Forum - View topicAnswerman - Are There Really Gangs In Japanese Schools?
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Compelled to Reply
Posts: 358 |
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Yeah, but gangs are often the ones who stand up for victims of bullying to gain respect and make new members out of them, especially with Japanese ones adhering to the Yakuza doctrine. As it can combat bullying and assist with order, yet potentially creating even bigger problems, you can see why it would be a major issue.
Basically. If he's asking about physical differences if he didn't Google it, Kyokujitsu-ki is the the flag with the off-centered sun and rays.
The Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! anime was an adaptation of the manga which started in the 80s, and it's certainly a title up their alley to crowdfund. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Though all gangs are underground by nature, what I wonder is how much of an effort they make to keep their activities a secret. There doesn't seem to be a glamorization of gang life the way they exist in American schools (well, urban schools and schools in gang territories anyway), so it doesn't seem like gangsters go walking around in public flaunting their, well, gangster-ness the way I saw it growing up. Also, please don't conflate gangs with bullies. The motivations to become a bully and to become a gangster are pretty different, and gangs will freely recruit both bullies and bullying victims. Though both are derived from feeling insignificant, bullying stems largely from a need to feel superior and in control, and gang participation stems largely from a need to feel welcomed and part of a close-knit social group.
I do wonder if there is a government initiative of some sort (or I guess disinitiative) to discourage works of fiction about gangsters from being given anime, under the idea of avoiding giving viewers ideas that behaving like this would be awesome. Certainly, the LACK of these characters (though there's no lack of anime characters who look the part but don't actually act it) made me question how prevalent they actually are. My own experiences in school made it hard for me to comprehend school life as peaceful. I brought it up in the Fall 2017 Anime Preview Guide topic, but I have a hard time watching slice-of-life stories about idyllic moments in school because that behavior feels unrealistic to me (at least on a campus-wide scale--nice people DID exist in each school I went to, but they were more like islands of compassion in a sea of sociopathy). Something like Rokudenashi Blues would be something I'd have an easier time connecting to as it more closely reflects how I'd imagine teenage behavior to be like.
I can think of Di Gi Charat as one such series that's like that. And while it isn't cute girls per se (though its deuteragonist is an innocent middle school girl caught up in the whole mess), Lycopene the Tomatoy Poodle is a series in Weekly Shonen Jump that just debuted that has Sanrio-looking characters with some pretty un-Sanrio-like humor (though, since the magazine is aimed at young boys, it's largely toilet humor and Animaniacs-esque mocking of Japanese celebrities and politicians). |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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I wonder the same thing since by looking at some recent manga magazines I realize there are plenty of gang/yakuza stories but in anime all I can remember is one where the protagonist used to be a gang member (GTO) or about "good" yakuza like in Nisekoi and Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. Of those two Nura comes out as the most apologetic of Yakuza and was surprised that it got two anime series (24 episodes each) but some people might not notice since it plays the supernatural angle, albeit Nura's clan obviously mirrors the yakuza structure. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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There's also that character archetype where they look like a Japanese delinquent and act all tough but are actually nice and kind on the inside. I can think of Magna in Black Clover as an example. Josuke Higashikata in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure would be another example (and was written and drawn at a time when the Japanese gangster was popular), except he never has the "act all tough" part and is just a nice guy who dresses like a thug. |
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Alan45
Village Elder
Posts: 9937 Location: Virginia |
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@leafy sea dragon
Don't forget Fruits Basket. Both Toru's mother (in flashbacks) and friend are "reformed" girl gang members. |
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DerekL1963
Subscriber
Posts: 1119 Location: Puget Sound |
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Sounds like Sabagebu!. |
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Wandering Samurai
Posts: 875 Location: USA |
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I remember that the bosozoku used to be active in the greater Kanto area, such as Chiba and Yokohama. There have been a few documentaries where they interview former members, and quite a few will decline to have their faces shown, it seems that as they mature they become ashamed of their past. Also, I thought the female version of the bosozoku type gangs were also called "Ladies," as referred to if you read the Japanese version of Fruits Basket.
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Heishi
Posts: 1343 |
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Looks like you guys missed the point of the "cute girls doing...not so cute things" concept I developed.
Let me be clear. The show's tone is supposed to look anime girl cutesy but its also pretty dark and serious. It's starts out like any cutesy moe/loli anime but all of a sudden turns into this really dark, violent, sexual, anime that is similar to what you see in shows like say...Higurashi or Black Lagoon. Let's just say if you seen Kodomo no Jikan, the show I created makes that show look like Sesame Street in comparison. Subject matter involves sex(lesbian), drugs, gang wars, martial arts fighting, forming relationships, and cute young girls rebelling against a system they deem to be "oppressing girls like them,". Japan grows increasingly anarchic as these girls rule the streets and only a handful group of girls can stop them. Pretty damn heavy on the yuri aspect and homophobia is also a subject matter that's tackled. The point of the show is about "cute girls doing not so cute things to other cute girls". |
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luffypirate
Posts: 3187 |
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I like Kodomo no Jikan. I'd watch your show. |
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harminia
Posts: 2029 Location: australia |
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That's my favorite trope... I love moe banchous so much You see it often in otoge and shoujo manga Oresama Teacher (one of my fave manga) is all about a bunch of delinquents but they're all nice in their own way. |
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hatanakatoru
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Those gang group does exist and I want add some background which was not mentioned. In Japan, punishment for juvenile crimes is extremely lenient and even if they seriously injure adult teacher, they can get out of juvenile detention center after a few years. When I was in Japanese school, gang ruled the student society and all teachers were afraid to touch them, because gangs often threat teacher too. Also, Japanese teachers are controlled by communist association and they don't like report anything to police. A teacher I know were attacked by them, but school never went to police and they just settled the incidence internally. Gang problem is usually worse in public junior high school.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber
Posts: 3018 |
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The Nikkyoso isn't really what Americans would think of when they hear the phrase "communist organization", though. It's basically just Japan's national teachers' union. Teachers' unions tend to gravitate towards the left of any country's political spectrum, and when you consider that the Liberal Democrats have long been considered the Japanese "conservative" party, it's hard not to imagine how the Nikkyoso got its reputation for being communist. |
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Heishi
Posts: 1343 |
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Cool. Hope you can stomach through it, though. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Interesting. When you see documentaries about American gangs, the ones who've resigned will tend to prefer to have their faces hidden out of fear of retaliation by the active gang members, as most of them use intimidation and threats to keep them in the gang. Typically, the only way out is through death. (Or the gang itself dissolving.) |
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