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Parents and families?




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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:22 am Reply with quote
As it was noticed in my previous topic there's something that we can call "No parents" rule.
I know it's not only anime issue- according to "The hero with thousand faces" our model hero should be orphan. It's a good reason of angst, and... how call it... can take away one of his limitation?
In some animes it's solved in more civil way: parents just abandon their kids and just send them money without any other forms of communication - for example Rozen Maiden (didn't the school's director even tried to contact his parents?. (Any Japanese expert on board? Didn't they have in Japan parents-teacher meetings or school superintendents?

I can understand those situations in historical or war series, but the series which take place nowdays should at least pretend to be realistic. It's possible- in Oniisama E parents really do care about their children.

What is funny- some of the fantasy series seem to be more realistic in those aspect: Nahona's parents aren't glad when she suddenly disappear, in MKR parents and siblings notice that girls act strange.
That kind of behaviour make series and characters more realistic for me:) After seeing XYZ series about "poor angst orphans" it's really nice to see something that normal.

And abut rest of the relatives... better or worse siblings exist. Lovely enemies. What just make me feel sick is "incest" in mainstream series- what is so attractive in that kind of the relationship. And of course magical spell "not blood- related"- even the directors feel embarrassed to call thing by it's name? Luckily it's easy to avoid:)

Do you pay attention on the character's bonds with his relatives? Are there some stereotypes about it that bother you or make feel angry? And can someone answer the question that has been bothering me for more than 10 years- what happened to biological mother of Sailor Moon?Shocked
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:42 am Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
And can someone answer the question that has been bothering me for more than 10 years- what happened to biological mother of Sailor Moon?Shocked


If you are talking about Queen Serenity, the mother of Princess Serenity of the Moon, she spoiler[died].

Queen Serenity spoiler[used up all of her strength getting the Silver Crystal to save Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion and the Senshi as well as the People of the Moon and sending them forward in time to live happier lives. But, because she did that, it took all of her energy and power and she died.]
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HaruhiToy



Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:25 am Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
As it was noticed in my previous topic there's something that we can call "No parents" rule.


I'm not sure what your objection is. You pointed out good reasons that parents are omitted from most stories which are valid, but the over-riding reason must be the difficulties of the screenplay when they are included.

Adding parents means screen time, voice actors, character designs, and then have to logically work them into the story. Sometimes parent figures are central to the story and often they are superfluous.

Many anime are marketed to young adults, which are all about doing stuff (fantasizing about it) without the restrictions parents place. So these scenarios are only natural.

Quote:
What just make me feel sick is "incest" in mainstream series- what is so attractive in that kind of the relationship.


I'll never understand peoples visceral reaction to this topic. I would bet that a majority of siblings play with each other at some point in this way. They have access to each other, and hopefully have some sort of positive bonded relationship, and at points of their lives where curiosity is at a maximum. And given the amount of H that sells that is specifically on this topic, it is obviously a big part of a lot of people's fantasy lives. Of course coercive rape is a different issue and should be regarded as such.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15546
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:43 am Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
And abut rest of the relatives... better or worse siblings exist. Lovely enemies. What just make me feel sick is "incest" in mainstream series- what is so attractive in that kind of the relationship. And of course magical spell "not blood- related"- even the directors feel embarrassed to call thing by it's name? Luckily it's easy to avoid:)
I think I heard somewhere that "incest" being popular may have some conections to old legends of past life lovers being reborn as siblings or cousins or something. That and anime loves taboo.

The no parents rule might also be so as people watch it to get away from their own parents, and that they want to concentrate on the main characters, and not on their parents. Often if there are any, they are rather boreing, crazy embarassing or abusive. They are more often in if a topic of the anime is about family, and thus probably one of the best anime parent is Akio of the Clannad series.
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:55 am Reply with quote
LydiaDianne wrote:
EireformContinent wrote:
And can someone answer the question that has been bothering me for more than 10 years- what happened to biological mother of Sailor Moon?Shocked


If you are talking about Queen Serenity, the mother of Princess Serenity of the Moon, she spoiler[died].

Usagi/Bunny was born by another woman and she is not seen in her future kingdom.
Quote:

Many anime are marketed to young adults, which are all about doing stuff (fantasizing about it) without the restrictions parents place. So these scenarios are only natural.


I wouldn't ever fantasy about things like that. Maybe I'm just too realistic.
Quote:

The no parents rule might also be so as people watch it to get away from their own parents, and that they want to concentrate on the main characters, and not on their parents.


I don't mean to focus on the hero's relatives, but showing his relationships makes the character more complete. I wouldn't say that showing his family would be a waste of the time- if we think so why don't we cut off everything besides him?
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:08 am Reply with quote
I think that the single parent/no parent rule gives the characters a chance for angst, if the storyline calls for it. Or, in many cases, the ability to go places that parents would normally be like "WTH? No you are not going there young lady/man! You have school tomorrow!" Blah, blah, blah...you get the picture.

In many cases, the loss or parent(s) are part of the storyline. In Bleach Ichigo spoiler[really loved his mother. Tatsuki once talked about how she'd known Ichigo since they were small and how he would get this huge smile, no matter what had just happened to him, whenever he saw his mother. But after his mother died, he stopped smiling] Another reason for missing parent syndrome - a reason for why a character acts the way that they do and a reason for future vengance, which Ichigo gets against spoiler[the Hollow Grand Fisher who tricked him then killed his mother]
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Bento-Box



Joined: 08 Sep 2009
Posts: 1049
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:56 pm Reply with quote
I don't think it's so much a "rule" as it is how someone wants to tell the story.

Parents' deaths could mean a lot of growth or angst. Parent's can also be heavily involved in their kid's lives which could lead to a variety of results.

Overall, I think authors and artists take the audience into consideration when creating minor and major character. If they think it's not really that important, they can use the stereotypical mom and pop models and just leave their characters alone.

I only really pay attention to it when the parents are shown in the series. When they aren't, I just assume that they aren't that important to whatever the "message" is. Although, sometimes in harem, I wonder "where's that girl's mother and why is she letting her outta the house in THAT?!"
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littlegreenwolf



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 4796
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:06 pm Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
Usagi/Bunny was born by another woman and she is not seen in her future kingdom.


You're forgetting the fact that that future Kingdom is ... well I don't know the exact number, but I thought it was something like at least a thousand years of the future. I don't know what the proper term is for them, but I was under the assumption that only the "Solar System Royalty" seem to be immortal. Her Earth mother probably died of old age. None of the other non-senshi characters ever showed up in the future.

As to the Orphan thing, it's a common plot device used by western culture as well. It's just easier for a reader/viewer to find something to relate to with an exposed orphan child than another kid who has the perfect family. I think it really came out to mainstream culture for us in the West during the industrial revolution where orphans were common, and made into popular focus with authors like Charles Dickens with stories like Oliver Twists. This has evolved over time and is evident when you walk into a book store with best selling books like Harry Potter, Graveyard Book, Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate events, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (technically first book), and Eragon.
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:36 pm Reply with quote
But when Usagi become Neo Queen Serenity her power made her people veeery long living creatures
Quote:
Through the power of the Silver Crystal the people of the Earth became functionally immortal.

from wikimoon.

In the past there were more orphans- in the time of Dickens were no antibiotics, in hospitals nobody thought about disinfection, even giving birth was risky, so it's easier to believe in all those orphans.
Not all families are perfect... so maybe it's easier to cut off one bond that may be terribly complicated to describe (Lady Oscar!)
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