Blog #36: Manga Rant- Feisty Girls

There's this Manhwa about a teenage daughter essentially forcing herself on her CEO father and another one called 'Evolution of a Perfect Hubby' where instead it's the SISTER spreading baseless rumours about her brother knocking her up.

(I think the former was called something like My Father is a CEO or something similar to that.)

The latter one wasn't as bad as the first as these kind of stories are usually cut off from reality and don't make much sense in context since normally even one bad rumour will get the paparazzi to swarm you with a movement. Either way, the latter one didn't even make me curious of what was past the first chapter due to how devoid of reality it is.

Anyway, what is with Japanese fetishising this kind of behaviour? There's nothing good about a Yandere who frickin' won't leave you alone when you tell her to leave you alone. What kind of 'romance' blossoms when obsessive girl won't leave the guy alone after explicitly telling her? I don't exactly feel too sorry for the wimpy partner in this kind of relationship though since a normal person would have cut them the fck off already...!

If you want to write about a relationship where it's the girl pursuing the man, there's a few obvious things you should watch out for and basically NEVER joke about. Unless you're writing an unrealistic Shoujo then ignore this advice.

For one, don't put double-bloody-standards between genders. If a woman doesn't like getting felt up by someone she's rejecting then what makes you think a man would be grateful for being felt up by a woman? If it isn't explicitly consensual then it crosses a line everyone regardless of their gender should NEVER touch...! Case closed.

Monologues saying that one of the partner's secretly wanted the 'D' doesn't mean it doesn't count as forcing yourself on someone else. Your readers may even fall into the assumption that you're fetishising it if they blatantly ignore consent.

In medieval, ancient, or otherworldly settings where a particular gender is looked down on as the weaker one could have that kind of stuff happening a lot. However, the only silver lining they have to save their pride is that the premise is just like that.

Since police, law, and common sense is even distorted in those circumstances, they can get away with it without coming off badly. However, if you are trying to write a ROMANCE, do not in any way, play something that serious off as a joke.

Especially here in the west where we are all sensitive to that kind of stuff. No one here wants to read such a distorted relationship portrayed in a lighthearted way. Senseless people who read might even think that it's fine to copy those Manhwa...

I do not see anything wrong in a female character being the one who pursues the male character. The kind of things girls do to get a guy's attention is much more complicated and manipulative sometimes due to humans being social animals.

However, at least have some sense to make their charm more than just the fact that they like the male character. Are these romance authors trying to give a medal to the heroine because she likes the hero of the story? Was liking him her 'fortune'?

Please, my second advice is to at least make pursuing the guy she likes a secondary goal or even lower since people have things going on in their lives and can't be bothered talking to someone who has no intimacy towards them.

Unless they are a little bit psycho or want the CEO main character's money, I don't see why a person would pursue another with the vague notion of one-sided 'love' the other doesn't have for them.

Obsession with one particular male isn't a good thing no matter how close you want to be. It's like saying that being a Yandere is fine as long as she is cute and relentlessly chases you like a female beast in human clothing. How is THIS romantic...?

I'll never understand the kind of people who read low quality romance like this. Realistically, there is a reason why girls rejected by the 'guy they love' are never obsessed with them. Because it's the truth that guys don't really have big standards most the time. It's to the point that I feel weirded out by these herbivores Japanese write about who act like having their manhood erect is some disease...

Just like how 'female purity' is a problem in literature sometimes where a girl with a past physical relationship with another never gets the main character over the virgin. The extremely nonsensical 'male purity' in Manhwa with the word CEO in them (or not if he's a playboy), actually makes me irritated the more I read forward.

Why do males feel shame from having a physical relationship to girls other than the 'destined partner' the Author has set up? It's not like real people know who their 'heroine' is in reality. How are guy supposed to be faithful to girls they have yet to meet? And what is with this expectation that they must literally be a CEO to be popular...?

Most CEOs in real life are old and balding. What is with the fantasy that they'll look 'young and handsome' before happening to see his destined partner, fall for her literally at first sight, then become infatuated with her for no reason?

And this last bit is my biggest problem, why is there NEVER a good reason why the heroine is liked by the main character? Even in stories that try to subvert this, they end up doing the same...

People tend to grow closer to each other after knowing each other for a long time. Some people have sky high trust issues while others easily trust the people they got to know after intuitively judging their character. Either way, it's a dumb trope.

The main character liking the girls looks is a shallow reason for them to get together. If he's supposed to have a cold personality who never gets close with women normally, how could he use their appearance as a reason to approach them?

Do male CEOs not appreciate the looks of beautiful women in general? Why the heck is him saying 'there is something different about her' a trope?! I get that some people have warm and compatible personalities, but it's not a ROMANCE if they suddenly like each other and do some will-they won't-they nonsense when the end is obvious.

Now, let's put this in the context of the female character being a 'feisty girl' who wants to approach the guy. Read my Analysis blog on Romance and you'll get the gist of how that is supposed to work. But to put it simply, do NOT make being the 'cool girl' their only defining trait.

Hasn't that movie 'Gone Girl' taught anyone about they can snap if you expect them to live up to unrealistic expectations? Give them a hobby they both like doing together and get them to talk more than they do 'romantic' stuff. Since romance is more about showing two characters who are meant for each other rather than 'lovey-dovey' scenes.

Anyway, that's all I got. Thank you for reading and request for short stories and blogs anytime.