My answer is a retrospective one. I've accepted Japanese animation (by and large at the very least) being what it is: professional works of animation, not literature or live action drama, and always use Gone Baby Gone as a clear example. A reasonable person (looking at you Miyazaki) would not for a second ask the audience to ponder whether or not a child should remain in the custody of an unfit parent. She (girlfriend) was the voice of reason, while he (boyfriend) the voice of relativism. That's not to say a villain can't have nuance, or a sense of humor however.

Millennium Actress: it's okay, no- it's expected, that you'd feel enraged towards the person responsible for your lover's death. Not run off as if skirt-chasing. Jupiter Jazz (Cowboy bebop): notice how her (Faye) feet weren't bound, and the door was left unlocked; Jet turns the knob without using a key. So at any point during Gren's absence, you could have gotten yourself out of bed, and let yourself out? Are you passed out, or just playing the role.

Even Rurouni Kenshin's 4-part OVA suffers the same trope, the damsel in distress. (Tomoe) After making it back to her father, gets distracted by a noise offscreen, and consequently falls to the ground after getting slapped by her father. Again. What. I'M GOING TO KILL YOU. OH! A NOISE.

There are exceptions. Misato & Tetsuo (I'll throw Gendo in there as well) on the other hand are the closest to a flesh & blood actor that I can name, whose person feels the least bit Japanese when in comparison to others, but instead created by Disney. But you know what, that's fine. Because while Misato is the exception, what can be cited are the numerous Japanese home video releases whose box art, sleeve art, disc art, as well as sound & picture quality, & color, deserve lauding equal to a science fiction novel. A few examples include Akira's 2001 DVD Box (box art), 08th MS Team '07 Box (box art), Mobile Suit Gundam '07 Collection Box (Digipacks, which use theatrical poster), & Akira's 2011 DVD reissue (disc art). These, and many more, put to shame a movie released on R1 DVD (or Blu-ray), whose quality is no better, but maybe even worse than Redbox.