Forum - View topic

Answerman - Why Are All The Parents Dead?

IIRC, bodacious space pirates is famous for being one of the few animes that got all finished on schedule, whichever that actually means in context.

In addition, Bodacious Space Pirates is a good example of a parent who is alive, actively involved, and fully supportive of her daughter's piratical adventures.

Usagi Drop and Aishiteruze Baby both beg to differ (for the former, let's stick with the anime shall we? )

In general it's easier without good parenting (another option is the total buffoon parent), but there are some shows with pretty good parenting that are also interesting, like Hime-chan's Ribbon. The exception that proves the rule, since the problems, even with magic, are for the most part fairly mundane and not the crazy action of other shows.

Quote:

To use Naruto as an example (simply because most of us know it), how different would the story, and Naruto himself, be if he had parents around? He'd have a curfew, would get grounded for being a slacker student, and would never be allowed to wander off in the night or go on weeks-long excursions. No parent in their right mind would allow their kid to be a soldier, or a warrior of any stripe.

While I agree with you about everything else concerning this answer, I would point out that at least some of the ninja kids in Naruto do have intact parents, and those parents most definitely let their kids do that because it's all part of the "ninja lifestyle."

Yup we writers pretty much use dead parents as a good excuse for angst and as a way to develop our characters. Either way or I send their parents away.

Of course, missing/absent parents are also a staple in the ecchi/harem genres, though I do appreciate shows like Rizelmine and High School DxD where the parents are aware and supportive of their sons' magical girlfriend or live-in harem.

Inuyasha became something of a running joke amongst my friends regarding Kagome's parental situation. You have her mom, who always seems quite cheerful about patting her on the back and sending her off to a crazy-dangerous feudal world where demons try to eat her on a daily basis. And then there's her dad, who...apparently never existed in the first place. Seriously. Almost 200 episodes of combined anime, and there's never a mention of him, or even so much as a family picture in the background. Hell, there's a flashback of Kagome's birth, and he's not even there! I'd say she was the product of either a one-night stand or a virgin birth, but since she has a little brother, I guess it had to happen twice.

That sumo thing looks horrific.