Continuing with this ongoing series of manga character cliches we wish to stop seeing, we will be looking into one that affects shoujo manga titles (and some shounen) very much: the clueless chick. The girl that zones out to collect her thoughts when someone is talking to her. The girl that can’t put two and two together. The girl that doesn’t understand sexual undertones. Yeah, that girl. She comes in many different forms: the naive kid-like teen (sometimes even a young adult), the mother, the mother-in-training, the lovesick high school student, etc. But when it comes down to it, when her help is most needed, she can always be counted on. Sadly, her personality is such a hinder to the readers’ enjoyment the reader ignores her efforts. Pity, but we should move on. Let’s just see why this cliche is so annoying.

She’s Incredibly Naive

Well I did cover some of that in the intro, but let’s go into more detail. For some reason, a lot of the girls in shoujo manga are quite naive. It’s almost as if they just graduated elementary, skipped middle school, and moved on to high school. A good example is Kyoko from Skip Beat. Though she had some problems with her personal life, which led to her not getting into high school, she still holds some naivety that a seven year old girl would believe. Really, she still believes in princesses and fairies at age 16. It’s okay to like fairies and princess stories, but to whole-heartily believe in them at that age… man. No wonder Ren found it funny that she still believed in those things.

… and Dense

For some reason naivety and cluelessness goes hand in hand with these characters. If you’re naive, you’re automatically clueless. Again with Kyoko as an example, the potential love interest Ren makes his feelings for her obvious; when he gets mad at her for keeping her stalker issue a secret, as well as the fact that her ex-love interest saved her from the stalker. But Kyoko does not see his reactions that way: she thinks Ren is being a good older brother (one she never had) who is looking out for her. She does not notice his over-reactions as unusually, which makes love plots so frustratingly annoying.

It would be best to pose another example, like Tohru from Fruits Basket. There was a story Momiji Sohma told to Yuki and Kyo which involved a man being scammed into giving everything he had to strangers. In the end, he was left with nothing but a note (no body,arms, or legs, just a head). This note was taken to be a gift, which he cried his eyes out. This story, or more appropriately the man, is supposed to represent Tohru. That is not a characteristic people want to see in a character. There is a difference between kindness and naive cluelessness. Since Tohru has such a trait, it is then the job of other characters to make sure nothing happens to the leading lady (this is also another cliche seen in shoujo manga). Readers wonder how anyone, even fictional characters, can stand such a people. But they do, and we hate it.

The Setting and People Lets Her Continue Her Naive Thoughts

Why is it these girls cling on to their naive thoughts throughout the duration of the manga? It’s because of where they live and the people around them. The only reason Tohru can think the way she does is due to the Sohma family and her surroundings. She doesn’t live in some urban-like setting where naive thoughts can get you killed (or a vulgar name); she lives on private property with guys who will protect her from the harsh outside world that would taint her “purity.” Though this is visible in many shoujo titles, not all shoujo manga titles use this to continue the “purity” theme. But the ones that do don’t help the plot move any faster.

She Mixes Well With Other Cliches

I had a problem with the clueless girl cliche because many other cliches play into her part. I could have written a paper on this type of character: the helpless chick, the heroine with the awesome or smart boyfriend, the academically challenged student, the girl with terrible parents, etc. I tried to single out the clueless cliche, but even Kyoko and Tohru hold other cliches in their storyline. It would be best to stop and let the naive girl have her day.

Though Skip Beat is one of my favorite manga titles, there are instants when Kyoko is such a cliche. I like Fruits Basket too, but Tohru and her environment makes her cluelessness so obvious. If you would like to add your input, let’s hear it.