does every anime character have no parents?
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Yeah, but can you tell me any other effective way to communicate angst?
Nuanced description of the hollow nature of social interaction in a digital world, as a young boy spends all his time texting a distant friend all while failing to make new ones? ... The sense of neglect as the lead's parents obviously favours an elder sister/brother's achievements, as a child in their formative years struggles to close the growing distance between her family and her?
You know, things people might actually relate to in modern Japan?
Nah... family gone, act cold and angsty just 'cos. Saves way more money than hiring talented scriptwriters. Plus no one will get offended if we just phone it in discussing anything about the modern world or tactile problems to actually give our protagonist a depth of belonging in, and owning, their world. Heaven forbid if we produced worthwhile content like Lain, or Welcome to the N.H.K.
Nuanced description of the hollow nature of social interaction in a digital world, as a young boy spends all his time texting a distant friend all while failing to make new ones? ... The sense of neglect as the lead's parents obviously favours an elder sister/brother's achievements, as a child in their formative years struggles to close the growing distance between her family and her?
You know, things people might actually relate to in modern Japan?
Nah... family gone, act cold and angsty just 'cos. Saves way more money than hiring talented scriptwriters. Plus no one will get offended if we just phone it in discussing anything about the modern world or tactile problems to actually give our protagonist a depth of belonging in, and owning, their world. Heaven forbid if we produced worthwhile content like Lain, or Welcome to the N.H.K.
assuming that every teenager is an angst person. would the target audience for anime be teenagers than?
That depends. A lot of anime that gets popular here at least includes teenagers in its target audience, if not making them the sole audience. Plenty of anime is also aimed at younger children, young adults, and middle-aged adults, so it is best not to label all anime as "for teenagers". There's quite a bit of variety in genre and audience if you branch beyond Naruto, One Piece, and similar shows.Brandon Lowdermilk said:
This thread is confusing. Like...is this supposed to be a Q&A for someone curious about anime or what?
Girls und Panzer. A key plot point for Miho Nishizumi is her relationship with her mother and her older sister. Another plot point is Hana's relationship with her mother having chosen to do tankery rather than flower arranging. We also explicitly see Yukari's parents (who are very relieved that she's made some friends). And Mako's are stated to be dead in an accident, with her grandmother being her closest surviving relative. Don't know about Saori.
Death Note. Light has a family. His father is, in fact, the lead investigator into tracking down the person behind the killings which Light is perpetrating.
I mean...is it really necessary to go on beyond that?
Its like asking "is the target audience for movies teenagers?" or "is the target audience for music adults?"; the question itself is absurd because as a medium its not inherently targeted AT anyone, its what is done with it that matters. Particular anime series will target different groups. Some is aimed at children, some at teenagers and some at adults. Just like every other form of entertainment.
No. There are plenty of series in which parents and family are explicitly there and even a key part of the plot. A very quick glance down the pile by my desk right now shows a bunch of them. My personal favourite anime of all time is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. In that Madoka very explicitly has a family; namely a stay-at-home father, a mother who is a high-flying business executive and a little brother.Brandon Lowdermilk said:
Girls und Panzer. A key plot point for Miho Nishizumi is her relationship with her mother and her older sister. Another plot point is Hana's relationship with her mother having chosen to do tankery rather than flower arranging. We also explicitly see Yukari's parents (who are very relieved that she's made some friends). And Mako's are stated to be dead in an accident, with her grandmother being her closest surviving relative. Don't know about Saori.
Death Note. Light has a family. His father is, in fact, the lead investigator into tracking down the person behind the killings which Light is perpetrating.
I mean...is it really necessary to go on beyond that?
Anime is an artistic medium. Your question literally makes no sense.Brandon Lowdermilk said:
Its like asking "is the target audience for movies teenagers?" or "is the target audience for music adults?"; the question itself is absurd because as a medium its not inherently targeted AT anyone, its what is done with it that matters. Particular anime series will target different groups. Some is aimed at children, some at teenagers and some at adults. Just like every other form of entertainment.
I can think of at least one.Brandon Lowdermilk said:
Why assume that?
For most readily available anime in the United States? Probably. All anime ever? It's probably the largest demographic, but not the only one. I imagine that the split is probably more even then in US animation, where 9/10 animated efforts are aimed at teenagers and kids, but there are a few adult series.
Besides all that, I'm going to say what everyone else is - These questions are bizarre. I can only assume someones just introduced you to the concept and you're trying to figure it out. If that's the case, I suggest asking some less leading questions.
Is the no parents an anime thing? it seems like just a fiction thing to me.
Edit: Unless you meant the question literally in which case the answer is no.
Edit: Unless you meant the question literally in which case the answer is no.
Pretty much. It's kind of hard to have a teenager who's in charge of their own destiny and such when his or her parents are breathing down their neck.DementedSheep said:
Takumi's dad is a key part of Initial D, not just because he taught his son how to drive, but also tunes the car for his son before some of his races.Brandon Lowdermilk said:
I don't see what makes anime special in this regard. Are there a lot of parent-less people in anime? Yes. But is the rate of it any higher than other mediums of fiction? Nope. Look at Batman, Superman, most Disney protagonists, Harry Potter, Spiderman, most Star Wars characters, on and on-
In a story every character exists to serve some sort of purpose to a narrative, as a character that has no purpose is literally dead time that destroys the pacing. Yet at the same time parents are something everyone has(unless the character is supernatural or an alien or a clone or something). Unless the parents are directly tied to the narrative the writer has the extremely unenviable position of choosing whether to acknowledge the character's parents and trainwreck the pacing by providing details that do not help advance to deepen the story (the old nugget 'is this the most interesting time in your protagonist's life, and if it isn't why aren't you showing that instead'), or to make the character an orphan or estranged or in some way free of that relationship. It also allows the protagonist to do protagonist things without seeming like an irresponsible jackass neglecting their relations
In a story every character exists to serve some sort of purpose to a narrative, as a character that has no purpose is literally dead time that destroys the pacing. Yet at the same time parents are something everyone has(unless the character is supernatural or an alien or a clone or something). Unless the parents are directly tied to the narrative the writer has the extremely unenviable position of choosing whether to acknowledge the character's parents and trainwreck the pacing by providing details that do not help advance to deepen the story (the old nugget 'is this the most interesting time in your protagonist's life, and if it isn't why aren't you showing that instead'), or to make the character an orphan or estranged or in some way free of that relationship. It also allows the protagonist to do protagonist things without seeming like an irresponsible jackass neglecting their relations
Good heavens nobody show this person Disney, fairy tales, or Fable.PaulH said:
In all joking it's a story crutch for emotional issues, like ^post above said, and a weak one at that. It's overused and abused to be a "fill in the gaps" for character problems. Often times there is focus in the anime genre on either the wrong parts of a character, or the wrong character at all. For example: Cowboy Bebop. Ed was a cool character but he got 50% more development then the others, and the only good ending. Meanwhile Spike is mysterious to the end of the show, and his relationship with --SPOILER-- is almost completely unexplained.. And I consider that anime a GOOD one.
It's a trope that will be used in cartoons probably forever, and there is little to nothing we can do. Just hope one day we can evolve to more real world topics, like the quote says.
Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke's mom is present. Drunk, but she's there and does show clear love for him.
NGE: Paternal angst is a major part.
Bleach: Ichigo's dad is present in his life and very supportive (when he's not pretending to not know about the shinigami stuff).
Kekeishi: Yoshimori's dad is always there and knows about his powers and role.
You wanna talk no parents? Try most Disney movies. It's not a uniquely anime thing.
NGE: Paternal angst is a major part.
Bleach: Ichigo's dad is present in his life and very supportive (when he's not pretending to not know about the shinigami stuff).
Kekeishi: Yoshimori's dad is always there and knows about his powers and role.
You wanna talk no parents? Try most Disney movies. It's not a uniquely anime thing.
This isn't really unique to anime; it shows up in all sorts of fiction. A lot of the time there is some excuse to drop the parents from the story because the relationship with their parents isn't relevant enough to devote time to, but at the same time, you can't really just ignore it either. After all, if your protagonist is going on some adventure you kind of need to address the fact that just wandering off to do hero stuff without telling your friends and family is kind of a dick move, which means your protagonist (if they have a decent relationship with their parents) will probably need to say goodbye to them and inform them of what they're doing and where they're going, which their parents may not agree with and begin an argument over, which is further multiplied for each additional main character who may need to do likewise. That's not to say you can't address these issues and perhaps build a narrative around such things, as many stories do, but if it isn't part of the story you want to tell then parents, siblings, children, family, friends who don't really have a part in the narrative, and others, kind of just get in the way.
Sometimes you just want to free up the protagonist's schedule, obligations and relationships so you can get on the with story without having to devote time to stuff that can/should be edited out of that particular story.
Sometimes you just want to free up the protagonist's schedule, obligations and relationships so you can get on the with story without having to devote time to stuff that can/should be edited out of that particular story.
To add to the list: Mobile Suit Gundam: Amuro's father designed the Gundam.Vausch said:
Zeta Gundam: Kamille's mom was actually rather present, got kidnapped by the Titans, almost ransomed to AEUG, then Jared jumped the gun and killed her literally within Kamille's grasp.
Naruto: Virtually all of the young ninjas have their parents, along with complex relationships with them.
Nurarihyon no Mago(Nurarihyon's Grandson)/Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan: All of the human characters have parents, even if they're rarely mentioned. Rikuo Nura has his mother and grandfather on hand, he also had a close relationship with his half-yokai father before Rihan's untimely death.
Sailor Moon/Crystal: Most of the Sailor Senshi are close with their parents, especially Usagi/Sailor Moon.
The reason a lot of anime characters are orphans, or have absent parents is because that's a few less characters to write for, thus makes a series easier to produce. There's also the dead/missing parents character motivation to take into account too... This isn't a phenomenon exclusive to anime either, it's present in virtually all fiction.