If there was one literary/fictional device that I hate most it would be the love triangle, or even worse, a love shape. I hate them in reality too, but it’s even worse to throw them in where we’d like to have a happy ending, thank you, since happy endings happen even less often in real life.

Anime is one of the most rampant mediums that use such tactics. Love triangles and shapes are literally everywhere you turn, in almost every setting, especially shoujo.

SHOUJO: This title is used to describe anime that is intended for an audience of young females, and is usually centered on emotion-based storylines.

While this blog is called “The Shoujo Love Triangle” that is more in reference to the usage of triangles, not to say that I will only be looking at shoujo anime examples.

Let’s start with a couple classics, shall we?

Tenchi Muyo

Now, this anime is also considered a harem anime, which means there is one male character and many females, or vice versa, But even in this situation there is still really only two females who are most vying for the main character’s affection, and who stand any kind of chance.

We have our hero, Tenchi, a typical generic but brave male figure who turns out to have an interesting lineage and destiny. Enter more girls than he knows how to handle, including Ryoko and Ayeka, and we get our triangle.

Tenchi is a whirlwind, and there are several girls, including demons and aliens and airheads, but there is never any doubt that his real choice is between Ayeka and Ryoko. Despite a series and OVAs, we never really get any resolution on Tenchi’s final choice, and that is where I have the problem.

Not only are we forced to choose which we would prefer (like there is any contest with Ryoko involved), we then have to hope and pray that the main character actually agrees with us, and if not, we either just have to deal with it, or we’re not even given an answer and all of our suffering is for nothing.

Love Hina

This is another harem anime, but with a different twist. The main character Keitaro made a promise to a childhood friend that they would enter university together when they grew up.

However, he no longer remembers the name of the girl and is not sure who she is anymore, so he is hoping to get into Tokyo University in order to find her.

Chaos ensues. Keitaro becomes the manager of an all-girl dorm, set on his quest to figure out which girl is the girl from his past.

Now, while it bugs me that we again might really like a particular girl for Keitaro and then she could very well turn out to not be the girl of his dreams, this anime does give a very conclusive end.

Keitaro falls for Naru, who not only turns out to be the right girl, but at the end they get married. Perfect. So, for that, I forgive Love Hina for its love shape.

Fruits Basket

This is the exception in my examples as it is the only one with one female and a harem of males, with one obvious triangle between two boys and our heroine.

Tohru, a sweet and selfless girl, discovers the family secret of the Sohmas, cursed to turn into the Zodiac animals whenever they are embraced by the opposite gender. Her main love interests are the Rat, Yuki, and the allusive Cat that holds the brunt of the curse, Kyo.

Now, if you follow the manga which is now complete, the triangle gets resolved. But not in the anime.

If you’re like me, and many of my friends, you root for Yuki initially, but as the story progresses, Kyo becomes much more of an appealing and fitting choice.

The added hilarity, of course, is that every time Tohru even hugs one of them, they turn into an animal.

So if you want to be frustrated, and flip back and forth on which of the boys you want Tohru to end up with, see the anime. If you want closure, read the manga.

Macross Frontier

Now for something a little newer, Macross Frontier is a mech anime with a shoujo twist that has a very blatant love triangle. In my humble opinion, the main character, Alto, makes his decision quite clearly between the two girls, Sheryl and Ranka, at the end of the anime. But Ranka lovers would have you believe it is still open ended.

As an anniversary series honoring Macross shows of the past, this anime offers sci fi mixed with music and idol love, along with some Enders Game thrown in with the alien villain.

What I like about this example is that I didn’t love one girl and hate the other, like I usually do. I love them both, I just lean more toward Sheryl for many reasons.

This series also balances well between mech shounen fighting and shoujo storytelling and humor. I recommend it, but again, you will be torn between the girls, and you know deep down that eventually Alto has to choose and someone is going to get hurt.

Ladies vs Butlers

And now to be very new, this anime is one my husband and I just started watching and are rather in love with. It beats many normal stereotypes and conventions, has wonderful ecchi (dirty) humor, and doesn’t quite follow the normal protocol for a love triangle.

Oh, there are quite a few girls who like our hero, Akiharu, but the setup is blatant about who will eventually end up with him if all goes according to plan.

Akiharu has been transferred to a school that teaches young men and women to be maids and butlers.

Akiharu’s childhood friend Tomomi—or should I say menace, since she is quite obviously evil—is constantly setting up devious plans, many that include Akiharu ending up copping a feel on the blonde and high-strung Drill (dubbed because of her drill-shaped hair).

So there is a love triangle, and a shape since many other girls like Akiharu too, but he is oblivious to it all.

On the plus side, he is a main male character who isn’t a complete weakling like we are too used to sometimes in anime. And even though Tomomi will probably realize that she also has feelings for Akiharu should he and Drill ever end up as a couple, this anime might yet surprise me.

It certainly has done a good job of that so far.

CONCLUSION

So I suppose this is more of a rant than anything. There are many forms that love triangles can take in anime, some more annoying than others. For me, if it has to exist, then I at least want a clear ending and decision about whom the main character chooses. I would also prefer to have good reason that the one not chosen ends up getting the shaft.

When I think of my favorite anime, like Saiyuki, and Trigun, and Full Metal Panic, you know what they don’t have? Love triangles.

And no, the cute captain in FMP does not count because we all know Sousuke is in love with Kaname.

~G³

Next week, “The Evolution of Role Playing Game Handbooks,” from DnD and White Wolf to Serenity.

Thanks for tuning in.

 

Images taken from:
http://kurogane.animeblogger.net/image/winter08/rosario_02_love_triangle.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n7/DaWolf24/TenchiMuyo01125-1.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z191/mew-minto_2007/cute/Anime/th_Wedding-2.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/theonigiri/Tohru,%20Yuki%20and%20Kyo%205.jpg
http://ghostlightning.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/macross-frontier-10-sheryl-alto-kiss.jpg

http://www.notcliche.com/lbw/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ladies_vs_butler_drill.png

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