Power Of Friendship: Why is this prevalent is shonen?

Except if it's The Rival himself who's owning The Hero and trapping his friends. Only the Author Can Save Them Now.

It'd be nice if the friends could, you know, free themselves and then help the hero, every once in a while.

In that case defeated enemy appear and save the day cause he is friend too. Shonen protagonist can't be ever defeated as he befriending left and right. That is real Power of Friendship

I agree that it would be good if that happens once in a while, but I don't think some fans and authors would appreciate kill-stealing.

edited 23rd Dec '12 7:49:25 AM by judasmartel

Shonen protagonists carry a disease that causes everyone around them to become friends.

It sounds like you're saying that friendship makes characters weak, but I know you don't mean that.

edited 23rd Dec '12 7:51:17 AM by judasmartel

'Twas a joke.

Now I wish this thread was about the prevalence of harems in Japanese anime.

I think that one is more than obvious...

To thread starter - just think of Power of Friendship as the power to form platonic harems.

That's a worse Schmuck Bait to me. You see, people keep saying how harem protagonists are weak, dull, dense in relationships, and frankly uninteresting. Until Kirito came along. Then they preach like he's the Jesus of 2010's anime and that all future protagonists should be like him.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:00:34 AM by judasmartel

Kirito isn't only one (fortunetely). Badass harem leads are best

I cannot agree - Kirito is NOT Jesus-substitute. Jesus preferred men in his harem.

FYI, I am Catholic.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:01:45 AM by probablyinsane

Yes, I know that. My problem is that Kirito is portrayed too perfectly. I don't care if him being badass makes sense plot-wise, but if you're going to give me a badass harem protagonist, at least give him a flaw that is worth overcoming or a high-tier opponent that he simply can't beat normally, period.

He doesn't break a sweat even when fighting the toughest opponents in the game.

Not being able to prevent a guildmate's death is okay, but being a hikikomori as a flaw in a story about VR games? Come on.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:06:51 AM by judasmartel

True if Kirito were at least perverted...

Lol, I don't know how perfect Kirito is right now. I and my brother dropped SAO a while back.

Toriko though is still on my watchlist.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:07:17 AM by probablyinsane

As I have said above, if you're going to give me a badass harem protagonist, at least give me one with a persistent flaw he has to overcome and a recurring opponent he just can't beat. Kirito only ever loses to a character we will never see again.

After that, he doesn't break a sweat even when fighting the most insanely difficult opponents in the game.

That's why I liked Kamijou Touma better than Kirito. Or hell, I even liked Kanda Sorata better than Kirito (both voiced by the same guy). And Sakurasou isn't even a fighting series.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:12:29 AM by judasmartel

Touma is worse. His winning streak is even more unbilievable and stupid. That's why I read/watch it for Shiage and Accelerator. Mainly Shiage though (he has own harem as well and power of friendship comparable to Touma, but with more cool battles)

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:17:15 AM by Tenzen12

Sure, that's because power users in the ToAruVerse are stupid enough to use their powers even when they can clearly see that supernatural powers don't work on him. They could have at least, you know, try to hurt him indirectly. He only ever loses to power users who don't even need to use their powers at all against him.

Yeah, Touma might sound cheesy sometimes, and as you said, his winning streak against these freaking monsters is absurdly impossible, but what lesser MCs don't get is that a truly badass harem protagonist EARNS his harem; Harem protagonists don't simply get a harem without doing something awesome.

Accelerator is awesome, no doubt about that. I think the AC Invasion Arc is the best arc he is in by far. I mean, he had to fight a Badass Normal whom he can't just Attack Reflector his way through, because it turns out said guy is the man who taught him how to use his powers. And yet he won against him in a convincing and undeniably awesome fashion. He even gets more awesome after being able to use magic! How about an Esper-Mage hybrid who is even better than Motoharu? His entire awesomeness phase only came after his loss against Touma! But he hasn't even beaten him yet, even in Angel Mode!

Shiage's appeal to me is his Badass Normal status. He doesn't even need esper powers to own freakishly monstrous espers. He defeated a freaking Level Five TWICE. Without anybody's help. Touma was only able to beat Accelerator after the Misaka clones stopped his plasma ball attack.

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:29:41 AM by judasmartel

wut

Sorry, my ears are still ringing from the sheer "KIRITO GETS THE UNIVERSE BENDING TO HIS WILL BECAUSE MARY SUESUESUESUE SELF-INSERT"

like

y'know

that thing you just said

I don't think "needing to borrow administrator powers from the consciousness of the SAO creator's internet brain that had a low chance of even appearing" counts as "able to beat normally" (It does seem very Ass Pull, but this isn't Kirito's power, Kayaba just felt like lending it)

then there's The Fatal-scythe, The Skullreaper (unless you count ANY win that involves him at all as one, regardless of how many other people are also in the boss raid or something), Yuuki, Thrym, and Kayaba probably wouldn't have lost either if he actually wanted to dodge.

Yeah, Touma's opponents tend to have extremely overinflated confidence in their own abilities. Notice how everyone who doesn't (Kaori, Acqua etc.) have utterly trashed Touma's shit. But moving away from To Aru, I think I finally thought of an example of a series which uses the power of friendship and yet manages to make it seem not corny and disingenuous.

Persona. Persona 4 in particular. They treat the idea of friendship in a much more mature fashion than your typical shonen fare, which is only complemented by the fact these friends actually do things. Sure, the protagonist takes center stage as protagonists are wont to do, but in the end, his friends are important, and contribute significantly to the plot, and to his success. They aren't just damsels or a gaggle of Krillins whose only purpose is to serve as cheerleaders.

Of course, I didn't mean to say Kirito was a Gary Stu. I did try calling him that once, but the SAO fanboys killed me into the next week, so I gave up trying to reason with them. At least I know that Kirito being overpowered "makes sense" plot-wise.

Hmm... Intriguing. I would like to know what is the least the dedicated party healer can do to be considered useful. Because even with the Combat Medic trope designed to stop people from bashing White Mages as being just as useful as hero bait, that kind of thing still happens. At least it has lessened combat-wise with the emergence of Stone Wall healers. Plot-wise, not that I know of.

Oh wait, is the healer in Persona 4 is a guy or am I not doing my research? That would be a game-changer for me if the former is true.

I thought Harry Potter did it well, but I think the bad rap the Power of Friendship gets has something to do with the PoF being portrayed as some kind of a Deus ex Machina Magic Feather that brings weapons-grade Ass Pull into the plot rather than something that acutally inspires the whole team to ramp up their combat performance and defeat the current Big Bad in a convincing, legitimate fashion.

edited 23rd Dec '12 9:07:35 AM by judasmartel

Realy I didn't find that particulry different than any others anime neither more original. I didn't play games, so I can talk only about anime that I found realy boring.

edited 23rd Dec '12 9:10:17 AM by Tenzen12

Yeah, I could make a thread on harem protagonists but that would be a little redundant and obvious given my "reputation". Anyway, the power of friendship just seems like an overused aesop to me and I wondered why it is so prevalent in shonen. I wonder if it has anything to do with collectivism but that is a little broad for my tastes.

Hmm, nope. What I'm saying is, what could the team's healer do to be considered awesome in the eyes of viewers aside from making him a Combat Medic? Because if there's no other way than that, then The Worf Effect kicks in and the now converted Combat Medic becomes just as useless as the resident White Magician Girl.

Making a topic about harem anime staples sounds fun, but I caution against it. Flame Wars CAN and WILL ensue.

While I may or may not agree that this trope is an overused aesop, then what else authors can use to teach kids how to deal with people without sounding real corny?

edited 23rd Dec '12 9:14:45 AM by judasmartel