Forum - View topicThe Perfect Summer or the Mythology of Japanese High School?
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Wu Ming
Posts: 113 |
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So its your typical High School-centered anime with your odious Student Council, dimwitted teachers, and a band of happy go-lucky central cast of of characters who just got let out for the summer.
:Flash the montage of going to the beach, Obon Festival, Fireworks, Funny Summer Job, long walk in the moonlight between hero and heroine, picnic, etc: And then someone invariably will say "Oh, we should cherish days like this, because we'll never have them again." Ok...stop..right there. Right at that moment. Anime logic dictates that what the person said is true. Either everyone grows up and move on with their lives and they look back forever on that glorious Summer of their High School Life Or it all goes horriblely wrong with situations ranging from friends turning on friends or people falling out of love, or someone with a terminal illness, etc. etc. In any event, this brings up to the viewer the great Myth of the Perfect Summer. I say Myth only because i've known Americans who've spent 1-2 years in Japan during High school and Japanese people who've gone through the whole process and both kind of laugh it off. Sure they made friends, sure they had fun, but it wasn't anything particularly magical. In fact, in the case of the Japanese people i know, its the time of College that's a lot more fun and a lot more free. High school for them was mostly worrying about exams to get into College. Which brings me to my question. Why the Myth? I mean its entertainment obviously, but why concentrate on High School days? Is it simply to pander to an audience of high school students who watch anime? But then what about the Otaku who generally as population are long out of high school? |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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This is hardly unique to Japan, American media is packed with similar tales of school days and endless summers. It's just a product of telling stories to kids and kids like stories that take place in familar setting.
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Mistmanov
 Posts: 27 Location: Belgium |
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High school as in ages 12-18 (or something like that)?
It's the time of adolescence. Your first boy/girl friend. Experimenting with stuff. Beginning your own life that's independent of your parents. Doing everything with your friends. That "perfect summer" montage wouldn't be possible in elementary school (due to parents not leaving their kids do those things alone), and would already be kinda "normal" at a later age. But for high schoolers, they're all doing it for the first time, and enjoying it immensely. Even if not every otaku will have actually experienced all those things (.....  ), it's nice to see others doing them; you can imagine the joy that the characters have.
.. That, and it's a good excuse to show a bunch of 16 year olds in cute outfits and tiny bikinis. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I've read other commentators suggest that Japanese adults have a special fondness for high school because, even though it can be very competitive, it's still relatively low-key compared to the demands of the Japanese workplace. I have no idea whether there's a shred of truth in this, or in the commonly-held notion that Japanese culture has a stronger nostalgic component than Western culture. That argument is also used from time to time to explain the sakura-colored view of high school you describe.
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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-Grandma, was communism better than capitalism?
-Yes, my dear -But what exactly was better? -I was younger. If someone didn't have any really traumatic accidents he always feel nostalgic for his youth and childhood. I has nothing to do with culture, but lot with human memory which after years erase most of the sad accidents. Even broken heart and that-so-called-friend-who-invited everyone-for-her-birthday-except-you seems not so bad when you come back to see good-old-school. |
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Wu Ming
Posts: 113 |
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Yeah, but here's we're i get confused. The target audience isn't necessarily kids. In fact, Japanese High School has become a default setting just as much as say "ye old Medieval Kingdom," or Senkoku Jidai, or Revolutionary France or Space Colony in the Distant Future.
Now you see, Mistmanov brings up an interesting issue. How much of this is "reminiscence of my time in High School" vs. an unfulfilled adolescence that seeks expression in anime? I mean, let's face it, Otaku are not exactly the social networkers of that age group. Furthermore, high school in Japan ain't exactly a cake walk. Yuna49 is right in saying its a lot easier than the pressures dealt with by the salariman. But both situations are miles away in comparison to Japanese college life, which is a lot more chill and a lot more free time. If anything, the situation in Genshiken says it all. |
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