The Unfair Sex / Anime & Manga

• Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts is quite possibly the biggest offender of this trope as the female cast see fit to abuse, torment, and belittle the male cast whenever they feel offended about something. More often than not, it's whenever the boys look at girls other than them, despite acting like prudes most of the time and treating the boys like the plague. One of the girls is even domestically abusive to one of the boys she has a crush on and no one does anything to stop her! It eventually gets to a point when Miharu throws a What the Hell, Hero? speech at Akihisa for seemingly mistreating Minami, conveniently ignoring the fact that both she and Minami treat Akihisa much, much worse. And if that wasn't enough, one the endings has the boys running away from the kaijin for the word "female". Even the anime itself knows how fucked up they have it.
• A rather low-key example of this is during the Cowboy Bebop episode, "Ganymede Elegy" where Jet Black visits his ex-girlfriend Elisa. When they were dating, she walked out on him without saying a word. She just leaves a letter with the words "Goodbye" and a broken stopwatch. Jet tries to get her to reveal why she left. He explains that he doesn't blame her for leaving him, he just wants to know why. Elisa just dodges the question altogether once again leaving him with no closure. It isn't until her current boyfriend has a bounty put on him and Jet chases them down that she tells him why. The reason: Jet made all the right decisions in their relationship and she couldn't stand it because "she wanted to make her own decisions". So she basically left over an inferiority complex and didn't bother to talk to him, one of the most reasonable people in the Solar System, about it. She wound up proving how right Jet was by 1) borrowing money from a loanshark resulting in getting said bounty on her current boyfriend and 2) going on the run which likely would've gotten them both killed.
• In Dragon Ball, Bulma openly flirted with other men (all of whom are also hot bastards). Yet it's her ex-boyfriend Yamcha who had to beg for her forgiveness if he became the target of another woman's affection or lust. She even pulled a gun on him in Dragon Ball Origins despite her earlier flirting with the evil Colonel Silver.
• This is subverted in Futari Ecchi with the relationship between Rika and Yamada. Both of them cheat on each other (having, as the Japanese say it, "sex friends" on the side), both of them are angry when finding out that the other one cheated, both of them, especially Rika, are viewed as hypocritical because of this, and both of them are quarrelsome. However, they do occasionally have an Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other scene, although Rika is presented as Closer to Earth, and thus slightly more positive.
• Averted in GE - Good Ending, where you get called out if you really screw up, regardless of your gender, and you're expected to work to deal with the consequences of your actions.
• In general, this happens way too often on most Harem Series, where the guy will get treated as a pervert even when he's completely innocent (or simply get mistreated for anything period), but girls doing the same thing or worse results in... nothing at best, the guy being punished anyway at worst. A notable exception is the Tenchi Muyo! multiverse, where the guy is usually a genuine Nice Guy and the girls are less temperamental towards him (though the same can't be said towards each other at times).
• High School D×D somewhat surprisingly averts this, at least where Issei's pervertedness is concerned. Generally, when the girls get angry at Issei he actually was doing something that deserved it, and the girls do not automatically assume that any compromising incident is Issei's fault, probably because they're all at least somewhat perverted themselves and have been the aggressor in such situations at least once. In fact, the one time it looks to be played straight when Rias walks in on Xenovia and Issei in a compromising position, one where Xenovia is clearly the aggressor and Issei isn't exactly comfortable. She coldly blames him for it and turns and leaves. However, this is not treated as justified by the story and is treated as Rias being unfair, and she later apologizes to Issei for doing so.
• Discussed and defied in KonoSuba, with this trope being a Berserk Button for Kazuma. Kazuma calls himself an advocate for "true gender equality" and claims that he should be able to do what is normal to do to men to women. If a woman who's in love with him finds another girl hitting on him, and attacks him in response, he will defend himself in a heartbeat.
• Played for Laughs in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, when Attenborough mentions to Julian about the exploits of resident Casanovas Schönkopf and Poplin but refuses to reveal the identities of the women involved, claiming that "men have no human rights".
• Love Hina:
  • At the very beginning of the story, the girls try their best to drive Keitaro away from the Hinata Inn. However, he still has a hard time winning them over (except for Shinobu and, arguably, Kaolla); Naru, for example, kicked him once when she dropped into his room and found Kaolla lying over him - in fact, he was trying to stop her from messing his room, but she kept on running up and down.
  • Another example is when Naru frequently beats Keitaro up when he enters her room as she is changing her clothes. Once, however, she had dropped in while he was changing clothes. Still, she beat him up. This was rather badly hand waved by saying that at this point, it's a reflex.
  • Perhaps the most unfair example would have to be that whenever Keitaro walks into the girls' baths (always accidentally) he is punched right into the sky no questions asked, but when Naru suddenly walked in on Keitaro bathing and jumped into his bathtub, Keitaro could do nothing. Afterwards, her clothes became see-through and she decided that it was somehow his fault and punched him for her stupidity.
• My First Girlfriend Is a Gal: Episode 9 has everyone calling out Junichi for being insecure, jealous, and not trusting Yukana. However, the only reason he thought this way was because Yukana didn't even explain that there's nothing between her and Dai Mitarai, a guy she was classmates with back in junior high. Once he tries to bring up these insecurities to her, she gets mad at him, gives him the silent treatment the following day, and then hangs out with Mitarai behind his back. This very well gives Junichi a valid reason to feel threatened by Mitarai's presence in their relationship, which leads to Junichi thinking Yukana has only jerked him around this whole time, despite the fact that they've been dating for quite a while. Of course, Junichi complaining to her made this debacle worse, and it makes him look hypocritical in comparison, but it all started with Yukana not reassuring him that there's nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, it falls onto Junichi to make amends while Yukana is portrayed in a sympathetic light.
• NTR: Netsuzou Trap rakes Fujiwara over the coals for such things as cheating on Hotaru and being physically abusive towards her. Meanwhile, Hotaru's history of having a constant steady stream of boyfriends and then cheating on them or dumping them when she grows tired of them, which started long before she ever met Fujiwara, is portrayed much more sympathetically, even though she's pretty much been just as adulterous and abusive (although emotional in this case) as he has. Yuma is an even more extreme example; despite the fact that she's cheating on someone who definitely doesn't deserve it and doesn't even realize it, the story basically gives her a free pass. In fact, when Fujiwara finally tells Takeda that Yuma has been cheating on him, with photo evidence, because she wouldn't do it herself, he takes her side and punches Fujiwara out for daring to tell him about it!
• In the one-shot Manga, Ookami Kareshi (literally Wolf Boyfriend), Riku is treated as being a horny, inconsiderate scumbag for trying to get too physically intimate with his girlfriend when she's not comfortable about it, despite the fact that she never really communicated her discomfort to him, and immediately goes on the offensive whenever he gets too close.
• Real Girl makes use of this trope to a frustrating degree, so much so that some fans have dubbed Hikari Tsutsui an "honorary Kouji Seo manga protagonist":
  • Iroha is allowed to constantly angst about her past and self-confidence, and whenever she does her friends and boyfriend tell her it's not her fault. But when Hikari angsts about his low self-confidence, wondering why anyone would ever want to date him because he's that much of a loser, Iroha gets angry at him for apparently suggesting she's only using him or something, and everyone else treats him as the bad guy.
  • At the beginning of the story, Iroha's Jerkass ex-boyfriend slapping her for cheating on him is presented as so wrong that Hikari steps in to defend her (and gets his ass kicked in the process). However, no one says a word about Iroha hitting her best friend's crush (not even boyfriend) and his friend with her heavy backpack, unprovoked, for talking bad about her best friend. Apart from a brief Lampshade Hanging, no one ever calls Iroha on just up and bludgeoning two people in the middle of a crowded school.
  • When Hikari makes a (female) friend over a shared hobby, Iroha is presented as being completely justified in confronting him about cheating on her (which he's not doing); her best friend even suggests that she would be a bad girlfriend if she didn't get irrationally jealous of him. Later on, when Hikari wants to know from Iroha why someone claiming to be her brother just beat him up for not being "worthy of her", she angrily tells him to keep his nose out of her personal life, and he never pursues it further. Ironic, since she had no problem sticking her nose in his.
• Rumiko Takahashi just loves this trope! Don't believe it? Well just keep reading:
  • Ranma ½:
    • Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo, and even Kodachi are incredibly quick to administer violent "justice" upon Ranma whenever they think he's interested in another girl. But past the manga's turning point, when Ranma sincerely believed that Akane loved the newcomer Shinnosuke, he took his grievances up with the new guy and was incredibly polite and submissive towards Akane, only screaming his frustration when he was alone in the forest. Even in instances when Akane deliberately tries to make Ranma jealous or tries to get back at him by treating Ryoga to a date, he only ever snarks at her or merely sabotages the other guy's attempts.
    • There's even a lampshading of this very early in the series: Akane walks in on Ranma while he's getting out of the bath, and both are naked, although Akane at least has a towel. Her immediate reaction is valid: she thinks he might be a pervert in their bathtub and is understandably mad. But after explanations are made, she insists he's a pervert because he saw her naked (something he didn't intend nor initiate, and he was immediately contrite about all the trouble). When he points out the unfairness of this double-standard, since she walked in on him and had a much longer look at him (and very pointedly looked him up and down while he held her gaze), she responds with "It's different for girls!" Later that evening, female Ranma accidentally walks in on Akane, and actually cowers away from her in expectation of her reaction. And she's right to do so because Akane promptly calls Ranma a pervert and savagely slaps her across the face. When Ranma brings this up to his father, Genma waves it aside as it just meaning Akane has "spunk" which "makes a fiancee even more cute". Ranma, understandably, results by dryly proclaiming he does not find Akane cute, taking a brief moment to glower at the unrepentant girl nearby.
    • During the last Kodachi-focus story in the manga, she's confronted by her rival, Asuka the White Lily, over their childhood promise to get the most handsome boyfriend. When Asuka dismisses Ranma as ugly, it stings Akane's pride so hard she enters an unusual alliance with Kodachi to prove Ranma as the best-looking guy around; when Asuka's (fake) boyfriend shows up looking like the love interest from a shoujo manga, both Akane and Kodachi slump over instantly in wordless defeat. Ranma tries to complain about the double-standard —since he usually gets hammered for even the slightest insinuation that a girl is unattractive— but nobody takes him seriously.
    • A clingy suitor arrives from China, bent on making the object of their affection theirs come hell or high water, even if this means disposing of the competition. When said object of affection, well, objects, the suitor refuses to take the hint, and instead sticks around to create more trouble, ignoring any pleas to go away... now, which one gets called out for this behavior by the other characters, and presented as a nuisance for indulging in it, Mousse, or Shampoo?
  • Maison Ikkoku: Kyoko's reluctance to choose between perpetual ronin Godai and suave, well-off tennis instructor Mitaka drives a large amount of the plot, and it becomes Godai and Mitaka's responsibility to win her over. However, this doesn't stop Kyoko from criticizing Godai over his own inability to tell the truth to his not-quite-girlfriend Kozue and formalize a relationship with Kyoko herself. The manga agrees with her point of view. Becomes more apparent in episode 12 where Godai and Kozue go on their first date when Kyoko learns of this as she runs into Godai and Kozue in the middle of their date she fumes in jealously at Godai for dating a cute girl that is younger than her. Keep in mind that is occurring while Kyoko was already having a date with Mitaka before she saw Godai with Kozue (and Kyoko's date with Mitaka is largely the reason why Godai was dating Kozue at the time). Now, it must be mentioned that while Kyoko is genuinely uncertain about which one of Godai and Mitaka she wants, Godai knows for sure that he prefers Kyoko over Kozue and still doesn't break up with Kozue.
  • Inuyasha: Whenever the titular character showed any sort of interest in his old flame Kikyo, not only would he later be subjected to physical punishment by a jealous Kagome, he'd also get chastised by his companions for making Kagome feel bad. Yet, somehow when he shows jealously over Miroku trying to charm Kagome before he met Sango, and Koga flirting with Kagome, not only does he still get physically punished by Kagome, he still gets criticized by the others for acting stupid. Meanwhile, Kagome passive-aggresively refused to ever tell him about her feelings. And he had been in a very strong relationship with Kikyo (to the point of being willing to become human and give up his half-demon abilities for her sake) and having been given absolutely no closure for the relationship which, from his perspective, had been going strong until the day before he met Kagome.
• Ryuuou No Oshigoto: Ginko calls Yaichi names like "trash", "scum", "pervert", "pedophile" and kicks him around on a daily basis, as well as acting like she has the right to know every detail about his personal life (and usually taking out her anger violently on him when he doesn't want to tell her). When Yaichi calls her a "hindrance" once, while he's in the middle of a Freak Out over a tournament where his title and salary for the rest of the year will be decided no less, it's treated as an unbelievably callous thing to do and he has to prostrate himself before her at the end of the arc to regain her forgiveness. It's topped off with an extra dose of idiocy because Ginko is also a professional shogi player just like Yaichi; she knows full well what kind of Serious Business tournaments are and that when a high-level player is trying to focus on one, it's not a good idea to go flirt with them.
• Happens in Sorcerer Hunters sometimes when Tira and Chocolat Misu catch another woman hitting on Carrot.
• Student Council's Discretion
  • The main character Ken frequently refers to the girls they're his harem, that they'll end falling for him and fantasizes with them. Naturally, they punish him for that. So far it's normal, perhaps a bit more focused on this than your average Harem Series but not too bad. However, one episode has Mafuyu reveal herself as a Yaoi Fangirl who writes Slash of Ken and a fictional brother of him. Naturally, Ken complains, and not only he gets punished for that, Mafuyu's sister Minatsu makes him write slash of himself with said brother. When two minutes later he writes a story where they're his harem, he still gets treated as a pervert, and nobody even points out it's the same thing Mafuyu does.
  • In addition, Ken spends half an episode with his eyes covered by a mask that tases him if he tries to remove it... so he can't see the girls in their swimsuits (In fear of what? At worst he would say pervy comments, but nothing beyond the usual. It's not like they can't kick his ass, they do it on a daily basis anyway), and once the mask breaks by sheer luck, they lock him in a closet and leave him there overnight. Basically, they treat him like if he was a super-pervert of sorts who would, well, do really bad things to them if left unguarded even one second, even though he's more of a generic pervert at worst and he genuinely cares for them. However, and now comes the "unfair" part: Chizuru acts MUCH worse towards Kurimu, but the attitude of Mafuyu and Minatsu is... stares and lifted eyebrows, but that's it. Definitely, she doesn't get treated to half the crap Ken is put through, for no apparent reason at all, even though she is more dangerous and they're aware of that.
• Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs: Deconstructed. Because women hold all the power in the new world, they treat the boys very terribly and it is not played for laughs at all. Men will have to work their butts off and earn a lot of wealth to get a woman to even consider looking at him, and even then he'd more than likely be a Meal Ticket while women fool around with their "lovers". Men who are unable to get married before hitting 20 will be considered leftovers and will be sent to marry old women who have far passed their prime. When Queen Mylene wittiness one of the female students mistreat a boy, she expresses disappointment in how far noblewomen degraded themselves.
• Your and My Secret: After their "Freaky Friday" Flip, Nanako is quite insistent that Akira not do anything "perverted" with her "Maiden's body", despite not particularly wanting it back and being equally insistent on doing anything she wants with his.
• In Your Lie in April, chapter/episode, that how Kousei first meets Kaori, he was watching her performance in the park and then took a picture of her, only to unintentionally take a picture bof her panties. Kaori noticing this, lashes out at him and attacks him, she refuses to listen to his explaination that it was a coincidence, even when she sees him holding her flats and leggings, calling him a pervert and a camera voyeur. She did have a valid reason to react like that because he took a picture of her panties. Then Kousei's friends show up. When expectations are finally made, Kaori insists Kousei is a perverted camera voyeur, because he took a picture of her panties. Kousei complains about the unfairness of his this double-standard.

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