Our Top 5 Anime Tropes

Anime tropes – some love them, some hate them. Some bad and some good, but you can almost guarantee that anime tropes are going to be included in some way or form. Whether it be specific character archetypes like tsundere or yandere, or maybe certain gestures or speaking quirks.

Throughout the vast sea of anime tropes, I want to go through 5 of my personal favourites. I won’t lie, sometimes even some of those included on this list may be grating if overused. But hey, in moderation I enjoy them.

  Head-tilts (SHAFT)

Oh man do I love this one. The standout and most iconic user of this ultimate technique being the wonderful Hitagi Senjougahara of the Monogatari Series. Shaft seems to absolutely love this trope as well and I cannot blame them. 

The signature head-tilt is the gesture typically used when a character is confused and it is usually accompanied by a “Huh?”. Senjougahara demands so much authority over this pose however, that she uses it in numerous situations. The above mentioned confusion, when acting smug, or even when flipping her yandere switch. 

Honestly, I would say that 90% of this trope’s appeal comes from Senjougahara. 

Fanservice Done… Well?

Even as a certified degenerate, there are times in anime when fanservice become distasteful and downright off-putting. A series like Fire Force spring to mind. However when done correctly, I do think that fanservice can be both a fun and enjoyable element to a show. 

The main series that comes to mind when I think of fanservice done well is Kill La Kill. Yes it’s completely over the top, but there’s still something empowering about it. Rather than just making a female character nothing more than a device for fanservice, the women in Kill La Kill are some of the strongest in the series. Plus the series introduced us to Ryuko and Satsuki, 2 of the greatest!

Shounen Friendships Minus The Power-up

Friendship in series like Hunter x Hunter and One Piece is always a standout when it comes to relationships between characters that don’t always result in some asspull power-ups. With a series like HxH, you have the friendship between Gon, Killua , Kurapika and Leorio and even though these characters may get split up throughout the series, they still have such a strong friendship between them. Leorio uppercuts Gon’s dad because of their relationship.

The Straw Hats are another great example as well. The relationships between Luffy and his crew lead him to make some insane decisions that constantly put his life at risk, but showcase just how strong the bonds between the characters are. Enies Lobby, Arlong Park, and Whole Cake Island arc are all great examples.

Shouting Out Attack Names

Maybe most anime tropes are either love them or hate them situations, but I feel like characters shouting out their attack names is definitely a love or hate kind of thing. Personally though, having grown up with shounen series, I always loved this trope. In my mind the reasoning behind the shouting was to hype up the characters and put more energy into whatever attack they were performing. 

When it comes to this, the best of the best in my mind is none other than Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It managed to perfectly yell out some of the corniest and motivation lines in anime history. The one that went above and beyond was the “GIGA DRILL BREAKER!” 

Absurd Weapons

I’m talking about the types of weapons that are so completely absurd that no one person could possibly wield it, let alone handle it with the level of finesse they manage to. And I love this particular anime trope! In a bizarre way, it adds something to the character. For example, Cloud from FF7 is a lean guy, and yet he manages to wield a weapon as tall as him. 

When it comes to series I enjoy characters wielding such ridiculous weapons, Final Fantasy 7 and Berserk are some obvious ones. Both characters are wielding humongous swords, Guts’ sword is even described as a giant slab of iron. On the other side, JoJo’s part 2 joseph and Cesar managed to weaponize iron ball clackers and bubbles!