This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
renamed from Character Magnet
Robert: This doesn't seem like a specifically anime trope. The same thing happens in many western series.
Janitor: It didn't seem like the thesis was actually stated anywhere in the entry, so I tacked one to it. This:
- Sometimes, one-shot characters are just one-shot characters. But other times, especially in Shōnen anime, a new character will suddenly join the regular cast. Usually this character is an antagonist, often a worthy opponent, but sometimes it can just be side character. Normally, this is used near the beginning of a series to bolster the cast.
... is all over the place. "Sometimes...But ... usually ... often ... but ... normally...". It seems like a more direct statement could be drafted.
Janitor, again, later: I'll take a stab, primarily by eliminating side-trips.
Some groups/teams act as a character magnet. The group keeps on attracting new members.
In Shōnen anime, especially, a former antagonist of the worthy opponent class is the newly introduced teammate. This is used near the beginning of a series to build the cast. When done well, this makes a character's entrance more interesting. When done poorly, it is an anvilicious way of adding a new character.
Doing this often will ensure that your series will have loads and loads of characters.
This is the logical extension of Ducks In A Row.
... another brutal edit. I'll let it sit here for a spell. PS: As long as I'm being a bitca, anyway: Character-Magnetic Team would be a better title.
Ununnilium: Oh, much better.
Rogue 7:Cut: In recent chapters, those five girls mentioned are stuck in the magical world as slaves. I don't think they can be counted as normal any more, they keep getting involved in things.
Note the "ostensibly" and the "normal" in quotation marks. That's really more a description that they don't have any explicit magical powers yet.
Later: I already got Haruna- she's Paru.
