Have one of the characters leaving near the end; going abroad? Usually to study, or live with their estranged parent or some crap. It gets freaking aggravating after a while, seeing this plot device used over and over again. I guess I blame it on the ineptitude of the authors... unable to maintain an interesting story without relying on cliched contrivances.

My absolute favorite type of story is one where nothing much in the way of overt drama occurs, and yet the story retains a degree of captivation... usually due to original character interaction and/or meaningful insight.

Anyways, I had to vent a bit after rereading a manga that had progress further than when I'd last viewed it, only to be left with the girl leaving for no reason whatsoever. It's a freaking romance story... she was so invested in the relationship, and now she's leaving the guy? What the heck? I don't get how anything, let alone "studying abroad", can take precedence over "love." In this context at least.

Sounds like you're ranting. :'O

I'm interested, what manga are you talking about? I may have to drop it if I am currently reading it. XD I hate when that happens, too.

This would have been an interesting thread, to be honest. "Why does every freaking romance story... have so much effin' drama." D<

And so on, and so on...

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i found the studying abroad in a manga from 1992 -.- there seem to be many shoujo with that, even some yaoi. Maybe they just use it as a time skip to show "and after a while passed they meet each other again and were still in love with another". But there are worser clichées out there

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This is usually due to an author's inability to properly tie together the 'loose ends' of the story, therefore resulting in their use of an easy and ambiguous ending as you've already mentioned.

To be honest, I also dislike such endings as well since the main couple's relationship isn't further elaborated on, but what I DO like is when the author adds an epilogue of some sort, bringing back the character who left by the end only to have them return and happily reunite with their beloved.
squee ^0^/

Gosh, I'm such a sucker for those types of endings~! 😀

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...what I DO like is when the author adds an epilogue of some sort, bringing back the character who left by the end only to have them return and happily reunite with their beloved.
squee ^0^/

Gosh, I'm such a sucker for those types of endings~! 😀

Ah, see here this is what I can't stand! 😁 That exact ending you are referring to... I always feel cheated by those "and then they grew a little by themselves... see how they still love each other after they've matured?" endings. I feel like much of what I'd just read is inconsequential. The absolute worse and most utterly misguided endings are those where you'll see the main characters grown old in some little epilogue. That kind of thing is so inept of the author that it's a bit pathetic. 😮 Fortunately such things are very rare, lol.

Quote from BaeSooky

I'm interested, what manga are you talking about? I may have to drop it if I am currently reading it. XD I hate when that happens, too.

Well the manga isn't over yet, I've just caught up to the scanlations which ended off at a really lousy point. The manga is Kirai; not the greatest manga ever, but I did just take the time to read about 7 volumes, so I was indeed invested.

it only seems to happen whith rich or smart heiroines >.> cuz the stupids would never get to go in the first place. and i hate it when that happens too! they would never ( not never but highly unlikely ) get back together because there are hot european and american guys there!

It's especially annoying if the character's career or goals was never a big focus. In something like Gokinjo Monogatari it makes sense since it did focus on the character's goals and dreams and not just romance. That makes sense. It fits in the story. It's just an annoyance when it's randomly thrown in. Like when school, work, or career is never focused on but all of a sudden out of nowhere the character wants to go abroad to study or something.

Quote from Whatever

It's especially annoying if the character's career or goals was never a big focus. In something like Gokinjo Monogatari it makes sense since it did focus on the character's goals and dreams and not just romance. That makes sense. It fits in the story. It's just an annoyance when it's randomly thrown in. Like when school, work, or career is never focused on but all of a sudden out of nowhere the character wants to go abroad to study or something.

Exactly.

the worst was honey and clover

yeah i love u but u go abroad .....but we shud just watch obver each other.....and u watch me get my holes drilled by my older professor who i am slutting out to ...for social security

best shonen manga couples :

shinichi X ran
natsu X erza
ippo X kumi
naruto X gaara

Quote from Whatever

It's especially annoying if the character's career or goals was never a big focus. In something like Gokinjo Monogatari it makes sense since it did focus on the character's goals and dreams and not just romance. That makes sense. It fits in the story. It's just an annoyance when it's randomly thrown in. Like when school, work, or career is never focused on but all of a sudden out of nowhere the character wants to go abroad to study or something.

Agreed. I also felt this ending worked in Paradise Kiss because

George is generally a bastard and at least the (unhealthy) romance ended painfully and realistically

Quote from jedinat

Have one of the characters leaving near the end; going abroad? Usually to study, or live with their estranged parent or some crap.

Makes me think of Asian dramas.

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Agree.
just like akuma de sourou . The guy definitely an egoistic guy. He's the one who chasing the main girl, and make her fall for him even it have to sacrifice their family coz they are step-sibling. and suddenly he choose to go to overseas to study abroad and live with his mom?! while their family finally accept their relationship?! oh, what an egoistic guy (or the author?). even it ended with they get married 5 years later, still I dont like it when the guy abandon the girl and go overseas. he doesnt care the girl feeling, he only care bout himself.
I really hate this plot. *sigh....

ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)笑

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Quote from Whatever

It's especially annoying if the character's career or goals was never a big focus. In something like Gokinjo Monogatari it makes sense since it did focus on the character's goals and dreams and not just romance. That makes sense. It fits in the story. It's just an annoyance when it's randomly thrown in. Like when school, work, or career is never focused on but all of a sudden out of nowhere the character wants to go abroad to study or something.

Agreed. I also felt this ending worked in Paradise Kiss because

George is generally a bastard and at least the (unhealthy) romance ended painfully and realistically

I agree with Paradise Kiss,

even it was heart breaking since they still love each other, but it won't seem to work out. I don't care if people say that it could have worked out. Realistically, it won't always. And that manga is one of those example to not give you an ending what everyone may feel happy about. And of course, that's the mangaka's style. Sorry, that was out of topic, just felt the urge to say it out.

But it is darn annoying when suddenly, the guy/girl decides to go abroad especially that there is NO problem at all even if you decided not to go. If it is something to test their love, sure?! If something bad really happened and they just want to test to see how things will be after years to come.. Maybe that storyline would work if the rest of the story was very deserving of such situation. But most of the time, I can't find such good situations in manga enough to excuse the other lover to go abroad. I do find a lot of stories like that in movies that seems to make it work and well deserving. BUT in mangas, there are alot, but it's hard to find such good storylines that go with such plots.

I think sometimes the authors do the "study abroad" bit to allow the characters to age a bit. If they're 15-16-17, it's just not realistic to have them get married & live happily ever after (the kind of ending a lot of shoujo readers seem to like), but if one or both study abroad for 4-5 years, then they're old enough for that kind of ending.

It does often seem kind of random & forced, but I don't really mind it that much, as long as there's a half-decent "after he/she comes back" chapter or two.

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Well, the alternative would be that they get sick of each other after some time and end up with other people. Or new people. Or whatever's realistic.