I am compelled to point out that harem and isekai are actually distinct genres of anime and manga, and while there are certainly plenty of shitty modern examples there have also been at least a few examples of each that held water (the Monster Musume manga was a serviceable titty comedy during its prime, though it never did much for me). The mark of a terrible self-insert story with those themes these days is usually whether or not the world runs on the kind of shitty video game logic you'd find in a low-budget MMO.
My being a Japanophile aside, your point is an important one which I've had to learn many times throughout my life: people don't process things the same way I do, and the process I use to survive in social situations is light years more advanced than their natural instincts - thus when I imagine how someone else feels, I'm getting a much more thorough picture than the average person. In reality, it's more like using phrases to reach into people's brainstems and overwhelm their higher thought processes with raw emotional appeals.
HOWEVER, your points are weighed down by being too wordy (this probably could have been two thirds the length) and having grammar that strongly reminds me of a boomer using Microsoft Word; there were literally too many sentence fragments to count, and you stacked short sentences together throughout the entire thing in a way that made it feel artificial and bland. I simply didn't read the conclusion because I got tired of having to rearrange the sentences in my head to figure out what you were actually saying.
A few typos are an unavoidable consequence of being a passionate writer, but if I didn't already know you from your previous high quality article about English and Dutch, I'd assume your command of either language was quite a lot worse.
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I did have less time to edit this one and during the little editing I went overbord with cutting out the use of "and" this probably contributed to it feeling so stacked with short sentences. I'll keep your feedback in mind for the next chudstack.
I know that both are different genres of anime, but there is often a strong overlap between the two. That's why I joined both together here.
This is an interesting read. And to add to this: something that's touched upon here but not explicitly mentioned is projection. AKA, you think the other guy/group is [insert trait here] but in reality it’s just you putting yourself in their shoes.
It’s strange because we rightfully see projection as something that’s universally bad, yet we see empathy as something that’s universally good. But in reality projection is basically empathy, at least in its malignant form.
I do a bit of critiquing of day 1 new writers and I'd say the default protagonist is the blank slate you describe here. Building reader empathy can be great but blank slating is the lazy way to attempt it (rather than persuade a reader to empathize with "another person")
I am compelled to point out that harem and isekai are actually distinct genres of anime and manga, and while there are certainly plenty of shitty modern examples there have also been at least a few examples of each that held water (the Monster Musume manga was a serviceable titty comedy during its prime, though it never did much for me). The mark of a terrible self-insert story with those themes these days is usually whether or not the world runs on the kind of shitty video game logic you'd find in a low-budget MMO.
My being a Japanophile aside, your point is an important one which I've had to learn many times throughout my life: people don't process things the same way I do, and the process I use to survive in social situations is light years more advanced than their natural instincts - thus when I imagine how someone else feels, I'm getting a much more thorough picture than the average person. In reality, it's more like using phrases to reach into people's brainstems and overwhelm their higher thought processes with raw emotional appeals.
HOWEVER, your points are weighed down by being too wordy (this probably could have been two thirds the length) and having grammar that strongly reminds me of a boomer using Microsoft Word; there were literally too many sentence fragments to count, and you stacked short sentences together throughout the entire thing in a way that made it feel artificial and bland. I simply didn't read the conclusion because I got tired of having to rearrange the sentences in my head to figure out what you were actually saying.
A few typos are an unavoidable consequence of being a passionate writer, but if I didn't already know you from your previous high quality article about English and Dutch, I'd assume your command of either language was quite a lot worse.
Looking forward to what you write next.
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I did have less time to edit this one and during the little editing I went overbord with cutting out the use of "and" this probably contributed to it feeling so stacked with short sentences. I'll keep your feedback in mind for the next chudstack.
I know that both are different genres of anime, but there is often a strong overlap between the two. That's why I joined both together here.
This is an interesting read. And to add to this: something that's touched upon here but not explicitly mentioned is projection. AKA, you think the other guy/group is [insert trait here] but in reality it’s just you putting yourself in their shoes.
It’s strange because we rightfully see projection as something that’s universally bad, yet we see empathy as something that’s universally good. But in reality projection is basically empathy, at least in its malignant form.
Ted won the lottery.
Some people would replace Ted with "You" in there heads to live out his fortune.
Sounds like a videogame.
I do a bit of critiquing of day 1 new writers and I'd say the default protagonist is the blank slate you describe here. Building reader empathy can be great but blank slating is the lazy way to attempt it (rather than persuade a reader to empathize with "another person")
When a woman says that she's "an empath" that's a form of aposematism, like bright colors on a frog. Not a good snack!