Illustrator creates “Angry Girlfriend Stereotype” character, Japanese Netizens nodding in solidarity

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A Japanese illustrator has shared a handful of images in a new series that depict the angry girlfriend stereotype unleashing rants and physical violence in response to an inept boyfriend’s romantic bungling.

The thing is, they might just be right on the money…

While everyone’s relationship woes (or lack thereof) will obviously be unique to each person and each relationship, it’s probably safe to say that women and men alike encounter a lot of common relationship frustrations. When it comes to relationships in Japan, a lot of guys seem to have trouble planning dates, it appears, and are—at least in the eyes of this illustrator—maybe a little too obsessed with video games and their hobbies.

Below are our loose translations of the artist’s panels, which are being shared on Japanese social media like wildfire, with, presumably, a lot of sympathetic head-nodding from women:

“How much time and money do you think I spend on makeup just so your friends won’t think you’re dating some uggo?!”

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“You’ve got so much time to play video games but no time to message me?!”

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“You’ve got money to spend on video games and yet we always go dutch on dates?! I’ll destroy you!”

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“How many more times do we have to go on ‘home dates’ before you take me out for once?!”

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While I can totally sympathize with this fictional (but probably more-than-a-little-bit based on the illustrator) character, she does also reveal some surprising double standards in Japan’s largely patriarchal society. You may have heard that Japanese women have a tendency to expect the man to support them financially; an archaic carry-over from days past that still persists as the norm. Granted, Japanese women are still notoriously under-appreciated and underpaid at work and are still widely expected to quit their jobs when they get married, so the expectation that men provide financial stability in a relationship is perhaps more a condition of that than anything else, but splitting the bill on dates is frowned upon nonetheless. On the other hand, let’s be honest: if a guy—or girl for that matter—wants to buy and play a video game once in a while, let him! Games are fun and, also, it’s 2015; most people have accepted gaming as a legitimate form of leisure time entertainment, not unlike reading a book or watching a movie.

What do you think? Is this “angry girlfriend stereotype” accurate, or is she making mountains out of molehills?