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Lots of characters, but no Character Development

ArkArk
edited January 2012 in Anime
Looking over the anime series that I've really liked, a promenant feature of them is that they have a very small group of main characters (like 3-5). Most series aren't like this though and tend to have about 12 main characters. I feel there's a really noticable difference in quality as a result of this difference. I can't think of one above average series that has a huge group of main characters.

The problem with it is that because of the number of characters the amount of time for character development is really restrained. When it does happen it comes across as really superficial and forced.

For example, I recently watched Macross Frontier and felt it was really let down by the excessive number of focused on characters. I remember the original Macross series didn't suffer from this at all and it was very focused on the 3 main characters even though there were many other characters.

I don't watch as many series as a lot of other people, so how much of a problem is this?

Comments

  • I think a lot of anime has this issue because most anime is condensed to just 26 episodes or so.

    One example is Kare Kano. The show was only 26 episodes and mainly focused on the two main characters, Yukino and Soichiro, and their relationship.

    The manga goes further into their relationship and their character as well as their friend's characters and relationship with others. They all pretty much have a self-discovery/self-realization of some sort and become the people they want to be.
  • Harem shows. Welcome to a zillion years ago. If you stick with a handful of characters, people might not like them and won't watch the show. Instead, make so many characters that no matter who is watching they will really like at least one of them, if not more than one.

    Same strategy is now being applied in idol musical groups. Why do you think SNSD has 9 members? When you have just one Justin Beiber, some people love and some people hate. If you have 9 Justin Beibers on a team, each with a different style, almost everyone will like at least one of them.

    $$$$
  • ...I dare you to name 5 shows with more than 12 characters that get their own scene once. "Minibosses/Bosses" don't count.

    Also, Hokuto no Ken had a million characters, but they're all great.
  • Harem shows. Welcome to a zillion years ago. If you stick with a handful of characters, people might not like them and won't watch the show. Instead, make so many characters that no matter who is watching they will really like at least one of them, if not more than one.

    Same strategy is now being applied in idol musical groups. Why do you think SNSD has 9 members? When you have just one Justin Beiber, some people love and some people hate. If you have 9 Justin Beibers on a team, each with a different style, almost everyone will like at least one of them.

    $$$$
    Exactly, it's the perfect formula for popularity, but lacks any staying power.
  • Bokurano is one of the few shows with a lot of characters AND good character development. All 15 main characters in Bokurano serve a purpose, a good percentage of them get great character development, and the show is good for it.
  • Bokurano is one of the few shows with a lot of characters AND good character development. All 15 main characters in Bokurano serve a purpose, a good percentage of them get great character development, and the show is good for it.
    I liked Bokurano but to me the number of characters was a bit of a liability. Though it was salvaged by the fact that the kid with the little sister was quite well developed and the show ends up culminating with him. If you compare it with Madoka though which has a very similar concept but only 5 characters the difference in quality is clear.
  • I dunno. I like all of the characters, each of their stories is interesting to me.
  • Angel Beats has this problem. A lot of the characters are just tropes and not fleshed out. That was the Roland Emmerich film of anime for me.
  • Exactly, it's the perfect formula for popularity, but lacks any staying power.
    Which is perfect, as you can then sell people on the next thing.

  • That was the Roland Emmerich film of anime for me.
    That award doesn't go to Redline?
  • Azu Manga Dioh has many main characters and does not suffer from it.
  • Azu Manga Dioh has many main characters and does not suffer from it.
    Yes, but AZM also wasn't an attempt at filling up the Fetish Shotgun from a checklist.
  • I've always thought of Utena and Mai HiME as fine examples of big cast + excellent character development.
  • That was the Roland Emmerich film of anime for me.
    That award doesn't go to Redline?
    No, because Redline doesn't suck.

  • That was the Roland Emmerich film of anime for me.
    That award doesn't go to Redline?
    No, because Redline doesn't suck.
    I'm talking in the one note load and loads of characters similar to what he does. That is Angel Beats.
  • edited January 2012
    For me the top stars on my list with great characters and great character development at the same time goes to Planetes and Patlabor the Mobile Police

    However, such cast intensive shows of 5 or more do sometimes simply focus on the 'main characters' or the 'main grouping', while the secondary characters for these shows propels both the show and the mains forward,getting subtle development of their own to boot as a result.

    If the story tellers can maintain the cast then great for them, Just look at My little Pony FIM. Im not sure if i can think of any anime off the top of my head which can sustain a main group of 6 characters. Even the ones ive listed or can think off are more often 2-4 mains and the rest supporting
    Post edited by lifecircle on
  • Anime isn't the only media to suffer from this. The best, worst?, example of this is The Wheel of Time.

    It has a huge cast of characters and because the author seems to want us to follow every last footstep of their journey the pacing of the books grinds to a halt. So much so that the original projection of something like 6 books exploded into 14, or is it 15 now?.

    Even though the characters do grow and mature it takes whole volumes to cover maybe 3 or 4 months of time and some characters can disappear for a whole novel.

    He does seem to solve this in the later novels, but the middle books are so hard to get through.
  • Azu Manga Dioh has many main characters and does not suffer from it.
    There are only 6 and there aren't that many side characters. More importantly AMD is a comedy and doesn't have a plot.
  • A perfect example of what I'm talking about is RahXephon. That's like Terrible Character Development 101.

    There are like 25 recurring characters and most of the side characters get as much focus as the main characters. For example ep5 focuses on the back story and motivations of a character who was only introduced in the previous episode and is overall not important to the story at all. Again in one of the middle eps there's an entire flashback episode which shows the back story of 3 characters who are also not particularly important. Meanwhile, the couple who are supposed to be the centre of this "epic" love story get hardly any development together.
  • It's kind of funny, but you see this in table top RPG's too. I've been in large games where character growth is often at a snail's pace. Each PC just don't get that much time in the spot light. So the character development just never take offs.

    In smaller games, each PC gets way more individual attention and thus grows exponentially faster.
  • Our party chemistry in our RPG is working far better with three characters than it even did with four, so I know exactly what you mean.
  • I can't think of one above average series that has a huge group of main characters.
    Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

    /obligatory

  • Pretty much every shonen series I've ever seen suffers from this, but some still manage to be entertaining despite that. But one series that always stands out to me as having a ton of characters who all have character development is Infinite Ryvius. There a bunch of characters in that show that you only see a few times, and you don't even know their names, but you see them change as the series goes on.
  • The pattern I generally see in the good shonen series is this.

    You have a primary protagonist and antagonist who go through the entire series. They change in phases. Whenever there is a climax in the main plot, they evolve like Pokemon. Then at the end of the series, final evolution.

    Then you have supporting cast of the protagonist. The supporting cast are mostly flat. They come in flat and are used for jokes or for the protagonist to play off of for jokes or support. Each major supporting character eventually gets an arc dedicated to them. They rarely evolve during this arc, but sometimes do. Usually what happens is the protagonist and the reader just get a deeper insight into this side character. They continue to act as they always have, but with that additional backstory knowledge, the character now has some depth.

    The supporting or minor antagonists are much the same way. The difference is that they always evolve after they get a story arc dedicated to them. That evolution could just be them leaving or dying, but it usually ends up with them converting to good, or going into hiding to make a comeback.

    Take for example Hajime no Ippo. Ippo goes throughout the series and develops in stages.

    Miyata is the main antagonist, and you see him evolve every time a climax happens in his plot. He keeps coming back, but he changes after each major encounter with Ippo.

    Supporting characters like the coach are pretty much the same the whole time, but then there's the chapter where you learn the coach's history and now you read him differently.

    All the other boxers that Ippo fights are presented with a flat personality. Then as the fight approaches and happens you learn everything there is to learn about them. Then the fight changes them, usually into good guys. Then they become background flavor. Usually you see them at boxing matches cheering or giving advice and commentary.

    Fist of the North Star follows the same thing with one key difference. Almost every antagonist explodes and dies, not leaving much time for them to hang out or get forgiven for their sins.
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