How come most anime characters are teenagers?

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cilu
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How come most anime characters are teenagers?

Post by cilu » Sat Jul 03, 2004 8:38 am

Why does every manga/anime series have as main character teenagers? Are there any anime where the main character are adults? (except Lupin).
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Kalium
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Post by Kalium » Sat Jul 03, 2004 8:45 am

I was in a discussion about this recently. There is no really good answer, except to look at the fanbase.

As a counter-example, I bid you watch Ninja Scroll.

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forgot about that

Post by cilu » Sat Jul 03, 2004 8:53 am

Oh yeah, ninja scroll. Forgot about that one. And hellsing too, alucard is pretty old no?
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It's rational until you realize that by striving for it, you become a spider yourself... (Knives)

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Post by Mirumoto_Chris » Sat Jul 03, 2004 9:18 am

I would also site that there is a lot of angst and drama inherent to that period of life. It is not difficult to believe that they are in these positions.

As for Eva and other extraordinary situations... demographics, my friend, demographics.
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Post by oldwrench » Sat Jul 03, 2004 9:39 am

I think the japanese see that time of life as something special, innocence and an openness to new adventures. We old guys get to set in our view of the world, imagination clouded by responsibilities :( . Besides, young people are cuter. :D

anyway - Cowboy Bebop and Trigun have mainly adult caracters and they are some of the best. Quite a few others have young adults fof main characters.
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Post by Mirumoto_Chris » Sat Jul 03, 2004 9:47 am

oldwrench wrote: Besides, young people are cuter. :D
I do believe you have a point. :wink:
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Post by )v(ajin Koji » Sat Jul 03, 2004 10:12 am

Mirumoto_Chris wrote:
oldwrench wrote: Besides, young people are cuter. :D
I do believe you have a point. :wink:
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Brolly345
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Post by Brolly345 » Sat Jul 03, 2004 10:24 am

They do this so the shows will be more appealing to the crowd they are aimed at. At least those are my thoughts on the subject.

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Post by Moonlight Soldier » Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:43 am

Not to mention, depending on where you're getting your anime from makes a difference. Obviously the cartoon network is going to grab shows that would appeal to people in their demographic.

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bum
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Post by bum » Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:46 pm

it all depends on the morals/emotions that the creators of an anime are trying to bring across. take evangelion for example. i was around the age of shinji and asuka when i got into evangelion. and alot of the emotional states that they went through and things they felt we're similar to mine. hating everyone. thinking that everyone hates you, problems with your perants and all that other painful shit which thankfully is going away now. that disturbing sence of reality in evangelion that no other show had ever realy portraid, it created a sort of sunconcios conection for me.

berserk, on the other hand, has the main characters all at around their mid 20's. the focus is on loyalty, love (a "brothers love" more than romantic love), freindship, courage, the value of life, and a mans journey for meaning in his life. the older characters suite what the anime is trying to get across to the viewer.

then offcourse, thier are thoughs rare and beautiful contrasts in anime such as now and then, here and ther. the charaters age vs situation/moral of a story are two very different extremes , where young children (o, mabey teens, but nothing about 14-15. they certianly could qualify as 12 year olds) face situations of war, death, and truth behind mans actions. such things are usualy only ever expressed using adult characters, but using children adds a greate amount of emphasis on the situation, and brings across the emotions much stronger than if adult characters we're used.

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