My anime penchant for young love
It's been a reaally long while since I enjoyed a good live action romance. My last related indulgence was the Korean hit Coffee Prince which started out very promising, only to be betrayed by a meandering path to closure and the juvenile male lead. (He's supposedly 29 but behaves like a 19 yr old.) And therein lies the reason why I enjoy anime romances so much more.
The world have unrealistic expectations of adults. One moment, we are blundering teens with raging hormones, then very suddenly we become responsible adults, expected to keep porn out of children's reach, tackle global warming and strive for peace in Middle East. I inherited the same unfair worldviews when it came to adult romances, making it hard for me to enjoy the genre. Most intriguing loves stories are built on the emotional ineptitude/immaturity of the characters, flaws which I'm unwilling to overlook for adults. Surprisingly, I'm A LOT more forgiving for adolescent love. An example would be the very common tsundere archetype in romantic tales. When I encounter a 16 yr old anime tsundere, I rejoice inwardly, knowing that it is a promising setup for character growth. However, the 25 yr old live action tsundere just makes me groan at how immature she is.
Same goes for the issue of jealousy. Hate and love are not 2 sides of the same coin, it's love and jealousy. Many romances are made interesting because of the exaggerated reactions that flowed from jealousy. Again, I enjoyed very much the jealous antics of a 15 yr old sister hankering for nii-san's attention but think poorly of an adult's jealous outburst or worse, insidious jealous machinations. And the list for my leanings toward anime young love goes on.
It's no coincidence that lovers in anime are much younger since the medium is targeted at that demography. What surprises me is the level of maturity some of these anime characters conduct themselves at despite their tender ages. I often wished I had the maturity of an anime character when younger but never had such a corresponding yearning for live action adult characters. This is probably one of the reasons why I'd never drop anime since outside of the Great ArtTM, few love stories exceed my expectations.
Here's to more True tears and Da Capos.
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April 8th, 2008 - 09:24
looking at the title i thought you were finally confessing you were a lolicon in addition to a siscon.
unfortounately jealous is a very much part of adulthood. There was a study a couple of years back that found some women just can’t out grow thier high school years. They nurse grudges forever and indisous with rumors and innuendos. They make life hell for other women in the work place.
I would not place DC anywhere near the top form young romance. The shirakawa keep losing generation after generation. Points have to be deducted for that.
EF is my recommandation for best young romance. Surprisingly i haven’t seen True Tears yet.
April 8th, 2008 - 12:46
Do not mention True Tears and Da Capo in the same sentence ever…
You have to grow up sometime you know. Being and adult is about learning to dispense with irrational emotions and learning to enjoy your second childhood in more benign ways. Heck I now guys who are fast approaching 30 and they still play video games with the young folk. Besides when you get a daughter one of you is going to have to be the adult and it probably has to be you. It is as they say youth is wasted on the young.
It all goes with living on your own and trying to scratch out a living, sacrifices will have to be made if you want a shelter and food on your table.
April 8th, 2008 - 21:34
Naive/innocent jealousy can be cute, particularly in anime that plays off it. But adult (for a lack of a better word) jealousy often leads to much harmful behavior.
April 8th, 2008 - 23:16
There’s always an aspect of a person that never grows up or is flawed.
As long as person A is lucky enough (or unlucky enough) not to meet a monster that does something to person A such that it results in postive feedback, person A will continue the way he/she/it is.
If the environment (including whom they interact with) is a factor of a person’s development, pple like person A r just lucky to be pampered or unlucky to have been left unchallenged.
Anyway, I do prefer young love (probably something like Aishideru Baby) rather than the drama of a overly complex strategem executed by adults(??) just to let the victim know that aishiiiiiiteruuuuuuuu~
“Do this! Do that! Buy this! Then that! Wait for late game and get all the items in before you face off with him. Keep moving back often to let him miss his area stun!”
“Actually….you just need a Black King Bar early on.”
April 9th, 2008 - 07:09
Xellos-_^: ah ef, another worthy romance although I’m staunchly in the camp that believes the Chihiro arc is what made ef great.
Crusader: Speaking of which I was just walking through my nephew a couple of days ago how to clear a tough boss in Kingdom Hearts. XD Actually I think you still have all the irrational emotions and immaturity. But adulthood just teaches you to manage it better by masking it well.
Derek: Reminds me why I loved making my girlfriends jealousy when younger. Quit the bad habit after I realised it was exploitative
crimson: I actually like dramatic stories for teenage love but not so much for adults. Often the solution to their love dilemma is painfully obvious to us but while we are able to make excuses for teenage bishoujos, I don’t grant adult the same luxury