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Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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So as everyone knows, I hate cliches and I hate the Shoujo Manga cliches even more. And I eventually decided to make my own Shoujo manga, basically taking those cliches and bending them, breaking them and otherwise burning them in effigy. I'm not very far, majority of the stuff is still being planned out and aside from the main heroine Yue, none of the appearances are fully set yet.

I have some ideas and would like to run some by them. If you have a good idea yourself or know of a cliche you hate and want to see it broken, tell me and I'll see if it fits in somehow. But here is a quick run down...

Yamada Yuu - Heroine

* Introverted, quiet and overall does not have a happy expression on her face very often. Disliked in school among the girls and pretty much ignored by the guys, although that doesn't bother her. The girls begin to dislike her a lot more when the school idol starts going out with her. She herself has no real interest in him and thinks of his fans as "flies hovering around a pretty pile of shit".

* Can be pretty sarcastic at times and can display a short temper at times, not above using her fists or knees to get a point across if needed. Since she doesn't talk much, any time she says something, it's to the point and blunt, bordering on rudeness.

* Spends her leisure time playing videogames, listening to music, watching TV, reading and similar. Never studies and doesn't listen much in class, generally gets grades that would equivalate to Bs and Cs. Doesn't go out much because she's a homebody and dislikes loud places, as they give her headaches.

* Single child and living with her mother, a lawyer, her parents are divorced. Thinks of becoming a lawyer herself.

* Start of the story, she is not a virgin or otherwise inexperienced in the romance department. As eventually revealed, she has a boyfriend and has been together with him for almost a year. Still 'dates' the school idol for reasons of convenience on his side.

* Has some mood swings at times.

* Her name is supposed to be and sound boring. The Yuu is written with the kanji for kindness. Black hair and black/brown eyes that look "dead" at times.

Mizuhara Aki (temp name) - School Idol

* Male school idol, due to his height (190 cms) and good looks, he models part-time and is rather famous. Has a large fanbase in the entire school, loved and hated by guys and has a small group of fangirls in his class that hover around him during break.

* Kind of a jerk, he's conceited because of the good looks and the many fans he has. Thinks that any girl would fall for him instantly. If he makes a mistake, he doesn't acknowledge it or 'buys' his way out of the problem with some (expensive) gifts.

* Single child, doting parents. Father is the CEO of a company and Mother used to be a model herself.

* Decides to 'date' Yuu for the sake of keeping fans off his back, have her be the decoy-girlfriend. Thought she'd be thrilled with her reward being "him", but was rather shocked to hear that if she was "going to waste spend [her] time with [him], [she]'d better get paid"

* Blond hair, whether that is because he is half-Japanese I don't know yet. We'll see.

Tobase Luka (temp name) - Boyfriend

* Yuu's real boyfriend, lives next door to her. Together for almost a year.

* Shares similar interests with Yuu. With the time they've spent together, he knows how to deal with her mood swings and handles them better than Aki, explaining that she is "high maintanence".

* Single child, living with his father and his parents are divorced. Yuu's mother and his father are friends.

* Sarcastic at times, has a slight superiority complex towards Aki, due to understanding Yuu better and such. Doesn't see Aki as a threat and overall encourages Yuu at times or gives advice on how to deal with him, keeping up the appearance of the girlfriend and all.

* Black hair, either blue or brown eyes.

There is one idea that I have in my head right now that I am not sure if I am going to go through with it. What with being the girlfriend of the school idol, Yuu will get bullied in school. Some of the silly things, and then I have this idea.
Yuu will get threatened with a razor blade, the girls demanding her to break up with Aki or they'll cut her face and leave a scar. Yuu would tell them to do it, really not caring about any of their shenanigans and they would cut her, by accident or fully on purpose, no idea.
Good idea or Bad idea?

C-A
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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In Justice We Trust

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I'm not exactly an expert on which clichés are especially common in shoujo manga. Perhaps you could list some? I absolutely love taking shots at clichés--the dumber, the better--and would like to help with your project.
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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The cliché that definitely irritates me the most in shoujo manga is the fact that most of the times, the protagonist is a plain jane with nothing special and the guy is a "oh freaking hot perfect good grades handsome good shot" who falls in love with the protagonist totally out of the blue.

(I'm more of a shonen/seinen girl and my knowledge about shojo isn't that vast though.)

Note: The personality of your heroine is quite original. I liked it.
Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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Quote:
Note: The personality of your heroine is quite original. I liked it.


Thanks! I took a lot of her personality and preferences from me, although I try to make her different enough that it doesn't seem like a complete self-insert.

Quote:
Perhaps you could list some?


Here is somebody's talk about some of the Shoujo Cliches in characters or their portrayal. Mostly about how girls and guys are portrayed in those type of manga. And here is a list of typical Bullying Strategies in Shoujo Manga.

Which brings me to the question of my first post.
Should I have Yuu gain a wound/scar through bullying? I can promise right away, she would not somehow go into a corner and woe-is-me about how ugly she is now and that the scar would disfigure her. Mostly, she wouldn't care and "proudly" present the scar.

My husband thinks it's a workable idea, as long as Yuu doesn't somehow go for the one guy who is not disgusted by her scar. Which she wouldn't, of course, cause she already has a boyfriend...! Speaking of those two, the manga won't focus on how their relationship works... but I might do a prequel eventually, showing how they came together and all.

C-A
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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In Justice We Trust

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I suppose it depends on the nature of the scar. My opinion is that if the scar doesn't noticeably detract from a character's attractiveness, it shouldn't be thought of as a scar to begin with and might as well not be there.

The old "spreading unsavory rumors" bit would certainly make sense. Heck, I see room for some real drama here, given what you've revealed so far. Aki could easily be "forced" into a confrontation with Luka. After all, what would people say about Aki if he simply turned a blind eye to "his" girlfriend cheating on him?
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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Quote:
I suppose it depends on the nature of the scar. My opinion is that if the scar doesn't noticeably detract from a character's attractiveness, it shouldn't be thought of as a scar to begin with and might as well not be there.


Well it's not detracting, but then I think it's just another cliche to break. You know, the one where the bullies are all "You don't want us to cut up your pretty face, do you~ He won't like you with a scar on your face~" which is pretty stupid. I would feel like telling them, "Do it. I dare you, bitch." to see if they really had the guts for it.
Then again, I have several scars and my mother has a giant scar on her arm, so maybe I do not think scars are disfiguring at all.

Quote:
The old "spreading unsavory rumors" bit would certainly make sense. Heck, I see room for some real drama here, given what you've revealed so far. Aki could easily be "forced" into a confrontation with Luka. After all, what would people say about Aki if he simply turned a blind eye to "his" girlfriend cheating on him?


Well one idea is the bullies putting a pregnancy test into Yuu's bag and mocking her for it. Her response, "Mh but how can I be pregnant when I use these?" and she pulls out condoms and the pill she's taking.

As for Luka and Aki, they have some mild confrontations - but as mentioned, Luka doesn't see Aki as a threat or anything like that. And nobody in school actually knows that Yuu has a boyfriend, they think she's too boring for one and all that.
In regards to "cheating" well Yuu will not care if Aki is somewhere with another girl.
But for obvious reasons, she doesn't care.

C-A
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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In Justice We Trust

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I was more so referring to the idea of word getting out that Yuu is in a relationship with Luka. Because her relationship with Aki is the public one, people would think she's cheating on Aki with Luka, and Aki would have to do something to save face.
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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General Luigi wrote:
I was more so referring to the idea of word getting out that Yuu is in a relationship with Luka. Because her relationship with Aki is the public one, people would think she's cheating on Aki with Luka, and Aki would have to do something to save face.


Yeah but nobody knows Luka.
I know that I'm putting Yuu and Aki into the same 2nd Year class. But as for Luka, he's either in a different school or a 3rd year in that other school. So technically there should be no way anyone would find out about Luka and Yuu being a couple.

C-A
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Re: Shoujo Deconstruct IdeasTopic%20Title
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Some more character ideas, with some of the minor-major ones.

Shinonome Rie (temp name) - Alpha Bitch

* Leads the group of bullies out for Yuu.

* Also leads the official "Mizuhara Aki fanclub" of the school.

* Big boobs. Wears accessories on her arms and a necklace.

* Bleached hair to a light brown/dark blond-ish color. Blue eyes.

* Basically a typical female bully. Downside is that Yuu keeps rebuffing her in ways that she can't deal with it, which infuriates her more. (1)

Mikami Hana, Tendou Shizuka, Ozawa Yuki (temp names) - the Goldfish Droppings

* Hang out with Rie mostly, also bully Yuu.

* Ditto on the fanclub thing.

* All with bleached and/or dyed hair. Green, Brown and Gray eyes, respectively.


(1) Rebuffs include things like Yuu saying all the bully lines Rie does before she can finish them, pointing out how typical and uncreative her bullying speeches are. Also things like Yuu finding her desk dripping with dirty water and Rie telling her to just use a dirty rag to clean it - Yuu rips Rie's blouse off and uses that.

By the way, there'll be a scene where Aki tries to sleep with Yuu, but she rebuffs him pretty fast with a good line and actions. Said actions may include a kick.

C-A
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