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The childhood friend.


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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 4:14 pm Reply with quote
Love Hina spoiler[Keitaro and Naru do end up together, but they also have a long time apart from each other whilst growing up. They also go through a period of Naru despising Keitaro when they are reunited!]
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Furudanuki



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1874
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:53 pm Reply with quote
Here are a few other series where the childhood friends wind up as romantic partners. For the purpose of this post I'm defining "childhood friends" as those who spent a significant amount of time together as children, not those who simply met once or twice.

Kanon - spoiler[Yuichi ends up with childhood friend Ayu. Of course, half of the girls in the cast turn out to be childhood friends, so this may not be a good example.]

True Tears - spoiler[Shin'ichirou is interested in childhood friend Hiromi, begins dating Noe, but then declares his love for Hiromi.]

To Heart - spoiler[While the original series did not have a conclusive pairing, the sequel (Remember My Memories) ends with Hiroyuki and childhood friend Akari as a confirmed couple.]

Lamune - spoiler[Everyone knows that Kenji and childhood friend Nanami are a couple from the start, and even they admit it about halfway through.]

Allison to Lillia - spoiler[Allison and Wilhelm - who marry in the series - were childhood friends who were raised in the same orphanage.]

D.C. Da Capo / D.C.S.S. Da Capo Second Season - spoiler[Jun'ichi winds up marrying childhood friend and adopted sister Nemu, choosing her over - among others - Sakura, who is his cousin and a childhood friend as well.]

Myself; Yourself - spoiler[In the finale, Sana proposes to childhood friend Nanaka.]

There are a lot of other series where it is strongly implied that two childhood friends will become a couple, but I'm sticking with those where the pairing is conclusive within the anime
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9938
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 6:24 pm Reply with quote
@ggqt

I'm not suggesting incest. During much of human history people have lived in small communities. It is common cultural thing that you should marry within your class but out of your immediate community.

Like the folk song where the girl goes to her father and says she wants to marry someone. He tells her she can't and to not tell her mother but the guy is likely her half brother. He says the same thing about the next couple of prospects (he was a busy young man) She goes to her mother and explains the situation. The mother says marry who every you want, don't tell your father, but you are not his daughter.

The fact that anime has siblings falling in love does not mean it is likely in real life. As is said by Sassahara in Genshiken, guys who are hung up on little sister types never had one. A lot of anime seems to be pointed to guys who are afraid to talk to any female they didn't grow up with. This makes the childhood friend seem a good idea to those who did not have one. I'm not sure if this reflects real life in Japan but if it does it would explain the birth rate.
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Crisha
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Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:46 pm Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
Like the folk song where the girl goes to her father and says she wants to marry someone... [snip]

Laughing Folk song. That's an interesting choice of words. I always heard it as the Redneck Love Poem.

Quote:
Susie Lee done fell in love,
She planned to marry Joe.
She was so happy ’bout it all,
She told her Pappy so.

Pappy told her, “Susie gal,
You’ll have to find another.
I’d just as soon yo’ Ma don’t know,
But Joe is yo’ half-brother.”

So Susie put aside her Joe
And planned to marry Will.
But after telling Pappy this,
He said, “There’s trouble still.

“You cannot marry Will, my gal,
And please don’t tell yo’ mother.
But Will and Joe, and several mo’
I know is yo’ half-brother.”

Susie Lee’s po’ heart was broke
From running out of men
She’d hesitate to take a mate
If they were all half-kin.

There was no boy that she could find
Without that fatal flaw.
She had no clue what she could do,
So, Susie told her Ma.

But Ma just laughed and said, “My child,
Just do what makes yo’ happy.
Marry Will or marry Joe…
You ain’t no kin to Pappy.”



As for other childhood friends hooking up...

Touch: Well, I can't mention Cross Game without bringing up Touch, since it's the first of this vein by Mitsuru Adachi. spoiler[Tatsuya and Minami.]

Kekkaishi: spoiler[I haven't read much of the manga, but I hear that the ending hints at them Tokine and Yoshimori. I know that Yoshimori has crushed on her for a while.]

Baccano!: spoiler[Jacuzzi and Nice. Yay!]

Infinite Ryvius: spoiler[Aoi Housen and Kouji Aiba.]

Rose of Versailles: spoiler[I can't believe I didn't think of this one before! Oscar and Andre are one of my favorites!]


And I don't know if these count as childhood friends...

Princess Tutu: spoiler[Rue met Mytho as a little kid and was often in his company. She stayed devoted up until the end. Mytho, however... his age can't be determined given his background. He basically remained ageless the entire time outside of the book. And I don't know whether to consider their relationship as "friends". He didn't have enough of a personality to make his own decisions at that time.]

Blood+: spoiler[Saya and Hagi. They've been together for most of their lives (since 1870), though most of it for Saya has been spent asleep.]
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9938
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:59 pm Reply with quote
@willag

I definately heard it as a song back in the mid 60's. Slightly different words but the same punch line. A lot of folk music from that period came out of the southern Applachian region though.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:46 pm Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
@willag

I definately heard it as a song back in the mid 60's. Slightly different words but the same punch line. A lot of folk music from that period came out of the southern Applachian region though.
The song you're thinking of is an old Joan Baez (I think?) song and it's killing me that I can't remember the title. I just remember listening to my dad's LP as a child.

Edit: It was Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Johnny Be Fair."
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4136
PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 9:01 am Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:
Love Hina spoiler[Keitaro and Naru do end up together, but they also have a long time apart from each other whilst growing up. They also go through a period of Naru despising Keitaro when they are reunited!]


She was two, the guy was four and then they meet again in high school and neither could barely remember anything. At least you could mention the other girl who was five as she was the real childhood friend.

Lamune. It was a kind of rural as it had one of those "Well, they lived together for so long so it's kind of already decided" relationships.

Nyankoi, which probably has my favorite "childhood friend" romance {if it actually played all the way out}. Hurt fellings were felt on both sides in elementary school but that antagonism quickly reversed itself once they finally started talking again in high school. It's bit of a tell that Junpei was the only one who immediately recognized her without her outrageous makeup.

School Rumble had one of those "If they only noticed" childhood friends pairings. It was one of the best small moments in the series when spoiler[Hanai offered up a Princess dance for the suitably dressed Makoto. I loved the look on her face when she realized that Hanai wasn't going to be her Prince.] It's funny how obnoxious they were around the rest of the cast but were fine when alone together. "So it's a contest to see who gets together first?""...I'm in no rush..."

Kanon. It doesn't count since outside of Nayuki who's related, all childhood friendships were incidental and fleeting. It's amazing that they even count as friendships; He knew one girl a couple of months and another girl about two weeks.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9938
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 10:04 am Reply with quote
@ poonk

Yeah, that's the one. Man, I haven't listened to Buffy Saint Marie for years. I used to have that album, I bought it when it came out.

The problem in small communities is that sometimes everyone you know is a distant (or not so distant) cousin. It is called fishing in a shallow gene pool.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2634
PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 6:16 pm Reply with quote
Here are a few other childhood friends that turn into romances

spoiler[Edward & Winry] in Fullmetal Alchemist
spoiler[Simon & Nia] in Gurren Lagann, interesting because we actually experience how they met as children

Also childhood friendship/romance is a central theme in Ano Hana.


edit: And oh god I love spoiler[Oscar & Andre] in Rose of Versailles. Why won't it ever be released here (my usual rant about this subject, carry on!)
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Tenbyakugon



Joined: 11 Jan 2012
Posts: 797
Location: Ohio, United States
PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2012 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Even though it never happened, it's still worth mentioning here I think how regretful of Hikaru Shindo and Akari Fujisaki never making it I am... Sad The way their relationship was written, it comes across as something that likely would never happen anyway, yet simultaneously you know that it should've, it just should've, happened. Rolling Eyes There's a good reason for the picture Kaneko so candidly took at their middle school graduation! ...And we never found out how Akari reacted to it when she discovered the photo in with the other presumably developed ones... They put bits and pieces of fondness and adoration in there, but they never made anything happen... If I ever find out this was the doing of Hotta's editor at the time... Twisted Evil

*sigh* This should probably be the last thread I comment in, as I'm currently having issues with a childhood friend at the moment also ;;>.> Lame.
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Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1153
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2012 6:13 am Reply with quote
Maidenoftheredhand wrote:
Here are a few other childhood friends that turn into romances

spoiler[Edward & Winry] in Fullmetal Alchemist


This one is particularly nice since at the end of Brotherhood,spoiler[ Ed and Winry end up together with children and form a happy family].


From Stein's Gate, our brave Mad Scientist and Mayuri have been childhood friends, and spoiler[although they do not end up together], Rintaro has a lot of feeling for her.
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Mai Yukino



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 217
PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2012 1:53 pm Reply with quote
4750G wrote:
I think the reason the MC goes for the girl he just knew is because it's kinda more romantic, don't you think? It's a whirlwind romance. I mean, you can't exactly call it love at first sight if you've known the girl forever but it just took you way too long to realize your feelings for her.

(Romantic) people (and by that, I mean me) always look for their other half. You expect someone to enter your life and sweep you off your feet. You don't necessarily look at the people who've been with you your entire life - a.k.a., the childhood friend. The childhood friend is not a surprise; she's been there all along. She's not a challenge; the MC has known her his whole life. The childhood friend has always been there. The MC, when looking for love, looks at what's in front of him. He doesn't necessarily look beside or behind him.

Of course, these are only my own speculations. And hey, there are good romance shows that revolve around childhood friends. I can't think of one now but I definitely will.


You provided great insight on the subject of the childhood friend vs. the new love, for example, I often wondered why in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam the pairing of Kamille Bidan and Four Murasame(the new love) was so popular and well recieved.

However the whirlwind romance between Kamille and Four was only fleeting as she spoiler[sacrificed her life to save his and Kamille would end up in a relationship with his childhood friend, Fa Yuiry, whom has remained by his side throughout his life, caring for him 100% after his traumatizing battle against Paptimus Scirocco, and eventually Kamille recovered and is seen running side by side with Fa on a beach in the last episode of ZZ Gundam.]
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V1046-R



Joined: 02 Dec 2011
Posts: 172
PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2012 7:16 pm Reply with quote
To the question why the person who has been in love longest, loses (the childhood friend)...

I feel this is grounded in reality. If someone has known you for years and never thought of you as a love interest, it is unlikely they are going to start seeing you differently no matter what you do. Even moreso, they may be permanently locked into thinking of you a certain way, and everything you do is perceived to support that opinion.

I think there is truth in these characters' vain attempts doomed to fail. Unrequited love is a powerful force that clouds perspective, and is self deceiving.
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Killaclown666



Joined: 05 Jan 2012
Posts: 48
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 7:09 pm Reply with quote
haven't you guys ever heard of the dreaded "FRIEND ZONE" the childhood friend seems like the ultimate version of this, if they didn't get with each other when they started "blossoming" why would the MC go for it now he has (for some reason or other) multiple new girls to choose from....... never had the CHF and definitely not the romantic type but it just seems more likely in real life (also they might be able to keep their bestie and/or backup) bottom line the choosing the best friend you didn't choose earlier seems more romantic than life usually is.
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