Headscratchers / To Love Ru

• OK, this one just bugged me for an awful lot now, so I'm just gonna ask: How in the holy mother of FUCK did the Devilukeans evolve to get erogenous tails and WHY ?! What practical purpose does it give to the species ?
  • Because fanservice.
  • Evolution isn't purpose driven. Its actually highly random and is usually the result of genetic diversity in a species. Traits like having an erogenous tail, begins with usually one or a few individuals in a species. If this trait makes them more equipped for survival and reproduction and even if it doesn't as long as those born with it reproduce the trait will eventually spread through the population. Evolution doesn't need a purpose it just happens.
    • The previous troper doesn't understand what evolution is. Evolution does have a clear purpose - avoid changes that significantly reduce the chances of surviving to reproduce. That's why it's really rare to see genetic diseases that kill before sexual maturity - because evolution "purposefully" avoids it. Evolution punishes such mutations. The question of why Devilukeans have such erogenous tails is a good question since it could be a weakness that could get one killed. There are a couple possible answers: apparently the three sisters are unusually more susceptible than other Devilukeans (possibly because they're hybrids). Or being erogenous zones could be some weird byproduct of the fact that their tails are also powerful weapons.
    • The above personification of evolution as a conscious entity is pretty far afield of reality (and genetic diseases don't kill in childhood? What about sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, hemophilia?). It's pretty clear from factual biological study that evolution can be quite random, and in many cases non-purposeful. We wouldn't have a well-understood term like "vestigial" in our language if it wasn't.
  • I've got a compound answer that's similar to the above: Sexual selection plus cultural preferences of female desirability. Devilukean males must find erogenous tails to be a sexually desirable trait in their women, and so mated with those who had it. Put yourself in their shoes: Assume you're a heterosexual male Devilukean who's reached sexual maturity, and you see a sexually attractive female of your species. Something ensnares her tail and she gets all flustered; she starts blushing and (inadvertently) making those sorts of noises. You think it's cute, so you mate with her to ensure that trait of hers gets passed down to future generations. I know this doesn't entirely cover what sexual selection is as it's competition for mates, and if that's the case then Devilukean women who competed with each other for mates must've had to be as susceptible as possible in order to mate and ensure they passed on their genes. That's the best explanation I can come up with, anyway.
• Why hasn't the principal been fired or sued for sexual harassment of minors yet? Even in Japan, that can't be legal.
  • Rule of Funny, of course. C'mon, this is manga. Overt perversion and molestation you can get way with in the manga world (especially if it's an ecchi manga) if it's all played for laughs.
  • Even if he never gets brought to court or anything, karma always seems to pay him back. Usually in the form of Golden Darkness kicking his ass.
• In the anime episode 8 "The Prefect of Spotless Integrity" Kotegawa Yui is Obviously abusing her authority as she enforces new school rules on the student body yet they don’t get outraged or call her out on it and Not only that but singles out Rito as the prime “offender” for all things Eechi when it’s clear it was all LALA fault, like it’s always the guys fault and never the girls in her mind or something. What’s the deal with that?
  • You see, To Love Ru works on a strict formula. Girls get into some sexy predicament, Rito accidentally sees it, girls beat him up because of how much of a pussy he is. It's the basis for almost every harem manga since Love Hina. Simply put, you can't change it, even if it goes against logic.
    • Well, It's not that bad. The only ones who irrationally blame him are Yui and Nana, both Tsunderes. Lala and most of the other girls acknowledge that it's an accident most of the time. Hell, even Yui and Nana acknowledge that they are usually accidents. Yui's Character Development is partially about her moving away from this mind set. Haruna also responds violently, but that's usually only when Rito face plants into her crotch. And the authority abuse? The ultimate authority in that school is the principal. And IIRC the rules weren't new, she was just rigidly enforcing rules that students usually get away with. For example, magazines really aren't allowed, but as long as they aren't being read in class teachers are likely to let it go. Plus, the student were getting pissed, but seeing as those rules were only in place for a day... It's exactly for this reason that Rito warned her she was going too far.
    • When you think about it, Yui wasn't completely wrong about Rito. He was, at the very least, the unwilling catalyst of the problems that finally set her off that day. He's the primary focus and without him Lala and Ren/Run leave while Saki goes back to being the most popular girl in school (keep in mind that it was her escalating competitiveness that lead to her and her henchwomen showing up in those outfits). Is he totally at fault? No. Is he a significant part of recent excesses? Heck, yes. Does he WANT to be a part of those issues? That would be a big 'No'.
• How exactly did a planet with two suns induce aliens to evolve into dual-gendered beings? Hell, Namek had three suns, and its inhabitants were genderless!.
  • It's pretty simple, actually. First sun means one gender, the second one means two genders. The third one would add a gender, but due to overflow caused by the fact that there are only 2 genders, it resets to 0. Now, if Namekians got a fourth sun, they would cease to be genderless. Other than that, we all know it's due to the Rule of Funny or creator being drunk when thinking of it.
  • Simple: Evolution. Memorze (Runs/Rens home planet) is a desert planet with no night and very limited resources.
  • This raises a further question: How would evolving to have two genders help out in a place like that?
    • They save resources. Because of this, they are capable of having 100% of the population either sire or bear young, depending on the needs. It's an adaptability issue. Furthermore, even though they still have male/female distinctions, 100% of the population can switch between them. Need more hunters, women become men. Need more child-raisers? Women become men. It's the 'they split up after puberty' thing that's ridiculous.
    • Actually the splitting off part makes sense, because if a woman became pregnant what would happen to the child if she became her male persona? And if she couldn't change, would that mean the male persona needed to stay inside for nearly a year.
• How come Ren/Run didn't realize what would happen to their bodies in adolescence? You'd think the prince/princess of a planet would notice their subjects splitting into two people. Hell, you'd have to be brain-dead to not notice that you have two mommies and two daddies!
  • They did know. They just didn't know when. As far as either one was concerned, it might not happen for years, which would put both of them out of the race for Rito/Lala's heart. Its a bit of Viewers Are Geniuses - in real life, tertiary sexual characteristics are all psychological, the implication being the change is due to mental maturity, not physical. Meaning that unless one or both of them reach that level of maturity, the change may not happen. In others words, its different for everyone, and they didn't have a clue when their time would come.
    • There's also the fact that the different environment of Earth had an effect on them biologically. Back on their homeworld, the transformation wasn't sneeze-triggered. It's quite reasonable that the timing of their bodies splitting was also altered.
• Why did Lala conclude from Rito's confession that his love for Haruna is stronger than his love for her? Nothing Rito said actually indicated anything of the sort. Just that he loves both of them.
  • He also said something about loving Sairenji for a lot longer than he's loved Lala, and even Lala knows that Yuuki has only realized that he loves her very recently. It's not such a stretch to assume that even Lala might put two and two together.
• So I'm unclear on this: does Lala actually have wings as well as a tail, or is that just Peke(sp) making them for her? I've never been able to tell.
  • She doesn't have wings (those Peke provides) but she does have a tail.
• So I was looking at the Expy section on the main page, and it's dawned on me that Lala could be seen as a very big Expy of one Lum Invader. Think about it:
  • 1) Is an alien princess from another planet.
  • 2) Has incredible powers (Super-Strength and tail lasers for Lala, Flight and electricity generation for Lum).
  • 3) Both apparently possess numerous devices from their home planets (though Lala makes hers herself).
  • 4) Both are bases on a type of mythical beast in appearance (Lala on devils, and Lum on Oni).
  • 5) Their races are apparently conquerors.
  • 6) Both insert themselves into the lives of the guy they get involved with, who are considered perverts (though Ataru is one on purpose, and Rito is a Accidental Pervert).
  • And those are just a few surface points. I've also read that Lum's horns act as a weakness, just like Lala's tail, though I'm not sure if that is the truth. What do you guys think?
    • Makes sense to me. And yes, grabbing Lum's horns severely weakens her, but it doesn't have the other effects that grabbing Lala's tail has. Also, you can't forget that both series are very fanservice heavy.
• Why, exactly, doesn't anyone in this universe realize that a lot of Rito's Accidental Pervert moments could be neutralized by taking the time to lock the door when they're changing clothes or taking a bath? Sure, it wouldn't solve everything (Rito has a supernatural ability to cause clothing to vanish), but it would certainly help minimize the numerous "Oops I walked in on you while you were in the shower" incidents.
  • To be fair, a lot of those incidents could have also been avoided if Yuuki would knock, or realize he should stop grabbing whatever is in front of him if he doesn't know exactly what's in front of him.
  • We now know that his "accidental pervert" nature is part and parcel of an incurable alien disease that manifested shortly after Rito came in contact with Lala. Yami in "Darkness" mode can warp reality with her nano-machines. Where do you think Eden got the idea and materials to design her with that ability?
• Just what in the Universe would a bunch of deranged scientists get from the Universe being at constant disarray? Baring the fact that there are already enough stray forces capable of bringing about Apocalypse How at any moment and of far more severe proportions than any Living Weapon ever designed would, did they consider the possibility that releasing said LivingWeapons may come to bite them in their pathetic scientific asses? Especialy when said weapons are severely mentally and emotionally immature/unstable and they know who made them that way. You'd have to seriously slip off the hook to commit such crap.
• How the hell is Nemesis visible? She's composed of dark matter, yes? Dark matter neither emits nor interacts with electromagnetic radiation, which includes visible light, so unless the majority of Nemesis is actually regular baryonic matter (or more likely, I'm actually wrong about her being a dark matter being), she shouldn't even be visible to the naked eye. Aside from the logic of if she's not visible, then there's no fanservice, of course.
  • Funny thing about dark matter, due to its general undetectability we don't know all that much about its properties. And since it's all so distant, there's no telling how those properties might change with a shift in environment. For example, maybe it (or in particular the dark matter that makes up Nemesis) becomes light-opaque in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere when exactly 1 AU from a G-type star?

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