Love Triangles

[Mr Poltroon]

Simply put, I absolutely abhor these things, and I'd like to hear your all important opinion on this matter.

I don't think they'll ever go away, so I won't delude myself with false hope, but I still dislike how there's a love triangle pretty much everywhere with romance. And if not, some kind of harem instead.

 

What do you think of Love Triangles? Do you think they really flesh out and bring out drama and character personalities? Or do you think it serves only to bring some stupid heartbreaks and classify the protagonist as indecisive scum?

 

Regarding the choices, I am obviously more oriented toward the male protagonists, but it doesn't change much if it's a girl who just happens to have the most handsome men in the country converge near her. And what do you mean by "The choices are biased"?!

 

 

Additionally, if you happen to know any good romance's where this doesn't happen, who am I to object? ;D (I apologize if these exist in great quantity, it just so happens that I am unfortunately ignorant of them).

[Satsuki]

Chose option 4 because none of those above is true in my case

I like love triangle, because that's the logical thing that should happen. Seeing the heroines all deredere with the MC in common route, then suddenly decide to give up and fully support the relationship between MC and other girl, just make me feel like wtf.

[Yuuko]

I don't really like love triangles cause they kill my heart. My heart can't just choose one girl D:

Sometimes they are nice when I wanna get rekt tho

 

Edit: Something like White Album 2 is nice but badly made love triangles are just...

[Nimbus]

Chose option 4 because none of those above is true in my case

I like love triangle, because that's the logical thing that should happen. Seeing the heroines all deredere with the MC in common route, then suddenly decide to give up and fully support the relationship between MC and other girl, just make me feel like wtf.

What he said. 

[Nosebleed]

Without any form of love rivals you usually end up with a bland romance because there's no main conflict to engage you or make you cheer for the main couple.

Please tell me one single romance that was good that didn't have a single love rival somewhere along the line, you'll be grasping at straws to find anything (I can name Koi Kaze off the top of my head but that's about it).

It shouldn't pain you to see love triangles, it's only natural to have conflicts in a romantic setting. And if it pains you it also means the writers did a good job at characterization.

What i'll admit most series fail to do is make love triangles interesting because the protagonist is shit, but that doesn't mean that it's the triangle's fault, it's just that Japan doesn't know how to make them interesting most of the time.

[Zakamutt]

Love triangles can be p. interesting, but I'm still not on board with picking option 1, so troll option for none of the above. People should learn to make better poll choices...

[Nosebleed]

Think of it this way, a romance without any form of conflict, unless it's some form of gag comedy, is a boring romance, and the easiest form of conflict is usually other love rivals, though there can be exceptions but they're rare and far in between.

Just go read Nineteen, Twenty One and feel better about life.

[Mr Poltroon]

Love triangles can be p. interesting, but I'm still not on board with picking option 1, so troll option for none of the above. People should learn to make better poll choices...

[Nosebleed]

Getting over the conflict provides a sense of relief, of happiness, so it is natural to enjoy it better, and conflict isn't meant to make you happy, don't get me wrong, but it is a device that's usually needed in order to create some emotions in the viewer, so you should at the very least accept it.

Even if there's no love rival, you will still often find some other form of struggle, it's just a requirement to make it both more realistic and more emotional in general.

Pure slice of life romance is very hard to come by and this is the reason why, because it just doesn't gather as much interest as a more tumultuous romance that makes the viewer curious about what happens next and how the main couple will pull through. Certainly it can be heart wrenching sometimes, but that just means the story is doing a good job at pulling your heart strings. One has to accept that feeling sadness is also a valid form of enjoying a story.

[Mr Poltroon]

That all said, out of all the conflict-filled situations, Love Triangles are still the one I hate most.

Along with the stupid misunderstandings because two human beings can never communicate properly that arise because a person is always on the wrong place at the wrong time, ready to eavesdrop something that will make them misunderstand.

[Stray Cat]

I'm sure you know how I feel about despair by now. 

[Nosebleed]

That all said, out of all the conflict-filled situations, Love Triangles are still the one I hate most.

Along with the stupid misunderstandings because two human beings can never communicate properly and a person is always on the wrong place at the wrong time, ready to eavesdrop something that will make them misunderstand.

Well, welcome to 80% of the anime industry!

I'll admit love triangles are usually meh, but not so much because they hurt me but because they're usually not all that interesting and are, just like you said, a product of misunderstandings between people who can't communicate, and they usually begin with a huge bias, giving the rest of the cast few chances to even fight fair and square, so when you end up liking the rest of the cast you already know they're not going to be picked and that generally sucks.

 

But I guarantee you a well written love triangle where both characters have equal chances can be quite interesting, even if at the end of the day the protagonist picks the one you didn't want *cough* Nisekoi *cough*, it's okay to feel sad, just think that the girl you liked best won't end up with a jackass that has poor taste in waifus and she's probably better off without 

[InvictusCobra]

I once watched an Anime and read the Novel about a guy and a Love Triangle.... It did not end up well for the guy (and the girls depending on the ending). Allow me to elaborate with a picture:

 

School Days spoilers

 

And no, I did not get that ending ever. I was always faithful to one heroine, thank you very much!

[Cyrillej1]

I can think of perhaps Amagami SS. That's because each arc (4 episodes) is based on one girl. It's like all possible routes played out, but separate stories.  It's a really nice/cute anime. My fave ones were Nakata Sae, Ayatsuji, and Rihoko.

 

There's also Amagami SS Plus, where it continues after the characters become a couple. So there's more fluff there. 

 

Tiago, if you're looking for cute love story that's just cute and about confessing love.. I think Amagami SS, characters you could watch are Haruka, Sae, and Rihoko. They don't have as much weird drama as the other characters.

 

Here's ending songs sung by each of the characters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUoe9ZIkHzs

 

0:07 - Morishima Haruka

1:43 - Tanamachi Kaoru

3:19 - Nakata Sae

4:52 - Nanasaki Ai

6:28 - Sakurai Rihoko

8:02 - Ayatsuji Tsukasa

9:38 - Kamikaze Risa

[Eclipsed]

I enjoy love triangles when all characters are on an even playing field.

But if you pull a ZnT Louise+Saito who were pretty much the established couple after S1 but still have reverse-cockblocking females trying to steal & seduce a weak-willed unfaithful idiot all the way to S4 I say fk life

[Nosebleed]

Going through my list, here's the anime I could remember didn't have any strong love triangle or meaningful love rival:

Amagami SS (as mentioned above)

Sukitte Ii na yo (They're dating from day one and despite Mei having a lot of insecurities regarding Yamato there's no direct rival since the guy is basically prince charming and will never cheat on her)

Air (Air doesn't have any love rivals, but it's still pretty fucking depressing)

Kaichou wa Maid-sama! (Similar to Sukitte Ii na yo, the guy only loves the main girl so there's no worthy rivals although there's still a love of misunderstandings early on)

Arakawa Under the Bridge (This couple is a very weird one since they just casually start dating without much thought, but again no love triangles)

Inu x Boku SS (The guy is the girl's servant)

Koi Kaze (As I mentioned before, although the struggle here comes from the fact they're siblings)

Love Stage!! (If you're okay with gay men doing gay things)

 

Pretty short list but there really isn't much out there in the end.

 

You'll find a wider variety of stories in manga though so I recommend reading more manga instead!

[Shikomizue]

I personally don't really care if there's a love triangle or not, but if there is, you can bet I'll ship. Even if my ship dosen't get picked I'll still be satisfied if the MC picks a partner through their best judgement, meaning they looked at each possibility and decided that that person would make them the happiest.

 

That all said, out of all the conflict-filled situations, Love Triangles are still the one I hate most.

Along with the stupid misunderstandings because two human beings can never communicate properly that arise because a person is always on the wrong place at the wrong time, ready to eavesdrop something that will make them misunderstand.

^This I hate/love as well. While I'm watching the show: "No! Don't do that! Why? Why? Why?"

At the end of the show: "Wow, that was really cool."

[Soulless Watcher]

I don't necessarily hate love triangles, but I hate how predictable they are. There are always signs, at even the first episode, who the "primary" love interest is and the "B" love interest that will only be there to add conflict. Unless there characters have a strong personality or the triangle is only a side story to the plot I have a hard time caring about the romance.

[suikashoujo]

I only hate love triangles/harems in certain circumstances. For example, Shuffle was decent because every girl started off on equal footing, which made it more interesting since the producers weren't pushing one heroine and saying "this is the main girl, love her!"

Than there are shows like Ai Yori Aoshi, where even though there's absolutely no question as to who the main couple will be, They STILL feel the need to throw in a few more attractive girls as "Rivals." THAT is when love triangles make me angry.

[Mr Poltroon]

You'll find a wider variety of stories in manga though so I recommend reading more manga instead!

Fell free to recommend me things on this front. I've recently been slowly crawling out of my comfort zone leaving shoujo behind. (But shoujo is still great anyway)

 

 

I once watched an Anime and read the Novel about a guy and a Love Triangle.... It did not end up well for the guy (and the girls depending on the ending). Allow me to elaborate with a picture:

-Ketchup-

School Days spoilers

 

And no, I did not get that ending ever. I was always faithful to one heroine, thank you very much!

Before FuwaReviews came and really advertised Makoto in a bad light I played this game... Since I'm a faithful lad I never really thought Makoto was all that bad of a protagonist, until I started getting more and more endings.

Geez, this guy can be really really mean if you make him so.

 

I can think of perhaps Amagami SS. That's because each arc (4 episodes) is based on one girl. It's like all possible routes played out, but separate stories.  It's a really nice/cute anime. My fave ones were Nakata Sae, Ayatsuji, and Rihoko.

 

There's also Amagami SS Plus, where it continues after the characters become a couple. So there's more fluff there. 

 

Tiago, if you're looking for cute love story that's just cute and about confessing love.. I think Amagami SS, characters you could watch are Haruka, Sae, and Rihoko. They don't have as much weird drama as the other characters.

This. Yeah, I remember when I started watching this. This is great yeah, though there is, as you say, some weird drama, to the point I ended up putting it on hold after one of the routes and leaving it to gather dust as I failed to recall why I dropped it and got scared.

 

I don't necessarily hate love triangles, but I hate how predictable they are. There are always signs, at even the first episode, who the "primary" love interest is and the "B" love interest that will only be there to add conflict. Unless there characters have a strong personality or the triangle is only a side story to the plot I have a hard time caring about the romance.

Than there are shows like Ai Yori Aoshi, where even though there's absolutely no question as to who the main couple will be, They STILL feel the need to throw in a few more attractive girls as "Rivals." THAT is when love triangles make me angry.

These are good points, yes...

I've been reading a manga (which made me make this thread, actually) titled Suzuka. And it turns out the protagonist's dearly loved by... not Suzuka, since that might as well be her name. And he decides to date not Suzuka. And then... he breaks up with not Suzuka and aims for Suzuka once again. Spoiler alert.

Gosh was I surprised by this turn of events in my Suzuka manga.

[Yuuko]

These are good points, yes...

I've been reading a manga (which made me make this thread, actually) titled Suzuka. And it turns out the protagonist's dearly loved by... not Suzuka, since that might as well be her name. And he decides to date not Suzuka. And then... he breaks up with not Suzuka and aims for Suzuka once again. Spoiler alert.

Gosh was I surprised by this turn of events in my Suzuka manga.

[Cyrillej1]

This. Yeah, I remember when I started watching this. This is great yeah, though there is, as you say, some weird drama, to the point I ended up putting it on hold after one of the routes and leaving it to gather dust as I failed to recall why I dropped it and got scared.

Ahaha.. Now, I'm curious. Do you remember which character arc you ended up dropping it at?

[Mr Poltroon]

Ahaha.. Now, I'm curious. Do you remember which character arc you ended up dropping it at?

After looking it up, I stopped just before the start of Sae Nakata's arc, the reasons being the fact that she's the one I'm the least interested in coupled with me spoiling myself on the events of the next episodes by reading the synopsis.

[Cyrillej1]

After looking it up, I stopped just before the start of Sae Nakata's arc, the reasons being the fact that she's the one I'm the least interested in coupled with me spoiling myself on the events of the next episodes by reading the synopsis.

Whaat~  she was one of my favorites. I think I mostly liked her because I could relate to her shyness, but she was really cute too.

 

What do you think of Love Triangles? Do you think they really flesh out and bring out drama and character personalities? Or do you think it serves only to bring some stupid heartbreaks and classify the protagonist as indecisive scum?

 

Honestly, I don't really like love triangles much either. I rather see all the characters end up happy, but if it happens.. oh well, I'll still watch it. I think it's pretty normal to encounter something like that in romance stories though.  How I feel about it really depends on how it unfolds, and how the characters act throughout the whole thing. I do think creating situations like that can make the story more emotional, since no doubt there's going to be some kind of drama or heartbreak before the chosen girl/guy. There's also the hope that it'll end the way you wanted it to... which makes you want to watch to the end to see who it is.  And you can learn more about the characters in how they act/think in those situations too.

 

But yeah, situations like love triangles can be irritating though.. because if the guy takes too long to realize his feelings, it does make him seem very indecisive and insensitive.  This is why I think I dislike harems even more... the guys usually just act totally clueless. 

 

Usually, when I watch things with love triangles, I'll be satisfied with the people I feel are most in love from everything I've seen happening. I never really root for loving out of obligation. Even if the characters have to hurt some people once they realize their feelings.. I think I rather they do that than end up with someone they don't love, because that's unfair for the person with them anyways.

 

Soo overall, it depends. They can sometimes be annoying, but they can be interesting too.

 

Something like School Days pissed me off.

Just the way he handled the whole situation, and how the girls acted too... I actually thought the end was quite fitting for him 

 

Oh, another recommendation I have: The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior

It's mostly about a guy that likes this one girl, and keeps trying to get closer to her. But she just keeps to herself and reads her books all the time, not paying much attention to him. xD  From what I remember... I don't think there were any love triangles.  (I personally really liked it  )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zFlhxBoQ4

[Fred the Barber]

The first thing that comes to mind is Clannad: After Story.

 

Of course, first you have to get through Clannad, which is probably exactly what you're looking to avoid. That said, when I was watching Clannad for the first time, with no context whatsoever, I thought it was pretty clear where things were going and how the main character felt, so I never saw it as having any love rivalry, harem, or love triangle elements at all (unrequited attraction, sure; love triangle, nope).

 

And then, once you get through Clannad, the romance itself in Clannad: After Story isn't all that big a focus. So now I don't even know why I'm bringing it up.

 

Now, after looking over my shelves for a while... if you're up for a movie instead of a series, go watch The Garden of Words right now. It's only 42 minutes. Do it. Now. You won't regret it.

 

Edit: Got hung up on recommendations, forgot to mention my own thoughts on love triangles. If they're somewhat harmless (in particular, if I don't think the main character ever actually feels any conflict, or wishy-washiness, and has "pure" thoughts all the way through), then I'm fine with them. For instance, again, Clannad. That's totally cool with me.

 

On the other hand, if there's an actual rivalry / love triangle / harem element to it, and some associated uncertainty, it generally makes me pretty upset. A couple of good examples: Shuffle! and KimiNozo both bother me for this (in both cases the anime; I haven't played the VN of either). Shuffle! had other issues as well that bug me, but the harem situation and the horrible (not even indecisive, but truly thoughtless) main character annoyed me a lot. KimiNozo was actually worse, with the main character in a committed relationship and acting like a total jackass. I think those negative feelings towards KimiNozo, and the fear that maybe this is Age's MO, is the main reason I've been avoiding playing Muv Luv.

 

I guess the bottom line is that the quality I hate, which is usually what causes the situations you mention, is the total lack of self-awareness which usually causes these situations. I can certainly appreciate the difficulty of expressing one's feelings (and that happens quite frequently in shows with these relationship difficulties, and I don't mind seeing that at all), but for the main character to not even take the trouble to sort out his/her feelings in the first place makes a huge difference; when this happens, it becomes difficult for me to enjoy the story at all. Worse yet is when the character seem to actually not have any feelings at all (which is the vibe I get off Shuffle!'s Rin for most of the show) - that's simply totally unrelatable for me.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Fred the Barber