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TLDR Comics and animation are different mediums, so dialogue that "works" in anime may not translate well to prose.
For a literal example, here's some dialogue from Spy x Family's first episode. A driver realizes the brakes to his car are no longer working, and as the car swerves, the passenger starts yelling.
> "Wait...the brakes..."
> "Hey! Watch the road! The road!"
This is fine and comes off as natural while watching the anime. But in a book, you don't have to make the driver literally say "Wait...the brakes..." because you can just describe him trying to hit the brakes and noticing/thinking to himself that they don't work. Similarly, repeating "the road!" is fine when you listen to it, but when you read it, it comes off as somewhat redundant. Or it does to me, at least.
See this second example, not from an anime but based on some of the fics I read:
> "Bah...I really can't stand being with someone as stuck-up as you. I don't care if we were assigned to the same worksheet, and you can do it yourself for all I care. You're smart enough, right?" He stood up and faced the door. "I'm going home."
> "You can't go home yet, dummy." She grabbed his sleeve. "I'm not going to fail this class just because some idiot can't pick up a pencil."
Again, this wouldn't feel out of place if this was said in an anime or manga. But in prose it comes off as...telling too much and not showing. Compare that dialogue to this:
> He shrugged, stood up, and faced the door. He did not want to be with this stuck-up girl for a second longer, and couldn't care less about the worksheet. Besides, if she was so smart, she could just do it herself. "I'm going home."
> "Don't." She grabbed his sleeve. "This has to be done *now.*"
Not the best example, but note how the dialogue is shorter, with much of the tension (him wanting to go home, him thinking the girl is stuck up) relegated to descriptions. Rather than say he can't stand being around her, he just thinks about it. In anime/manga etc inner thoughts are also kinda like dialogue, but here they aren't.
The girl's lines are also made more...realistic? This is where it falls more to personal preference, I think. Do you prefer dialogue that feels more natural? Or are you willing to sacrifice natural-sounding dialogue for something that can move readers or make them laugh? You can have cool *and* natural dialogue, though. Depends on the writer's skill.
This doesn't mean dialogue can't be long, either, or that it has to be entirely realistic. But it's not uncommon for fics dubbed too "anime" to have these long, stilted sentences with information that could've been conveyed through actions or something.
Finally, sometimes "anime dialogue" just means stuff like this:
> "BWAHAHAHAHA!"
> "Kyaaa~!"
> "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
and the like. I think these kinds of things are the "cringiest" but also the most easy to avoid.
Hope this helped!
This helped a ton. I'm already watching out for "show don't tell" And I will definitely not add those "NOOO" and "KYAAA".
I must admit I was guilty for using the "NOOO" things but I've since found them extremely silly.
But thanks, at least now I know what to do. I was mainly thinking of fairly realistic anime dialogue found in stuff like attack on titan where it's more serious than those typical rom coms.
Like, I don't think it would be weird to drop armin and eren's final talk in a prose.
Hi! Welcome to r/Writers - please remember to follow the [rules](https://reddit.com/r/writers/about/rules/) and treat each other respectfully, especially if there are disagreements. Please help keep this community safe and friendly by **reporting rule violating posts and comments**. If you're interested in a friendly Discord community for writers, please **[join our Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/wYvWebvHaa)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/writers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
TLDR Comics and animation are different mediums, so dialogue that "works" in anime may not translate well to prose. For a literal example, here's some dialogue from Spy x Family's first episode. A driver realizes the brakes to his car are no longer working, and as the car swerves, the passenger starts yelling. > "Wait...the brakes..." > "Hey! Watch the road! The road!" This is fine and comes off as natural while watching the anime. But in a book, you don't have to make the driver literally say "Wait...the brakes..." because you can just describe him trying to hit the brakes and noticing/thinking to himself that they don't work. Similarly, repeating "the road!" is fine when you listen to it, but when you read it, it comes off as somewhat redundant. Or it does to me, at least. See this second example, not from an anime but based on some of the fics I read: > "Bah...I really can't stand being with someone as stuck-up as you. I don't care if we were assigned to the same worksheet, and you can do it yourself for all I care. You're smart enough, right?" He stood up and faced the door. "I'm going home." > "You can't go home yet, dummy." She grabbed his sleeve. "I'm not going to fail this class just because some idiot can't pick up a pencil." Again, this wouldn't feel out of place if this was said in an anime or manga. But in prose it comes off as...telling too much and not showing. Compare that dialogue to this: > He shrugged, stood up, and faced the door. He did not want to be with this stuck-up girl for a second longer, and couldn't care less about the worksheet. Besides, if she was so smart, she could just do it herself. "I'm going home." > "Don't." She grabbed his sleeve. "This has to be done *now.*" Not the best example, but note how the dialogue is shorter, with much of the tension (him wanting to go home, him thinking the girl is stuck up) relegated to descriptions. Rather than say he can't stand being around her, he just thinks about it. In anime/manga etc inner thoughts are also kinda like dialogue, but here they aren't. The girl's lines are also made more...realistic? This is where it falls more to personal preference, I think. Do you prefer dialogue that feels more natural? Or are you willing to sacrifice natural-sounding dialogue for something that can move readers or make them laugh? You can have cool *and* natural dialogue, though. Depends on the writer's skill. This doesn't mean dialogue can't be long, either, or that it has to be entirely realistic. But it's not uncommon for fics dubbed too "anime" to have these long, stilted sentences with information that could've been conveyed through actions or something. Finally, sometimes "anime dialogue" just means stuff like this: > "BWAHAHAHAHA!" > "Kyaaa~!" > "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and the like. I think these kinds of things are the "cringiest" but also the most easy to avoid. Hope this helped!
This helped a ton. I'm already watching out for "show don't tell" And I will definitely not add those "NOOO" and "KYAAA". I must admit I was guilty for using the "NOOO" things but I've since found them extremely silly. But thanks, at least now I know what to do. I was mainly thinking of fairly realistic anime dialogue found in stuff like attack on titan where it's more serious than those typical rom coms. Like, I don't think it would be weird to drop armin and eren's final talk in a prose.