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Three shojo manga/anime scenes Japanese survey respondents wish would happen to them

Casey Baseel Nov 10, 2017
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Kabe-don wall pound make the list, but isn’t the number-one fantasy.

In contrast to the often-superpowered adventures of series tailored to the tastes of young men, shojo manga and anime, titles aimed at a female audience, tend to revolve around interpersonal relationships, often of the romantic sort. So while your odds of ever finding yourself falling into the cockpit of a giant robot or developing your martial arts prowess enough to shot beams of energy out of your hands range from slim to none, it’s not that unthinkable that you could find your life suddenly resembling a scene from a shojo romance.

Japanese survey website Minna no Koe recently asked its users what archetypical shojo manga/anime scene they wish would happen to them, receiving 2,052 responses (with 537 respondents voluntarily identifying themselves as women and 346 as men). Let’s took a look at the top three daydreams.

3. Having a guy say “If you’ve got something to say, just come right out and say it!” while performing a kabe-don wall pound

The kabe-don, in which an emotionally amped up guy slams the wall the heroine is standing in front of with his palm, is such an iconic shojo move that it’s achieved mainstream meme status in Japan over the last few years. In light of that, it’s a little surprising to see it fail to take the top spot, though its ranking might have been hurt a little by the option’s accompanying dialogue not being a declaration of the guy’s love or desire.

2. Having a guy say, “Wait, it’s dangerous!” as he grabs your hand

The heady emotions shojo characters experience are sometimes enough to cloud their perception of their surroundings, leading them to unwittingly step into traffic, off stairwells, or otherwise into danger, especially if they’re running off after a heated lover’s quarrel. Having their handsome male counterpart grab their hand to keep them safe shows that he really does care about her (at least enough to want to keep her safe), and also gives an excuse for some sudden, steamy physical contact.

1. Having a guy say “You really worked hard. Good job,” as he pats your head

This might seem like the least romantic of the bunch, but it’s actually got a pretty strong connection to Japanese cultural values and social norms. Humility and self-sacrifice have long been considered admirable virtues in Japan, and so much so that exerting yourself for the greater good of the group is often seen as a matter of course, and not necessarily something that warrants public praise (and even if such praise was rendered, proper manners would dictate deflecting at least part of it, so as not to seem arrogant or self-aggrandizing).

So having recognize validate the effort you put into whatever project you spent the day working on, in a private moment where you can just accept the respect and validation, can be a heartwarmingly intimate, romantic moment, even if it’s accompanied by something as relatively chaste as a pat on the head.

Source: Minna no Koe
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
[ Read in Japanese ]

It’s not a standard shojo scenario, but you can follow Casey on Twitter anyway.