I don't normally care for romance in my stories. Unless both characters are interesting both individually and together, it just falls flat for me. Most manga I've read fail to meet this criteria, so Dandadan was a pleasant surprise in that regard, and I actually enjoyed Momo and Okarun's romance.
Right? I was just thinking the other day that when I think about Dandadan, I don't even think about the romantic elements, but it's relatively prominent. And when it does pop up, they navigate it with such good humor that it still fits the vibe of the series.
This is an interesting point. I do enjoy a romance driven story every now and then if the characters aren't too dumb and things don't get too traumatic (I really love the Romantic Killer anime for example... and I'm aware I'm probably being a huge hypocrit here considering my current hanahaki series 😂), but I agree that when you're promised a totally different genre, you don't want it derailed by an unnecessary romantic subplot. 'Shipping' characters is fine, regardless of genre, because maybe there's some subtle romantic tension there anyway, but that's what fanfiction is for OUTSIDE the original work! 😂
I think adding in romance only works if it's not getting in the way of the true story, as you said, and if it feels organic rather than shoe-horned in for the sake of it. I hate it when two characters suddenly have a major personality change just for the sake of romance and you really don't see it coming. I was not a fan of the Black Widow/Hulk relationship or the Steve Rogers/Sharon Carter thing in the MCU. Seemed like a weird direction to take that fell totally flat and was ultimately abandoned (thankfully) in the end.
It's not even just romantic subplots, really. I think that any out-of-genre subplot can be a bit jarring if it hasn't had the precedent set already, or if it doesn't get in the way. You're spot on about the Black Widow/Hulk relationship. It felt so off track. That said! One small romantic undercurrent that really hit for me was Satine and Obi-Wan in Clone Wars. And I'm not even sure I can express why, I think it was just so quick and unexpected, I don't know. I'm going to start paying even more attention to when I'm annoyed by romance lol.
I don't normally care for romance in my stories. Unless both characters are interesting both individually and together, it just falls flat for me. Most manga I've read fail to meet this criteria, so Dandadan was a pleasant surprise in that regard, and I actually enjoyed Momo and Okarun's romance.
Right? I was just thinking the other day that when I think about Dandadan, I don't even think about the romantic elements, but it's relatively prominent. And when it does pop up, they navigate it with such good humor that it still fits the vibe of the series.
This is an interesting point. I do enjoy a romance driven story every now and then if the characters aren't too dumb and things don't get too traumatic (I really love the Romantic Killer anime for example... and I'm aware I'm probably being a huge hypocrit here considering my current hanahaki series 😂), but I agree that when you're promised a totally different genre, you don't want it derailed by an unnecessary romantic subplot. 'Shipping' characters is fine, regardless of genre, because maybe there's some subtle romantic tension there anyway, but that's what fanfiction is for OUTSIDE the original work! 😂
I think adding in romance only works if it's not getting in the way of the true story, as you said, and if it feels organic rather than shoe-horned in for the sake of it. I hate it when two characters suddenly have a major personality change just for the sake of romance and you really don't see it coming. I was not a fan of the Black Widow/Hulk relationship or the Steve Rogers/Sharon Carter thing in the MCU. Seemed like a weird direction to take that fell totally flat and was ultimately abandoned (thankfully) in the end.
It's not even just romantic subplots, really. I think that any out-of-genre subplot can be a bit jarring if it hasn't had the precedent set already, or if it doesn't get in the way. You're spot on about the Black Widow/Hulk relationship. It felt so off track. That said! One small romantic undercurrent that really hit for me was Satine and Obi-Wan in Clone Wars. And I'm not even sure I can express why, I think it was just so quick and unexpected, I don't know. I'm going to start paying even more attention to when I'm annoyed by romance lol.