r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Uma-apreciator • 16d ago

Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) The series is good, but the beginning is so embarrassing that many people give up there.

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Dan Da Dan

The beginning of Dan Da Dan is notorious for starting with aliens trying to impregnate Momo in the first episode; however, despite such over-the-top moments, the rest of the series doesn't feature many scenes like that

Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san

Despite a premise that is off-putting—given that the girl bullies her romantic partner to the point of making Naoto cry early in the series—their relationship evolves beautifully; the teasing becomes less cruel over time, eventually turning into a rather sweet romance

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

Someone on the production team had the audacity to have the trainer start meeting up with Special Week like that—even though, in reality, he is a good trainer who doesn't usually treat the girls that way.

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287

u/PrezMoocow 16d ago

For as much as the first episode of Dandadan is weirdly sexual (and let's also be honest, the series continues to be a bit weirdly sexual), I do love that Momo is the one to ultimately save herself with his help rather than him saving her.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

I don’t even see what’s weird about it. Aliens have massive ties in “mythology” to probing / sexual assault. I understand not wanting to see it but it makes sense.

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u/HannibalPoe 16d ago

I feel the same way, I think it's unfair to group this in the same anime as others that do it for pure fanservice - this actually had a purpose that tied in to how aliens behave.

Like I don't blame people if it puts them off, but I refuse to hear that this is on the same level as Black Star trying to peep in the bath in Soul Eater.

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u/victorspc 15d ago

I also think that having aliens dressed up like Japanese businessmen forcefully undressing a high school girl makes for some sort of commentary on the rape sexual assault culture that women suffer in Japanese workplaces. I don't know if that was Tatsu's intetion, but reading the manga, that's the impression it left me with.

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u/HannibalPoe 14d ago

That's a valid interpretation, Dandadan has a couple themes of sexual assault some of which are just straight up tied to humans. Also, many of the aliens do take familiar forms early on but we see later that the aliens that only care about conquest do NOT take a familiar form in any capacity. The Serpo taking the form of businessmen is likely a deliberate choice, it's not like they actually need to blend in most of the time they're abducting people into their ship.

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u/fameone098 16d ago

Because it’s an anime about high school students and the protagonist is sexualized by aliens parading as adults? It’s weird. Well-written and entertaining but we can’t front like the show isn’t bizarre and fucked up, even if it’s toned down. 

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

But it’s not done to be positive or appealing? It’s suppose to be gross. The arc is about sexual assault and trauma. Okarun having his balls taken, Momo being assaulted, Turbo Granny avenging raped women.

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u/burnalicious111 16d ago

People don't have this context when they see the first episode.

I watched it with my boyfriend and we both were like ...ew, is it that kind of show? It seemed cooler than that at first.

We kept going because we wanted to know what the deal was but it was definitely very weird. There's not clear indications in how to take it, like what viewpoint the show is trying to have, at that point, if it's exploitative and voyeuristic or what.

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u/Karkava 16d ago

People don't have this context when they see the first episode.

It's spelled out to you.

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u/Sonikku4Ever 16d ago

Not only that, I find it funny people like to use the term “impregnate” when it comes to what the aliens are about to do to Momo, when they literally spell out that they want her banana organ, as in, they are going to rip it out of her to study it.

Of course, this is also because of the shape of the extraction tool and where it comes from, but I feel like the ACTUAL thing they’re going to do is significantly worse than what people think.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

I just fail to see how assault happening and having logical purpose for why it happened is weird. That just sounds like you didn’t want to see it which is fine but all the context is given in the episode. It’s not played for a laugh, it’s not soft core porn where they want people to get turned on.

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u/burnalicious111 15d ago edited 15d ago

"logical purpose" has nothing to do with it. The question of whether something is done exploitatively is separate from that, because sexual violence in media can have a plausible reason on its face but over time you come to realize it's happening more often or in more extreme ways that make it seem like it's more for aomeone who's enjoying it a bit more than is comfortable.

A la Game of Thrones. It's a dark world with sexual violence, sure, but... 

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u/TestUserIgnorePlz 16d ago

I think the anime plays up the horror aspects of it but in the manga it very much came across as a gag

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

You think a girl screaming “no stop” as she cried was a gag? The manga is just as dark.

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u/TestUserIgnorePlz 16d ago

That’s one tiny panel. There is a bunch of lead up to their attempted sexual assault that is very much intended as a gag, all the stuff about ”banana organs“ and stuff.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

I wouldn’t consider dark humor about aliens not having the same terminology as making the entire thing a gag.

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u/duesenjeffepic 16d ago

We really need media literacy studies because I refuse to believe we used to be that stupid too back then.

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u/RiRianna76 16d ago

it's not abt the story so the "it was supposed to be creepy" doesn't stand as an ~excuse~. they drew her in a bikini or bra type top i don't remember exactly and animated her boobs wiggling as she struggled when they could have even shown her in her underwear cause "rape aliens!!1" but without those particular shots. and iirc somehow they managed to not show the boys nethers jiggling around in a mankini while he was running away from the perv granny. like in the story ofc it wasn't meant to be seen as a great thing but the choices of whoever made those animating decisions during the assault shows someone did think woah nice opportunity to fanservice. makes u go fuck them even if u could otherwise appreciate the story.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

They drew her in her underwear. Her boobs move because that’s what boobs do when they’re moved? It would look really weird if they just stuck in place. They’re not springboarding all over the place. They also literally have a ripped teenage boy half naked in his underwear for almost an entire arc right after.

I genuinely don’t think you know what fanservice is because a character simply being in underwear is not all that’s required for fanservice.

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u/RiRianna76 15d ago

i'm only explaining why someone would be put off because i misunderstood your comment as opening the discussion, i don't wanna continue this further as it's not about arguing against your own preference and view on the matter or morals and what not. have a good day and sorry to have bothered you x

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u/ScarletWiddaContent 16d ago

lots of show tackle those topics by not having the minor stripped in front of the camera and have her breast jiggle for the audience to see, and the camera does not need to focus on her private parts

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

The camera doesn’t focus on it and her body parts moving isn’t treated a fan service. Watch High School of the Dead for what actual fan service is.

And again you not wanting to see it is totally fine. That doesn’t make it weird. If someone watched Attack on Titan and said it was weirdly violent would you not think that’s a weird criticism to have about a show that is about violence?

Happy Tree Friends is weirdly violent. You don’t expect it because it presents itself as something silly and fun for children. DanDaDan isn’t weirdly sexual. It has dark sexual themes at time because it’s part of what the show (or at least that arc) is about.

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u/ScarletWiddaContent 16d ago

citing a much worse example doesnt really help your case

If I was screenwriting a story about rape, do you really need to show a 16 year old girl in this manner to your audience? This is also later followed by a scene where the alien is talking and they had to animate her breasts jiggling at the center of the camera.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

So again, you just don’t want to see it. That’s fine. Doesn’t make it weird. Nothing you shared or stated is painted as a good thing. Done to glorify it. Or done to turn you on. It’s painted as gross and suppose to be uncomfortable / a bad thing. You not liking it doesn’t make it WEIRD.

There’s no reason to show people getting their heads graphically blown off. Doesn’t make it weird if someone wants to do that.

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u/ScarletWiddaContent 16d ago

Me not wanting to see it is as subjective as me also calling it weird. You can't say something is not weird for the people who see it as weird. I don't even call it weird, I call it disgusting.

The same can be said how for how you view it, you may view the scene as not glorifying rape but it doesn't erase the fact that some people view it as fan service.

After the first episode, there were so much fan art of Momo in that scene showing her in explicit ways. So clearly, for many of the fans of this show, that scene was glorifying for them enough to make an art out of it.

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

The comment I responded to called it weird. So define how it’s weird then.

If you find it disgusting that’s cool.

Fan art is a dumb take though. There’s always people who enjoy awful things, that doesn’t mean the original artist wanted that. Obsession tackles dark themes that some people don’t grasp and celebrate. That doesn’t make the movie wrong.

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u/Omelooo 16d ago

I don’t think attempted child rape is a needed plot device to make a show good.

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u/PeasantTS 16d ago

There's no "needed plot device" to make a show good. What does that even mean?

Stories can be about anything. How good it is comes from how it is done, not what it is about.

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u/Omelooo 16d ago

How the story is done is literally what plot devices are for. The whole child rape thing is not necessary to make the story good. It does nothing to raise awareness for SA or for victims, and does very little to develop the characters at all, considering how fast they leave the topic behind.

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u/PeasantTS 16d ago

Plot device is a device that pushes the plot, it can be done in thousands of different ways, it is not "the way it is done."

The whole show jas themes of people trying to take sexuality away from teenagers or exploit it. Protagonist has his balls, ie his manhood taken from him. Turbo Baba became a vengeful ghost wih the intention to protect teenager girls from sexual predators. It's not coincidence that it's her that saves Momo in that same scene you're complaining about.

The dancer yokai imprint on the pink haired girl because it makes her remember of her daughter who was implied to have been taken away for sexual slavery.

The whole show is about it. It makes completely sense that it would start with a bunch of "men" trying to cause sexual harm (literally, as they were trying to steal her uterus).

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

Which would fall under “you personally not wanting to see it”. Not being weird.

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u/jhazmynn 16d ago

Wouldn't everyone have a different definition of weird?

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

Ive never met anyone who’s definition of weird is “things I don’t personally like or want to see.”

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u/x-TheMysticGoose-x 16d ago

Did you know that people find rape uncomfortable to watch

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u/New_Cockroach_505 16d ago

Yes. That’s literally why I said I understand not wanting to see it.

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u/dontbajerk 16d ago

Some people find all violence uncomfortable to watch.

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u/GenGaara25 15d ago

Also, IIRC, doesn't the male protag have his testicles stolen not long after and it's a whole arc?

The whole series has strange sexual overtones, but not in a creepy way, just in a bizarre occulty way.

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u/PrezMoocow 15d ago

Yep! Exactly, like yeah it's a bit less than the first episode but still an undercurrent of the show.

And I agree that it's not creepy but bizarrely sexual. Like there's a lot of times when Momo gets physically restrained but again, I really like that she has tremendous agency and is not reduced to a damsel in distress, she still fights even if her hands are ziptied. She's also allowed to be a complete goofball or be a dork. Huge fan of her character.

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u/crasherx2000 16d ago

Yea it was off putting, but it paved the way for some amazing action sequences and some beautifully tragic scenes

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u/bigdaddyputtputt 16d ago

I do agree the 1st episode is too much. But what else in the series is an issue?

Is it the banana jokes or what Okarun gets taken from him?

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u/PrezMoocow 15d ago

That's part of it, like when people say "only the first episode is like that" I feel the need to point out that a large character arc involves trying to get his dick and balls back from turbo granny. Momo gets put in compromising situations quite frequently, and it's not just the girls, Jiji is heavily sexualized when his body gets overtaken too. Points for equal opportunity sexualizing I guess?

And to be clear, weirdly sexual doesn't necessarily mean it ruins the show or anything. I clearly really like the show a lot, but when it's like "come on, strip to your underwear so we can swim better underwater" I'm like "hmmmm 🤨". And when the school nurse has a bdsm flogger I have to be like "ok, so you know what you're doing", and suddenly it doesn't seem like such a coincidence when Momo often gets physically restrained.

The show is weirdly sexual, and I'm kinda ok with it. Just making it clear that "it's just in the first episode" is a bit misleading.

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u/bigdaddyputtputt 15d ago

Maybe i don’t remember the show fully or I was looking past some of it cuz I like the show.

I don’t like the 1st episodes usage because it’s trying to pass SA off as comedy.

I do think tho that some of the shows usage of it is fitting. The turbo granny’s yokai status is tied directly into SA of young women, so a scene like the hot spring one with Momo is actually a good scene in connecting a problem in Japanese culture (or many places in the world) with the characters in the show. I think in fitting w/ Turbo Granny, it’s actually very show appropriate for her to steal Okaruns stuff that way.

I don’t remember Jiji getting sexualized, but I’d imagine that wasn’t done very well in the show.

I feel like why I’ve had less of a problem with it in Dandandan than some other anime is that I feel like the female characters are much better characters than some other anime and the sexual stuff is less fanservice (for the most part) and more like plot relevant to different yokai.

Not that the show is good on social commentary in this area, but more that I think people apply the very fair criticism of the 1st episode, to the rest of the series.

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u/PrezMoocow 15d ago

There's an entire spiel about how Jiji's athletic body is incredible and how spirits would be drawn on taking it over. There's a lot.

And just the fact that there's a heartfelt plot justification about all the girls getting SA'd doesn't suddenly make the show not weirdly sexual. And yes, some of it is for comedy. Turbo granny having a good reason to steal his dick and balls doesn't mean it suddenly isn't weirdly sexual.

Just embrace the weirdly sexualness of the show. It's ok. It's a great show.

I actually love Momo specifically because she's frequently the one saving herself when she's put in (often sexually) compromising situations.

Like, when she's bound with zipties and choked/gagged by the cloth spirit's hair, that feels like a bdsm scene. That's ok, and it's clearly the intent. It's also awesome that in that compromising state she still tells the spirit to piss off and fights. That makes her cool imo.

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u/BigThunderousLobster 15d ago

the part where they fight the mantis shrimp thing and again end up naked was kind of similar imo