Grotesque jealousy in romance comics, anime, etc

[Sapphireangelbunny]

Some levels of jealousy is understandable in any relationship, because it will happen at some point.
Though when it gets to the point of "Partner A" can't even look at another person without "Partner B" thinking their partner is unfaithful or will cheat, is frustrating.

[burginlewis]

Jealousy needs a believable explanation to be a good story tool. History of cheating, mental illness, insecurity... something. I'm way less concerned as a reader about jealousy being "bad" than I am about it being badly written.

That goes for pretty much everything, actually.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Annoying, at best.
I am absolutely not jealous and could not be with someone jealous, because the ability for both partners to trust the other is the most important thing for me in relationships. So all these jealousy plots are not relatable to me at all, and very offputting.

I can imagine cases where it could be an interesting topic, but outside of the pure romance genre.

[Maps]

Annoying.
I feel like jealousy tends to get taken way out of hand in so many romance plots, especially shoujo mangas. There always seems to be a weak female character, an over-bearing and jealous lead, and like... a decent dude at the side that never gets picked over the main asshole. There just comes a point when the jealousy and the submissiveness together feels gross and the story loses any of its interesting parts. It’s like, it builds up for a while until (usually the girl) convinces the guy to admit he likes her, then all the sudden he is BOOM jealous about everything. Like last week he seemed to hate her and now he hates when another guy talks to her. It’s like people struggle to create any more build up or drama in a romance once their characters admit to liking one another, so somebody now has to get jealous to stir the pot.
Actually, this happens in a ton of BLs too.
It was way worse years ago, but there are still too many stories with this concept.

[Jenny-Toons]

And just to piggy back off of this -- the entire "group of jealous fans/exes coming in to bully the protagonist." just pisses me off to no end. They act like this ONE GUY is the ONLY hot/cool/suitable boyfriend material outta how many other guys in the school??

I see this especially in the shoujos, with the full-on horrible bullying. I'm talking trash in her locker, marks on her desk, her shoes with dumbtacks, cutting her hair, etc. Even getting more violent than that. And I'm sitting here looking at the guy they're all jealous for, and I go:

"REALLY? You're doing all of this gross behavior that'll get you kicked outta school...for THIS clown???"

[beta1042]

not sure what you mean by "grotesque" but obviously I have no problem with jealousy in a comic... my entire comic is about the various types of jealousy and envy people experience... I even named the comic I WIsh I Were You cause everyone is jealous of someone XD

[CodeMonkeyArts]

Unless the jealousy is played up for horror (Yandere levels) or a explored as a relatable symptom of insecurity on the MC (One webcomic I read has the MC be jealous of random girls on her BFs' instagram. While it irritated me at first, it was handled as a problem she had due to being insecure of her appearence AND her boyfriend spells out that he has no interest in anyone else), then it leaves a really sour taste in my mouth.

If it's not dealt with maturely, or does not spell out to the audience that the character is unhinged, then I find it really gross. ESPECIALLY if it's part of the tsundere act (which needs to die sudden and quiet death).

[DualDragons]

Not a fan of the tsundere or jealous girl trope in comics/manga or anime myself. I didn't mind too much at first but i started to find them a bit annoying

[dawgofdawgness]

I'm actually ok with it. It's kind of annoying when the female character gets really possessive of her boyfriend and it's played off as cute (since it's kind of a popular trope). It kind of implies that their relationship isn't very healthy either lol.
It's common to be jealous of other people, and I like it when stories touch upon it since it seems to be an emotion that's rarely shown in depth in movies and tv shows etc

But do I see this kind of "jealous" trope in fanart? Yes. Do I think it's cute sometimes? Yes.

[IdiotWithPencil]

read one where the dude was the jealous one, and hot damn I wanted to kick his teeth in -_-

[Swamp]

To me, there are two ways for it to be interesting

A) It's something the characters discuss and work on. Maybe jealousy is a flaw they need to talk through. Maybe the bad behavior gives a good chance to talk about lack of trust in the relationship.
I can see why people find jealousy sexy/flattering, since it feels like being valued, and I do think it's a natural human emotion, but I've seen too many actually jealous creeps to find it cute or funny.

B) For horror. Honestly, possessiveness scares the fuck out of me. A bit of jealousy is normal, but when it gets to like... punishing somebody for being jealous, that's terrifying. And that's okay if the author agrees.

[rmdooley]

Jealousy in romantic plots can be good when it is used as a vice or a source of conflict and tension. When it is portrayed as an admirable element of romance, something to swoon over as the guy becomes possessive or the girl becomes manipulative, then it is a complete turn-off.

So I suppose:
Jealousy when bad = good
Jealousy when good = bad

[joannekwan]

When between humans, and not a part of some kink erotica, I HATE it.

[Hodge]

I'm way less concerned as a reader about jealousy being "bad" than I am about it being badly written.

This is mainly where I stand. Overall, I'm not too picky or judgmental of other people's writing (I suck at it myself, but trying to improve) but if jealousy is going to be a thing, I'd like it to be developed so that it deepens my understanding of a character.

[JRHoch]

Testify test tube, testify!

[beta1042]

what do you need me to testify?

[SleepingPoppy]

Usually it's kinda cheap, but I think it can be interesting if it's actually used with thought and attention. It's okay for a reasonable amount of jealousy to be a character flaw, too, all the better if it's something they'll work on over time.

I also understand that possessiveness can be sort of thrilling if one is reading for fantasy purposes.

But yeah, the typical romance jealousy tends to be very paint by numbers. If it's not a bad story otherwise it won't stop me from enjoying a casual read, but it's nice when it's absent or utilized with more purpose. ^^

[JRHoch]

I was supporting your view on jealousy. Testify as in you tell them, girl.

[HGohwell]

Day to day, it's pretty boring and cliche and borders on annoying. Especially when it's a romance where you're expected to see the jealousy as a sign of how much they're in love in a totally straight honest way. As if the creator really believes that. Romcoms and sitcoms often use it as a cheap misunderstanding and shortcut to drama that could be resolved within five seconds. This also crosses into the tsundere trope for me, especially when they're violent. And especially when they're not even a couple because she (usually she) constantly denies she has feelings and they're just friends but how dare he look at any other girl!

However, it's often about how it's handled. When in a ridiculously over the top comedy where you're supposed to understand this is utterly ridiculous, for instance the Love Tyrant anime/manga, it can be rather fun. The other time it can be interesting is when the jealousy is explored and dealt or just crosses straight iton yandere territory and its full horror (can't really be dealing with people romanticizing the yandere). I'm rather partial to some mutual possessiveness and jealousy when fully acknowledged as the mess it is.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I remember when I first watched Zero no Tsukaima, I was new to the whole "dere" stuff and other annoying tropes. I remember season 2 (I think) opening with Louise giving Saito a mask that would go off if he even just looked at another girl and she'd blow him up. I though it was the funniest thing ever. But now I'm a lil older I realized that Louise is terribly abusive. And to make things worse, they keep breaking up and Louise won't let him pursue any relationship with any other girl, despite claiming that she doesn't like him anymore. I can't stand that show now. Or anything similar.