Discussion Reading tragedies is self-torture

to me I’ll classify goodnight punpun on torture, torture, a tragedy that’s whole purpose is to be torture. A bunch of trash, it took me forever to get into the series cause how people were like the manga is gonna give you depression but what it gave was a headache and I had to stop rolling my eyes.

to you, immortal is phenomenal, an anime was recently aired. I’ll one day watch it. It’s a phenomenal series lol.

I no longer consider what I read tragedy but rather torture lol. But yeah good advice

 

I never got the same feeling with news. I remember a quote, it's like about how killing one person is murder, while killing millions is simply statistics.

 

Yup, and the tears just won't come out at all if you're reading MTL (I tried)

I've also gone to sad reddit threads, stalked the heavy angst tag in AO3, and checked out summaries/spoiler threads for infamous & not-yet-completely-translated stories before. Sometimes we just need a good cry, right?

(I once went to work with completely puffy eyes after going to that sad reddit thread a few hours before, and I don't think my coworkers believed me when I told them the reason. )

 

I still remember the first time I read One Lifetime. I was commuting home... Pre-covid times. My commute usually takes 1-2 hours.... Tried hard not to cry

 

you need a time and place to read tragedy. Prepare your heart and your tears. Thats what I usually do before I read tragedy novels lol but after crying it feel really satisfying (unless its a BE novels then there no satisfaction)

 

Most tragedy leaves an empty feeling. Even if the story was resolved well (even if it didn't end well), there's this tinge of "is that it? can't they have a better ending? author-sama... whyyyy?"

 

Good tragedy is very satisfying, but in the way that natsume142 said above: you feel satisfied after crying. In good tragedy, the ending is inevitable. It shouldn't be a surprise what's going to happen. You know. Like in a horror movie when you're like "No, don't open that door!" but you know they will, and you just have to watch. It's suspense generated through dramatic irony, when the reader or audience knows something the characters don't.

We see the character, because of some character flaw like hubris or greed or jealousy or the thirst for revenge or whatever, forge the path toward his own doom, and we want to say "Turn back now before it's too late!" but we know it's already too late. The character can't hear us, and if he could he wouldn't heed our call. His flaw keeps him heading down the path to destruction, and when iit finally happens, that cathartic release of emotion is intense and satisfying. The story feels complete, like feeling full after a good meal. That intense emotion is because you know it didn't have to happen that way, the character could have avoided disaster if they had changed their ways.

If the ending comes out of left field or doesn't feel complete or resolved in some way, then that's just bad tragedy. But good tragedy, *chef's kiss*.

 

I always assumed the tragedy tag just meant "MC's entire family died" or "main love interest died". I guess there were a few cases where it just meant the MC suffers from years of abuse, but usually things seem to fall into those few categories.

 

Tragedies are supposed to be stories when the main character is brought to ruin or something similar. I was always under the impression that even if the mc's family died, as long as it was a happy ending, it's not a tragedy and more like melodrama.

 

I read by accident then if its good one, I will continue to read it even if it's painful.

 

Rather than a melodrama that would make it more of a tragicomedy, a blended genre that still might deserve the tragedy tag.

 

Okieee, thank for pointing it out. It was my rough definition haha.

 

Because I have bad depression, so in my mind, reading tragedies will worsen the case... It makes no sense but that's how I feel.

 

I had to applaud 14 year old me from finishing it until the end without issues afterward. If I read that manga now, I'd probably already given up halfway and lost motivation for a whole week. It's actually kind of funny and sad how I was mentally stronger before when I was younger, or maybe I was just ignorant. Idk.
Though Oyasumi Punpun is the kind of tragic story that doesn't make you cry but instead sucks the emotions out of you until you're only left with a husk of yourself.

 

Tragedy novels??? Hm do you mean the novels where MC's parents and loved ones dies???
I actually don't like them that much.....
And I mostly read cn novels.... Where tragedy means one's whole family being killed.... Or loved ones dying
But actually I don't like those novel that much... Cuz most of the times the relatives of the mc die just for MC's character development.... The side characters can't generate that much feelings towards them.... So I can't say I read tragedies.....
But I do watch good tragic anime......

 

I like reading some really dark and depressing stuff, but I always hope for a good ending or at least a lukewarming ending.

Not really fond of tragic endings in all honesty... They're kinda disappointing.

 

Same. And sometimes, even though I'm reading tragedies, there's this little part of me that they would get a nice ending even though I know it won't happen. It was like watching a train wreck happening. I always get disappointed haha.

 

It's a self torture only if you are re-reading(watching) it. I enjoy tragedies, but, please, don't ask me to watch "Grave of the fireflies" for the second time. BTW, if you didn't watch it already - do it, I believe that every human should watch this masterpiece

 

Ah ha bro I've watched that.....
I've also watch a silent voice
Your name
I want to eat your pancreas
Clannad after story
Anohana the flower we saw that day.... And many more........
Tho.........I don't find them torturing...... I just enjoy the story like any other anime..........

 

Yeahh sometime I also read tragedy to be like this and for other time if I don't know that's tragedy, like I dont really read the tags.
The tragedy that I read mostly the troupe of regret when the MC die thoo, that's so satisfying to see the ML when that happens