Japanese Tropes and Why They Might Exist

Didn't see a thread like this, and I'm not sure where else to put it, but I wanted to ask a few questions about tropes from primarily Japanese media that have been bugging me for some time now.

1. Why do people say someone's name just when they're thinking about them? For example: there's a fight scene with some dude named Akira, and something (anything!) happens. The person goes "Akira..." and the person next to them goes "Akira...". Later, Akira takes an injury, and both yell "Akira...!" What's the point of this? It must signify something in Japanese culture—maybe it's lending someone your resolve?
2. Why does the camera focus on eye shots/reaction shots so extensively? I've been trying to Google some sort of answer, and I haven't found anything. But what's the deal with that?
3. Stemming from the second, why is Japanese commentary so over-the-top and super-invested in telling the audience what they should be feeling? "AAAAH!! Akira-san is fighting with all of his might! His fighting spirit is at the critical brink! Can he keep it up!? His courage seems to be welling within!" A lot of the sensationalism seems to be very similar to the way Western marketing and media did things half a century ago.

Don't wish to offend anyone, but these seem to be consistent tropes across Japanese media, and I can't quite figure out why.

I don't see how saying the name of someone you're cheering on or worried about is anything strange. It's just showing that the characters are thinking about them. That's it. There's really no deeper meaning to it.

Why focus on reaction shots? Because they're reaction shots, they're trying to show reactions. If you're trying to show a character's emotional reaction to something, then of course you'll show a clear view of their face. Doing otherwise would just make no sense. And then you focus on their face or eyes because those are displaying the emotions, and that's the important part of the shot. Showing their whole body, or maybe even their whole face, won't usually add anything, unless there's some other body language to show.

And why are fight commentaries so emotional? Well how else would they speak, in bored monotone? The real question would be why every action anime and manga has character sitting on the side commentating on the fight in the first place.

edited 18th Mar '13 12:02:44 PM by KuroBaraHime

Because it's one of the oldest ones in the book, I suspect. It's both convenient for filling time and reminding your audience. When binging a series and watching episodes back to back, you're unlikely to forget how the fight is going. But those watching it weekly on TV, especially kids with their short attention span, may only have vague recollections of the previous ep.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

, Yeah, both of these.

Also, these are things I see more in action anime/manga, not anime/manga as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmGNqji4u0

There's a difference between how it's done in Japanese media and others. The Japanese reaction shot (usually signifies with cutaways or zooms) is distinctly used in Japanese media. Same with Japanese commentary (watch an American sporting event compared to a Japanese one). There's a difference in how they react.

It's very disingenuous to dismiss these questions about tropes that way. The way a trope is used across cultures can very well be extremely different, but it always says something about the culture or explains history of the culture.

Case in point. I recently launched the trope Japanese Spirit. You want to know why people don't do anything to help while the hero fights? It's because of that trope.

Also, keep in mind that in feudal Japanese warfare, the Japanese typically fought with one-on-one sword duels, even in massive war campaigns. Even archers usually attacked one target at a distance and then moved in to finish them off at close range. During the Mongol invasions of Japan, the Japanese were stunned when the Mongols attacked with polearms on horseback, killing multiple soldiers at a time, and weakening their numbers with a volley of arrows. They considered these tactics "barbaric" compared to the dignified and honorable rule of single combat that the Japanese had employed for centuries.

You see? Just because a trope uses a trope doesn't mean it can be dismissed as being the same way every OTHER culture uses a trope.

Or when they're being talked to? Like, Alice will give part of her "World of Cardboard" Speech, Bob will say, "Alice...", and then Alice will continue. I never got that. Why does Japanese media do that?

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

I really don't know what you're talking about. Why does anime have more zooms and cut-ins in reaction? I don't know, I seriously doubt there's any deeper cultural reason for. Not anymore than there is a deeper cultural reason as to why most Western stuff does them differently.

And I really get why characters saying each other's names sticks in your mind as something odd. I really can't imagine any deep reason behind, it just seems normal to me.

I never said or even implied that there was some "deep reasoning" behind it. I just find it kinda odd.

Also, you're twisting my words. I said when someone say's another character's name when that character is saying some kind of speech; that's what I don't get. Whenever my mom tries to cheer me up, I don't interrupt her just to say her name.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

I was actually responding more to King Zeal. I guess I should have pointed that out.

I don't think that's an anime thing though as much as an overall writing dialogue thing across media.

So it's not worth questioning. Basically it's just so commonly used that it feels natural to writers? Or maybe it's to (unconsciously) emphasize the situation.

edited 18th Mar '13 4:57:21 PM by Ruise

Loves feel-good animation a whole lot.

I would guess some of this is inherited from kabuki/noh/etc. theatre traditions?

edited 18th Mar '13 5:17:27 PM by Prime32

"The eyes are the mirror of the soul."

Well, I don't know who said that, but I do know that the japanese (and I think most eastern cultures) hold it to be very true. It's even part of the reason why anime has such big eyes (together with cuteness).

You could also argue that the japanese believe that emotions should be restrained, so to them looking at everywhere but nowhere in particular would be equivalent to someone flailing about in confusion.

Although the screamin part is usually in the opposite direction... But that may just be because the japanese usually talk very quietly, so as to not disturb others, so it once used to be something very unusual even though nowadays it's more than overused.

There's a difference between introducing a style, and the reason why that style was so widely accepted.

edited 18th Mar '13 5:31:02 PM by lgcruz

I'm pretty sure a big reason why big eyes are so common in anime is because Osamu Tezuka got them from places like Disney and Betty Boop, and the style stuck.

edited 18th Mar '13 5:28:51 PM by tvsgood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmGNqji4u0

@Kuro & Ruise: Just because you haven't noticed a pattern doesn't mean there isn't one. If a trope is used differently in cultural context, and it's done in aggregate enough to be a pattern, we can safely assume that there's something there.

As for the reaction shot, I'm talking about things like what happens in this video at about 0:47, 1:01 and 2:30:

And when I speak of the trope of names being uttered, I'm talking about this episode, about 11:15 in.

And when I'm talking about loud announcers, I mean like in this video. Note the difference between the British commentator and the Japanese one in the background. And just so you don't think only the British commentators are like that, here's the American version. There's a clear difference in the enthusiasm and energy levels of the Japanese announcer and both Western ones.

---

Each of those tropes are very prevalent in Japanese media, but the first two are rare-to-nonexistent in American ones and the third is still far more common in Japan than the West. All I'm asking is why.

edited 18th Mar '13 5:51:25 PM by KingZeal

Honestly, it seems like most of your examples are only from action oriented stuff. That's not everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmGNqji4u0

No idea for the difference in the announcer's style, but the name calling has something to do with the japanese not using the expression "you" a lot. There are more negative than neutral variations, because using someone else's name is essential to say how you view them (via suffixes like -san, -chan, -hime, etc). So not pronouncing the name means that the person itself is not a person relative to the speaker, or just irrelevant to what you're saying, which is why the "you" plural is far more commonly used. But this is my interpretation.

On the eye thing, it's not what I was thinking, but it falls within the same spectrum. Basically, it's the eyes that carry the intention, while in western cultures it tends to be the whole body, or in that specific case, I think it would be the hands.

edited 18th Mar '13 6:19:51 PM by lgcruz

@10: I don't recall that happening in anything other than anime or JRPGs and the like.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

@tvsgood: If it's from action-oriented stuff, it's because that's the most popular.

For example, I get what he means by the whole "name" thing, and I've heard it everywhere in anime, from action-packed shonen to romantic shojo.

The Boke and Tsukomi routine specifically with the paper fan is exclusive to Japanese media, although there are variations of the 'idiot being slapped by straighter man' in everything from Pinky and the Brain to the Three Stooges.

I like Japanese commentary, especially compared to stuff you hear in the US. There tends to be a positive tone in their commentary, regardless of what is happening. Here, I think you're more likely to hear that "Lisa is doing terrible. She's not nearly as great as she was last week.", while in Japan you'll likely hear that "Lisa is trying with all her might! She never gives up!" They're excited and they get you to cheer for people.

The face thing made me think of Bleach. Tite Kubo does a lot of that, often without (or with very little) dialogue in the panel. I think it adds emotion, and helps you to really get a sense of how the characters feel.

edited 18th Mar '13 8:11:22 PM by RockLeeYourFace

"With hard work and dedication, I will become a splendid ninja!"

I have found out it amounts to hipocrisy and false flattering more often than not.

It's called honesty.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

I didn't explain that well. What I was getting at is that we focus more on the negative aspects of a performance, rather than positive ones.

"With hard work and dedication, I will become a splendid ninja!"

Ah, I see.

I think that might be a cultural thing.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

THE 100 MOST ESSENTIAL WORDS IN ANIME. It's interesting and sort of relevant, I think.

"With hard work and dedication, I will become a splendid ninja!"