This week's poll was suggested by jacob66. What do you guys like about stories where the main character leads a double life? In Western media, there's Batman, Superman, many other super heroes. And for manga, there's examples like Sailor Moon


You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Favorite tea?
Choices:
Black - votes: 690 (22.5%)
Green - votes: 486 (15.8%)
White - votes: 63 (2.1%)
Oolong - votes: 111 (3.6%)
Chai - votes: 259 (8.4%)
Matcha - votes: 155 (5.1%)
Pu-erh - votes: 47 (1.5%)
Other herbal infusions - votes: 249 (8.1%)
Chrysanthemum tea - votes: 64 (2.1%)
Cold brews or iced (usually sweetened) - votes: 285 (9.3%)
Bubble tea (i.e., boba, and/or milk) - votes: 430 (14%)
Other - votes: 230 (7.5%)
There were 3069 total votes.
The poll ended: October 8th, 2022 1:10pm PDT

You like black? Can't go back

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

I like to see the struggle to balance the two lives! Nice to see what they're willing to do and/or sacrifice in order to keep it a secret.

Hard to pick... It really depends on what story it's trying to tell.

Balance? If it's a drama or a comedy about the double life, then I might be more interested in that aspect.

Dichotomy? If it's trying to be philosophical, satirical or something.

Tension? If an important point of the story is keeping each identities secret and separate.

Reaction? Same as tension. I think those two are related tbh.

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The early bird may have caught the early worm, but the late worm survived!!

Well i suppose reactions after finding out, because i tend to look forward to those the most

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I am envoy from nowhere in nowhere. Nobody and nothing have sent me. And though it is impossible I exist. © Trimutius

I remember the Princess Jellyfish reveal being super wholesome and additionally hilarious
and nothing changed

Spider-man is both Peter and Spider-man so he struggles with both extremes. Batman uses Bruce Wayne as a mask so there is a hard dichotomy (separation). Struggle it is then as then. Double-life characters don't need a secret identity of course.

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Reactions I guess. Mostly because then it introduces at least one other person who knows their secret. Shake it up a little

The struggle is almost always more engaging to me, especially when there's a great inner conflict within the characters.

It really depends in the story being told. In Static Shock, for example, this changed episode to episode, and all 4 could be selected.

The magical girl trope? My favorite version is a webtoon where the MC reveals herself to her parents in the first chapter and it's about her story of discovering the truth and reconciling the fact she can't actually make up for the most evil thing she ever did while the double life thing isn't even that important.

Spider-Man? The reveal to his love interest.

Batman: all the others, depending on the story, except for his reveals.

There is no single best thing, it all depends on the character and the story, so I will abstain from voting.

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I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.

For me, my favourite would be the dichotomy. I was immediately reminded of Sleeping Dogs' story where the protagonist has to balance his feelings between being a cop fighting for justice and integrating a gang where he slowly starts to integrate himself in his home town. Of course, to succeed at making someone feel what the story wants to carry, then you have to build up their interests in the same things as the protagonists. This is one of the reasons why that game weights heavily on my mind even now.

The struggle between two lives is also interest. Berserk showed good elements of this with Guts trying to maintain his ideal of revenge while also wishing to take care others and form relationships. It's not a story element that was very prominent but one that I remember particularly well.

Honestly, it's more annoying than anything, especially when there's an attractive girl that only likes the "hero" half. That's why I picked #4, when people find out.