• Hello everybody! We have tons of new awards for the new year that can be requested through our Awards System thanks to Antifa Lockhart! Some are limited-time awards so go claim them before they are gone forever...

    CLICK HERE FOR AWARDS

Why are canonical shipping so poorly developed these days?



REGISTER TO REMOVE ADS

OneDandelion

Active member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
351
Awards
2
"Shipping" is often a byproduct of good story telling... Ask yourself if its something that would actually add to the theme of the story or if its just something you want.

Usually romance in a story is just added fluff used for fan service, its rarely used in games/manga because it complicates character dynamics and isn't always necessary for the theme of the story. Thats why romance has its own genre, but some stories do sort of back themselves into a corner with character relationships knowing full well where people want to see it go and then intentionally don't deliver *cough*naruto*cough*. Well, if your story spans 700 chapters, or its part of an ongoing tv series, or you have a game series that spans 10+ games there is really no excuse.

The short answer is there are certain dedicated groups of people that will keep coming back for cheesy romance plots even if they end up going no where.
 

Vulpes XIII

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2020
Messages
419
Awards
14
Age
27
Location
Castle Oblivion
If we’re talking about the SoKai ship I think that the reason it’s been poorly developed is that it’s kind of hard to care about a canon ship when the characters barely interact with each other, honestly I think Re:Mind is the most interaction those two have had with each other in the whole franchise and that’s not good when one is the main character and the other is meant to be their love interest.

As for canon ships in other media:

Honestly I’m not someone who tends to ship canon romances as most of the time I’m not interested as they are just repeating the same predictable formula and after seeing it getting used over and over again it gets boring which might be why I tend to find most of them poorly developed, however there is a few exceptions.

Honestly I think series like Persona and Fire Emblem that let you pick your love interest have got the right idea as you can choose which one you think makes most sense, which one you like the most or you think is a well developed ship and since their is no canon romance it’s up to you to decide.
 

MATGSY

Silver Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2005
Messages
6,783
Awards
8
Its usually the MAIN canonical couples that are shit across all mediums. Side couples tend to be better and usually outshine the main one in the community.
*Main couple: Mario+Peach*
*Side couple: Luigi+Daisy*

*Main couple: Sonic+Sally*
*Side couple: Bunnie+Antoine*


Hm, you might be on to something there....🤔

*Main couple: TK+Kari*
*Side couple: Ken+Yolei*
*Other side couple: Matt+Sora*

*Main couple: Blackarachnia+Silverbolt*
*Side couple: Rattrap+a friggin' plant*


Nope, I take it back, side couples suck.😖
 

kirabook

Bronze Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
1,669
Awards
4
Location
RoL
When it comes to shounen, it's a multi issue problem. The authors usually don't care, the target audience (young boys) don't care, and everyone else cares too much. Some companies have even began to cash in on shipping wars, purposely teasing both sides to the very end to get as much profit as possible and they don't care if the story is worse for it.

People rag on shoujo, but there are some classic shoujo couples that are really good and almost everyone likes even if there's a debate now and then (the classic I always think of is Ouran High School Host Club which DESERVES a reboot anime. Fruits Baskets is pretty good too.)

The only western media I've been invested in lately is Stranger Things and PHEW BOY the shipping fandom is nuts, probably just as bad as shounen shipping wars to be honest.

The past few years have lead me to a big conclusion. Social media is a mistake. Like, Twitter, facebook, instagram etc? It's to the detriment of fandom and shipping. Way back when, of course there were shipping wars, but people were more divided in their little communities and had to go out of their way to harass or cause harm. Now a days, you can make a tweet slightly disagreeing with something and suddenly the whole twitter fandom is in your DMs telling you to die for your shipping preference.

But that's off top. I do think most ships suck these days in gaming and shounen indeed. No one in charge really tries anymore, anime and manga makes it money back with merchandise. Whoever is the most popular, no matter how under developed or sucky they are, will win the prize because it rakes in the dough. So why try to create intricately crafted romance when none of your readers care and would rather ship the suckier ship?
 
Last edited:

Vulpes XIII

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2020
Messages
419
Awards
14
Age
27
Location
Castle Oblivion
When it comes to shounen, it's a multi issue problem. The authors usually don't care, the target audience (young boys) don't care, and everyone else cares too much. Some companies have even began to cash in on shipping wars, purposely teasing both sides to the very end to get as much profit as possible and they don't care if the story is worse for it.

People rag on shoujo, but there is some classic shoujo couples that are really good and almost everyone likes even if there's a debate now and then (the classic I always think of is Ouran High School Host Club which DESERVES a reboot anime. Fruits Baskets is pretty good too.)

The only western media I've been invested in lately is Stranger Things and PHEW BOY the shipping fandom is nuts, probably just as bad as shounen shipping wars to be honest.

The past few years have lead me to a big conclusion. Social media is a mistake. Like, Twitter, facebook, instagram etc? It's to the detriment of fandom and shipping. Way back when, of course there were shipping wars, but people were more divided in their little communities and had to go out of their way to harass or cause harm. Now a days, you can make a tweet slightly disagreeing with something and suddenly the whole twitter fandom is in your DMs telling you to die for your shipping preference.

But that's off top. I do think most ships suck these days in gaming and shounen indeed. No one in charge really tries anymore, anime and manga makes it money back with merchandise. Whoever is the most popular, no matter how under developed or sucky they are, will win the prize because it rakes in the dough. So why try to create intricately crafted romance when none of your readers care and would rather ship the suckier ship?
I agree social media has definitely become a problem when it comes to fandom and shippings, honestly the My Hero Academia fandom is proof of just how bad it can get as I remember something about them harassing the creator to make a ship canon and I heard they apparently sent death threats to him as well in order to try and make him do it.
 

kirabook

Bronze Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
1,669
Awards
4
Location
RoL
I'll tell ya a secret. Every fandom has weirdoes. And every fandom has fans that will send death threats to the mangaka. Some worse than others. Some fandoms will point fingers and blame the other side for death threats (even when there's proof one side was way worse than the other), but the fact remains, all fandoms has its crazies. It's a shame any creator has to deal with them.

After a certain otherrrrr manga ended badly, I learned my lesson about fandoms in general. It's not really worth being in them. It's best to find your circle of friends or a small site to chill on than trying to engage with a whole fandom or being part of a bigger fandom. It's such a waste of time, caring about what other ships or what ship is canon.

People should be able to ship what they want to. Even though I feel some ships should not be shipped (the ones that are clearly not legal or are overall gross), but I have the power to block most of those people anyway so I do. I am SO willing to block anyone for saying anything even slightly disagreeable against my ship. Not because I hate them as a person, but you know? On this twitter account, our ideas don't align so I do them the favor of never seeing my content or me seeing theirs. Suddenly, we're all at peace.

That's what I've taken away from engaging in big fandoms on social media. I'm cordial, but if it's clear they aren't worth the effort and can't show any respect for an opposing opinion, then the next best thing to do is to block and move on.
 

Elysium

Be Wiser Than the Serpent
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
3,772
Awards
37
I agree social media has definitely become a problem when it comes to fandom and shippings, honestly the My Hero Academia fandom is proof of just how bad it can get as I remember something about them harassing the creator to make a ship canon and I heard they apparently sent death threats to him as well in order to try and make him do it.
Social media is a pox on everything, not just fandom and shipping. I wish Twitter, Facebook, etc. could be taken down altogether, they're ruining society. I once had a Facebook account to keep some connection to high school friends, but refused to ever use it again after 2016. As for Twitter though, I suppose I should consider it a blessing that I can't really access it anymore. I've never had an account there, but I would occasionally read tweets that people would post on different sites.

I had to Google what story you're talking about re:MHA, and it's a shame he was sent death threats. While it's sad, I've always been resigned to the fact that only heterosexual pairings can ever be canon in mainstream media. At least Deku and Ochaco is alright, which is better than I'd say for something like SoKai, for example. I suppose every new generation has to learn the hard way that LGBT are refused mainstream status though.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 246005

Guest
I agree with @Vulpes XIII 's assessment. Ff10 is still the gold standard because Tidus and Yuna have a more natural buildup and so fleshed out. Ff13, KH, and Ff15 can't compare.

Granted serah and snow would've worked better if they had a game dealing with them as a married couple in the present.

Kinda like Haven but not as on the nose.

Stories have to exist in the present not the past or the future.

Granted, most stories do falling in love pretty well. Staying In love is the hard part and I think that's where FF10-3 would falter.

@Nukara I think you just outgrew them. To me, most shonens, cartoons, YA novels are harder to get into because I'm not the demographic anymore.

How Bleach handled Ichigo and Orihime isn't something that would appeal to me in my 20s.

Which is ironic because Bleach was the one shonen set up for romance. It started out skewing older than the others.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top