I agree with the tropes things and that there are a lot of bland MLs in shojo but disagree on the rest. I think ML being a douche to FL to create drama is also a trope (Bad Boy) which I'm not a fan of honestly since it feels unnecessary and lacking in creativity.
You can have a flawed character with depth and not make him an asshole. Brahm from A spell for the Smith is a great example, Theredeo from MILOWM was an asshole at first but we can understand his reasoning and even though he fits the silent steretype, he is shown a lot of growth and depth as a character. I'm not averse to conflict between the leads but I think the intentions of the character's make it or break it for me. Trauma is a valid reason for this (like in Therdeos case)but my problem with Sanari is that he is self aware, he knows he is hurting her, that what he is doing is wrong, etc. and he still chooses to hurt her because HE wants her more than it hurts him to see her suffer. It's all about what she can do for him not what he can do for her. She was upfront about her feelings, he rejected her but kept on giving her mixed signals. He only wants her when he feels he'll lose her. It's all about him, not about what she wants or feels or needs. When she was trying to get closure and forget him he crashes on their vacations still not ready to commit. Therdeo (Spoiler ahead) on the other hand, is ready to let Pereshati go if that's what she wants and needs.
The problem is that you only see him as an asshole. He’s not just plainly a douche bad boy. At the very beginning of the story, he told her his lines and his boundaries, she chased after him despite that. Sure he is an ass for giving mixed signals. He also is feeling conflicted with both his belief and his feelings. His mind is thinking one way and his heart is thinking another. Of course I think the best course of action is for him to work on himself to change his mindset and ease up into the idea of being in a serious relationship.
I don’t think anyone needs to like him or want him to be with the FL. My issue is when ppl can’t even read about his character and understand what’s going on with him, without disregarding him like he’s not also a main character being shown his side of the story. Like if you look at the FL, FL is also giving mixed signals to the 2nd lead. Almost doing the same thing as the ML. She’s also conflicted with her own feelings of loving the ML but also being swayed by the 2nd lead. I feel like a lot of these readers can only handle reading about one main character, a woman, and any other character’s issues are irrelevant to them. All they can think about is getting to the romance bit. Anyways at the end of the day, the reader chooses the story they read. Everyone knows what they signed up for with this ML, yet can’t handle the context.
exactlyyy
ate x
Comment sections like this are always so disappointing to see imo. You get a drama story and when drama is shown, readers are baffled. It really just proves my belief that specific shoujo readers cannot stomach flawed male love interests. I mean see how they’re so quick to disregard any internal struggles the male lead has? And yet their priority is love and wanting the FL to be in a relationship lmfao. They’re really like, “srsly? Mommy issues? Who cares, anyways can we get to the FL dating who I want already?!” Where is the ao haru ride fans that actually can handle flawed male leads? It’s more sad to see how rare it is when audiences know the content they’re reading and try to understand the characters.
These are the kind of readers who only like perfect men who’s entire being must be focused on the FL and worship the ground she walks on, never to make her (or the reader) sad/upset. It’s these readers that are the reason why majority of the romance genre is flooded with one-dimensional Male Leads who have no flaws at all, and are bland. Why do you think writers see this and the top types of male leads in the genre are:
-quiet and cold guy that only has eyes/is nice to the fl
-puppy type
-gentleman type
And these male leads all have their world revolving around the FL. It makes these huge fan bases soo happy to see the FL be the center of the ML’s entire life. The ML’s thoughts are actually being shown, his inner conflict and contradictory thoughts/actions, which are so realistic. When the author actually writes about a flawed ML and his struggles, no one cares. To these shoujo readers, they only allow female mc’s to be flawed and have struggles and will only show understanding in that case. I never understand readers like this who know they can’t handle flawed love interests yet still choose to read the story and just yap about how much they hate the other main character while dreaming about the man they want and how they think they know better than the FL. Like bffr, if you were in her shoes, you’d crash out and have your dream shattered the one moment the 2nd lead does something you don’t like.