Author Topic: What's the obsession with 15 year olds? (Read 4502 times)

armitron · « **on:** August 18, 2009, 12:57:29 AM »

Anyone wonder why most anime out there feature 13-15 year old protagonists? Most anime I've seen feature characters half my age. It kinda ruins it for me, but after I watch for awhile I forget about it.

Decado1 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:00:58 AM »

That's more or less the target audience in Japan. And yes, it sucks. I generally don't bother with them.

newy · « **Reply #2 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:01:56 AM »

I guess among the intended audience that's the group with the most watchers.

armitron · « **Reply #3 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:35:40 AM »

Argh... I don't feel like finishing Gundam Wing anymore.

relic2279 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:58:08 AM »

There are anime out there which do not feature teenie boppers or teenagers. Just gotta change what you watch. But don't let an age of a character dissuade you from a good anime with an amazing story. There are plenty of classic must see anime which has an under 18 male/female protagonist.

darkjedi · « **Reply #5 on:** August 18, 2009, 02:11:14 AM »

Quote from: relic2279 on August 18, 2009, 01:58:08 AM

There are plenty of classic must see anime which has an under 18 male/female protagonist.

We need examples!

Anime like True Tears, Ef - aToM, Bakemonogatari and the Book of Friends are rather good for the drama genre.

On the other hand in the action genre we have the popular TTGR, Code Geass, Macross Frontier, and some others that I don't know in addition to the Gundam series. Dunno how they are good in general because I haven't watched all, (I usually drop them mid-way through) but somehow they share one common similarity; they are all mecha oriented, and have overpowered or overly idealistic ugly main characters. (mecha is soo not my stuff; nothing against people who like mecha) If you want classics, traditional mecha is not the way to go.

So avoid mecha anime as much as possible and watch drama/slice of life anime if you want a protagonist that acts their age.

Drew · « **Reply #6 on:** August 18, 2009, 03:13:28 AM »

Quote from: darkjedi on August 18, 2009, 02:11:14 AM

So avoid mecha anime as much as possible and watch drama/slice of life anime if you want a protagonist that acts their age.

Granted, there are plenty of great (fantastic, even) SoLs with teenage protagonists.

Tatsujin · « **Reply #7 on:** August 18, 2009, 03:28:33 AM »

Quote from: darkjedi on August 18, 2009, 02:11:14 AM

Quote from: relic2279 on August 18, 2009, 01:58:08 AM
There are plenty of classic must see anime which has an under 18 male/female protagonist.

We need examples!

Anime like True Tears, Ef - aToM, Bakemonogatari and the Book of Friends are rather good for the drama genre.

On the other hand in the action genre we have the popular TTGR, Code Geass, Macross Frontier, and some others that I don't know in addition to the Gundam series. Dunno how they are good in general because I haven't watched all, (I usually drop them mid-way through) but somehow they share one common similarity; they are all mecha oriented, and have overpowered or overly idealistic ugly main characters. (mecha is soo not my stuff; nothing against people who like mecha) If you want classics, traditional mecha is not the way to go.

So avoid mecha anime as much as possible and watch drama/slice of life anime if you want a protagonist that acts their age.

If you wanna go ultra hardcore, watch Hentai and Ecchi anime ... like "Color of Water, Color of Sky" ... and "Kanokon" and "Sekirei"

Teaparty · « **Reply #8 on:** August 18, 2009, 03:38:12 AM »

Makes you think "why didn't those things happen to me?" huh...

ilk3000 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 18, 2009, 03:43:55 AM »

I agree that there should be more characters not in grade school, but I wouldn't exactly call Gundam Wing characters schoolboys. They act and were treated like adults throughout the entire series and none of the themes had anything to do with youth or maturity or school life.

Older characters are usually seen in a 'lone gunman' type anime like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Hellsing, etc. There are some with college students like Genshiken, but I think that age is more predominant in manga, where the complexity and risque nuances of beginning an adult life can be shown without censorship.

Humanoidz · « **Reply #10 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:29:48 AM »

Quote from: armitron on August 18, 2009, 12:57:29 AM

Anyone wonder why most anime out there feature 13-15 year old protagonists? Most anime I've seen feature characters half my age. It kinda ruins it for me, but after I watch for awhile I forget about it.

I'm starting to get that way. I've seen new shows added to the tracker and if the first line of the description says teenager or high school student, I immediately hit the back button. But there are still lots of good shows that feature young characters like the others say and there are plenty of good ones with adults. I pick and choose which isn't a big deal since we get new shows almost weekly.

Quote from: Annonymous on August 18, 2009, 03:38:12 AM

Makes you think "why didn't those things happen to me?" huh...

lol! Like the sudden harem appearance

Proin Drakenzol · « **Reply #11 on:** August 18, 2009, 12:45:02 PM »

hehe, loli <3

Path · « **Reply #12 on:** August 18, 2009, 12:54:25 PM »

Quote from: armitron on August 18, 2009, 12:57:29 AM

Anyone wonder why most anime out there feature 13-15 year old protagonists? Most anime I've seen feature characters half my age. It kinda ruins it for me, but after I watch for awhile I forget about it.

Because, unsurpisingly, the main demographic group for most anime are adolescents. It makes sense to have protagonists that the target audience can easily identify with, at some level.

Sosseres · « **Reply #13 on:** August 18, 2009, 12:58:25 PM »

Quote from: armitron on August 18, 2009, 12:57:29 AM

Anyone wonder why most anime out there feature 13-15 year old protagonists? Most anime I've seen feature characters half my age. It kinda ruins it for me, but after I watch for awhile I forget about it.

Because it is one of the ages where we undergo rapid changes that are interesting for a wide demographic of people. I personally don't care about the protagonist age if the story and chars are interesting. I don't even check the age of the characters prior to viewing. (I hate the lying about age that law has inserted though. Where people claim to be a certain age when everything shows them being younger...)

armitron · « **Reply #14 on:** August 18, 2009, 01:08:21 PM »

Quote from: Annonymous on August 18, 2009, 03:38:12 AM

Makes you think "why didn't those things happen to me?" huh...

Yep. I'm jealous.

Tatsujin · « **Reply #15 on:** August 18, 2009, 02:07:14 PM »

One of the other major reasons reflecting anime series like Code Geass and Macross Frontier is because younger people tend to have mixed feelings with first love, experiencing new things and trying to adapt to them, arguing with them, happy, sad, etc. They're teens or young adults that act like acts (makes you think when you were younger to think that "I'm a grown man" or "woman" so I'm already in the adult world).

One of the terms or the reality of being a full fledged adult is being able to support yourself on your own feet without the help of anyone else; money, feelings, place to stay, etc. This is just one of them. There are many other terms.

I'm at work. Bah! I'll finish this some other time.

sdedalus83 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 18, 2009, 02:40:33 PM »

Storytellers also want a blank slate, as it makes character developement much simpler. Youth, amnesia, sudden revelations of destiny, they're all used because it's much easier to write and to sell something that starts at square one. Youth also has the advantage of attracting a demographic which demands relatable characters.

Havoc10K · « **Reply #17 on:** August 18, 2009, 05:40:38 PM »

the target audience is one point, the second is just showing how ppl should react quickly about making up what they want to do in life, if you early find a job you want to do (whether it's piloting, police investigation, ~~mass murder~~, crimelord, sorceror, alchemist, etc, it's important to start early :]

armitron · « **Reply #18 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:30:05 PM »

Ugh. I'm getting discouraged from watching Gundam Wing.

Tatsujin · « **Reply #19 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:36:04 PM »

Quote from: armitron on August 18, 2009, 11:30:05 PM

Ugh. I'm getting discouraged from watching Gundam Wing.

It's a good show. I've seen it on the American TV (back when I thought English were the shyyyyt! haha). I actually would recommend Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed + DESTINY + Gundam 00. You can also knock out the new movies for Gundam Seed DESTINY and Gundam Wing (Movies ... 2 movies I think?).