How would one describe this Anime exclusive bit of physical comedy in prose?

[Naruzeldamaster]

Trust me I've looked, there's no term applied to it (Like the Depression lines/Stink Lines etc) it just...is.

It's a fairly common bit in a lot of different shows.

The best way I would describe it outside of narration, is if the whole body was involved in a face palm? Sometimes the characters doing the 'thing' lose their color as a result (though it's clear that's more for the audience)

But even that doesn't fit. Cause I've tried googling clips of it with that term and nothing came up.
Happens a lot when a punchline doesn't land, or one of the characters says something 'wacky' that throws everyone else off.

I don't even think the Comedic term Prat Fall works, because thats another thing entirely?

 

[TheKillerBs]

It's commonly referred to as a face fault or a face plant, though the former is more specific to the anime phenomenon you're referring to

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

It's commonly referred to as a face fault or a face plant, though the former is more specific to the anime phenomenon you're referring to

THANK YOU
This thing has been bugging me for ages lol
Though would that work calling it that in narration?

 

[TheKillerBs]

I've seen it used in narration in fanfiction/webfiction. Not sure if it would get past the editors in conventionally published media

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I've seen it used in narration in fanfiction/webfiction. Not sure if it would get past the editors in conventionally published media

Yeah I had a feeling lol that's why I'm seeking a 'proper prose' way to describe it. Just saying the actual thing feels improper. I've been saying stuff like 'lost their color' in varying contexts (usually out of fear, but also for the same reason anime characters lose their color which usually is obvious enough to the reader, I think) but I'm not sure that works for this.

I imagine it MIGHT work in a comedy novel, but only barely. Both of my stories are different kinds of comedy.

One of them is a Rom Com and the other is basically Space Balls but for Role Playing Games (Both video games and not) though it takes itself a bit more seriously than Space Balls does. I'd say it's close to Monty Python but it takes itself a little serious for that comparison to work.

 

[pmmg]

Faceplant really means face actually hitting floor, or an object, though it has been used for epic fails in a metaphorical way.

I'm not sure what you are going for, cause there are a lot of reasons anime characters give off such expressions.

What is really going on in those scenes is some type of cognitive dissonance, but that does not work well on page.

Some words I might use:

Stunned to silence/Stunned with Shame/Stunned and frozen
Gobsmacked
Dumbfounded
Dissonance
As the Realization came upon them
Shocked
Left Speechless
Could not compute
Dumbstruck
Offense

 

[Queshire]

Hrm. I'd go with, "the color drained from their face" or something like that. If someone is already familiar with the trope they get it, but also makes sense for those not familiar with the trope.

 

[TheKillerBs]

Faceplant really means face actually hitting floor, or an object

And that is literally what Naruzeldamaster is describing. A character's face hitting the floor, though in reaction to something really dumb (usually)

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

And that is literally what Naruzeldamaster is describing. A character's face hitting the floor, though in reaction to something really dumb (usually)

Yep, in anime it's generally used as a reaction for:
A: Character speaking said something out of 'left field' or 'out of pocket' etc particularly if it's off topic.
B: Character says something particularly...let's just say dense.
C: Punchline that doesn't land and the punchline not landing/characters reaction to it is the actual joke. (This happens way too often in pokemon I think)

Faceplant really means face actually hitting floor, or an object, though it has been used for epic fails in a metaphorical way.

I'm not sure what you are going for, cause there are a lot of reasons anime characters give off such expressions.

What is really going on in those scenes is some type of cognitive dissonance, but that does not work well on page.

Yeah, same for the depression lines, x's in the eyes when they pass out, their color going away, the little cross...thing when they get angry, etc that stuff is for the viewer. (It'd be weird if the characters noticed that stuff unless it's like the character blushing)

Some words I might use:

Stunned to silence/Stunned with Shame/Stunned and frozen
Gobsmacked
Dumbfounded
Dissonance
As the Realization came upon them
Shocked
Left Speechless
Could not compute
Dumbstruck
Offense

Yep, I use these a lot, I was just wondering if there was a way to use the expression in prose fully.
Though I will settle for these if I have to hehe.

 

[pmmg]

Yeah, I will let Naru clarify if he wishes.

One of the bits in anime though, is the character stops in mid action, as if they had just hit an invisible wall, and try to process something that just doesn't make sense. The expression is blank, and their color may change. Its not always a real falling down. I think that is what he is after.

Such as this girls look and recation. Like they cant process what just happened.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Yeah, I will let Naru clarify if he wishes.

I mean you both kinda described what I'm thinking of mentally when my characters 'freak out' in this way.

One of the bits in anime though, is the character stops in mid action, as if they had just hit an invisible wall, and try to process something that just doesn't make sense. The expression is blank, and their color may change. Its not always a real falling down. I think that is what he is after.

Such as this girls look and recation. Like they cant process what just happened.

This kinda reaction happens sometimes in my story, other times it's more subtle and more akin to being flabbergasted or gobsmacked. Others still it's literally their brains freezing/locking up.

One of my favorite anime ones that's pretty exclusive to anime is the bit where a character will say something and an 'arrow' or dagger containing the phrase said will 'stab' the other character.

Another one (That I don't think would work in a proper novel, unless it was a Manga) is where the character's soul leaves their body, not literally but it's animated. Usually their soul is represented as a little ghosty guy coming from their mouth.

 

[Penpilot]

Be careful here. You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? You're kind of trying to find one word--or a handful of words--that encompass the emotion and visuals created by a thousand words.

There are things you can do with visuals that you can't do with prose and vice versa. From my perspective, the goal is not to find one word or a handful of words to describe the visuals in an exacting manner. The goal is to create the emotion of the scene with words and have a few choice details/cues such that it evokes that image or something very close in the reader's mind.

Now with that said, that doesn't mean there aren't single-word short cuts for certain things, but IMHO, if it's not relatively easy to find, it probably doesn't exist.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Be careful here. You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? You're kind of trying to find one word--or a handful of words--that encompass the emotion and visuals created by a thousand words.

There are things you can do with visuals that you can't do with prose and vice versa. From my perspective, the goal is not to find one word or a handful of words to describe the visuals in an exacting manner. The goal is to create the emotion of the scene with words and have a few choice details/cues such that it evokes that image or something very close in the reader's mind.

Now with that said, that doesn't mean there aren't single-word short cuts for certain things, but IMHO, if it's not relatively easy to find, it probably doesn't exist.

Hmm, advice received and acknowledged, but I'm not necessarily looking for 'shortcuts'
Just a way to describe some of these things in Prose. I think. If possible in a way that'd make it past an editor. (comedy or not, editors take their jobs seriously, which means I gotta be careful lol)

A lot of these gags (Especially the anime exclusive ones) are visual. And most often, they're implied to be only for the audience to see, since it seems like the other characters don't react to the whole 'their spirit is leaving their body' thing. (I mean they do, but they don't react to the little ghosty guy)

I've used a few 'x said while trying to process the insanity' type phrases before and currently. But some of those don't feel descriptive enough of what the character is going through. They do indeed feel like 'shortcuts' to me. When the book is finished, I can probably get some artwork (Like the image PMMing showed which is hilarious) for some of them, but I wouldn't want to be spammy with these artworks either.

As my story is a comedy, I could probably go for a few images depicting some of these reactions, but I don't know how often I want to use an image VS words.

 

[Mad Swede]

Hmm, advice received and acknowledged, but I'm not necessarily looking for 'shortcuts'
Just a way to describe some of these things in Prose. I think. If possible in a way that'd make it past an editor. (comedy or not, editors take their jobs seriously, which means I gotta be careful lol)

A lot of these gags (Especially the anime exclusive ones) are visual. And most often, they're implied to be only for the audience to see, since it seems like the other characters don't react to the whole 'their spirit is leaving their body' thing. (I mean they do, but they don't react to the little ghosty guy)

I've used a few 'x said while trying to process the insanity' type phrases before and currently. But some of those don't feel descriptive enough of what the character is going through. They do indeed feel like 'shortcuts' to me. When the book is finished, I can probably get some artwork (Like the image PMMing showed which is hilarious) for some of them, but I wouldn't want to be spammy with these artworks either.

As my story is a comedy, I could probably go for a few images depicting some of these reactions, but I don't know how often I want to use an image VS words.

I wonder if you understand the comment Penpilot made? What you are trying to do is describe a visual joke in prose (text) form. That is extremely difficult, verging on the impossible, simply because the joke is visual and not verbal. What I would suggest is that you try to get the huimour across without using jokes that rely on a picture to be funny. Put another way, you need to create written jokes which make the same point and create the same emotions in the reader but which don't require the reader to look at a picture to get the joke