Thoughts on the overuse of "coincidences"?

mazuchi said:
It's kinda necessary for the story if the characters don't live next to each other/go to the same school/work at the same company/etc. It hasn't bothered me so far. I like Durarara, so yeah... About the "destined to meet" thing, I like the idea, and I don't think it's bad if the main characters have multiple 運命の出会い. That solidifies that they are actually destined for each other and makes their encounters less cheap, not more.

LemmySalles said:
It's a bit lazy... I rolled my eyes when Ichika met Arie, but it's not a big deal...

These coincidences are just the quick n' easy way romcoms in general increase the potential for drama.

Let's be honest, no one is expecting amazing writing from this show.

skysurf said:

You say they feel less cheap, but for me it's the opposite. The more you use them, the less credible and therefore less engaging the story becomes.

You may think at first "oh it's romantic that they met by chance at the beginning"
But it's episode 7 already and you still have "destiny" having both characters meeting their love rivals just because the author couldn't be bothered to come up with a more imaginative way to push the drama.

skysurf said:
It's not uncommon for stories that aim to be romantic to have one or two "fateful encounters" (運命の出会い) where people meet against unlikely odds (you know, like "saving" someone in a train station where thousands of people walk past everyday).

That's alright since the idea is to make the audience feel as if "they were destined to meet".

But then you have anime like koikimo where the most unlikely "coincidences" are now daily occurrences.

The background setting is already pushing it: female MC happened to be in the same class AND friends with the male MC's sister, and the photographer friend happens to be hired for the girl's school events.

And if you were rolling your eyes with all the coincidental encounters during the school trip, I can imagine the facepalming during episode 7 (reaching exactly at the same place and same time for the same thing, TWICE in the same day, in a mega city like Tokyo... lol).

What do you think of the overuse of coincidences in this story?

mazuchi said:
if the encounters were made with actual destiny in mind or if you yourself think of it that way, the encounters aren't just convenient opportunities for the romcom to take place, but fate trying to bring them together.

lazymundane said:
Sorry for the essay but was just trying to think of all possibilities and their probability.

skysurf said:

I know what you mean. Guess I just prefer more creative ways to push the drama rather than simply relying on the "hand of God" (a.k.a. the author) to have all those unlikely situations in every episode. It's alright anyway, just a matter of preferences I think.



lol it's ok. I didn't say "impossible". I'm hoping that after writing the essay you reached the same conclusion: unlikely, and leaves the audience to fill the holes with their own imagination/theories as you did, so most people watching would probably simply "let it go" and watch the show with the brain on "low thinking mode" to enjoy.

But as others have pointed out, it's just to add drama, although in a very unimaginative way unfortunately, but it is what it is.

skysurf said:
It's not uncommon for stories that aim to be romantic to have one or two "fateful encounters" (運命の出会い) where people meet against unlikely odds (you know, like "saving" someone in a train station where thousands of people walk past everyday).

That's alright since the idea is to make the audience feel as if "they were destined to meet".

But then you have anime like koikimo where the most unlikely "coincidences" are now daily occurrences.

The background setting is already pushing it: female MC happened to be in the same class AND friends with the male MC's sister, and the photographer friend happens to be hired for the girl's school events.

And if you were rolling your eyes with all the coincidental encounters during the school trip, I can imagine the facepalming during episode 7 (reaching exactly at the same place and same time for the same thing, TWICE in the same day, in a mega city like Tokyo... lol).

What do you think of the overuse of coincidences in this story?

HikarieChan said:
Isn't that completely normal?
all animes were based on coincidences or shows in general.

skysurf said:

As explained in the first post, yes.
The keyword here was: overuse

HikarieChan said:


There weren't really any big coincidences other than the first one tho.
The second coincidence when he saved her isn't exactly a big one , she was wearing Kimono which isn't used to most likely
3rd one about leaving her school late seems normal to me and can't even call it a coincidence because he always leaves work at this time and she just happened to be late one time.

skysurf said:


I have the feeling you didn't read the first post or the other comments in this thread to get a clue on what kind of coincidences we were talking about, but it's ok. You find everything perfectly credible so it's alright.

skysurf said:
It's not uncommon for stories that aim to be romantic to have one or two "fateful encounters" (運命の出会い) where people meet against unlikely odds (you know, like "saving" someone in a train station where thousands of people walk past everyday).

That's alright since the idea is to make the audience feel as if "they were destined to meet".

But then you have anime like koikimo where the most unlikely "coincidences" are now daily occurrences.

The background setting is already pushing it: female MC happened to be in the same class AND friends with the male MC's sister, and the photographer friend happens to be hired for the girl's school events.

And if you were rolling your eyes with all the coincidental encounters during the school trip, I can imagine the facepalming during episode 7 (reaching exactly at the same place and same time for the same thing, TWICE in the same day, in a mega city like Tokyo... lol).

What do you think of the overuse of coincidences in this story?