(no subject)
Well, start of the new month, and I do believe I have failed my memes. Ah well. Blame it on school and life. I'll get back to them as soon as I have motivation.
Anyways, I can at least talk about anime today.
When was the last time you saw a ten year-old in anime? I mean a real ten year old, not some little kid that has super powers and been forced to have a grown up world view.
One of the harder posts I've made recently was about Mary Kate and Alecka. Recently, while reading Barbara Kingsolvers book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", I ran across a similar young girl; the authors youngest daughter, Lily. These girls are young, but in a kindof tough, spunky little-kid way.
TV-Tropes would classify these girls as "Cute Bruisers". But honestly, when was the last time you saw a kid in anime? My first thought was Hanimari Kindergarded, and I suspect that's one of the few that actually portrays child as children, rather than proto-adults. Perhaps because the good people from Gainax actually have kids. Same goes for shows like Chi's Sweet Home.
'Cute' and 'kid' mean different things. 'Cute' is something that makes appropriate moe noises, and often acts sickeningly sweet, only to turn around and do something incredibly violent and 'grownup'. A 'Kid' is none of that. No moe, no cutesy, and no violent out bursts (at least, none that actually damage anything.) Kids make mistakes, don't understand things, and often times try to do things they can't handle, fail, and give up in favor of something else.
Would I trust the fate of the world to a 'kid'? No. But that doesn't mean that there should be no kids in anime. They don't have to be main characters or anything. But it gets irritating after a while having either incompetent, evil, or far too worldly wise characters masquerading as children.
Take Aang from Avatar, for example. Or about half of all J-RPG leads. They don't actually act like kids. Depending on the audience, they are made more mature by circumstance, or unknowledgeable writers...or writers who are aware of their audience and are writing people to be 'looked up too' even if that means they act unrealistically.
Childhood isn't just a time when we were all too innocent to be swayed by dark forces but still incredibly pure of heart and therefor strong. Seriously. Who the hell would give a sword to a fourth grader?
Anyone have a good example of a kid in anime? One who acted their age, rather than either being broken or made into a plot point.
Anyways, I can at least talk about anime today.
When was the last time you saw a ten year-old in anime? I mean a real ten year old, not some little kid that has super powers and been forced to have a grown up world view.
One of the harder posts I've made recently was about Mary Kate and Alecka. Recently, while reading Barbara Kingsolvers book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", I ran across a similar young girl; the authors youngest daughter, Lily. These girls are young, but in a kindof tough, spunky little-kid way.
TV-Tropes would classify these girls as "Cute Bruisers". But honestly, when was the last time you saw a kid in anime? My first thought was Hanimari Kindergarded, and I suspect that's one of the few that actually portrays child as children, rather than proto-adults. Perhaps because the good people from Gainax actually have kids. Same goes for shows like Chi's Sweet Home.
'Cute' and 'kid' mean different things. 'Cute' is something that makes appropriate moe noises, and often acts sickeningly sweet, only to turn around and do something incredibly violent and 'grownup'. A 'Kid' is none of that. No moe, no cutesy, and no violent out bursts (at least, none that actually damage anything.) Kids make mistakes, don't understand things, and often times try to do things they can't handle, fail, and give up in favor of something else.
Would I trust the fate of the world to a 'kid'? No. But that doesn't mean that there should be no kids in anime. They don't have to be main characters or anything. But it gets irritating after a while having either incompetent, evil, or far too worldly wise characters masquerading as children.
Take Aang from Avatar, for example. Or about half of all J-RPG leads. They don't actually act like kids. Depending on the audience, they are made more mature by circumstance, or unknowledgeable writers...or writers who are aware of their audience and are writing people to be 'looked up too' even if that means they act unrealistically.
Childhood isn't just a time when we were all too innocent to be swayed by dark forces but still incredibly pure of heart and therefor strong. Seriously. Who the hell would give a sword to a fourth grader?
Anyone have a good example of a kid in anime? One who acted their age, rather than either being broken or made into a plot point.