when Kira and Flay ''finally'' reunite, [[spoiler: BigBad Rau Le Creuset callously murders her as one last KickTheDog.]] |
| 184 | * ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' ''loves'' doing this. |
| 185 | ** IncorruptiblePurePureness is deconstructed with Tenma. He pays a very heavy price to keep his kindness and idealism, and nearly goes into a HeroicBSOD when he [[spoiler: ''thinks'' he's killed someone.]] |
| 186 | ** ActionGirl is deconstructed through Johan's twin sister Anna/Nina, whose physical badassery and Aikido expertise are ''not'' enough to save her from [[BreakTheCutie the HORRIBLE emotional pain she's subjected to.]] |
| 187 | ** MarriedToTheJob is deconstructed with Inspector Lunge. His obsessive pursuit of Tenma leaves him with no social life and his family in shambles. His wife and daughter abandon him and he later gives up a chance to reconnect with said daughter in order to focus on his pursuit. [[spoiler: However, we do see him finally getting back in touch with her in the end]]. |
| 188 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': |
| 189 | ** It deconstructs WouldHitAGirl during the battle between Bakugo and Uraraka in the Sports Festival. A lot of audience booed him for being okay with fighting a girl who appeared so sweet and weak compared to his loud, abrasive attitude. Even his friends were called him out for it. However, Aizawa says it was a sign of respect as Uraraka was giving it her best even when she knew she was outmatched and Bakugo himself said there was [[WorthyOpponent nothing fragile about her.]] |
| 190 | ** In general, it also deconstructs the notion of HeroInsurance: fighting villains is only a small part of the job, it's just as (if not ''more'') important to be able to minimize collateral damage and protect civilians. On occasions where hero/villain battles ''do'' cause lots of damage, it's appropriately treated as a dangerous disaster area, there are even heroes who specialize in rescue missions and disaster relief. |
| 191 | *** This in turn deconstructs the idea of BadassNormal. Deku, a [[MuggleBornOfMages Quirkless kid]], is told off by his hero All Might for wanting to still be a hero without powers because it was too dangerous. When he tries to save his "best friend" from a monster, the victim is hailed as a hero because he hung on despite his powers being used against others while Deku himself is chewed out for jumping into the line of fire. |
| 192 | ** The idea behind TheCape is deconstructed with All Might, the world's most celebrated hero. Little do most people know, All Might is running on fumes, only capable of maintaining his heroic appearance and his powers for a limited amount of time each day, and that time is quickly running out. [[spoiler:When All Might finally retires after using the last of his dwindling powers to defeat All For One, the world changes radically, as villains that were otherwise forced into hiding by his presence become emboldened, leading to a surge of criminal activity. The situation is made worse by the fact that there's no one around who can fill the void All Might's absence creates.]] |
| 193 | ** The IWorkAlone mindset is deconstructed through Shishikura, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Yoarashi during the Hero License Exam, believing that they could use their powers better by themselves. [[spoiler: They all failed the exam with the explanation that their inability to work together is damaging to the generation of heroes focused on unity and teamwork that they wanted to create to compensate for All Might's retirement.]] |
| 194 | ** The villain Twice's MesACrowd ability shows the darker side of the superpower. All of his clones share his superpower, personality and memories so they don't like being ordered around, believing themselves to be the original. When various clones were created, they all claimed to be - and tried to take over - as the one and only Twice. The current Twice is the only one who survives the fight between the clones and isn't even sure if he is the original. |
| 195 | ** ParentalFavoritism isn't a good thing for Todoroki who inherited both of his parents' Quirks of fire and ice and thus his [[AbusiveParent father]]'s attention and TrainingFromHell. Meanwhile, his older siblings are more or less discarded for not turning out the way Endeavor wanted but they are spared from the brutal training. |
| 196 | ** Bakugo deconstructs the AntiHero. In the early days, Bakugo was a loud, brash, abusive JerkAss who was running on a IWorkAlone mentality and had superiority complex that would make other shounen anti-heroes proud. However, heroes here are meant to be inspirational and good, thus many people are confused and turned off by his actions and the League of Villains actively attempt to recruit him, thinking he wants to be a villain. |
| 197 | *** Bakugo also deconstructs TheAce. Bakugo was a great student and good with his Quirk and everyone let him know it, leading to his ego inflating considerably, coloring a lot of his attitude. His arrival at U.A. gave him a wake-up call to show that he wasn't the only one like that and he fights tooth and nail to keep that specialness, even when it's detrimental to the rest of his classmates. It takes [[spoiler:All Might's retirement and failing the Hero License Exam]] to get it through his head and at least start caring for his classmates. |
| 198 | ** The Internship Arc deconstructs ChronicHeroSyndrome. Mirio and Izuku end up confronting a Yakuza man holding Eri hostage and the two are ready to leap in and rescue her. However, they're stopped by Sir Nighteye and forced to let them go, fearing for the girl's safety. As it turns out, they were in a good position to save her at that point and they learn that they have to go and save her ''anyway''. |
| 199 | * The Powers of [[ThePowerOfLove Love]] and [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]] are examined and deconstructed in ''Anime/MyHime'', in that the abilities of the titular {{Magical Girl}}s (almost all HighSchool-aged) are literally powered by their emotional connections with their friends and family. Many of the characters have trouble with (or are otherwise afraid of) openly admitting their feelings for the ones most important to them. This causes a lot of hardship in the second half, when [[spoiler:they're tricked into fighting one another to protect the lives of their loved ones ''and'' for the sake of SavingTheWorld from a monster that wants to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end it all]]]]. LoveHurts, indeed. |
| 200 | ** It's not just the psychological side either. [[spoiler: Their mons are LITERALLY powered by the love and affection for, and there to protect, the person the [=HiME=] loves most.]] [[{{Synchronisation}} So if the Mon dies...]] [[spoiler: - which happens to pretty much all of them at some point or other - it isn't the ''[=HiME=]'' that kicks the bucket, but her most important person. And almost all the [=HiME=] who lose said persons end up as thoroughly-broken {{Empty Shell}}s, until Mashiro has to pretty much ''rewrite'' the system with her own powers via reviving these persons and return the girls both their mons ''and'' their wills to live.]] |
| 201 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' deconstructs several psychological tropes like AllGirlsWantBadBoys and DeceasedParentsAreTheBest by showing the toll they take on the characters' psyches (Sakura and Naruto's, respectively). Considering the number of pranks Naruto pulls early on, it's easy to mistake this series for a comedy at first, but it quickly becomes clear that such things are sanity preservers, and that this is a deadly serious series about ChildSoldiers. |
| 202 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': |
| 203 | ** Half the characters are first presented as classic anime stereotypes, but as the series progresses they are revealed to be extremely messed-up individuals whose behavior is an endless source of troubles. For example, |
| 204 | *** Asuka is a HotBlooded {{tsundere}} AcePilot due to severe childhood trauma, and her inability to come to terms with and express her feelings towards Shinji - as well as her being a ClingyJealousGirl - is a source of tension between them that contributes to both their breakdowns. |
| 205 | *** Shinji's RookieRedRanger status and natural talent as an EVA pilot only alienate Asuka, and cause him no end of strife. His few wins come at enormous cost to his psyche and he's blown up, stabbed, eaten...only to receive zero support considering he was shanghaied into EVA piloting in the first place. |
| 206 | *** Misato Katsuragi, initially presented as a classic HardDrinkingPartyGirl, is crippled by her failings, especially her inability to have real relationships, which is the reality behind her party-girl persona. |
| 207 | ** BelligerentSexualTension: Shinji and Asuka's inability to notice each other's feelings as well as acknowledge their own led to them being a completely ineffective BattleCouple. Several conflicts during the missions, contributed to deepen their already present traumas and neuroses and finally to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. |
| 208 | ** DisappearedDad: Many HumongousMecha shows (''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg''...) often have a disappeared dad who turns out to be the head scientist or commander of the unit covering the protagonist's mech. Often that person goes from being a well-meaning but neglectful parent who's too MarriedToTheJob to properly take care of his family to a rotten bastard. ''Evangelion'' keeps that long-lived, honoured tradition: Gendo is one of the worst fictional parents ever and one who went through ''deep'' shit to get to such extremes. |
| 209 | ** KidHero: ''Why'' the hell do they have ''teenagers'' piloting war machines as the last hope for humanity? |
| 210 | * TechnicianVersusPerformer is deconstructed in ''Manga/NodameCantabile'', in that neither pure technician nor pure performer is right or better for classical music. A classical musician should have a mix of both. It is also implied that there is no right mix either. Chiaki and Kuroki are more towards the technician part, while Nodame and Jean Donnadieu are more towards the performer part. All of them are celebrated, but just in different ways, and it's difficult to say who is better. |
| 211 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 212 | ** WouldntHitAGirl is deconstructed via Sanji, who refuses to hit a girl no matter what, even in a life or death situation, and that gets him to lose fights if a girl is involved. And once, his female opponent was a DarkActionGirl who had previously injured his friend Usopp and was ''purposely'' wasting Sanji's time so he wouldn't be able to save Robin. |
| 213 | ** ICanStillFight is deconstructed in Zoro's case, where his miraclous ability to recover from the most heinous injuries appear to be HollywoodHealing. [[spoiler: It's not until he's brought back from the brink of death does he show signs of pain and '''still''' fights as if nothing had happened. Finally, during a battle, he keels over at the worst possible moment, defenseless and while injured, needed to be carried away from the battle, while insisting he can still fight.]] |
| 214 | ** Zombie Oars deconstructs FeelNoPain. Chopper says that this was a weakness since Oz won't be able to tell how much damage was accumulated in his body. When Oars tries to attack Luffy in midair, he's shocked to find that his right arm (where the Straw Hats had focused their attacks) won't move, thus giving Luffy the opening he needs to shatter Oars' spine. As Oars lies there, not feeling any pain despite being injured so badly he can't move, Chopper is appalled at what kind of existence the zombies lead. |
| 215 | ** [[spoiler: Bellamy]]'s UndyingLoyalty to Doflamingo who is seen not worthy of his devotion. The former's pride and principles prevent him from turning against the idol he has long respected and admired, despite the fact he knows he is being treated badly. |
| 216 | ** EasilyForgiven is deconstructed through Big Mom. When she was little, her caretaker Mother Caramel forgave her for every little wrong she did, even if Big Mom accidentally caused trouble with her monstrous strength (like murdering someone) or with her eating habits instead of properly disciplining her. This would cause the adult Big Mom to have a very warped sense of right and wrong. |
| 217 | * {{Twincest}} is deconstructed in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' through Hikaru and Kaoru. They play up the {{Twincest}} as much as possible for their clients but there is an element of truth behind it as that they are dangerously co-dependent with each other. The manga shows when they both developed feelings for Haruhi, it eventually sparks a feud between them and it alarms and frightens them. Part of their CharacterDevelopment is learning how to become individual people. |
| 218 | * ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent''. Oh, ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent''. Firstly, it deconstructs Japan's love of [[UsefulNotes/{{Kawaisa}} cute things and youthfulness]] by showing how crazy people can get over an adorable mascot [[spoiler:that's potentially an adorable EldritchAbomination]]. And then it seems to deconstruct a Characterization Trope with every episode. To wit: |
| 219 | ** TheAce: Yuichi "Ichi" Taira |
| 220 | ** ButtMonkey: Saruta Naayuki |
| 221 | ** {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Tsuki, Kosuka, [[spoiler:and eventually Maniwa.]] |
| 222 | ** NaughtyByNight: [[spoiler:Harumi Chono]]. |
| 223 | ** PervertDad: Hirukawa |
| 224 | ** PluckyComicRelief: Saruta Naayuki |
| 225 | ** TheWoobie: Saruta Naayuki [[spoiler:and arguably Tsuki]] |
| 226 | ** YamatoNadeshiko: Misae Ikari |
| 227 | * ''Manga/PlusAnima'' deconstructs TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening. Children gain their [[{{Animorphism}} Anima]] powers when their lives are threatened and they take on the traits of an animal that can help them escape the danger. Just because they got cool powers out of it, doesn't mean that their trauma disappears, and in fact some of them have {{Trauma Button}}s related to situations that they should reasonably thrive in, such as Husky having a fear of drowning even if he's a fish +Anima or Nana hating the dark even as a bat +Anima, because of the incidents that got them the powers in the first place. Not to mention, [[FantasticRacism not everyone in their world actually thinks that their powers are cool]]. |
| 228 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 229 | ** ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 230 | *** In the second movie ''Anime/{{Pokemon 2000}}'', it breaks down one of Pokemon's core themes, which is GottaCatchThemAll. Lawrence III captures legendary Pokemon as mere trophies and sees them as a means to an end. Not only is his imprisonment heartless, [[TheProblemWithFightingDeath his lack of regard for the consequences of capturing such powerful Pokemon screws everyone over, including himself.]] |
| 231 | *** The concept of the HeroicSecondWind and DesperationAttack is deconstructed by Paul and Chimchar by asking one simple question: how do you help someone perfect a technique that they can only use when near death? Unfortunately, since the first step is "make them nearly dead", the situation quickly becomes abusive and appalling. |
| 232 | *** Alain deconstructs ToBeAMaster. He's basically a character who focuses on the idea of being the strongest, and he loses so much doing so that he ends up looking a lot less happy than Ash who doesn't drive towards the idea as strongly. |
| 233 | ** Black from ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' is a deconstruction of a typical shonen hero by combining two common typical shonen tropes: ToBeAMaster and TheChosenOne. Black has a one track mind when it comes to beating the Pokemon League, which means he SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining and has NoSocialSkills, leading to situations where he doesn't notice when he causes trouble for other people. He is ''so'' single-minded that when he's apparently chosen to awaken Reshiram, he becomes pissed that his new status (which involves ''saving Unova'') interferes with his goals. His conflicting priorities messing with his head, which is unused to such turmoil, lead to the point where [[spoiler: Reshiram refuses to appear before him just yet and his Munna leaves him as it can no longer feed on his dreams. It isn't until he discovers that his childhood friend was mindraped and his love interest is kidnapped that he finally gets the proper resolve]]. |
| 234 | *** In the same arc, Bianca is a relatively light deconstruction of her game counterpart; with her father constantly chasing after her, she never gets a chance to make any kind of progress during her journey, further feeding into her self-esteem issues. |
| 235 | * The ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars'' movie ''Everyone's Singing - Miraculous Magic'' deconstructs PowerCreepPowerSeep as [[Anime/MahoGirlsPrecure Cure Miracle and Magical]] are easily overwhelmed facing down watered-down versions of the previous seasons' {{Big Bad}}s and are easily demoralized when their seniors, even normally screw-ups like [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Cure Blossom]] and [[Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure Cure Princess]], easily beat up these foes. |
| 236 | ** ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'' deconstructs JackOfAllStats as Cure Yell, compared to her teammates, is so amazingly baseline as both her civilian self Hana and her Cure self, that she ends up being so depressed she loses the power to transform temporarily. |
| 237 | * ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' deconstructs SuperStrength. At age 12-13, Takashi Kawamura had lots of strength due to his hard work at the family restaurant [[UnskilledButStrong but it took him years to control it.]] His sempais in the tennis club looked down on Kawamura for that, and their treatment went downright into rather cruel bullying: calling him "Homerun guy", telling him to give up or to switch to the baseball team... It really, really didn't mix well with Kawamura's borderline Shrinking Violet personality, and even now he has self-worth problems ''despite'' how his friends support and love him. (It's speculated his much more confident and HotBlooded "Burning Taka" side is born from how he was treated in the past due to his almost uncontrolled strength.) |
| 238 | * ''Anime/PsychoPass'' deconstructs AngstWhatAngst with Akane - Her [[TitleDrop Psycho Pass]] recovers rather quickly when she encounters trauma that would get one labeled as a Latent Criminal. While other Characters see it as a her being strong-willed (especially when you consider her job) and the [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou Sibyl System]] deems her a "Unique Individual", Akane herself believes it means she's cold-hearted and unfeeling, and is especially disturbed with how quickly she got over [[spoiler: [[KilledOffForReal Yuki's murder]] and [[FaceHeelTurn Kougami's apparent betrayal]]]] |
| 239 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' ''loves'' doing this. [[DeconstructorFleet It's that kind of show.]] |
| 240 | ** Sayaka Miki deconstructs ThePowerOfLove, LoveMartyr, UnrequitedTragicMaiden, PatientChildhoodLoveInterest and/or other tropes connected to the idea that love must be completely selfless and dedicated to others. She thinks that it's okay to [[spoiler:use her wish in benefit of the injured and despaired Kamijou]], but when she says it out loud, Mami asks her if she's actually doing [[spoiler:to have Kamijou owe her]] rather than [[spoiler: for his completely selfless sake]]. Later [[spoiler:she uses her wish anyway for him, but while he DOES heal, he doesn't run into her arms for comfort and moves on so fast that he doesn't even tell her he's leaving the hospital.]] That gets her mocked by Kyouko, who even says [[spoiler:she should've broken his limbs to force him to rely on her.]] And as time passes, she learns that being "selfless" in regards to those she loves simply doesn't work: love ''does'' involve at least a part of selfishness. Her friend Hitomi proves it right: she's selfless when she [[spoiler:gives Sayaka the first shot at confessing to Kamijou ''and'' by actually telling her about said plans instead of doing so behind her back]]... but being selfish in regards to [[spoiler:actually ''confessing'' when Sayaka doesn't take the chance]] is what works, and she [[spoiler:becomes Kamijou's girlfriend instead]]. This causes Sayaka to progressively break down, which shows via her: [[spoiler: going AxCrazy on Elsamaria out of frustration, refusing to use Grief Seeds because "it's what others do", snapping on the {{Jerk Ass}}es that show her exactly what they think of fully selfless persons (that they're {{extreme doormat}}s to be used and thrown away - and specially if they're women), and finally becoming a witch. Her last words before she definitely crosses the DespairEventHorizon and has her FaceHeelTurn are "I'm such an idiot", acknowledging how wrong she was before she definitely loses it. It takes Madoka '''completely''' re-writing the Magical Girl System via her wish to "purify" Sayaka from her despair and let her pass on in peace.]] |
| 241 | ** The MagicalGirl trope itself is deconstructed in Madoka. Not only does it show how terrifying it would be to fight against "evil" when someone's life is on the line (as Madoka and Sayaka quickly learn when [[spoiler:Mami dies]]) but more importantly, it also gives a realistic reason for ''why'' exactly it has to be ''girls'' doing said work: [[spoiler:Without elaborating on the entropy TechnoBabble Kyuubey gave, it essentially boils down to this: Magical girls eventually become the witches they fight against when their soul gem is empty. At that moment, their emotions (hope/despair) are turned into energy, which the Incubators want in order to confront entropy. ''Young girls'' are specifically chosen because out of all sorts of humans, they're more emotional and unstable than all others, making them give more energy than, say, adults of both genders. In other words, it's just a matter of effectiveness why it has to be young girls.]] |
| 242 | ** FatalFlaw is deconstructed through [[spoiler:Mami]]. Her loneliness allowed her greater focus when it came to fighting. When Madoka became her friend, she became happy for the first time [[spoiler:but loses focus and is killed.]] A person's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness but it's also the other way around. |
| 243 | ** There's also the deconstruction of SelflessWish, since it's something of a theme in the series that ''there is no such thing''. Everyone who makes a wish for someone else's happiness is also unconsciously hoping that it will also benefit themselves, even if only indirectly — a fact which Mami [[spoiler:(wishes for herself to be saved, later she laments that she could have used the wish to save her parents as well)]], Sayaka [[spoiler:(wants to be loved by the boy she uses her wish for, a fact that Mami herself points out)]], Kyoko [[spoiler:(wants to save herself and her family from destitution)]], Homura [[spoiler:(wants to be the one who rescues Madoka from death)]] and presumably others all fall afoul of. Also, because hope and despair balance out to zero, [[spoiler:seeing the chance for that selfish expectation slipping away with the equivalent rising happiness already given to someone else sends a MagicalGirl deeper into despair.]] At the end, [[spoiler:this is either reconstructed (Madoka's TRULY selfless wish becomes the most powerful force ever to exist, because she manages to learn from the examples of the other three and knows exactly what she wants -- a better world for everyone, even if she has to be erased out of their memories to do so) or played completely straight (her wish was actually ''more selfish than anyone else's'' and that's why it worked: wishing to be able to do something with her own two hands meant she actually got the benefit of the hope generated by her own wish, causing a LogicBomb.]] |
| 244 | ** IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight is deconstructed with the battle of Kyoko vs. [[spoiler:Oktavia von Seckendorff, who is Sayaka's witch form. Because Kyoko and [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath Madoka]] think they can get through to Sayaka, they spend the whole battle holding back, which causes Kyoko to get killed in the end, because as it turns out, there really was no way they could actually bring Sayaka back. If Kyoko had fought her without holding back, she would have lived.]] |
| 245 | ** ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'' attacks [[spoiler: IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy, ThePowerOfLove (again)...and also FixFic. No, really. The ending has Homura get [[BrokenBird so mentally and emotionally broken]] after losing Madoka that she takes LoveMakesYouEvil to its LogicalExtreme by using its power to become [[SatanicArchetype the devil]]...and then alters the world to ensure that EveryoneLives, all for the sake of what she sees as Madoka's happiness. However, it's implied that this state of affairs won't last (it's implied that ''Homura'' isn't even satisfied with what she's done).]] |
| 246 | * ''Anime/RedoOfHealer'': |
| 247 | ** WeakButSkilled. Since Setsuna hit her cap at level 7, she worked on polishing her techniques to keep up. This only got her so far before she was completely outstripped by just about everyone. She piled up so much excess EXP in the process that every single time Keyaru increases her level cap, she immediately maxes out again, until she reaches level 20. |
| 248 | ** ShelteredAristocrat. When the current demon king put out a hit on Iblis's race, she was still a child who was heavily coddled and was a complete neophyte. She lost her bodyguards and was in real bad shape when Keyaru comes across her. |
| 249 | ** EvilFeelsGood. Kicking "pets" around brings Norn temporary pleasure and "stress relief" but it grows old, fast. Either the so-called pet in question doesn't survive the experience very long, seeing as she has super-human strength, or she grows bored when the pet's reactions become predictable, as she demonstrates with "John" who's the most recent, and longest-lived, of her pets to date. In fact, she's introduced bringing in a new demi-human "pet" precisely because she's grown bored of "John." |
| 250 | * ''VisualNovel/RoboticsNotes'' deconstructs a lot of SuperRobot tropes by showing [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome how these would work out in real life]] - despite being in a society TwentyMinutesInTheFuture, the cast has to go through a lot of hoops (getting the school's permission to build the robot, getting sponsors and collecting money to help pay for parts, picking designs, calculating measurements, etc) to build one, and even then, the first robot [[spoiler: broke down due to it using rather dated parts and was old in itself]] and the second one [[spoiler:Was only a skeleton and whose building process was hampered due to [[FromBadToWorse several unfortunate events]]]] |
| 251 | * ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' deconstructs UnwantedHarem, as it shows how some of the girls that are in UnrequitedLove with Tsukune (who [[OfficialCouple has already chosen Moka]] [[spoiler: aka both of them]]) have more realistic, non-comedic, non-IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy reactions to them getting together, rather than a typical use of the trope. [[SuccubiAndIncubi Kurumu]] in particular has had a few heartbreaking scenes, especially when we learn that [[spoiler: she (like other heartbroken succubi) can potentially fall victim to DeathByDespair]]. |
| 252 | ** The manga also deconstructs FeelNoPain in regards to Kahlua. Similar to the ''Manga/OnePiece'' example, Kahlua is immune to pain due to a charm placed on her... and as a result, has no way of knowing how much damage she's taking until her body just quits on her. In fact, [[SpannerInTheWorks this]] actually forced [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Fairy Tale]] to retreat from Mizore's homeland, as Kiria realized she was approaching her limit. |
| 253 | ** Issa Shuzen deconstructs MarryThemAll to some extent. He's a polygamist and admits as such... but he paid more attention to his mistress and Moka's mother, Akasha Bloodriver, than to his actual wife, Gyokuro Shuzen, which eventually led her to snap and become an OmnicidalManiac who's only GoalInLife is to destroy the world Akasha loved purely out of spite for her and her relationship with Issa. Issa himself is aware of this, and warns Tsukune about how having a harem can backfire in the long run. |
| 254 | * ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of the very concept of TrueCompanions. Takayuki, his girlfriend Haruka and their best friend Mitsuki afre this, though Mitsuki also has a secret crush on Takayuki... things are stable, aren't they? Well, Haruka barely survives an horrible accident but is left in a coma, and when she wakes up not only are Takayuki and Mitsuki together, but she suffers a bad case of TraumaInducedAmnesia, thus Takayuki and Mitsuki must conceal the truth that three years have passed. And despite all of the two's efforts to keep Haruka's fragile mind safe (which includes them hiding their relationship), the consequences emotionally destroy ''everyone'' in the main cast... Haruka included. |
| 255 | * ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is a massive deconstruction of the JidaiGeki fiction genre. Being a {{samurai}} isn't just a thing of honor and swordfighting for either your master, your beliefs or other causes, and it leaves huge mental and social scars on those who survive it. And then, all of a sudden, everything that made being a samurai "cool" disappears because society isn't feudal any more, owning a sword is illegal, and even if you could get your hands on one [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim your enemy might decide to use guns instead]]. |
| 256 | ** [[spoiler:Anji Yukyuzan]] deconstructs PapaWolf, as [[spoiler:the murder of his adoptive children]] drives him to become a brutal BareFistedMonk who is completely immersed in his pain and desire to punish the culprits and give them the "judgement of God". [[spoiler:Unlike others, though, Anji gets better -- but only when his Good Counterpart Sanosuke beats the truth into him and makes him see that said children wouldn't be happy ''at all'' with all the bloodshed.]] |
| 257 | ** There was also that episode where Kenshin met an old man who had wasted his life on an "I want to be stronger" quest. The betrothed woman he had left behind had died and hardly anyone remembers him. So much for WalkingTheEarth. |
| 258 | ** Shougo Muto/Amakusa deconstructs the ReligiousBruiser, as ever since he was a kid he was told to become a savior for those who needed him (namely, the few Christians that survived in Japan). After his BreakTheCutie days, he swore to be as strong as iron to [[KnightTemplar protect them and judge the evildoers with the blessing of God]]... but [[DarkMessiah his gradually acquired God complex]] [[BreakTheHaughty led him to his downfall.]] Not to mention, his arrogance didn't let him see [[spoiler: that his second-in-command, Kaiou, was TheStarscream and wanted to get him killed to acquire fame and lead a Christian army. If not for Sanosuke, Sayo and Shouzo...]] |
| 259 | ** Very possibly, Kenshin himself is a deconstruction of a couple of tropes, most particularly TheAtoner. Following the moment in his past where he [[spoiler:accidentally killed his own wife]], he took up his [[ThouShaltNotKill non-killing vow]] after the war of the Bakumatsu, and then spent the next decade [[WalkingTheEarth wandering Japan]] while doing good deeds. However, while he's a powerful fighter who's more than capable of defending himself and others, his guilt at his past sins causes him to [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies abandon his friends to shield them from harm]], which hardly works effectively anyway as they tend to follow him, and the guilt doesn't begin to subside until he learns to come to terms with his past [[spoiler:and even then, it only happens after Tomoe's spirit encourages him to move on]]. |
| 260 | * ''Manga/SakuraGari'' deconstructs several tropes, but the most notorious are: |
| 261 | ** FetishizedAbuser - BeautyIsBad: Souma's sexualised abuse of Masataka comes from him believing that [[spoiler: it's only through sex that he can actually express his feelings towards the first person who has NEVER taken advantage of him. ''By force'', if it's needed]]. When he realises that this is NOT how to treat someone you're in love with... Souma simply '''splinters''' [[spoiler: and tries to commit suicide in his utter despair]]. Not to mention, his extremely hot looks [[spoiler: are a good part of the reason he was badly abused in his past as well]] -- which is what shaped his horrifyingly fucked up view of love and sexuality in the first place. |
| 262 | ** NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: We get to see the painfully realistic psychological consequences that such a trope brings on the victim ''and'' on the rapist. [[spoiler: Who '''also''' was a victim.]] |
| 263 | * ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' deconstructed a lot of tropes despite being a light-hearted Shoujo. |
| 264 | ** Yakumo's seeming perfection hides her inability to interact with others (the manga shows that she had trouble making friends) and her devotion to her sister Tenma and to Harima causes her to ignore her own emotional needs. Also her HeavySleeper quality seems cute but Tenma points out it's a problem. |
| 265 | ** Eri's ClingyJealousGirl and {{Tsundere}} tendencies almost wreck her friendships with Mikoto and Tenma. It ''definitely'' destroyed her already distant friendship with Yakumo. |
| 266 | ** Nara is a parody of the UnluckyEverydude. There is no DeusExMachina or ContrivedCoincidence so his dream of having an UnwantedHarem never happens. |
| 267 | ** Harima deconstructs the badass Shounen hero. It's only after he falls for Tenma does he realize how pointless his life has been and it motivates him to make something out of himself. |
| 268 | ** The series deconstructed CannotSpitItOut in the manga finale. Years later and Yakumo still hasn't told Harima of her feelings and her sister Tenma doesn't think this is funny anymore. |
| 269 | ** Mikoto deconstructs TheLadette. She was able to hide her heartbreak behind bravado after finding out that the boy she had a crush on has a girlfriend. Later, Asou breaks up with her because of her boyish qualities. |
| 270 | * In what is a seemingly SliceOfLife manga, ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' deconstructs these tropes in particular: |
| 271 | ** RealityWarping in both Chapters 30 and 40, with the Big Sis and her clone, respectively. Both want to change reality by breaking the limits of the simulation, with Big Sis done to break the Gardener's imposed rules of it and with her clone wanting to upgrade what Big Sis had done. But their reality warping only brings MAJOR consequences to the table. With both of them pushing the limits of the simulation, not only the people have granted its powers, but they also dramatically destroy the very natural order of the simulation, with the Gardener in Chapter 39 even claiming that it's her (Big Sis) own world that she created in the first place. But the extreme change did not happen until Chapter 45 where everything is on a state of utter collapse and Shijima has to go back in time to reverse it, at the cost of distancing from the people she knows, making Big Sis' previous attempts at making a limitless world rather futile. |
| 272 | ** It also deconstructs the {{Arcadia}}. While West Yomogi is an epitome of a quiet, idyllic countryside, the town is later revealed to be nothing like a countryside as the story goes on. Things like strange rocks popping in and out, {{Bizarrchitecture}}s, randomly-bending roads and empty buildings all point to a much bigger picture: [[spoiler:the town is part of a much bigger simulated reality.]] But neither the main protagonists know who or what goes on initially and there is a DramaticIrony, where the audiences, before the characters, foreshadow who the perpetrator is: [[spoiler:Big Sis.]] |
| 273 | * ''Literature/SoICantPlayH'' deconstructs HotBlooded in Episode 6. Despite Lisara insisting they needed a plan and allies, Ryousuke mistakenly believed they could storm Gardalbolg's tower and save Mina, through determination alone. It goes horribly and results in Ryosuke nearly getting himself killed. |
| 274 | * The concept of RelationshipSue is torn to shreds in ''Anime/TenchiInTokyo'', through the swan song of one Sakuya Kumashiro. Here we have this cute teenage girl who's regarded as TheAce in school, and who despite being just an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent without powers of her own, still manages to snatch Tenchi's heart under the nose of the other girls, much to everyone's displeasure. The twist? [[spoiler: Sakuya isn't real. She's actually a "shadow" of the BigBad, [[DarkMagicalGirl Yugi]], who created and sent her to ''deliberately'' mess with [[TrueCompanions Tenchi and the girls' relationships]] so they'll be separated and not interfere with her world conquer plans.]] And for worse, not only [[spoiler: Sakuya literally has ''no'' life and memories outside of Tenchi due to never having a real family (which causes her a massive HeroicBSOD when she starts suspecting this)]], but [[spoiler: once the girls are gone... Sakuya is re-absorbed into her creator by force, [[YouhaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once she's of no use anymore to Yugi]]. And this happens [[TheReveal in]] [[TomatoInTheMirror the]] [[BreakThemByTalking meanest]] [[TearsOfFear way]] [[BrokenTears ever]] [[DespairEventHorizon possible]].]] By the end of the series, the ''only'' thing that she has left is [[spoiler: performing a HeroicSacrifice to save Tenchi when he fails TheFinalTemptation and is locked with her in a LotusEaterMachine.]] Yeesh. |
| 275 | * Even ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', the {{Reconstructi|on}}ve [[AffectionateParody Parody]] of HumongousMecha, manages to deconstruct something few things: |
| 276 | ** TelescopingRobot and HyperspaceArsenal, which are enabled by Spiral Energy that explicitly creates matter and breaks the laws of physics. It forms a key plot point by being the motivation of [[spoiler:the Anti-Spirals, as it's overuse will lead to the universe imploding and the aforementioned {{Anti Villain}}s wish to prevent that.]] This plot point/deconstruction was lifted directly from ''Manga/GetterRobo'', the series ''Gurren Lagann'' is largely an homage to, though the way Getter Rays and Spiral Power are supposed to [[spoiler: destroy the Universe]] are different - in ''Gurren Lagann'' [[spoiler:mecha that big simply ''existing'' can eventually cause the amount of matter in the universe to be so great that the force of gravity will overwhelm every other force in existence, causing a Big Crunch]], while in ''Getter Robo'' that's only part of the reason - the other being [[spoiler:the endless increase in scale of all the fighting, which is deconstructing the LensmanArmsRace.]] Everything to do with Spiral Energy and [[spoiler: the universe-destroying Spiral Nemesis that the Anti-Spiral is trying to prevent]] are also a deconstruction of the RuleOfCool, as regularly breaking the laws of physics, probability and reality itself over your knee for the sake of cool action scenes can have dire long-term consequences. |
| 277 | ** OnlySaneMan - Rossiu grows up to be a ManipulativeBastard with a few shades of {{Jerkass}} ''because'' he is the only male member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade who is not a HotBlooded LeeroyJenkins to some degree, so he starts treating all his comrades as a bunch of idiots and believing he's the only one who knows how to save the world [[spoiler: up to the point where he commits several acts of [[ShootTheDog Shooting The Dog]] and by the end when he's proven wrong and he realizes what he has ''actually'' done, he [[DrivenToSuicide considers taking his own life]]]]. Also related to the deconstruction of... |
| 278 | *** ExtremeDoormat - As Rossiu's partner, Kittan's middle sister Kinon is forced to do unthinkable things just [[spoiler: to prevent Rossiu from taking everything too far]], culminating in [[spoiler: having a gigaton of explosives ''strapped to her chest'' in case Simon tries to escape custody. [[BreakTheCutie It almost destroyed the poor girl's psyche and self-esteem]], and Rossiu was [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone deeply sorry for this.]]]] |
| 279 | ** The problem is that, with the exception of [[CampGay Lee]][[TheSmartGuy ron]], they ''are'' all idiots who's only solution to a problem is to punch it in the face. Or drill it in the face if punching alone isn't enough. And they're the ones [[CrapsackWorld running the government]]. |
| 280 | ** The second half of the series also deconstructs AsskickingLeadsToLeadership [[spoiler: and the result of [[LaResistance The Resistance]] successfully defeating TheEmpire and having to deal with ruling over the land they have liberated - when the Dai-Gurren Brigade takes up the top government positions thanks to their combat prowess, most of them do a really bad job, not everyone wants to be under their command and almost all members of Team Gurren admit they're not cut out for administrative duties. Also, once the Anti-Spiral invasion appears, Rossiu's ascension to power by scapegoating Simon mirrors similar situations in real-life politics where, during crises, people get high office by blaming their predecessors for what's going wrong.]] |
| 281 | * Souichirou Nagi from ''Manga/TenjhoTenge'' is a possible deconstruction of the typical OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent that discovers he has a SecretLegacy that makes him the star of the series and its hero. He is the inheritor of immeasurably powerful bloodline abilities...because he was bred to be the host of them by the BigBad [[spoiler: his own father]]. Rather than making him the hero of the series, he has steadily been reduced to being the pawn of a centuries-old EvilPlan and primed for a [[spoiler: GrandTheftMe by aforementioned Big Bad dad]]. The legacy that normally turns an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent into TheHero has left Nagi a screwed up example of BlessedWithSuck. |
| 282 | * ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'' deconstructs the idea of [[RedStringOfFate soul mates]]. Every character in the Creator/{{CLAMP}} multiverse has their "special person" despite things like time, distance, and [[HoYay gen]][[LesYay der]]. Subaru Sumeragi's soulmate is Seishiro Sakurazuka, which is no surprise to the audience. The surprise in this case is that [[spoiler:Seishiro is an assassin, an AffablyEvil MagnificentBastard sociopath who intentionally causes Subaru as much pain as possible to try seeing [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove if that could change his own stance in love and life]], including [[AngstySurvivingTwin killing his twin sister]]. And Subaru can't help loving and obsessing over him anyway]]. |
| 283 | ** The OAV's also deconstruct BornLucky. Shinji Nagumo noticed he had extremely good luck when he survived several accidents. He then became so smug that he actually started to set up different mishaps involving him and his work rivals/superiors, from which he'd walk away while the others would end up dead. |
| 284 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' deconstructs ExtremeDoormat. Kaneki's [[MissingMom late mother]] taught him that it's "better to be hurt than to hurt others." Unfortunately, Kaneki's aunt, her sister, [[TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity took advantage of her kindness]] at every turn, and Kaneki's mom literally worked herself to death to provide for both her own home and her sister's. Kaneki realizes how stupid her advice was [[spoiler: after following it leads him to be kidnapped and tortured by [[TortureTechnician Yamori]] for ten days solid]], resulting in him discarding his humanity and becoming a brutal, ruthless AntiHero with a PayEvilUntoEvil mentality. |
| 285 | * Taiga Aisaka from ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' takes the {{Tsundere}} trope and shows a more down-to-Earth origin to it. It's really, '''really''' not pretty, since [[spoiler: Taiga's father is a {{Jerkass}} who abandoned the family after going bankrupt (which actually ''does'' happen in Japan, due to ValuesDissonance) and only appears to mess up with Taiga's emotional stability, and for worse she can't emotionally connect with her mother's second family (stepfather, baby half-brother).]] Hence, her mood swings and violent behavior don't come just from childishness towards romance or mere [[{{Jerkass}} jerkassery]], but from serious emotional and familial imbalance. |
| 286 | ** Taiga not only deconstructs {{Tsundere}}, but also TinyTyrannicalGirl. Several of the tropes that make [[Literature/ShakuganNoShana Shana]] [[Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero and]] [[Literature/{{MM}} other]] [[Literature/{{Gosick}} charac]][[Literature/AriaTheScarletAmmo ters]] like her [[{{Moe}} "adorable"]] in the eyes of the viewers (not just the Tsundereness but also the short height, flat chest, HotBlooded nature, etc.) are ''torn to shreds'' here, as they make Taiga's life [[BreakTheCutie quite hard.]] Being tiny makes her [[TheNapoleon very aggressive to compensate]], the flat chest [[ACupAngst screws with her self esteem]], the HotBlooded nature makes her competitive to the point of borderline assholery sometimes (i.e, she accidentally causes Ryuuji ''to almost drown'' while she's in a swimming competition with Ami) and makes her feared by many of her peers instead of admired/liked, etc. |
| 287 | ** Toradora also uses Taiga to deconstruct MinorLivingAlone. Typical examples in anime have children acting like perfect miniature adults who expertly cook, clean house, do laundry, pay bills, and sometimes even hold jobs. Taiga lives alone because she can’t get along with anyone in her family, but her parents never taught her any domestic skills before they (effectively) threw her out of the house, and they don't bother checking up on her once she’s gone. Until she meets Ryuuji, [[TrashOfTheTitans she’s living in filth and squalor]], subsisting on a diet of convenience store food and suffering from chronic allergies due to her terrible living conditions. She's never held a job either. The series emphasizes the fact that even though she’s technically living on her own, she’s actually completely dependent on [[spoiler:both Ryuuji’s care and the monthly cash deposits she gets from her father]]. Part of her character growth arc involves her learning [[spoiler: to acknowledge that she can't do everything on her own and start to address the issues that led to her isolation in the first place; this leads her to return to her parents's home, so she can rekindle her relationship with them and, through this, become a better person before she and Ryuuji can start out a new life together]]. |
| 288 | * ''Manga/TowaKamoShirenai'' offers another way to deconstruct PuritySue. [[spoiler: The 98th Himiko priestess]] had the traits down to the core (beauty, gentleness, wisdom, loved and admired by everyone, could befriend animals and plans... but she was put in a high pedestal and almost no one but [[spoiler: [[BodyguardCrush her bodyguard/beloved]] ]] Hishou saw her [[IJustWantToBeNormal as the human person she yearned to be]]. Therefore, the poor woman was [[IJustWantToBeLoved incredibly lonely and depressed]], feeling that [[ToughLeaderFacade she was trapped in her role,]] and [[spoiler: when Hishou was ordered to leave her service due to the snow ghost Hitsoushin (whom Hishou's bonded to after a DealWithTheDevil) harming the 98th Himiko out of jealousy, her massive issues and [[DelicateAndSickly a fulminating cancer]] came to the surface, and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth she died]] few after her prospect successor (the Himiko we met) came to the shrine.]] |
| 289 | * ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' arguably deconstructs WillfullyWeak in Fai's case. After being forced to give up his PowerLimiter phoenix tattoo to Yuuko as his traveling price, Fai swears off the use of his magic out of fear of what might happen. It ultimately turns out that without the limiter, Fai is even ''more'' dangerous than he would be otherwise; he's cursed to kill the first person he meets who's stronger than he is, and holding back makes it much more likely he'll find someone who outclasses him. |
| 290 | * The first book/arc of ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' plays an awful lot like a cynical writer watched one too many bad TrappedInAnotherWorld series and thought, "Okay, what would ''really'' happen if you threw an insecure teenage girl into a war-torn fantasy world?" The result is what seems to be the anti-''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', where the hostile, alien environment drives the heroine into a nervous breakdown even ''before'' she learns that everyone expects her to lead a nation. |
| 291 | ** And it's not just a deconstruction from the point of view of ''the heroine'', either. In the anime, her two friends also have their share of problems about it: Yuuka [[spoiler: has a FaceHeelTurn and goes PsychoSupporter because [[IJustWantToBeSpecial she wants to be the heroine so bad]] that she's willing to betray Youko if it's needed (in itself, a deconstruction of [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]], due to what extremes she'll reach)]]; while the other, Asano, [[spoiler: falls into despair and insanity, ends up as the pawn of the villains, and once he's getting better... he gets a very cruel HeelFaceDoorSlam.]] |
| 292 | ** Enki and Taiki didn't have it easy in ''our'' world either. Enki's bad experiences soured him in regards to ''taikas'' (people from Japan that are spirited to the Twelve Kingdoms), which brought him trouble when the person better suited to reign in En was a Japanese [[FallenPrincess Fallen Prince]]. And Taiki... Lord, ''poor'' Taiki had a ''shirei'' (protector beast) who lashed at others and hurt them out of despair and fright, and since nobody could see where the attacks came from they blamed them on Taiki and shunned him. Not to mention, once he was brought back to the Kingdoms, his inability to handle his Kirin powers brought him much angst. |
| 293 | *** Same goes to Suzu Ooki. She was a normal girl spirited to the Kingdoms, but unlike Youko or Taiki she wasn't a taika, so she couldn't understand the language of the Kingdoms and passed through lots of hardships. And once it seemed an immortal took pity on her plight and took her as her maid... she actually was a {{Jerkass}} who tortured her for a ''century'' straight. |
| 294 | * ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' deconstructs ThouShaltNotKill, showing just how ''hard'' it is to follow a rule like that (both psychologically and physically) even with ImprobableAimingSkills, how defeating someone without killing them doesn't guarantee that they aren't just going to [[DrivenToSuicide off themselves]] or get themselves killed in front of your eyes anyway [[spoiler: and how someone following that rule could still end up in a situation where [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption murder is the only option.]]]] The show also provides a reversal of the PersonOfMassDestruction; Vash is considered a walking disaster zone who causes death and destruction in his wake, but - barring one exception, which was still an accident - absolutely none of it is his fault, and instead is caused either by everyone around him reacting to his reputation, or him just being in the area when something big goes down, and all the property damage gets pinned on him when he tries to intervene. |
| 295 | * Plenty of tropes are deconstructed in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': |
| 296 | ** [[AmateurSleuth Erika Furude's]] analysis of the Rokenjima deaths as if they were from a novel deconstructs GenreSavvy, as it's used to make her come off as evil and insane instead of logical. [[KickTheDog You just DON'T tell a mother her child died in a way that sounds like it's from a third-rate mystery.]] |
| 297 | ** Erika is also used to deconstruct GreatDetective - she is obsessed with little details and control, to the point that she stalks her lovers and comes off as a control freak. Not to mention the fact that murders apparently occur everywhere she goes, just because she is a detective... |
| 298 | ** Maria Ushiromiya deconstructs IncorruptiblePurePureness, too. She is [[PureIsNotGood "pure and childlike"]] —which, aside from implying geniality and a loving nature ([[spoiler: and letting her retain the imaginative power necessary for being a Creator]]), means that she acts a few years younger than she truly is, doesn't understand the concept of doubt, and has next to NoSocialSkills. As a result, she's bullied and rejected by her mother and her peers. |
| 299 | ** Also, she and Rosa deconstruct FreeRangeChildren. Rosa frequently leaves Maria alone so she can run off on vacation with her boyfriend, and other adults like the owner of a local convenience store are troubled to see her wandering around with nothing but a stuffed animal for company. Any attempts to intervene with social services usually ends badly, and it's acknowledged to be traumatizing for Maria. |
| 300 | * ''Manga/{{Uwakoi}}'', from the creator of ''Aki Sora'', deconstructs ReallyGetsAround. The male main character has sex with many pretty girls because he has an ExtremeLibido so he can't limit himself to the "main" female character. He quickly questions himself on what he really wants beyond satisfying his lust, yet he can't find an answer. Other promiscuous characters are also shown to have an inner problem they're trying to run from, using sex for comfort. |
| 301 | * ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'' deconstructs AChildShallLeadThem - while [[spoiler:Declaring themselves an independent republic from JIOR]] seemed like a good idea at the time and did manage to bounce back when [[spoiler:The artificial sun overheated]], it's made woefully obvious that the students are unprepared for running their own country, especially when you realize they haven't even set up proper military defense for an enemy that [[WouldHurtACHild holds no qualms towards killing them]]. |
| 302 | * ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' deconstructs ChivalrousPervert with Youji Kudou. He's both shamelessly flirtatious toward and protective of women - at one point proclaiming that "woman's enemy is my enemy" - but he's also an assassin and male HoneyTrap, and any woman he makes any kind of emotional connection with is inevitably either a target he is using for information, a target who's trying to use ''him'' for information, or just plain doomed to become a statistic. (And believe us, Youji is ''very'' bad at not making emotional connections.) By sequel series ''Weiss Kreuz Gluhen,'' the emotional toll on poor Yoji has become so bad that he's developed habits like talking to his dead girlfriend on the phone and unconsciously throttling his partners during sex, and after he hits the DespairEventHorizon he nearly pulls a FaceHeelTurn in his desperation to forget about all of it. [[spoiler: He only recovers after a complete case of VictoryGuidedAmnesia allows him to leave it all behind and marry the HospitalHottie [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect who takes care of him]]... arguably the happiest ending that he could possibly have hoped for by this point.]] |
| 303 | * The ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' [[TheAnimeOfTheGame anime]] deconstructs BigBrotherInstinct. There's no disputing Jacky Bryant's love for his sister Sarah, and how he genuinely wants to help her. The catch is that him being overprotective caused her to have next to no self-esteem despite how talented she is in martial arts... and that REALLY doesn't help their cases when she's kidnapped and later BrainwashedAndCrazy. |
| 304 | * ''Literature/WelcomeToTheNHK'' deconstructs the ManicPixieDreamGirl with Misaki, who only appears to be an eccentric girl helping Satou out of the good of her heart. In reality, [[spoiler:she needs Satou's overall worthlessness to forget about her own failure]]. |
| 305 | * ''Wife Development Club'' deconstructs MrsRobinson big time. ''As soon'' as her husband leaves to go to work, the housewife sees the younger apartment manager and turns on the charm to be as much as a [[MsFanservice Mrs. Fanservice as possible]] in her [[SexySweaterGirl tight sweater dress being short enough for an easy panty shot]] and talks a big game of [[ReallyGetsAround "experience"]] in classic cougar fashion before she lays on TheBigDamnKiss on him... [[ArmorPiercingQuestion that he questions,]] laughs off and calls out as total bullshit from the way she kisses her husband goodbye enough to rattle her. From then on, it turns into ''him'' teaching ''her'' how to properly kiss and have sex no different than if she was a typical naive schoolgirl. |
| 306 | * ''Manga/WorldTrigger'' serves as a DeconstructorFleet of numerous Shonen tropes. There is no EleventhHourSuperpower or HeroicResolve that works to the protagonist's advantage: Osamu Mikumo starts out with the training equipment Border gave him, and his only "upgrade" is in the form of getting the exact same equipment everyone else already has. It's because of this that he has to work hard to prove himself useful in a world where [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome everyone is working just as hard as he is.]] |
| 307 | * ''Manga/XxxHolic'' deconstructs TheDulcineaEffect by showing that in order to be like this, Watanuki has to place essentially no value on his own life, how others feel about his 'sacrificing' and how intensely mentally unhealthy you have to be to act like this. People get incredibly upset over how reckless he is and eventually he learns that not only is it not heroic to risk your life for someone you barely know, it might even be wrong to risk yourself for someone you ''do'' know if you don't think it through, such as sacrificing an eye for Doumeki without considering what he feels about that (and making him ''very'' upset at the prospect) and having the ShrinkingViolet spirit with a crush on him nearly die trying to retrieve it. |
| 308 | * ''VisualNovel/YosugaNoSora'': Sora’s arc, especially in the anime, deconstructs how BigBrotherAttraction, BrotherSisterIncest and {{Twincest}} are often portrayed in {{ecchi}} material – guilt-free and cute/sexy. Sora’s unnatural attraction to Haruko is due to her extreme physical and emotional dependence on him, and while Haruko’s feelings are mutual, he struggles with the morality of their relationship, knowing society won’t accept them. The arc ends with the twins moving overseas, hoping to finally live happily together. |
| 309 | * ThePowerOfHate is deconstructed through Kaiba in ''Franchise/YuGiOh''. Kaiba claims that his hatred towards Yugi and Gozaburo drives him to be the best and to crush their legacies beneath his feet. However Yugi correctly points out that all his hate is only causing Kaiba to live a hollow and empty life. He is stuck in the past, unable to move forward in life and all his attempts to ignore his past comes off more as Kaiba trying to run away from his problems or pain rather than face it. |
| 310 | ** ProtagonistCenteredMorality is deconstructed in the Waking the Dragons arc. Despite Yami/Yugi chiding other duelists for sending their own monsters to the Graveyard just to power up other monsters, which ends up being how Yami/Yugi exploits that weakness to defeat them, Yami Yugi ruthlessly uses Catapult Turtle to sacrifice his monsters to cause massive damage to Rafael, causing the latter to use Guardian Eatos to deliver Yami his first legitimate loss of the series, complete with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, similar to the ones Yami usually gives his opponents, lampshading this deconstruction. |
| 311 | --->'''Rafael''': I told you the Seal would reveal the truth. This is you-- wicked, greedy and full of hate. The power of the Orichalcos reveals all, and just as I suspected, you're evil, Pharaoh. And you're getting worse. As time passes, the darkness grows. If you don't believe me, all you have to do is look around the field. See what you've done to your monsters? At one time, they were pure. But now they're evil shadow creatures! [...] You chose to play The Seal of Orichalcos even at the cost of losing Timaeus! Your lust for power destroyed a valuable monster. Only a truly dark individual would have such a blatant disregard for his deck. |
| 312 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Ironically enough, for a series all about ThePowerOfFriendship and a RagtagBunchOfMisfits becoming TrueCompanions, 5D’s deconstructs the latter in its finale. [[spoiler: In the finale, all the members of Team 5D’s (minus Yusei and Jack) receive opportunities to make strides in their own ways, but following up on them requires them to split up and leave Neo Domino City. At first, Jack’s the only one ready to pack up and leave, wanting to become the World Turbo Dueling Champion. He tells his teammates that, after all their adventures (defeating the Dark Signers and averting a BadFuture), they’ve reached the limits of what they can accomplish as a team, so now they need to fulfill achievements and growth as individuals. In this case, the strong bond between Team 5D’s becomes an obstacle rather than a strength, as, for the sake of that bond, the others are considering holding back on their potential just so they can remain together. Jack outright says so, saying that he’d even pull away from 5D’s if it means reaching his full potential. It’s ultimately {{Reconstructed}} in the end, as while the members of Team 5D’s do choose to separate in the end, they acknowledge that they can still remain friends into the future and resolve to meet again.]] |
| 313 | * ''Anime/Zambot3'': This series was one of the first ones in deconstructing the SuperRobotGenre: |
| 314 | ** KidHero[=/=]ChildSoldier: Who thought it was a good idea to put children in the cockpits of huge war machines and force them to fight in a war? The trio of children - who are younger than usual in this kind of show - are put through the wringer in many ways, unusually cruel and traumatic. |
| 315 | ** NoEndorHolocaust: Not only do ''a lot'' of people die due to two giant monsters fighting in a city, but also in several chapters the heroes have to fight in the ruins of a city destroyed during an earlier battle (and had not been magically rebuilt after the end of the episode). |
| 316 | ** {{Robeast}}: In an arc, TheDragon kidnaps people, plants bombs in them and detonates them when he sees fit, gleefully stating that method is more effective than sending a giant monster. |
| 317 | %%* Many {{Hentai}} tropes get played for drama in ''Inma Youjo'', from sex in an elevator and tentacle rape to the sex robot who falls in love with their creator and inviting a scared woman to sex. |
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