good cliché VS bad cliché

Mr.Grey-Cat

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sometimes when watching anime, or reading a novel, a cliché scene or episode appear. and though sometimes, it can be used to make a great episode, in a lot of time, they just get too hasty and unoriginal that it loses all the greatness of it.

so the question here is how do you feel when that happens? and do you enjoy a well-done cliché ? or do you simply refuse it to begin with?
 

EternalSunset0

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I think I'm in the minority in that I love them. Straight up. I can get why a lot of people don't like them tho.

If it's a "genre staple" like nakama power in shounen (although not in the too in your face levels like what Fairy Tail does), or fireworks festival episodes with an interrupted confession at the end, I'm all cool. Or the shonen thing where the smoke clears and we get pans of reaction faces when they see the villain walking out of it in a new form.

Twists can also be cool though, as it builds tension, like the theme song being interrupted to show that shit got real (Ichigo vs Aizen) or something like that.

My favorite is the OP playing in the final battle of an arc. Or the "let's hold hands" final attack with the hero and most often the main love interest/McGuffin girl of the arc.
 

Mysticant

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Depends on context and how it is used. Everything is really dependent on execution as well as how overused it is. I don't blatantly stereotype, though my expectations are risen by great benchmarks.
 

ElijahRyne

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Depends on the context, and how they are being used. If the characters are nothing but cliches, with no personality, I would dislike it. Also, if the cliche breaks the narrative or flow of the story. Besides that though, I don’t really mind them.
Depends on context
Jinx
 

Mr.Grey-Cat

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My favorite is the OP playing in the final battle of an arc. Or the "let's hold hands" final attack with the hero and most often the main love interest/McGuffin girl of the arc.
somehow, I am remembering the anime of twin star exorcist here. and speaking of the anime, they have really done some weird stuff there.

not only were more than 90 percent of it original anime, but they also added a lot of scenes not in the manga, with lots and lots of cliche, and they had tha thing you said about holding hand and op at the final battle.

man, the anime was totally different than the manga, but nevertheless it was good, and that is a good example of how cliche can still be added and used but result in a good show.
 

BlackKnightX

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Cliché becomes cliché because it works and people love it. But, just like when you watch your favorite movie or read your favorite book for several times, you start to become tired of it.

So, the best way to work with cliché is by combining it with a twist or a novelty.

Remember this;
Pure cliché —> Boring
Cliché + A novelty/twist —> Intersting
 

EternalSunset0

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somehow, I am remembering the anime of twin star exorcist here. and speaking of the anime, they have really done some weird stuff there.

not only were more than 90 percent of it original anime, but they also added a lot of scenes not in the manga, with lots and lots of cliche, and they had tha thing you said about holding hand and op at the final battle.

man, the anime was totally different than the manga, but nevertheless it was good, and that is a good example of how cliche can still be added and used but result in a good show.
Ironic because I didn't like the second half of that show. I mean, the cliches I liked were there and all, but the story with the filler girl just wasn't engaging enough for me.

I did like the Mayura focus episode, and I like the overall ending/epilogue, but I just feel that more stuff (the final Yuto fight or the actual last boss) deserved more. Those should have been hype fights, but I felt let down.

Oh, and it's the ED playing in the last boss. That, I really liked. Reminded me of the mandatory all your max SLs talk to you and encourage your dead self in the last boss scenes in Persona before letting you revive and beat the last boss with the super attack. Absolutely love that. Would actually want to incorporate that into my story's last arcs if I can fit it in.
 

Mr.Grey-Cat

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Ironic because I didn't like the second half of that show. I mean, the cliches I liked were there and all, but the story with the filler girl just wasn't engaging enough for me.

I did like the Mayura focus episode, and I like the overall ending/epilogue, but I just feel that more stuff (the final Yuto fight or the actual last boss) deserved more. Those should have been hype fights, but I felt let down.

Oh, and it's the ED playing in the last boss. That, I really liked. Reminded me of the mandatory all your max SLs talk to you and encourage your dead self in the last boss scenes in Persona before letting you revive and beat the last boss with the super attack. Absolutely love that. Would actually want to incorporate that into my story's last arcs if I can fit it in.

well as I said, more than 90 percent of the anime was original, and they have actually deviated a lot from the original manga, with all the events they have added.

honestly, even though the anime WAS fun and nice, but if you were to compare it to the original source, which by the way is still serialazing, you will find a big difference, with the manga not having all the cliche in the anime, but instead a totally different world, with totally different cliche.

because if you were to actually compare the manga and the anime, you would find that only the beigining lool alike, with every thing else being different. which put us back, to how some studious just make a cheap imitation of the original source, then add some famous cliche, a lot of fan service, and if they are nice, some good music with lot of visual effect in the middle of fights.
 
D

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I don't like certain cliches bc its poorly done and just doesn't make believable. As in where did the brain cells go?

Mafia/badboy/kindapped by/ceo stories on wattpad. Maybe its bc when i first tried wattpad, someone told me to read this badboy story. It was okay but relooked again and felt like the mc was more of a b*. And curiosity glanced over some of the other stories of those tropes...its... i guess im just not its audience.

That being said, there are few stories ive seen where they use the cliche but it aint so out-in-your face kind. Some are just standard cliche but they dont try to make it so exaggerating obvious that its horrible. And then theres some cliche that give a twist - this i like. Assuming it is an actual twist, sometimes they'll say its all different but nothing really spectacular has changed. Twists make the story bit different, at least some originality compared to following the standard of that specific cliche that everyone else is also pretty much doing).

But eh, cliches...each individual has their own cup of tea. I just am not fond of certain cliches that are often overused (like what bout the other ways that aren't so cliche. Not everyone has to copy follow same exact trend y'know) and done poorly that the characters either do a 360 or not much of a brain..
 
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Viator

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I'm okay with a cliche as long as it's done with a purpose. There is nothing new under the Sun, you are going to run into similar story devices over and over again... I think this is fine as long as the decisions you make serve the story you want to tell. Usually with the cliches you get tired of, they happen in sub par stories. Stories that don't really engage you and are fairly repetitive. Ones that don't have a clear voice or purpose. It's not the cliches, but the story itself whether weak or strong, that will get you to stay or drive you to leave.
 

Ediav42

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Well I think the difference between a good and bad cliche is if it’s enjoyed or not. Now how to make it enjoyable is the difficult question as some people enjoy them, others hate them and others it depends on how it is implemented. But all said and done they are not an inherently bad thing and they should be in line with the story more or less
 

Jemini

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No cliché is inherently bad, the problem would be in the execution.

Exactly. I don't have much to add in my own words, but it's time to link one of the very few serious episodes of "Terrible Writing Advice" in order to see their stance on cliches, because he says it a lot better than I probably can.

 

Okay

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As long as the cliche is not so exaggerated, I’m fine with it. Just that there’s one cliche that I can do without. The ‘overbearing president fell in love with a pure and unpretentious girl’ I really can’t stand those types. Just...uurrrgh.
 
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