Inbreeding or Family Romance in Manga/Anime

[Scarim Coral]

The only animes I had encounter this (romance ish not sexual) are Macademi Wasshoi and Ikki Tousen were they are cousin. Well in Macademi Wasshoi was a something like a sign of affection while I never bother to watch the rest of Ikki Tousen (all I can remember is the guy cousin kissing the main female lead).

I can find it somewhere borderline hwever anything sexual between the two is crossing the line (for Macademi Wasshoi case, that anime is just too funny and random that I can overlook that that the echiiness).

 

[Richardplex]

I've a manga that deals with the societal issues and pressures put upon people who are in love with their siblings that's on my to-read list. Koi Kaze to name it. Being someone who's cool with incest, it's a subject that interests me, the struggles of it.

 

[Marik2]

UM.... I have never heard of incest being popular in normal manga and anime, the only manga and anime that Ive seen get into the whole incest thing was kiss x sis and the relatives arent related by blood anyways(they're step siblings)

 

[Princess Rose]

I know some people would say "that's the way manga/anime is: panties, nosebleeds, big weapons, super violence, awkward situations, etc. etc." My only question is why?

Because of Shintoism.

The Shinto creation myth features Izanami and Izanagi, a sister and brother, creating Japan. They then have sex. Izanami then gives birth to most of the other gods, dying in childbirth when she tries to give birth to the god of fire.

So, basically, Japan was created by two siblings having sex.

Edit: Here's a Wiki link for those who are interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izanami-no-Mikoto

 

[evilives34]

on the siblings in manga, remember a lot of people that dont understand japanese culture, dont understand the the terms use for sister or brother dont always mean they are in the same family, young kids with call older male and females onii-chan(brother) or onee-chan(sister).

and science has shown that cousins(even first cousins) are genetically different enough to avoid recessive genes becoming a issue. there are states in the USA that its legal to marry a cousin.

my wife's(who is Japaneses) brother is married their cousin. it weirded out my family but there its not common anymore, but its not a big deal either

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Well, thanks everyone for your input.

I guess I'll just say that there are a lot cultural things that I wasn't fully aware off (thanks to Imperator_DK and Princess Rose in particular).

I'll just leave it as a trend in anime/manga that deals with concepts that go beyond romantic feelings within a family.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[KingCrInuYasha]

While not that big of a plot point, the original Tenchi Muyo! continuity has inbreeding to be a normal part of the society of Jurai, to which I say:


Yeah...:\

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

i cant answer that one. xD it may be partially due to a lot of manga being WEIRD.

but not as weird as real life tends to be, i know a girl who got pregnant with her brother, had the baby, and now they live together.

 

[Zeema]

i belive in the Anime version of Cardcaptors they say something like 'My Cousin's Is getting married to my Sister' for another 2 months

Lee said it

 

[Ruwrak]

Elven Lied has some tendencies to incestism (It's not a word, I know, but you know.. )

Why you ask?


Dude... It's Japan.
There is no other reason XD

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Anime and Japanese culture in general has a ton of overly fetishized elements that fans fawn over.


There is what is commonly called siscon (sister-complex) where a brother is awkwardly attracted to his sister (usually this is with an older guy and a younger girl, though not always) and a ton of series handle this. Some are just cheap thrills and jokes (think of them as basically southpark, being audacious for audacity's sake) but some do tackle these subjects with seriousness and a specific series, Angel Sanctuary, goes into a whole Divine Comedy-eqsue crisis from the initial plot of two siblings being in love. (epic series at that, the Manga especially though the anime OVAs do handle the starting bits quite well)



Beyond that, there's the more creepy stuff, such as parents being sexually teased by the kids their new spouses have or people being with other people as a substitute of a family member they know they can't be with. That's general fantasy and some jump into to flat out sexual material, though that's more the exception than the rule.




As for the opposite effect, unlike in American families where opposite-sex siblings are almost universally portrayed as enemies during their formative years, Japanese siblings tend to be raised in a way that has them be much closer to each-other. If you have a young sister you don't think her barbies are gay and you don't try to make her cry, you feel like a big strong big brother that has someone to protect.

These feelings can lead young and confused minds into misinterpreting such actions for romantic love, therefore we have both girls and boys growing up sorta smitten with their other sibling, while knowing they can't have them, which is a prime source of DRAMA!

 

[NeutralDrow]

Wait...like, in mainstream works? Really? I can't think of very many, myself, though it's insanely popular in doujinshi of all stripes (even non-H). And no, I don't see the appeal myself, either. And I'm an only child.

Granted, even aside from what's already been mentioned, Japan doesn't restrict first-cousin marriage (nor does most of the world, from what I understand), so "kissing cousins" makes sense as a trope...even though it's still not particularly common.

Also, a couple of fun facts. Incestuous marriage (as in, between siblings or parents and children) is illegal in Japan, incestuous sex actually isn't. Despite that, there's still naturally a huge cultural taboo (which apparently feeds into the "incestuous story" appeal), to the point that there was actually a huge and overblown moral panic about it in the late 80's. Also, adopted siblings can legally marry in Japan (see: the admittedly historical Ginchiyo and Muneshige Tachibana), though it's considered pretty weird in reality.

Ultimately, there might be a bit of cultural dissonance in the popularity...but probably not all that much, it's not like incest stories are unknown or unpopular outside Japan. It's entirely possible that such popularity in fiction there might be a reaction of sorts; I buy a bit into the speculation that Japan's pop culture can be (perceived from the outside as) occasionally batshit insane because the culture is otherwise fairly repressive. Look up "nomunication" for another example.

It's been along for quite a while longer than just the last few years though, and seem to be rather common in digital Japanese romance fantasy; at least enough to attract the attention [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_108/1315-Heart-wrenching-Hentai] of this site (though that one's a game, and apparently a good one too).

Oh, sweet me, <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206764-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kana-Little-Sister>that it is. That said, it also handles the incest aspect more seriously and respectfully than, well...any other work that I've seen, to be honest.

 

[Nurb]

The FANTASY of incest is hot to a lot of people when it doesn't involve THEIR family. You know, sisters and stuff I know I don't need to spell out. It's normal expression of weird fantasy. The only difference is that fantasy is openly shown and shared by like minded people.

Besides, It's JAPAN. They go all-out when doing porn. Just gotta accept it.

And at least people get off on the cartoons instead of trying to get grandma drunk for some easy gumjobs.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Simple, Japan loves kinky shit and incest falls into that group of things.

Also alot of times the translations are off, the words for brother/sister in Japanese have several meanings.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Simple, Japan loves kinky shit and incest falls into that group of things.

Also alot of times the translations are off, the words for brother/sister in Japanese have several meanings.

It's not that different though, I mean, people in USA use "bro" when talking to friends they're not related to by blood. It's the same principle, only instead of being another word for "pal" it's another word for "older person whom I feel comfortable with".

 

[Smooth Operator]

It's not that different though, I mean, people in USA use "bro" when talking to friends they're not related to by blood. It's the same principle, only instead of being another word for "pal" it's another word for "older person whom I feel comfortable with".

True that, but when they translate "bro" as "brother" and it's something the girls says just before things get dirty... people will get a very disturbing picture.

The direct phrase translation between cultures just doesn't work.

 

[Archangel768]

i cant answer that one. xD it may be partially due to a lot of manga being WEIRD.

but not as weird as real life tends to be, i know a girl who got pregnant with her brother, had the baby, and now they live together.

That's interesting, how did the baby turn out?

(would this be a low content post?)

 

[sam42ification]

Simple, Japan loves kinky shit and incest falls into that group of things.

Also alot of times the translations are off, the words for brother/sister in Japanese have several meanings.

It's not that different though, I mean, people in USA use "bro" when talking to friends they're not related to by blood. It's the same principle, only instead of being another word for "pal" it's another word for "older person whom I feel comfortable with".

It's kind of like bro. It's because kanji symbols are recycled a lot and one symbol can mean a lot of things when put with other kanji or hiragana symbols. Dreiko is right the translations are off a lot. Mistakes can be easily made especially if it's an indie manga/anime. For example i have the word chan in a few animes and it was translated to baby. chan is somthing you put after somones name. It's like san (which is a more common version of chan). Like if we were talking japanese you would call me sam san. If i was a baby you would call me sam chan but it's not only for baby it's for people in love, really really close freinds, couples ect. I guess you can call your partner baby but when the subtitle reads sam baby it doesn't make scense. that was a completely off topic example.

I think another reason incest is used is because people like to do things they're not meant to. If there is a button and i sign saying don't press the button, people will press it because they weren't meant to. I think because people aren't mean to imbreed or fall in love with their brothers or sisters they create a fantasy where two fictional charcters fall in love. Just because it's concidered wrong. Also Japanese are pretty kinky.

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

i cant answer that one. xD it may be partially due to a lot of manga being WEIRD.

but not as weird as real life tends to be, i know a girl who got pregnant with her brother, had the baby, and now they live together.

That's interesting, how did the baby turn out?

(would this be a low content post?)

fine actually. Boy did there parents flip a shit when they found out that their children were screwing and ended up living together since they're not legally allowed to marry.