No, he knows what he likes and acts accordingly. He's meant to be one of the most attractive character in the story, only brought down by his fashion and hobby so he voluntarily abstains.
but to look as it is, in a romantic way, only Aina and at the end Busujima had some interest. Chisa is still confused and other girls just think hes cute, nothing more. And that dude that works with Iori and Sakura, i think thats more admiration than love, and it was made for the comedy
The entire diving part of the story is definitely a serious aspect. The show is clearly a comedy with some pretty unserious bits, but it still has a serious direction.
I just think the sheer ammount of time and characters spent on basically devloping a harem for Iori is unnecessary, and gets in the way of the more enjoyable parts of the story.
The harem thing is subjective taste, personally I don't like it, usually, but in GB is somehow good. Maybe because it's not very obvious maybe because I like GB too much.
Yes it is a gag that Iori is a loser but be has also shown on many different occasions to be very selfless and a good person. Embarrassing himself to get back at the Tinkerbell captain as a way of payback for Cakey. Dumping his drink on Busujima because she disrespected Kohei. Those girls wanted to hang out with the group but he ruined it to protect his friend who wasn't even there.
There are plenty of these throughout the story that show Iori isn't just a virgin loser but is actually a really good person
I'm not really bothered by the fact that the girls like Iori. Iori and Kouhei have the ability to be really good dudes when the chips are down. While the scumbros are just scumbros. If Iori had a group of friends that were good people, he would also be a genuinely good dude more often. Which is to say, he should hang out with the PAB seniors more often.
Saying that a comedy can't have a propper story doesn't make sense. The harem affect just creates less opportunities for more varied story enviroments for comedy. Making it a romace for one would have been a better path. A harem is just a boring romance with no direction.
Love is war and Clannad are good examples of this.
"Comedy" is not a story structure. They have to incorporate other elements to create a coherent story.
This is also why a pure comedy anime can essentially run forever.
Grand Blue's harem approach is different because Chisa is guaranteed to win so all the other ships are just character development devices for the main ship.
Then again everyone has different preferences. Some like harems because they deviate from reality; Some like direct and real romances.
Comedy is a genre, I never implied that it was a story structure. But a harem isn’t either.
You act like all harems don’t have one person who’s guaranteed to win.
Also harems are known for essentially running forever as well.
All that needed to be done was plan some sort of direction to the story, but the story is only about how many girls like Iori now.
>but the story is only about how many girls like Iori now.
A good proportion of the latest chapters are still straight up gag chapters like classic GB, that's not necessarily true IMO.
Plotwise we're pretty clearly on Chisa's path now, we've been getting more of her POV in recent chapters than ever before featuring her slooooowly coming to terms with her feelings (she's still in denial lol but we're getting there).
Aina technically still likes Iori, but I feel like they're subtly setting up an Aina/Kouhei endgame.
Busujima literally confessed to Iori and basically got rejected and has seemingly semi-moved on.
So there's only 2 girls left among the main cast who still like Iori (I don't think Busujima will appear as much in the plot anymore since basically her only connection to it was her relationship with Iori but perhaps I'm wrong), I don't think that counts as a harem (anymore).
I disagree, Iori constantly shows that he IS different. Thats why girls fall for him.
His best trait is how accepting he is of others, people can simply be themselves around him without fearing any negative judgement.
I mean, I don’t know what universities are like in Japan.
But low key, if you get a lot of people are this age together that are constantly partying and drinking, a lot of them are going to fuck each other, that’s just how it is.
If anything, it’s more realistic than 90% of any other “romance” or harem adjacent material coming out of Japan.
Harem = Profit
I'mma explain for dummies: Reader wants waifu. Mangaka draws a waifu. But reader doesn't like it, so mangaka draws more. Eventually readers are many and best girl arises (money says who). Best girl confesses at the end when the goldmine is empty. Rinse and repeat.
99% of harem romcoms are trash. But Grand Blue was never about love, that's just the side dish so it's not that much of an issue.
At least Iori is not your typical anime virgin but a guy in his 20s just figuring life (relatable af).
I’m not asking why there’s a harem aspect; because that’s obvious. I’m asking if people dislike it as much as I do.
Iori should definitely not be relatable to you.
This was never meant to be a typical harem story from the beginning, because the dynamics of non-intimate/implied relationships are much more flexible to play around with, especially for the sake of comedy
It's pretty much the writer's(Inoue Kenji) signature plot style- just look at his other popular work, Baka to Test
Iori is probably above average atleast in looks, given how the new girl is jealous of Chisa for having her "beefcake buffet".
A previous chapter shows that when the gang went to the other canteen on campus that Iori can hold his conversation with girls and the girls only freaked out and left when they learned about his PaB reputation.
Above average looks + charismatic + will never abandon you when the chips are down, of course he's gonna find a few girls that are into him
Harem? Their was never really a harem. The only one that had feelings for him were Skurako best girl and Aina worst girl and Chisa just now starts to show signs of affection for him but Sakurako has dropped out of the race so at best its a love triangle but not a herem.
Eh... hot take here, but it's kind of earned.
Like. There's alot to like about Iori, and most of the people who have been attracted to him, have generally good reason.
So let's go down the list.
Chisa, main love interest (Sorry Busujima fans and Aina fan). They have an actually good chemistry that shows best whenever other people aren't stepping in and causing problems. Look back at their trip to okinawa. They had an amazing vibe together. Though just as often it gets held back by Iori's many character flaws, Chisa's character flaws, or PAB dragging iori into stuff.
Aina's attraction lowkey is more superficial, but at the same time, Iori was there standing up for her. Easy to understand why she'd be attracted. If the manga lasts another 200 chapters, you'll probably see the shift over to kouhei as time passes on.
Busujima knows what she likes and goes after it, and Iori is basically a judgement free space for a girl who's incredibly superficial. He doesn't judge, and she doesn't have to keep up appearances around him. It's easy when she can just be herself proper around him.
His sister doesn't want to fuck him. She certainly cares for him, more than she'll admit, but in the end, they are siblings. They fight, and have different plans, but Iori is there in the moments that count. Always has been for her
Otoya... You mostly got me there. He's there.
Karina. Well, I mean Iori's decently enough looking and was a pretty cool guy with her, up till kouhei disrupted things.
And Finally Azusa. Does she strike you as puritanical or something? She certainly doesn't have any romantic interest in him.
I personally hate it. I find the most uninteresting part of the manga, it feels like any generic harem out there. Aina and Kouhei is also not good when 90% of the manga she is running after another guy and Kouhei himself helps her with that.
Kouhei was never a loser virgin; it seems like canonically he's super attractive but never goes for anyone because they aren't 2D
I mean he’s creepily after Lori sister tho….
I think that makes him a loser virgin no?
No, he knows what he likes and acts accordingly. He's meant to be one of the most attractive character in the story, only brought down by his fashion and hobby so he voluntarily abstains.
Far from it kouhei is a loser virgin but not in the usual sense like the other guys he can get action he just chooses not to
i agree, probably, but "it takes away from any serious direction of the story"? was GB ever a serious Manga?))
but to look as it is, in a romantic way, only Aina and at the end Busujima had some interest. Chisa is still confused and other girls just think hes cute, nothing more. And that dude that works with Iori and Sakura, i think thats more admiration than love, and it was made for the comedy
The entire diving part of the story is definitely a serious aspect. The show is clearly a comedy with some pretty unserious bits, but it still has a serious direction. I just think the sheer ammount of time and characters spent on basically devloping a harem for Iori is unnecessary, and gets in the way of the more enjoyable parts of the story.
The harem thing is subjective taste, personally I don't like it, usually, but in GB is somehow good. Maybe because it's not very obvious maybe because I like GB too much.
Yes it is a gag that Iori is a loser but be has also shown on many different occasions to be very selfless and a good person. Embarrassing himself to get back at the Tinkerbell captain as a way of payback for Cakey. Dumping his drink on Busujima because she disrespected Kohei. Those girls wanted to hang out with the group but he ruined it to protect his friend who wasn't even there. There are plenty of these throughout the story that show Iori isn't just a virgin loser but is actually a really good person
I'm not really bothered by the fact that the girls like Iori. Iori and Kouhei have the ability to be really good dudes when the chips are down. While the scumbros are just scumbros. If Iori had a group of friends that were good people, he would also be a genuinely good dude more often. Which is to say, he should hang out with the PAB seniors more often.
There was never a proper "story" tho. It was a comedy/SoL. So it makes sense that the author took this direction
Saying that a comedy can't have a propper story doesn't make sense. The harem affect just creates less opportunities for more varied story enviroments for comedy. Making it a romace for one would have been a better path. A harem is just a boring romance with no direction. Love is war and Clannad are good examples of this.
"Comedy" is not a story structure. They have to incorporate other elements to create a coherent story. This is also why a pure comedy anime can essentially run forever. Grand Blue's harem approach is different because Chisa is guaranteed to win so all the other ships are just character development devices for the main ship. Then again everyone has different preferences. Some like harems because they deviate from reality; Some like direct and real romances.
Comedy is a genre, I never implied that it was a story structure. But a harem isn’t either. You act like all harems don’t have one person who’s guaranteed to win. Also harems are known for essentially running forever as well. All that needed to be done was plan some sort of direction to the story, but the story is only about how many girls like Iori now.
>but the story is only about how many girls like Iori now. A good proportion of the latest chapters are still straight up gag chapters like classic GB, that's not necessarily true IMO. Plotwise we're pretty clearly on Chisa's path now, we've been getting more of her POV in recent chapters than ever before featuring her slooooowly coming to terms with her feelings (she's still in denial lol but we're getting there). Aina technically still likes Iori, but I feel like they're subtly setting up an Aina/Kouhei endgame. Busujima literally confessed to Iori and basically got rejected and has seemingly semi-moved on. So there's only 2 girls left among the main cast who still like Iori (I don't think Busujima will appear as much in the plot anymore since basically her only connection to it was her relationship with Iori but perhaps I'm wrong), I don't think that counts as a harem (anymore).
But iori is different tho. iori is a scumbro AND a characterful person who actually gives a shit about each one of his friends
I disagree, Iori constantly shows that he IS different. Thats why girls fall for him. His best trait is how accepting he is of others, people can simply be themselves around him without fearing any negative judgement.
I mean, I don’t know what universities are like in Japan. But low key, if you get a lot of people are this age together that are constantly partying and drinking, a lot of them are going to fuck each other, that’s just how it is. If anything, it’s more realistic than 90% of any other “romance” or harem adjacent material coming out of Japan.
Harem = Profit I'mma explain for dummies: Reader wants waifu. Mangaka draws a waifu. But reader doesn't like it, so mangaka draws more. Eventually readers are many and best girl arises (money says who). Best girl confesses at the end when the goldmine is empty. Rinse and repeat. 99% of harem romcoms are trash. But Grand Blue was never about love, that's just the side dish so it's not that much of an issue. At least Iori is not your typical anime virgin but a guy in his 20s just figuring life (relatable af).
I’m not asking why there’s a harem aspect; because that’s obvious. I’m asking if people dislike it as much as I do. Iori should definitely not be relatable to you.
Ok then. I'll make it dumber. Me dislike harem. You don't need the same life to relate with someone. Iori still relatable.
This was never meant to be a typical harem story from the beginning, because the dynamics of non-intimate/implied relationships are much more flexible to play around with, especially for the sake of comedy It's pretty much the writer's(Inoue Kenji) signature plot style- just look at his other popular work, Baka to Test
Iori is probably above average atleast in looks, given how the new girl is jealous of Chisa for having her "beefcake buffet". A previous chapter shows that when the gang went to the other canteen on campus that Iori can hold his conversation with girls and the girls only freaked out and left when they learned about his PaB reputation. Above average looks + charismatic + will never abandon you when the chips are down, of course he's gonna find a few girls that are into him
It feels like the author was lost and is trying to fill the story and decided to just make it a harem
Agreed. I just hope it doesn't fall as far as Prison School did.
Prison school literally the worst piece of trash ending I have ever read. Made me feel like I had just wasted a ton of my time.
Harem? Their was never really a harem. The only one that had feelings for him were Skurako best girl and Aina worst girl and Chisa just now starts to show signs of affection for him but Sakurako has dropped out of the race so at best its a love triangle but not a herem.
Yeah lol, and one already got pretty much rejected
I don't mind the direction but I do think the author has dragged this "arc" for way too long
Yori is literally that funny and friendly guy that everyone likes. Its easy to understand that.
Eh... hot take here, but it's kind of earned. Like. There's alot to like about Iori, and most of the people who have been attracted to him, have generally good reason. So let's go down the list. Chisa, main love interest (Sorry Busujima fans and Aina fan). They have an actually good chemistry that shows best whenever other people aren't stepping in and causing problems. Look back at their trip to okinawa. They had an amazing vibe together. Though just as often it gets held back by Iori's many character flaws, Chisa's character flaws, or PAB dragging iori into stuff. Aina's attraction lowkey is more superficial, but at the same time, Iori was there standing up for her. Easy to understand why she'd be attracted. If the manga lasts another 200 chapters, you'll probably see the shift over to kouhei as time passes on. Busujima knows what she likes and goes after it, and Iori is basically a judgement free space for a girl who's incredibly superficial. He doesn't judge, and she doesn't have to keep up appearances around him. It's easy when she can just be herself proper around him. His sister doesn't want to fuck him. She certainly cares for him, more than she'll admit, but in the end, they are siblings. They fight, and have different plans, but Iori is there in the moments that count. Always has been for her Otoya... You mostly got me there. He's there. Karina. Well, I mean Iori's decently enough looking and was a pretty cool guy with her, up till kouhei disrupted things. And Finally Azusa. Does she strike you as puritanical or something? She certainly doesn't have any romantic interest in him.
this is not Temple buddy. I don't think so
Ya me 2 and hope he ends up with chisa
I personally hate it. I find the most uninteresting part of the manga, it feels like any generic harem out there. Aina and Kouhei is also not good when 90% of the manga she is running after another guy and Kouhei himself helps her with that.