Anime Watching anime characters that are in their teens and preteens talk about their dark and tragic pasts as a man in his mid thirties.

[redux007]

 

[DAME NINGEN]

Always a treat, isn't it?

 

[dkpopman]

Not to be too mean, but I think your empathy is broken. You should be able to hear about someone's struggles and not be thinking of your own. Saying this as a 30 year old myself.

Even if it's as simple as a child dropping their ice cream cone on the ground and crying, you should be able to think from their perspective and feel what they feel. If you can't, you've lost something along the way that you need to try and get back.

 

[redux007]

Not to be too mean, but I think your empathy is broken. You should be able to hear about someone's struggles and not be thinking of your own. Saying this as a 30 year old myself.

Even if it's as simple as a child dropping their ice cream cone on the ground and crying, you should be able to think from their perspective and feel what they feel. If you can't, you've lost something along the way that you need to try and get back.

When I hear about a twelve year old child talk about his dark past as a toddler I don't empathize, I look into correcting the (ongoing) child abuse with extreme prejudice.

 

[dkpopman]

When I hear about a twelve year old child talk about his dark past as a toddler I don't empathize, I look into correcting the (ongoing) child abuse with extreme prejudice.

I think you need to look inside yourself more clearly. So many things to unpack with what you just said, that I don't feel comfortable discussing with you about.

 

[redux007]

I think you need to look inside yourself more clearly. So many things to unpack with what you just said, that I don't feel comfortable discussing with you about.

I unpack all of it, all the time.

 

[TechBlisSTer]

I'm older than Akira.

 

[PacGuy]

My steam account is old enough to drink.
Hearing about teenage drama is always funny to me. I remember being a kid, everything feels so important but none of it really ends up mattering.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Ironically, this got dark fast lol.

 

[What's His Face]

I've only come across one game character that was in their tweens who I gave the pass for this to. That was only because...

Spoiler

...her parents gave her to friends at age 5 or 6 then disappeared, got sold to a cult, endured years of s*x abuse via enslaved prostitution which resulted in her mind shattering into 4 or 5 different personalities - personalities who each died due to the abuses they endured until only the original remained, killed everyone in her specific "underground cult/bordello" and carved crosses into her skin for each person she slaughtered, became a living weapon for an international terrorist organization, then eventually saw herself "replaced" by an infant brother once she finally tracked down her parents...but opted to not murder her old family "just yet" in righteous revenge.

She wasn't the only survivor of that cult in the game series either - the other one I know of off the top of my head came out nearly as screwed-up in the head.

 

[TechBlisSTer]

I've only come across one game character that was in their tweens who I gave the pass for this to. That was only because...

Spoiler

...her parents gave her to friends at age 5 or 6 then disappeared, got sold to a cult, endured years of s*x abuse via enslaved prostitution which resulted in her mind shattering into 4 or 5 different personalities - personalities who each died due to the abuses they endured until only the original remained, killed everyone in her specific "underground cult/bordello" and carved crosses into her skin for each person she slaughtered, became a living weapon for an international terrorist organization, then eventually saw herself "replaced" by an infant brother once she finally tracked down her parents...but opted to not murder her old family "just yet" in righteous revenge.

She wasn't the only survivor of that cult in the game series either - the other one I know of off the top of my head came out nearly as screwed-up in the head.

Are you talking about Baldur's Gate 3?

 

[dkpopman]

I've only come across one game character that was in their tweens who I gave the pass for this to. That was only because...

Spoiler

...her parents gave her to friends at age 5 or 6 then disappeared, got sold to a cult, endured years of s*x abuse via enslaved prostitution which resulted in her mind shattering into 4 or 5 different personalities - personalities who each died due to the abuses they endured until only the original remained, killed everyone in her specific "underground cult/bordello" and carved crosses into her skin for each person she slaughtered, became a living weapon for an international terrorist organization, then eventually saw herself "replaced" by an infant brother once she finally tracked down her parents...but opted to not murder her old family "just yet" in righteous revenge.

She wasn't the only survivor of that cult in the game series either - the other one I know of off the top of my head came out nearly as screwed-up in the head.

if you need a kid to go through that much to feel empathy for them, then I really don't know how to respect you as a human.

This thread is really strange.

 

[TechBlisSTer]

if you need a kid to go through that much to feel empathy for them, then I really don't know how to respect you as a human.

This thread is really strange.

You seem to be rather obsessed with the topic. Maybe try letting it go a little.

 

[MrPanda61]

View attachment 142933

being in my mid thirties I can't but sympathies.
When I was a teen everything was so dramatic. Now those same experiences would be brushed off with a warm bath.

But Anime characters always fee like shelled shock soldiers. Where the hell did they find the time for such gripping experiences!?

 

[TechBlisSTer]

being in my mid thirties I can't but sympathies.
When I was a teen everything was so dramatic. Now those same experiences would be brushed off with a warm bath.

But Anime characters always fee like shelled shock soldiers. Where the hell did they find the time for such gripping experiences!?

It's something to do with Japan's obsession with High School themes. I mean look at where Urotsukidōji took place. They got High School on the brain. I can't really blame them, but it does get tiresome when so much story telling is written about a time and place most people would rather just forget.

 

[Retro Doomer]

Well its always the same super dark and grim past in Anime especially when they need to justify a edgy character.And in turns of Empathy

but zhe joke aside even if you are young you can have a dark past and that comes from a old timer like me,even when it feels weird hearing a kiddo talking about his dark past its easy to feel like kiddo you don't even have experienced half of it yet.
And now it is my turn to talk about my dark past

sit down it may take a while...

And for me its generally weird as a geezer to watch School kids in Anime all the time I am happy that I am out of that Insane Asylum.
I don't need to be constantly reminded of it
Also its annoying that about 90% Of all Main Characters in Anime are under aged at least it feels like it...I mean come on we adults exist to I don't need School Story 2002 I rather watch Isekai but even then its a School kid most of the time..sigh

 

[MrPanda61]

It's something to do with Japan's obsession with High School themes. I mean look at where Urotsukidōji took place. They got High School on the brain. I can't really blame them, but it does get tiresome when so much story telling is written about a time and place most people would rather just forget.

Is it truly an obsession or just self selection bias?
Non highschool manga or anime are plentiful, but I do have the same impression that teenager protagonist are the majority. Afterall, teenagers are the target demographic for those products.

 

[suzunami]

I'm nowhere near my 30s (lol) but I had pretty bad teen years so if anything hearing characters talk about that stuff reminds me of just how bad things got and how they shouldn't have ever been that bad for me. But at the same time, it does get a little tiresome since it is an overdone trope in certain genres. (As others have said.)

 

[redux007]

This thread is really strange.

You sound like you need to unpack dat.

 

[What's His Face]

Are you talking about Baldur's Gate 3?

Surprisingly no.

 

[suzunami]

It's something to do with Japan's obsession with High School themes. I mean look at where Urotsukidōji took place. They got High School on the brain. I can't really blame them, but it does get tiresome when so much story telling is written about a time and place most people would rather just forget.

I agree with this too, I'm honestly done/tired of it as well. I feel like even in the west, highschool is considered to be such an overrated experience. I unfortunately have to avoid a lot of series personally because they take place in highschool and I've reached a point where I can no longer idolize such a shitty time. I feel pretty out of place around other anime fans who are fine with the setting, like no peaking in highschool is not good lol. (But I do tolerate the setting sometimes although it sucks to have to do so).

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

It can be an effective and very valid storytelling technique, however.

One of my favorite books ever ("Runaway" by Wendelin van Draanen) is all about a 12-year-old orphan who has gone through hell and it is a very interesting, captivating read the whole way through.

Unfortunately... A lot of works just treat the whole thing as character trait or trope, so I can definitely see why some people would dismiss it outright as silly or stupid.

 

[redux007]

Unfortunately... A lot of works just treat the whole thing as character trait or trope, so I can definitely see why some people would dismiss it outright as silly or stupid.

I like the discussion, but I should qualify something about the meme I posted. I'm not saying children can't suffer or be exposed to horrific circumstances. Nor was I discussing "empathy" in regards to children's experiences (either for or against, nor the scale of import to them vs import to an adult). I'm saying that the hypothetical child in question doesn't so much have a "past," as an extenuated present. And, real children don't tend to (but, when they do it sounds silly and cute) sound like war veterans having flashbacks. Where in anime and certain novels they sound like they've been alive for decades. It's especially jarring when the character is barely over ten years old. Ken Amada from Persona being a perfect example of this. Especially in the Persona 3 movie where he talks about (he'd never experience pleasure again) after the day his mother died. It's simply bad writing.