Suwako Moriya
09-02-2008, 01:20 PM
Often in a series there will be certain plot elements that save for a few exceptions are only a matter of time. However for whatever reason the story does its best to delay these plot elements. The length of the delay can vary. Sometimes the plot element is delayed merely until the third episode, other times the half way point, other times for the end of the series, and well sometimes it seems like they'd keep delaying it even in season 17.
Delaying plot elements in of itself is not always a bad thing. Simply because you can't expect everything to happen in the first episode. Also there are ways to do it that the delay isn't so noticeable as it were. However the problem is when done wrong the "delay" syndrome has an extremely negative effect.
First, you have characters being stunted in terms of growth and development just to make sure things never move forward. A classic example is making one or both of the leads as dense as possible. Add in high levels of denial, misunderstandings, etc. All to make sure nothing really happens and if it does well there's always....
The Reset Button! Which brings us to the second thing. Just when you think progress is being made in that regard, they do something to ruin it. A misunderstanding happens causing everything to fall apart. Someone finds some way to hide the truth. Or perhaps the classic "memory loss" scene happens. The later it is in the series the more frustrating the reset button becomes. Especially when it's done near the end.
I find part of the problem can likely be described in one word "fear". The fear of "If we actually move the plot forward then what are we supposed to do after that?" which leads to the conclusion of "If we just keep delaying things, we'll never have to think about point C. We just have to remain in point A and never truly reach point B". Seriously I'm starting to think that's the case sometimes.
I find the "delay" aspect isn't so bad in shows where they do the following. Instead of playing the "Things will finally start happening.... just kidding" card, they instead handle it in such a way that it feels likes they're progressing towards the event rather than delay it. Granted the key is making sure the event actually happens and a time that's well reasonable for the said event.
I'm not sure if I'm the only one who sometimes gets annoyed by the delay syndrome, but regardless thinking in regards to both recent and past series has forced me to essentially bring up the issue and comment on what I find to be a glaring problem that plagues many an anime. Plus I am curious to see what people think of the "delay" syndrome. Also if there's another term for it, then go ahead and let us know. I just made that up on the spot since it mainly boils down to delaying things story wise.
Delaying plot elements in of itself is not always a bad thing. Simply because you can't expect everything to happen in the first episode. Also there are ways to do it that the delay isn't so noticeable as it were. However the problem is when done wrong the "delay" syndrome has an extremely negative effect.
First, you have characters being stunted in terms of growth and development just to make sure things never move forward. A classic example is making one or both of the leads as dense as possible. Add in high levels of denial, misunderstandings, etc. All to make sure nothing really happens and if it does well there's always....
The Reset Button! Which brings us to the second thing. Just when you think progress is being made in that regard, they do something to ruin it. A misunderstanding happens causing everything to fall apart. Someone finds some way to hide the truth. Or perhaps the classic "memory loss" scene happens. The later it is in the series the more frustrating the reset button becomes. Especially when it's done near the end.
I find part of the problem can likely be described in one word "fear". The fear of "If we actually move the plot forward then what are we supposed to do after that?" which leads to the conclusion of "If we just keep delaying things, we'll never have to think about point C. We just have to remain in point A and never truly reach point B". Seriously I'm starting to think that's the case sometimes.
I find the "delay" aspect isn't so bad in shows where they do the following. Instead of playing the "Things will finally start happening.... just kidding" card, they instead handle it in such a way that it feels likes they're progressing towards the event rather than delay it. Granted the key is making sure the event actually happens and a time that's well reasonable for the said event.
I'm not sure if I'm the only one who sometimes gets annoyed by the delay syndrome, but regardless thinking in regards to both recent and past series has forced me to essentially bring up the issue and comment on what I find to be a glaring problem that plagues many an anime. Plus I am curious to see what people think of the "delay" syndrome. Also if there's another term for it, then go ahead and let us know. I just made that up on the spot since it mainly boils down to delaying things story wise.