Highschool setting.
Cute mascot character that makes perverted jokes about the underage characters.
The super intelligent and capable rival character that is Machiavellian and treats the other characters like garbage but is still treated with respect and awe by the other characters because they're so smart and capable.
The characters are constantly repeating themselves and stating the obvious.
The deaths are so twisted like the Joker.
Transphobia.
"Women just don't understand male friendship!"
I don't like the artstyle. There's something "2010s ahegao hoodie" about it.
Anyway, this rant is 16 years late but I just wanted an excuse to talk about anime tropes that I hate.
Ghibli can get super misogynist. The main character in Porco Rosso is openly and proudly misogynist and even the victims of his misogyny agree with him in his misogynist views, and almost every studio ghibli movie revels in traditional gender roles.
Don't people call Porco out on his misogyny constantly in that movie? I think the only one who agrees is the yank who wants to marry a child.
He is "called out" once by the mechanic girl, who then immediately concedes to his misogyny.
Maybe the message of the movie is that Italians will agree with a literal chauvinist pig.
*Except the part where he says he doesn't like fascism.
"Even socially repugnant pig men hate fascists, what's your problem?" is my new go-to jab for right-wing anime enjoyers.