In some anime, you might have noticed that the story centers around a trio that's comprised of an enthusiastic or hyperactive male, a reserved or sometimes stoic male, and a female who somehow brings them all together. But why do anime have trios?
Some popular examples are Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura from Naruto and Emma, Norman, and Rey from The Promised Neverland.
In this article, we talk about this common setup and the possible reasons it's so prevalent in anime.
Why Are Trios Common in Anime?
There are a lot of possible reasons this setup is so common. One reason could be that it is a trending relationship dynamic that viewers like.
Usually, in this setup, the main character is a male with a very bright personality.
To contrast his personality, another male or female will be added to clash with the main protagonist.
An example of this is Yuji and Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen.
The role of the third member is to balance the group and keep it together. Usually, this character is level-headed and chill.
Piggybacking off the previous example, Megumi balances Yuji and Nobara in the series.
With the three of them present, the team is balanced but there's still an entertaining aspect whenever the two characters clash.
Why Are Trios Usually Made Up of Two Males and One Female?
While trios are fairly common in anime, most of them are comprised of two males and one female, but why?
We have noticed that in many trio setups, the main male protagonist is accompanied by another male character to give the main character a best friend.
Such is the case with Eren and Armin from Attack on Titan.
A female character is added to give the main character a love interest, which is what happened with Mikasa in the group.
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Another possible reason for this setup is because of marketing purposes. Since most anime that use this setup are shonen anime, they usually target male audiences.
Of course, a male market would require male characters, which is why the characters are mostly males.
But of course, there are also female viewers, so to keep them in the market, a strong female lead is added into the mix.
An example of this would be Denji, Aki, and Power from Chainsaw Man.
All three characters are strong on their own, making them a power team wherein each character is loved by the viewers.
There are also times when the trio stays together for a short amount of time, such as the case with Gon, Killua, and Bisky from Hunter x Hunter.
Despite the group only lasting for a specific arc, their trio was widely popular as Bisky helped Gon and Killua develop their abilities even more in the series.
These are only some of the possible reasons we came up with to explain why a lot of anime have trios, but there are other explanations for this common setup as well.
Can you think of why anime trios are so popular? Who are your favorite trios in anime?
Join the conversation with us on Twitter @epicstreamanime!