Deconstructing Unprovoked Pervert Payback

It's why it's so refreshing when it is successfully subverted. Guy accidentally walks in on girl in various states of undress, some flustered apologizing, quickly getting out, then there's a bit of awkwardness between the two but they're eventually able to laugh it off and move on. Sometimes they'll do it with the kuudere or emotionless girl type characters where they just don't have any particular reaction at all, or they just don't care, which also works, and can even still be played for comedy if the guy is panicking while the girl is just standing there nonchalantly.

What would be the best way in my opinion to deconstruct this, you ask?

Have the offender get permanently shut out of the harem, no takebacks. Murder the status quo deader than dead and have the victim get offended, tell the girl to her face that she's got no chance with him from that point on and refuse to apologize. She fucked up, now she'll suffer the consequences. That'll teach her and the others to respect guys instead of treating them the way dogs treat scraps of meat they're fighting over.

It really does baffle me why the most abusive ones are always still in the harem. What right-minded person would want to associate with someone like that, especially if they've got several other potential girls to choose from? It's why Girls Bravo was such a steaming pile to me. One girl beats the MC constantly, and is in fact the reason that he has gynophobia and breaks out in hives whenever he touches a female. Then another girl comes along who A) doesn't trigger his hives for whatever reason and B) is a sweet, gentle soul. It shouldn't have even been a harem at that point! The game was over, he should have just picked her and that would be the end of it.

Love Hina is a similar case, since honestly, if all that comedic violence wasn't played for comedy, Keitaro would have died very early on. And yet Naru is somehow still the girl he ends up marrying. The only possible worse choice would have been Kaolla.

edited 27th Apr '16 12:51:56 PM by danime91

At this point the answer is Grandfather Clause. Some of the more undesirable acts a female character can commit are likely just there because fans of the genre expect them.

Best way to deconstruct it? Have her get arrested.

It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.

Of course, that doesn't even factor in the problem that even in real life, a male will probably be more liable to get arrested, or at least not taken seriously, when assaulted by a female, so even a work that is realistic probably wouldn't have anything short of permanent injury or death result in the female's arrest.

edited 27th Apr '16 1:53:22 PM by danime91

This is one of those tropes that I've just kinda resigned myself to. Its so omnipresent, so ingrained in the genre, that actually seeing it subverted or deconstructed is almost a dream. Fans of these LN series thrive on these cliches and archetypes and they're sadly what helps them sell.

A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.

Hence why I said that he should shun her.

Yeah, I was kind of wondering why every single popular LN these days seems to feature a This Loser Is You protagonist somehow ending up in some generic fantasy world and becoming an overpowered harem master lord. I get it, it's supposed to be a power fantasy so they make the MC relatable (though I feel extremely sorry for anyone that finds one of these MCs "relatable", since they're almost always hikki NEETs with no redeeming features whatsoever) but it would be nice to see an MC who women would actually be attracted to, thus making sense for him to have a harem.

edited 27th Apr '16 3:34:44 PM by danime91

Problem is the kind of guy who'd have a "harem" would probably be a smart, handsome gentleman with a good job and money, so it's more difficult for otaku to project themselves onto someone like that :'p

Well, yeah, but it would certainly be less of a stretch of the imagination if the guy was at least somewhat intelligent, kind, not a complete pervert, you know? A lot of the protagonists I see in these stories I just want to punch in the face. It's almost sexist and an insult to women in its own right that female characters would be attracted to them.

edited 27th Apr '16 3:58:33 PM by danime91

High School Dx D actually averts this, believe it or not, and actually shows the whole idea as being inherently irrational.

Watch Symphogear

Naru actually learned how she was being a horrible person and she did not deserve to be with Keitaro in the manga, prompting a chase arc in which Kaolla fires rocket launchers at her and more.

Also she does not hit him nearly as much as in the Anime and quite a few times it ended up being a Bright Slap just exaggerated.

Keitaro learns to fight back vs pretty much everyone as well.

edited 27th Apr '16 4:31:20 PM by Memers

@Wehrmacht - I've always found that so odd, really.

Why aren't otakus incapable of imagining themselves as a total badass and awesome characters, like famous escapist characters like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Dante, etc? At least those kind of characters having all the women and adoration makes sense.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Or at least people capable of being social. I admit I myself am a bit of shut-in (mostly cause I don't like getting outta the house) but I actually do hang out with people in school or talk to them.

edited 27th Apr '16 5:21:30 PM by slimcoder

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

In fact, shouldn't "otakus" feel more offended at that kind of assumption?

I mean, I know plenty of real life people, with great social lives and career who love anime/manga/LN/etc.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Iseei Hyoudou is pretty close to being an escapist character. He's practically what would happen if Scott Pilgrim gained Dragon powers instead of video game based powers.

Watch Symphogear

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, YES I GET IT, HE'S AWESOME.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Well, Considering how most other harem protagonists tend to be boring and flat or weak willed and meek, he's a breath of fresh air for me.

Watch Symphogear

Yeah no shit, you sure as hell made that clear multiple times.

edited 27th Apr '16 6:18:58 PM by dRoy

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Eh, you'll get used to him doing this with anything he likes.

And that's a problem, how?

Anyway, on the subject of this, why not show the emotional effects it has the male protagonist for being at the end of this tactic so many times?

Like, he finally snaps in a fit of rage, and it ends tragically for everyone involved because of it.

edited 27th Apr '16 6:22:05 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Watch Symphogear

To change pace, I find Chivalry Of A Failed Knight to be a decent series in its own right. Its got all of those cliches you find in any other series, but they actually serve a purpose and create a foundation instead of just writing them to appeal to the readers.

The main character gets into an honest to god relationship with the heroine, and it sticks. Hell, even the quintessential "I want to fuck my brother" Little Sister Heroine is treated as wrong as you'd expect in real life. And while the protagonist is still an Escapist Character, he has traits that at least make you wanna root him.

Its not an amazing series, but it was such a breath of fresh air for me.

Or just make him react like an actual human being and call the heroine out on her irrational and unfair behavior.

edited 27th Apr '16 6:25:50 PM by BlackYakuzu94

A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.

I don't know. Having the main character snap and kill and hurt the girls would feel like proving them right, even if in a Doomed Moral Victor type of way.

Not only is he a stupid pervert, but a murderer as well.

We need something that gives the involved girls a massive Heel Realization as they finally catch on to the fact they've mistreated an innocent person.

One Strip! One Strip!

Or hell, just have the girl realize it actually it was a mistake and doesn't hold it against him. Bonus points if the girl in question is a Tsundere and the protagonist is Genre Savvy and expecting a violent reaction.

A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.