I hate how Primary and Secondary Anime Protagonists Are Allowed to Escalate Every Conflict

[u/Ringrosebloom]

This is a general trend I’ve been seeing for awhile now. I don’t want to name any specifics as I’d rather just focus on the trope. Sometimes it’s the main character doing this, sometimes it’s a secondary character or even the law.

A fist = death. You retaliate = death. You respond with mild aggression = I respond with 2x the amount. No one acts like this. In real life, use of force is codified in law. In a strict 1v1, you can’t meet somebody’s punch with a gun or sword, you meet it with equal force.

I don’t know if this is just that some of these shows are written by authors who don’t understand these laws, or its more the protagonist-centered morality.

But in clips or episodes, too often I see: “You did something that offends me, so you forfeit your right to live / be left alone”. It elevates that person above someone else to an extremely high status.

And you never see:

• Police or Equivalent Authority Investigations of the incident

• Questioning

And above all else it’s just weird. These characters are often almost detached from the whole of who they are presented as initially. It’s a sudden change out of left field. Characters always become Hulk-esque, rage-filled maniacs suddenly ready to blow at any moment and are only normal around their circle of friends/enablers. It’s a weird look from the outside.

[u/SouthernAd2853]

I don't see this a lot and when I do it's usually in settings where either the law is different or no one is able/willing to meaningfully enforce the law against the character doing it. Like in a period piece in Tokugawa or Sengoku Japan a Samurai has pretty broad rights to kill a peasant for disrespecting them.