Forum - View topicFavorite show about young adult life.
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BesuDesu
 Posts: 89 Location: Florida |
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I've noticed that with a lot of media depictions of High School life and... well... young adults in general in both anime and western film, people just don't portray that experience with any sort of verisimilitude, or even making it nearly as exciting as it could be (unless you count manipulative drama as exciting). I'm not necessarily talking about coming of age stories here (those can be done with any scenario, really) I'm talking about a "real kid" in the "real world". Nitty-gritty stories about both how exciting an painful the experience of growing up can be, all the trepidation of trying to form a future, and how difficult becoming a fleshed out human... yourself being can be at times. Now, you don't need to limit yourself to slice of life, and I know I said it should be in the "real world", but go ahead and use any setting, as long as well written characters are going through some sort of challenge that forces them to grow up and learn, developing as people, and it gives you a real look at what it's like to walk in a kids shoes. My nomination is:
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad- This show is a pretty much verbatim reflection on... well... kids lives. It's relatable to the point of being painful at times, and I would recommend it to absolutely any teen. Plus, Maho has to be one of my favorite female characters of all time (she's freakishly like me... except driven up to 11 and A LOT cooler). Plus, if anything else, you can appreciate it for it excellent dub, kick ass soundtrack, depiction of the guitar culture, and music references, even if your not a music buff in the least (which... I'm not in the least). |
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Bango
 Posts: 1122 |
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The first thing that struck me here is that I don't equate young adult to highschool. Actually, passing highschool is pretty much one of the many criteria to becoming a young adult for me. Looking it up I suppose the common age range for it is 20-40. But we could debate the meaning of "young adult" until Handmaid Mai makes a comeback and not settle on anything so let's all just go by our own definitions.
So to me I often shove Genshiken in here. I found I could really related to the character types and what was happening because the same things were happening to my friends and I at that age. Likewise Kimi ga Nozomu Eien also dealt with familiar territory to me. The characters were in that "making lots of mistakes through foolishness while shouldering responsibility as best they could." phase. Ef: A Tale of Memories had an arc that really resonated with me for what the characters were doing and how they handled stuff. I don't remember the name of it but there was an old slice-of-life show (early 90's. possibly an OVA or movie) about a dude who inherits an antique shop when his pop suddenly passes away. He struggled with starting at a good university or taking over the shop and the gradual divide that happens between him and his old friends while he makes more business-related acquaintances was amazingly realistic. |
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yotsubafanfan
 Posts: 653 |
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Any of the Key anime's (especially Clannad and Little Busters) are good ones. But Great Teacher Onizuka is the best one I can think of (I'd recommend it to anybody, if you haven't seen it yet then watch it right away, its one of the best anime's out there. It's basically about this former gangster who goes into teaching and how he helps solve his students problems. (He teaches the problem class who's known for making teachers quit) But he solves their problems in VERY unique waysspoiler[ (He once drove a student off of a bridge on a motorcycle)], but yeah, its one of my all time favorites as well, I'd recommend it to anybody. And if you enjoy it there's two drama series and a movie as well!
Kodomo no Omocha (or Kodocha) is another fantastic one. It's dramatic, zany and its a really fun show. It's about a girl name Sana Kurada who's a TV star and her dilemma's in her school life, work life, family life, etc. It's got a good dose of Drama as well as comedy. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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For me it easily has to be Honey and Clover. No show has ever resounded so much to me as it. Granted, I was making huge changes in my life preparing to go and live in a different country for 2 years and have drastic lifestyle changes at the same time it was airing in Japan. So when I saw Takemoto struggling through college attempting to find his place in life along with all the rest of the colorful cast I couldn't help but connect immediately to all of them. The series ranges the gambit with some of the funniest (I'll never look at Twister the same) and most poignant moments I've ever experienced. When I look at Honey & Clover I see characters who are attempting to discover their potential and their desires and it is basicaly the most apt representation of young adult life. It is truly a special anime to me and is the only TV series that I rated a perfect 10/10.
Unfortunately the second season sort of squashes on that perfection but it at least solidifies the future of some of the cast that I really grew to root for. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15580 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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The anime that pops into my head is Listen to Me Girls, I'm Your Father!, especially when talking about young adult life. You have the young adult Yuuto learning what it means to be an adult from looking after his three nieces. He has to work to cover their expenses, living in a small apartment, and trying to be the adult figure in a family where the girls also have to start growing up quicker.
Servant x Service is also working itself nicely with young adults entering the workforce. Time will see what it decides to do though, whether it will expand or not. |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I really enjoyed Nodame Cantabile. It's about students at a music college, and it's so funny. The main character Nodame is a bit of an oddball to say the least, but the show covers her and her friends going through college together and trying to be the best musicians they can be. I'd definitely suggest checking it out, even if you're not that into classical music.
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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And lest we forget, Godai DID finally get into college a mere six episodes or so into Maison Ikkoku, and ended up with a steady job by the last season.
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SwerveCity
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Yeah, I don't really consider highschool kids as young adults either, they are more teenagers. Young adults are more like people in 20-25 age range, when you really start taking on adult responsibilities. Anyway, Planetes is one that I really like. The tale of a person entering the workforce and having to try to keep their idealism while having to face what actual work is like, well its actually rather inspiring. |
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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I'd second Honey and Clover. Even though most of us aren't on track to be visual artists, if you've gone to college you can relate to the crunch period to finish up work, the realities of not having alot of money until you're working, and in Yuta's case the depression when it isn't as easy as you thought to have a job lined up when you graduate (I graduated in the U.S. recession in the 90's - no fun). Some of it is exaggerated for comic effect, but still has a grain of truth. The series handles both comedy and drama very well.
And I agree, Megiddo - I'll never look at Twister the same either after what Shinobu did to it! |
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Brent Allison
 Posts: 2444 Location: Athens-Clarke County, GA, USA |
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Kotonoha no Niwa can be seen as a young adult film if you look at how spoiler[the young teacher] develops as a character, especially towards the end. Hataraku Maou-sama! could be read as a metaphor for how young adulthood is literally crossing into another world, albeit played for laughs. Joshiraku isn't really about young adulthood per se, as the young women past high school age are more of a conduit for satire. I suppose it counts because part of the humor comes from the characters being young adults, and all of the silly rivalries, appeals and foils to cuteness, and various neuroses associated with that age range.
Outlaw Star and Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories are also good young adult shows, if old(er) school space fare is your thing. |
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Bango
Posts: 1122 |
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I was actually thinking "there's a recent one that I want to add to this list but I'm drawing a blank." This was it. I loved the show and it has a really great depiction of responsible life on your own. Anyone who's taken care of or had kids will easily tell you 50% of it is trying to take care of them when they screw up trying to take care of you. |
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ScumbagYoshi
 Posts: 140 |
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Tatami Galaxy and probably Welcome to the NHK. I think those are pretty good shows about young adult life.
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3687 |
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The show that comes to mind for me that seems a bit weird for this question is Futakoi Alternative. At times a zany comedy, and generally nowhere near plausible, the struggles the character goes through to define himself as somebody, and not just his father's son, and not just the guy who is fun to play with, were really emotionally powerful for me.
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1798 Location: South America |
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I don't have as much experience as an anime fan, given that I have watched only around 50-60 different series in my lifetime, but among those featuring young adult main characters I loved Clannad: Afterstory (it attains an epic level of moe-melodrama, though the last 2 episodes are a bit weaker than the rest of the series, the first season set in high school is a bit weaker but I recommend it since it is still very good and it makes you care more about the characters in Afterstory after you watched them grow over the course of several years) and Bunny Drop (a more conservative and more subtle show about a 30-year old single guy who has to raise a child alone).
Also, I would add that the show The Tatami Galaxy, while still very good, didn't have the same level of emotional depth as the two shows above (at least for me). |
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