Quote from neomanxl
well usually in a shoujo romance the couple turn out to be life partners (meaning they end up marrying, having kids, etc.) and even if they end up breaking up, most of the time the relationship is very serious. So for those scenarios, I don't think "I love you" is an overstatement.
A lot of them are over-dramatic and unrealistic to the point of being annoying and nonsense. That's why I don't read them. But that's just my taste.
I don't believe you can easily predict whether you will end up getting married even if your attitude is serious when you are dating someone (most people in this world are serious I believe). Serious =/= love. A lot of shoujo characters are only 15, 16. Marriage is even a more distant goal for those at that age. Just look at the 15 year-olds and 16 year-olds around you in real life. I doubt most of them are mature enough to really "love" (many don't even know how to love and realize/appreciate the love from their family members, let alone...). Don't get me wrong, I am not criticising them by saying that. It's just that I think their age should be the stage to learn, grow and experience. Not much of their personality, lifestyle, values and what they really want in life have been established yet. I blame the shoujo mangaka for such unrealistic portrayal of life.
Don't think lust is such a bad thing. Relationships start from lust. They like each other and that's just lust. To be able to grow in to love, it takes time and mutual
work and it's not an easy job. I don't think those IRL who don't even know how to love their own family members can take that job. In a lot of shoujo manga, when they haven't done anything to make it become love, or when they just like the othe person - sometimes they haven't even spoken to each other more than once or twice, they say that's "love".
Last edited by base_coat at 2:37 am, Jun 5 2009