Adapting Is Hard: Cold-Hearted Harem Boys

http://www.otakunovideo.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/clannad-2-300x200.jpg

I've recently been playing a very simple visual novel, and the linear plot got me thinking about story in anime, particularly those anime based on visual novels.

The visual-novel-to-anime transition requires a much greater leap than, say, the manga-to-anime transition. The branching plot lines in a visual novel must somehow be merged and/or pruned into a single story.

Some adaptations focus on a single girl's plot, essentially following only one of the game's plot lines to the exclusion of the others. Others divide their time between multiple different plot lines. ef -- a tale of memories switches back and forth between two of the game's plot lines. Amagami SS reboots itself every four episodes, telling each girl's story sequentially.

What happens when you try to tell just one coherent story? Well, of course, that depends on the source material. From what I've learned, Fate/stay night's plot is quite linear, so the adaptation to anime is relatively straightforward. But a game like Air or Clannad splits into multiple different stories.

The obvious solution is to delve into each plot line all the way up to--but not including--its resolution. The boy can't pick each girl (though that would be a funny adaptation).

This is actually helped by the "Crying Girl" formula invented by Key. Each plot focuses mostly on getting to know each girl and learning the secret of her past that explains her current personality. In the game, this leads the protagonist to fall in love with her and choose her as his girlfriend. In an anime adaptation, his reaction can be pulled back into sympathy rather than love.

And this explains why the protagonists of these anime are so often accused of being cold-hearted or otherwise indifferent. If the boy fell for each tragic girl he came across, the anime would be over in 6 episodes.

It's an awkward arrangement, but it's the only way to satisfy as many fans as possible.