Daddy Issue

[cyberghostface]

Here's the beginning of a fan doujin from Taiwan. It's not translated but it's fairly simple to follow. The original site is here.

Comments

[cypherfdp]

It's Taiwanese, actually

[cyberghostface]

Thanks, fixed it.

[commodus]

There are few things I detest more on this Earth than manga's obsession with putting every damn thing in a school setting.

[zachbeacon]

It isn't just a Manga problem. They keep sticking Cinematic Spider-Man in High School (alongside characters he didn't KNOW in high school) even though that was only a few years of his publishing history.

[commodus]

God, tell me about it. I can't stand Spider-Man being a High School student. Tom Holland's one of the only guys in the MCU I find attractive, so of course they make the character he plays underage. Because why would anyone be attracted to a man who ISN'T a bearded bodybuilder type, right? Everyone knows that people are only ever attracted to one type of man ever.

But hey, at least they aren't sexualising the high school students. Which is more than I can say for a lot of manga. If they want to draw attractive women or men, they can, but why do they feel the need to set everything either in a school or some weird school-proxy? I mean, Jesus, just make them adults, it's not hard.

Free!, My Hero Academia, Full Metal Alchemist, Gundam Wing. They all seem to do it. They could tell the exact same stories with a cast of adults and keep the same designs and voices, but instead they choose to be creepy about it.

[zachbeacon]

I'm not attracted to Tom Holland but I do think he's probably the most likable person to play Spider-Man in live action. I just wish they'd let him play Spider-Man a bit more because that child desperate for the approval of adult superheroes isn't any Spider-Man I recognize.

As for the anime thing, I agree with the sentiment* if not the examples**.

*I am now old enough that I find it hard to watch a lot of anime without thinking "Where are your PARENTS?"

**Haven't seen Free but FMA is about child prodigies, GW is partly about child soldiers (though they could have done more with that), and MHA is literally about a superhero school so I'm fine with them being kids. MHA is the only one of the I would point to as having sexualisation problems and I don't think its that the invisible girl and boy who passes through objects are naked most of the time; I think its baffling that they have a teacher who dresses like a dominatrix and a student who should be on a sex offender registry.

[arilou_skiff]

Because most manga (at leas that gets brought over) is aimed at teenagers. (there's also another set of weird particular japanese things about work-life balance and such that makes setting things outside of high school or at least college difficult)

[alicemacher]

This. There's a lot of manga that has nothing to do with middle/high schools or teenagers at all. In Japan, nearly everyone from all walks of life reads manga of some sort, because one needs to have something lengthy to read on the long train commutes to and from work. And so there are manga tailored to various age and career demographics.

But because, as you say, very little of that makes it across the ocean in translation (with a few exceptions for literary manga such as those by Tatsumi), the medium here in the West gets hit with the above misconception about being "for perverted loser adults who get off on drawings of sexy teenagers."

[ozaline]

There is also the fact that they were still reacting to early Showa Era propaganda which encouraged High Schoolers to be ready to lay down their life for the Empire. Stories of heroic teens who would ultimately lay down their lives for their Emperor.

Now creators are telling the same kind of stories with different messages, celebrating the individual, and having friends save the day and making sure no one is sacrificed to do so.

It's why Sailor Moon S gets so gritty, "We must be ready to sacrifice anything, and anyone to save the world," says Uranus and Neptune... "fuck no," says Sailor Moon.

Japan is also one of the few countries I've seen that has a lot of stories that focus on Jr. High students too (Sailor Moon, Evangelion, Fushigi Yuugi) cause the all important High School entrance exams are such a big deal there.

And yeah as noted... the kind of superheroic stories are just easier to to do with teens or young adults in Japanese society.

There are however plenty of manga aimed at adults about adults, and work. A couple aimed at nerds (but not scifi) that I've been reading lately are "Love is Hard for Otaku," and "Lend Me 100 Yen So I Can Play a Game."

[joetuss]

Im not familiar with this particular genre of comics, but from the little I have seen of it, i notice that a lot of the characters tend to be posed the way Thor is on the cover...what's that all about?

[ozaline]

That's kind of a stock, "Say WHA?" pose... showing someone who is very surprised by what they're seeing.

[joetuss]

Oh, ok. That's interesting lol

[thenicochan]

This is really cute. Poor Gamora. (I mean, less so than Standard!Gamora, so there's that at least)

[silverzeo]

Heh, reminds me one that one scene from Gurren lagann with the "multi-dimensional labyrinth" where Lord Genome was a being a parent at school...

Which makes me ask this: Who is a the better Dad? Thanos or Lord Genome...

Both are horrible in their own right... both heed to a "higher" calling, and wish to inflict despair to all those who cross them? So... who would you think would win decent father of the year?