Love triangles - Hate them or love them?

AnnaLandin 2016-01-15 18:03:07 UTC #24

This is 100% because of sexism. The bitchy female rival perpetuates the damaging stereotype that girls are always in competition over the attention of a boy, and feeds a bunch of horrible sexist stereotypes about women.

(also yes on the main guy not always being better than the new male rival because wow that happens a lot)

gateofselidor 2016-01-15 18:10:34 UTC #25

I'm pretty firmly in the "hate" category (unless the end result is a poly relationship, and then I suppose it's not really a triangle any more). It's a cheap source of drama, and it's rarely entertaining. Either you're rooting for the character who is clearly the author's favourite and going to win, so you have to wait for the obstacle to be cleared, or you're rooting for the underdog, and likely to be disappointed (and if the author grows to like them enough, maybe they'll get thrown together with someone else as a consolation prize). Usually one or more of the characters involved is insufferable, too.

kazukitakamura126 2016-01-15 18:15:46 UTC #26

I don't mind love triangles, so long as the characters are all likeable and grow from that experience. However, not many love triangles are handled very well and the third point in the triangle also is alone and it feels like they got duped.

Kayke 2016-01-15 19:16:10 UTC #27

Ooooh boy. I use love triangles in my writing... I think human relationships and feelings are really complex and there have been a lot of points in my life where I was interested in more than one person or had more than one person interested in me.

I think when you're writing about young people it's kind of normal for people to have more than one crush or to change their feelings a lot about who they want to date.

AffectedMind 2016-01-15 21:19:08 UTC #28

Good point there with the harems. I used to be a huge bishie lover, I still am but a bit smaller (guess I'm getting old Dx) But damn those bishies start to look more like a women than a men. I mean Brother's conflct for example, those bishies are too beautiful. They are so unrealistic it's ridiculous. I know they are suppose to be hot, but that's a bit too much for me x_x

Bluejay 2016-01-15 23:04:13 UTC #29

If the artist can make it interesting than the stereotypical moments like everyone mentioned, then I wouldn't mind reading some. I also dislike it when the girl is being too indecisive and seem stupid for not being able to choose, but at the same time: let's not forget that the human's emotions are a lot more complex than we believe it is. Ahh, but in the end I guess it all leaves down to how well the artists/author can form it.

Wolven_Sister 2016-01-15 23:23:11 UTC #30

^THIS ALL THE FRIGGAN WAY!
I hate love triangles. When I peruse books/movies/animes/etc...and once I see there's a love triangle I immediately turn away from it. I don't find them realistic and not what love is about. As for reverse harems, I agree. I watch them for all those bishies~

I have only read one love triangle that worked out well. It was a book called "Legends Unleashed" and the two boys the girl liked turned out to be same boy (his personality was split up into 2 entities) and I thought that was a really cool way to end the conflict. Other than that, they're all unneeded drama. Love doesn't need to be complicated. There are other ways to amp up the drama or tension without resorting to that.

AffectedMind 2016-01-15 23:29:08 UTC #31

Lol if you only knew my classmate x'D
But I agree, it's not what love is about.

desannlim 2016-01-16 00:37:21 UTC #32

Ooh I saw a small part of Brother's Conflict and it made me cringe. ^^;;; The bishies sure do look beautiful, but there was way too many just from watching the opening o.o . And with such a diverse group of many guys, it's way too forced for them all to like the same girl. XD I probably only watched a few minutes of the actual show before I had to just turn it off.

Kura 2016-01-16 00:59:37 UTC #33

I have to agree with you on that one. Honestly wish I could see more healthy polyamory relationships in stories. (not to be confused with polygamy)

ashriott 2016-01-16 02:24:36 UTC #34

I don't mind love triangles if it is "necessary" or leaves some sort of substance or character growth. Rather than just adding a love triangle for the sake of adding one. This is really subjective to different stories, I can say there's never been a situation where I really liked a love triangle. I've always been very neutral about them.

A love triangle I absolutely hated was in the anime "Your Lie In April", cause I felt it was horribly necessary. Though some may say otherwise, I felt the love triangle detracted the show away from its original goals and themes. More importantly, that love triangle was in the way of my ship arggghhh!!

insomniascrawl 2016-01-16 04:58:56 UTC #35

Personally, I hate them (I think kdramas ruined them for me). Honestly I think I'm at a point where I cringe at them in any story centered around a love triangle. I cannot handle those anymore.

However! I don't mind love triangles of the whole point of the story is not a love triangle, or if the writing is just so good that I can forgive the story being about a love triangle lol.

joannekwan 2016-01-16 06:11:43 UTC #36

I don't hate them nor do I love them. I just want something written and handled well.

I love the Book of Life and Corpse Bride examples! Even at the end of both movies, the party left out was still happy for the couple. I would have been perfectly fine if either of those movies ended with a poly relationship. (but of course they're for kids and people don't want that for kids blah blah blah)

Asherrrr 2016-01-16 06:54:18 UTC #37

I like them, but I think they're interested in someone else.

AffectedMind 2016-01-16 11:17:14 UTC #38

Yea exactly! 2 or even 3 guys I can understand but 10?! Damn! Find your own girlfriends! Leave this poor being with no character whatsoever alone! XD
Because let's face it, otome heroines almost everytime have no character.

demthorshie 2016-01-16 11:17:42 UTC #39

I love a good love triangle, so long as it doesn't become the entire plot of the story, then it just becomes a bit Twilighty imo! xD xD

I had a love triangle in an older comic I work on and the losing party ended up moving on with another lover eventually, which a lot of my readers really appreciated. I chose that route rather than antagonizing the losing person.

Pandastrophic 2016-01-16 11:31:41 UTC #40

I actually think there is no right way to handle an otome game (like brothers conflict and many more) that's been adapted to anime. I think they just shouldn't be adapted to anime, they're created with 10 guys liking the same girl because it's an otome game and it's supposed to work like that because in the game you chose a route with the guy you like and play that specific story. So when they try and make that into an anime, all the guys are shoved and squeezed into a limited number of episodes and nothing works out.
They can't take away any of the guys because they're trying to stay true to the game and they also can't give the main girl a personality because the person who's playing the game is meant to be the girl. Otome games adapted to anime are generally targeted to a very specific demographic who might have played the game and just want to see it animated.

but haveing these otome cliches in works that aren't adapted from an otome game then that's a different story lol.

AffectedMind 2016-01-16 11:49:01 UTC #41

Yup, couldn't say it better, in otome it works, you choose the guy's route you like, your character is blank as sheet of paper because you are behind the screen. But if you adapt it to anime at least give the heroine some personality, or don't adapt it at all, otherwise you will be stuck with annoying character(s) and ridiculous plot. In UtaPri the plot wasn't that bad, you could sit it through, but when I was watching Amnesia I just gave up. I just can't believe a few guys would like the girl that... almost doesn't talk at all or doesn't act at all

eagle1 2016-01-16 14:08:02 UTC #42

I'm Poly, and have been all of my life, so the whole idea of a love triangle is something that I just don't get. I have two titles that have something that someone might consider a love triangle, but neither of them really fit the definition, and no one is being "indecisive" (which implies that the correct thing to do is choose between two people you are attracted to). I also tend to not see a lot of things in real life that look anything like a traditional fiction love triangle, so why would I write one, or want to read one?

Eagle
(In general, my answer is: Choose Both)

HNLEE 2016-01-16 15:13:30 UTC #43

I really DON'T like love triangles

It's really unnecessary for me since almost all the time the main couple will just end up together anyway and if they don't then it just messes up the love story just for the sake of some angst or conflict.

Adding a love triangle would just make the hero/heroine forced into a position of choosing one of two people. The circumstance might end up being hasty and choosing a bad partner. I especially hate it when the two rivals pressure the protag to choose. Also, the rivals end up doing a little more than they would have just to outdo the other and that feels so fake to me. Love is not a thing that should be rushed, it simply isn't a good idea to be in a love triangle.

The only way I would consider a love triangle successful is if either the protag is rational enough to not pick either and gains character development or if the two rivals end up with each other instead lol

but it all the depends on how well it's written. Good writers can make bad tropes look good.