What Constitutes Weakness? Archetypes in Manga

Yukari to the left.

In a prior post, I reference the strong partner with the weak-willed significant other. 

I point out how rare this pairing is in romance. Generally speaking, people want their significant others to at least be competent. 

But it does depend, in part, on what it means to be "weak." 

In Caste Heaven, which I review in an earlier post, the characters run a range from domineering to unorthodox to indifferent to gentle and sweet. The author allows all these characters to be their own complicated selves--all of them are salvageable.

However, the one character that she (appears) to perceive as non-salvageable (but the series isn't over yet) is the student who is jealous of everyone else, Yukari. 

Akusa, the protagonist, desires the position of king, but then, he already sees himself that way. Other characters inhabit their roles by fiat--This is what I've always done. Some people like their roles. Some people hate them. 

But to always be whining because one didn't get that role or that role or that role or that role out of a "raging inferiority complex"--that is the ultimate weakness. 

Western literature criticizes this character type as well but American entertainment tends to focus more on the "not taking advantage of opportunities" aspect of this unhappy type rather than on the "having a really bad attitude" aspect. Japanese manga, rather like British sitcoms, dwells more on the bad attitude (British sitcoms do it for the joke). 

It's an interesting distinction regarding what constitutes "weak." The bad attitude doesn't just bring down the individual--it brings down the group. 

Which places the whole "teens need self-esteem" issue into a wildly different context, as in "your need for self-esteem is ruining my self-esteem, so cut it out."