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What could have made a series better.

Allow me to refer you to this post, where I've already dealt with this. PantsGoblin is right, and dormcat is wrong. Most developed nations allow marriage between first cousins.

Let me just add to that that although I'm unaware if it's legal or not here in this part of Europe. It's certainly regarded as very weird and uncommon.

I once had the daughter of my brother-in-law flirting with me, and yes it did disgust me, even if this girl had no blood relation with me at all.

I just think it's something you just don't do. Familly -> Familly, even if you don't have a blood relation.

Having said all that, the issue here isn't law, but social taboo. In most Western countries, Denmark included, marrying close to the limits of the incest legislation is considered socially unacceptable.

While we're on that topic, this particular social taboo on first-cousin marriage is actually the exception, rather than the rule, historically. Many cultures have had a custom of cousin-marriage, and some have even had ritualised marriage of brother to sister (the pharaohs of ancient Egypt spring to mind)

abunai wrote:

While we're on that topic, this particular social taboo on first-cousin marriage is actually the exception, rather than the rule, historically. Many cultures have had a custom of cousin-marriage, and some have even had ritualised marriage of brother to sister (the pharaohs of ancient Egypt spring to mind)

It's been claimed that if you take the long view of human history, around 80% of all relationships would have been with first cousins. This is presumably because populations would have been much smaller and much more scattered than they are today, and mobility would be a lot less. So if you lived in an isolated extended family group, you wouldn't really have much choice other than a cousin.

As for the pharaohs, by the time they got round to the brother-sister thing, weren't they Greeks playing at being Egyptians? I think it's still disputed as to whether incestuous marriage was a cultural tradition in ancient Egypt, but yes the Ptolemys certainly did it.

I once dated a girl whose surname was geographic - the name of a village in Jutland. My family came from the neighbouring village (though we don't use the village name).

actually , in elfen lied, if kouta didn't spoiler[ kiss lucy who killed a crap load of people, including his own family, it would be less wierd. for god's sake. it would be better that kouta had killed her as promised. (he promised her in the bus back from zoo that he'll kill her if she was to kill a lot of people ) ]

abunai wrote:

I once dated a girl whose surname was geographic - the name of a village in Jutland. My family came from the neighbouring village (though we don't use the village name).

Anywhere near Lønstrup?

Boy, we are so off-topic...

Actually, Dormcat is wrong for once - the only developed country which forbids first-cousin marriage is the USA, and even then only in 24 out of the 50 states.

I never will get why this would bother people to begin with, siblings I could see, but cousins?

(I do however recall reading that growing up close to a member of the opposite sex develops a sexual aversion to that person, so I can see how those of us who were raised as only children would not much understand those who were not)

In behavioral anthropology, the phenomenon which the story of Koikaze was based upon is called genetic sexual attraction, where close relatives who were brought up not knowing about one another may find each other highly attractive (more attractive than strangers) when they later meet as adults. This is due to lack of Westermarck Effect, where two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, both are desensitized to later close sexual attraction and bonding.

Mai-Hime:

spoiler[I love the show and am eagerly downloading Otome as it comes out, but the reset at the end almost ruins it. The comical tone of the whole thing (like Natsuki just leaving things at "I'm sorry" after taking out half the characters in her psycho lesbian rampage) as well as the back-to-square-one final scene bother me tremendously. Please leave dead characters dead!]

spoiler[Yes I know the manga is not finished, but the anime should have just trown some ending together that had at least ONE couple ending up together. As it is the whole thing feel like a big disgusting tease.]

If I may derail this a little, what are some anime you guys find to be "just right" and perfect? They need not be all that great, but I mean stories that feel utterly satisfactory and complete.

I recently watched Midori no Hibi and I loved how well the whole thing held together compared to much of romance anime's tendency to ultimately lead nowhere.

As for Mai Hime, the incident you mentioned did bother me a bit, but spoiler[after they started killing off virtually everybody who wasn't a HIme, I knew that they weren't going to leave quite so much angst in the story, and was sort of expecting a resurrection. The way I see it, Tate/Takumi/Haruka/etc. weren't exactly "dead"; rather, they were dematerialized and held captive within the system, the system that Miyu wrecked. So, based on the Microsoft computing "Turn it off and on again" principle of repair, they were rematerialized and brought back to life. However, the shameless emotional manipulation that they pulled with Mikoto and the "I'm so hungry!" line was just plain wrong.]

I wasn't all too happy with the ending of Mai-HiME, either - but I have to say (with due apologies to anyone who feels slighted by this) that I think the basic premise of this thread is slightly childish. Especially since a lot of the things that are cited as "wrong" with a series seem to boil down to wanting to fundamentally alter the elements and premise of the anime, so much that it isn't even recognisably the same story. Case in point, all the antsy remarks about incest in anime. If the plot is well-written and cohesive, but the premise bothers you on a moral plane, watch another anime. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

The posts wishing changes to the ending of notably screwed-up anime series like Hellsing, KareKano or Gantz (which all ended prematurely and deviated significantly from the manga) are just as off-the-wall. Why bother complaining once more about something that every single thread dealing with that anime will already have mentioned? It's pointless.

Finally, complaining about series franchises which are not yet over and done with, such as School Rumble and Ichigo 100%, is similarly pointless. Wait for the following OVAs and see if you're still dissatisfied, before complaining.

I couldn't have put it better myself. I do wish that somehow a romance anime would come along that defied the "first-come, first-served" principle, whereby the lead male character always ends up with the female who first catches his eye, no matter how many other prospects appear to interfere. Until one does, though, I'm happy enough with what is being served up.

Case in point, all the antsy remarks about incest in anime. If the plot is well-written and cohesive, but the premise bothers you on a moral plane, watch another anime. It doesn't get much simpler than that.