Deconstructing Unprovoked Pervert Payback

Has anyone ever thought of a way to do this. After seeing it so much in the harem Genre to the point of becoming the biggest Cliche of the Genre ever, I wondered if anyone here could do it.

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Weirdly I was just thinking about the idea of a harem deconstruction, though that was mostly because I thought that the idea of a reverse harem that has the same level of sexual harassment that To Love Ru had would probably be seen as a bit (very) rape-y. It just seems like a bit of a double standard, and I would love to see the reaction to it.

edited 12th Jul '11 5:07:51 AM by Cammy_G

True. But the same type of deconstruction should happen with a regular harem as well as a reverse one.

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The simplest way would be to make the character doing the uprovoked payback crazy and prone to semi-random agression. Either that or make the main character crazy and genuinely believe that they are doing nothing wrong.

I'd take the first option because the second would probably require something slightly more complex like reshowing key scenes as they truly happened rather than how they occurred to the protagonist (unless you actually want to go the route of giving the character with the Unwanted Haren alien hand syndrome or something).

Alternatively if you don't want to use mental illness, there is always the possibility of creating borderline/ambiguous situations and showing (perhaps through inner monologues) how both characters believe they have acted reasonably/done nothing wrong.

But most people would look at it and say that it is OK because the guy obviously wants it, or because they expect it to be played for laughs. If you were to go to such extremes with a female protagonist, it would be easier to get the audience to realize how awful and demeaning the concept is.

Ahh, but it works just as well witht he regular harem, as obviously Unprovoked Pervert Payback is alright when it is female on male, correct?

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I am not saying that it is, I am saying that it would be easier to play as drama because we and society already see the assault of women as being utterly wrong and the assault of males by females as being less wrong.

i think you might as well deconstruct the concept of the Tsundere

i personally will go for the drama/horror like how Puella Magi Madoka Magica was with Magical Girl tropes

This level of trolling is reasonable for Commander Obvious. What do you think of this, everyone?

I think you guys are making a mistake here. Unprovoked Pervert Payback isn't the trope that needs deconstructing, as it is a case of Bad Writing. The point of that trope is that the producers intended the payback to be provoked, but failed.

You want Pervert Revenge Mode. Which I find to be Actually Pretty Funny*

and doesn't need deconstructing, being a simple comedy trope with no significance to the plot whatsoever.

If you really need to, though, I'd go with a guy that ends up heavily injured way beyond the girl's intentions.

edited 12th Jul '11 7:07:55 AM by Kayeka

You could have the main boy be a naive newomer to this reality and have him not get some of the societal rules. Then when he's hit, he automatically hits back, and everyone is all scandalized while he looks around, bewildered.

"But she hit me first!"

"Because you're a pervert!"

"I'm a pervert because I got lost on my first day at a new school where I don't read the language?!"

"Maa, Yawaru-kun... it's more than that. Yukie-chan's a girl."

"... what does that have to do with anything?"

"Girls are delicate! You're not supposed to hit them!"

"... you're not supposed to hit anyone, you jackass! But she hit me for no reason and I'm not apologizing until she apologizes!"

"YOU JERK!" ;_;

>: | "All right, I'm a jerk! But so are you!"

And so on.

A True Lady's Quest - A Jojo is You!

How about this.

-Protagonist walks to door

-Knocks

-"I'm changing, one minute!"

-"Alright"

He then waits for her to come out.

The end.

Or how about a girl walks in on a guy while he's changing, and he beats her for it. Oh wait, we can't have that, can we?

(Yes I dislike this trope)

edited 12th Jul '11 1:18:49 PM by Thorn14

Thats not what deconstruction is. Its taking the idea and playing it out realisticly with a lot of Consequences involved.

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The obvious deconstruction would be to play the injuries and associated trauma seriously. There are plenty of ways to do that, depending on how you've characterized the attacker.

edited 12th Jul '11 1:34:45 PM by Clarste

I cant stand the term deconstruction and TV Tropes love of the term. Its so undefined and without any real meaning.

I think subverting or inverting the trope would be a lot more fun than deconstructing it. For instance, the male character is for once not a pushover and upon experiencing this trope he gives the offending Tsundere "The Reason You Suck" Speech or spanks her. Then she falls in love with him because he stood up to her.

edited 12th Jul '11 2:24:24 PM by shiro_okami

Why not simply have the guy just avoid said girl from now on. Only talking to her when it's absolutely necessary, and when she asks why, he reminds her that she beat the shit out of him over something that wasn't his fault, even after she should know he wouldn't do that (assume that they have known each-other for a while, and this has happened before), and him saying that if she's going to be a violent bitch at every given opportunity, than what impetus does he have to be her friend. He admits to barely even tolerating her, especially since she can't even comprehend that she's done anything wrong, and finally, tells her that if she does it again when it is not justified, he will defend himself.

That was more than what I planned to write, but if it's all about consequences, then I think I've covered it. Either that, or I've once again missed the point of Deconstruction.

One Strip! One Strip!

^ That sounds interesting. I like it.

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If you're dealing with a loser protagonist of the sort who frequently stars in harem comedies, I could see him not having the guts to confront the girl(s), but being driven to a nervous wreck by living conditions where he's constantly given violent feedback for unpredictable reasons.

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.

I was waiting the entirety of Working!! for the main to freaking hit that one chick back. I knew it wasn't gonna happen but DAMMIT AT LEAST BLOCK.

Not a deconstruction, more like an aversion, but instead of just freezing and standing there gawking when he realized he's walked in on the girl naked and then getting hit in the face, he could apologize and leave.

Seriously, why does no guy do this in a harem anime? Oh right because guys are so oversexed that as soon as they see a sexy girl their brains shut off. What a load of sexist BS.

edited 12th Jul '11 4:09:28 PM by Sporkaganza

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

I have an idea in the back of my mind where the Love Hina girls accidentally kill Keitaro during a beating, and then have a Gallows Humor fanfic-long sequence where they try to hide the crime, ending up in a disastrous OJ-style escape from the police. I really want to write it down someday.

Of course, it's not a serious deconstruction, but you already have The Bitter End for that.

This one isn't a deconstruction, but how about the girl hits the guy, and hurts the guy because he's Made of Iron, subverting Armor Piercing Slap in the process. She gets mad at him for hurting her, and he gleefully points out that she hit him, and it's not his fault she can't do it right. Then suggests finding another way to express her anger.

Heh, heh, heh.

One Strip! One Strip!

Already had a few scenes mapped out for this, and ironically enough, it's based on Love Hina.

Scenario: Four guys have to spend a night at the Hinata Inn. Motoko sees a guy in the dojo practicing, assumes it's Keitaro, goes in for the slash...

...and ends up hitting the ground. Turns out one of the guys is a Hiten Mitsurugi practitioner, and Motoko just got a face-full of Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki.

The other guy ends up attracting Naru's ire, is forced to defend himself, and breaks her arm.

"See, the problem with people like you is that you get complacent. You never assume the worst. Now that you know what it means to be on the receiving end, I'm sure you're going to be a lot more discerning about your actions."

He then leaves.

Neither goony beard-men nor rainbow-haired she-twinks will stand in the way of my dreams!

We might want to be careful not to get too vindictive here, even if in your examples, the girls asked for it a little by jumping the gun.

One Strip! One Strip!

How about the guy just blocks or dodges whenever this happens?

Is that too much to ask?