| It's stupid. Naruto and Sasuke were like sixteen and yet they managed to defeat a god and surpass practically every ninja in existence in terms of strength. Lelouch was seventeen or something. Ichigo was also a teenager yet he defeated a god-like figure as well. Jotaro Kujo looks like he's at least in his mid-twenties in Stardust Crusaders and yet he is actually only seventeen. The cast of Steins Gate are all teenagers and yet we are somehow supposed to believe that they have the skills to create a time machine. Do they think that by making characters older younger audiences can't relate to them? That makes no sense because teenagers and children around the world watch movies and television shows that feature older characters all the time and yet still manage to enjoy and understand them. |
 What's the difference? |
| Older people want to be young, and KIDS want to be OLDER. Hey I am Guts, and I am a Hero |
| This salad is salty favored |
rsc-pl said: Then go watch western movies if it is bothering you that much. Who cares about age. Personally I like this concept. It's something totally different than any other medium can offer. I second this .. And yes since I am someone who is in the late teens .. It becomes more relateable and enjoyable .. The best thing you can do is watch Seinen anime like me , It mostly features adults .. (I can relate in every anime though) Except Shoujo.. Its Dumb.. |
| I do not think it has a motive itself, it goes beyond the author's preference. Dimension W, Gate, JoJo part 2 also has adults ... I think maybe it might give the author more freedom to work or something, and address issues that maybe with an older protagonist would not be so cool. But really, there is an abysmal difference in works with an adult and young protagonist. |
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| Teenagers/Young Adults tend to be THE BEST choice if you want to have "Coming of Age" in your series. Still, only using the "demographic" argument is shallow, if you want something more indepth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85G2naWJ46U |
| I feel like they try to pick the most relatable, and teenagers seem to always hit the mid ground when appealing to a general audience. In terms of actual kids, I feel like they do it for kids - I kind of laugh when Pokemon has Ash Ketchum whose been 10 years for many years now, I guess it's silly he never aged, but kind of weird he did since it would mean that he should be closer to an adult now, and that would change up the whole idea of the show. There's something also nice and innocent from young protagonists too like there's a lot of lessons to be learned, and growth available to you. It just makes it easier for writers to have a lot of leg room to develop these protagonists I guess. |
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| Demographics. Also, being a kid is cool, being a kid with super powers is super cool! Unskilled old hags running around wouldn't be fun. :( And teenagers have more potential for character growth. Gohdhand said: The cast of Steins Gate are all teenagers and yet we are somehow supposed to believe that they have the skills to create a time machine. The time machine was created by accident. |
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| Pff ok look, look look look, if it weren't for the main characters being young, the waifus and husbandos wouldn't even exist! Do you really want that?! Yeah, thought so. I mean the world would have probably ended if that happened! |
... |
| Who cares. Age is basically a non-factor in a fictional story anyway. It's all about how the characters are written, not what random number happens to be attached to their birth certificate. The author just makes that up on the spot as they please regardless Not that age is correlated to maturity anyway |
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| To show us an evolution of character, it starts with a teenager/young boy, who don´t really know anything about yourself, and will build up in a adult man, with perspectives of world, and different opinions, and we have the "self-insert aspect" too, it´s lot easier to identify yourself with an idiot teenager (because we were all like this at some point in our lives), than a grown-up character with aspirations, opinions, and concepts of world and life established. |
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| Probably a wider audience of teenagers and it naturally relates to them much easier than an older character. Sure, they can relate both ways but it's still easier for them probably so that's what they go with. The cast of Steins Gate are all teenagers and yet we are somehow supposed to believe that they have the skills to create a time machine. Wait, what? https://myanimelist.net/character/35252/Rintarou_Okabe https://myanimelist.net/character/34470/Kurisu_Makise https://myanimelist.net/character/35253/Mayuri_Shiina https://myanimelist.net/character/35258/Itaru_Hashida There all adults except for Mayuri... where'd you get teenagers? |
 “Don’t just mindlessly judge people as you please.” – Rin Okumura “Your past shouldn’t stop you from achieving your goals and dreams.” – Rin Okumura |
| Although I'm in my teens, I usually prefer older protagonists because most of the time they're not as whiny, they take on responsibilities, they seem more real and relatable, they have fewer cringy moments, and they don't have school episodes. Younger protagonists usually have all of these things, but there are a few young protagonists who are tolerable. |
| One upon a time a sage said: "Age is just a number." -XloliloverxPuss |
| Only the last one kills, but every second hurts. |
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| I've wondered the same myself, and I don't really appreciate it, although I don't hate it either. It'd be nice if the high school/ non-high-school anime proportions were more balanced though |
 |
Aquamirror said: The time machine was created by accident. I guess I am mainly referring to how Kurisu and Okabe are supposedly geniuses despite only being eighteen, which I know is theoretically possible but extremely rare. Also I am talking about how Kurisu was able to develop the machine that allowed Okabe to send his memories back in time as well as the instance where Daru somehow (mostly) fixed a time machine from the future. RyanEsau said: Wait, what? https://myanimelist.net/character/35252/Rintarou_Okabe https://myanimelist.net/character/34470/Kurisu_Makise https://myanimelist.net/character/35253/Mayuri_Shiina https://myanimelist.net/character/35258/Itaru_Hashida There all adults except for Mayuri... where'd you get teenagers? Eighteen and nineteen-year-olds are still considered teenagers. |
What's the difference? |
Gohdhand said: Aquamirror said: The time machine was created by accident. I guess I am mainly referring to how Kurisu and Okabe are supposedly geniuses despite only being eighteen, which I know is theoretically possible but extremely rare. Also I am talking about how Kurisu was able to develop the machine that allowed Okabe to send his memories back in time as well as the instance where Daru somehow (mostly) fixed a time machine from the future. Okabe isn't. Kurisu is, but her father was a scientist and she was surrounded by the best scientists her whole life, it isn't that unrealistic for her to be that knowledgable. The memory theory for the time leap isn't 100% her very own research, there were other people who worked with her. Daru is smart, he studies engineering and computing. He specifically notes how the time machine is very similar to the way the phonewave works, so he is already familiar with its basic way of function. Some stories just don't work with 100% realistic characters anyway. Age doesn't really matter. |
AquamirrorJan 26, 2017 11:28 AM
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| It bothers me too but I still find them better than anything American. Anime with adult protagonists and more mature stories, are there. They might not be as many as those with teenagers but they're not too few either. You'll just have to pick them instead and ignore the rest if it bothers you too much. |
| Signature? I ain't got no signature! I don't need no signature! I don't have to show you any stinkin' signature! |
Aquamirror said: Okabe isn't. I thought they said something to the effect of "Kurisu is the only one who is able to keep up with Okabe intellectually," which is why I thought that Okabe himself was some sort of genius as well. Daru is smart, he studies engineering and computing. He specifically notes how the time machine is very similar to the way the phonewave works, so he is already familiar with its basic way of function. The only problem I have is that despite Daru's intelligence and the other factors surrounding him and the time machine, it is still a bit unbelievable that this nineteen-year-old guy managed to repair a device that has been deemed impossible to build by the thousands of extremely smart scientists that came before him, not to mention the fact that it is a device from the future. There is a major difference between something like the phonewave and an actual time machine that can transport large objects unharmed and unchanged to any time period. Also if it really is true that Daru is just so smart that he is more intelligent than any scientist ever was before then we are adding possibly a third genius to the mix, which makes the story even more unbelievable. |
What's the difference? |
| I think a better question is why some anime MCs are that young....and still look like 20 somethings....or why some are that old and still look like cute babies.... |
| You're obviously watching the wrong shows then. |
| OP, do you want a protag that's gonna die soon? |
Gohdhand said: Aquamirror said: Okabe isn't. I thought they said something to the effect of "Kurisu is the only one who is able to keep up with Okabe intellectually," which is why I thought that Okabe himself was some sort of genius as well. Well, the other lab mems don't have much knowledge on the science part.. especially Mayuri Xd. He is the only one who can talk with Kurisu about science. Okabe browses internet and has heard of some of the theories.. and he is kinda into "tinfoil" conspiracy stuff. Also, he has read and researched "beta" John Titor's posts which also talk about similar science. Sure, he definitely isn't stupid and can effectively think of ways to deal with problems in though situations, but he certainly isn't a genius. Gohdhand said: Daru is smart, he studies engineering and computing. He specifically notes how the time machine is very similar to the way the phonewave works, so he is already familiar with its basic way of function. The only problem I have is that despite Daru's intelligence and the other factors surrounding him and the time machine, it is still a bit unbelievable that this nineteen-year-old guy managed to repair a device that has been deemed impossible to build by the thousands of extremely smart scientists that came before him, not to mention the fact that it is a device from the future. There is a major difference between something like the phonewave and an actual time machine that can transport large objects unharmed and unchanged to any time period. Also if it really is true that Daru is just so smart that he is more intelligent than any scientist ever was before then we are adding possibly a third genius to the mix, which makes the story even more unbelievable. Electronics are still electronics. Even in 20 years there won't be much difference in their design. It's one thing to build it, and entirely another to repair it. He doesn't need to know the theory of its workings. |
AquamirrorJan 26, 2017 12:16 PM
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| First, i think you're mixing reality with fiction a little bit to much. The other thing is that most of the viewers themselves are young that's why they like watching young people do something amazing like, as you said defeating a god or something like that, its because of that ''young age'' reason that we can put ourselves in that character's shoes (at least that's what i did when i was 15-16 yo, its embarrassing i know..) |
Aquamirror said: Well, the other lab mems don't have much knowledge on the science part.. especially Mayuri Xd. He is the only one who can talk with Kurisu about science. Okabe browses internet and has heard of some of the theories.. and he is kinda into "tinfoil" conspiracy stuff. Also, he has read and researched "beta" John Titor's posts which also talk about similar science. Sure, he definitely isn't stupid and can effectively think of ways to deal with problems in though situations, but he certainly isn't a genius. Like you said before, Daru is pretty smart as well, so the fact that even Daru couldn't keep up with Okabe leads me to believe that he is probably more around Kurisu's level. Electronics are still electronics. Even in 20 years there won't be much difference in their design. It's one thing to build it, and entirely another to repair it. He doesn't need to know the theory of its workings. Actually twenty years is a huge time difference for technology... If you just look at the technology we have now and compare it to what we had twenty years ago it is a lot different. Anyway, to repair a time machine you most likely do need to know the inner workings of the design. Time travel is a completely new concept, and the only thing Daru had to go off was the phonewave, which is much more simplistic than a real time machine. How much can you even get from looking at or studying the phonewave? From what I recall, it's just a microwave with a phone attached to it and then some sort of television set that is turned on below it... How does that translate to a machine that can safely transport people from one time period to any other time period? |
What's the difference? |
| It is probably so that younger audiences can relate to the young protagonists who undoubtedly will show their age in some form of comedic relief. I also imagine that younger audiences will be able to remember the anime better if their age group is represented. But most importantly, THIS IS ANIME. If anime is going to be breaking laws of physics (among other things) every damn episode, it might as well be done by kids in high school. |
Gohdhand said: Aquamirror said: Well, the other lab mems don't have much knowledge on the science part.. especially Mayuri Xd. He is the only one who can talk with Kurisu about science. Okabe browses internet and has heard of some of the theories.. and he is kinda into "tinfoil" conspiracy stuff. Also, he has read and researched "beta" John Titor's posts which also talk about similar science. Sure, he definitely isn't stupid and can effectively think of ways to deal with problems in though situations, but he certainly isn't a genius. Like you said before, Daru is pretty smart as well, so the fact that even Daru couldn't keep up with Okabe leads me to believe that he is probably more around Kurisu's level. Daru's interesets are mostly software, mechanics.. and waifus. He doesn't understand much of theoretical physics and neuroscience. Okabe didn't have much deeper understanding on the matter either. Gohdhand said: Electronics are still electronics. Even in 20 years there won't be much difference in their design. It's one thing to build it, and entirely another to repair it. He doesn't need to know the theory of its workings. Actually twenty years is a huge time difference for technology... If you just look at the technology we have now and compare it to what we had twenty years ago it is a lot different. Anyway, to repair a time machine you most likely do need to know the inner workings of the design. Time travel is a completely new concept, and the only thing Daru had to go off was the phonewave, which is much more simplistic than a real time machine. How much can you even get from looking at or studying the phonewave? From what I recall, it's just a microwave with a phone attached to it and then some sort of television set that is turned on below it... How does that translate to a machine that can safely transport people from one time period to any other time period? Things got smaller.. but basic parts are still pretty much the same. If you know something is broken, you find reasons why it doesn't work. The machine broke fatally because of the rain/thunderstorm, so the cause was most likely a short circuit, which wouldn't be that hard to detect and fix. It could even be just a simple broken switch.. They had a general idea of what in the microwave could cause the black holes and time travel, he maybe also found similarities in the way things were connected and controlled. Sure, there was the limited time and luck factor involved, but given the in-universe explanations and character's understandings, it's not that far off for him to be able to do it. |
AquamirrorJan 26, 2017 12:40 PM
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| The reason why Naruto and Sasuke were so young is because they were in Weekly Shounen Jump. Young characters are relatable to a younger audience. Also, it is easier to make show off their growth if they start young. Older main characters such as Kenshiro, Kenshin or Toriko are already very skilled and experienced at the start of the story, not to mention that Toriko was already famous at the beginning of the story. Depending how much experience they have, young protagonist might serve as the audience surrogate, otherwise a different character serving as a sidekick doubles as one. Even though Goku is an adult and a grandfather now, he started out as a kid, which makes his growth significant to the readers, and the most historical thing he has done was when he was just 24 years old and by that he time he became his own master. |
| but isnt that a good thing tho??.... |
 |
_Ako_ said: OP, do you want a protag that's gonna die soon? Fate/Zero is a good example of an anime with (mostly) adult characters, so I would prefer it if more shows had characters like that. I just find it annoying how in shows like Code Geass for example kids are the ones who are making enormous geopolitical and philosophical decisions as well as constantly outsmarting adults, which makes no sense. Aquamirror said: Daru's interesets are mostly software, mechanics.. and waifus. He doesn't understand much of theoretical physics and neuroscience. I am fairly certain you have to be good at theoretical physics and the type of stuff Okabe was into if you are studying engineering at university... Not sure how it is in Japan but I know in most US universities you do need to take courses on those concepts if you are studying engineering/mechanics. Things got smaller.. but basic parts are still pretty much the same. If you know something is broken, you find reasons why it doesn't work. The machine broke fatally because of the rain/thunderstorm, so the cause was most likely a short circuit, which wouldn't be that hard to detect and fix. They had a general idea of what in the microwave could cause the black holes and time travel, he maybe also found similarities in the way things were connected and controlled. Sure, there was the limited time and luck factor involved, but given the in-universe explanations and character's understandings, it's not that far off for him to be able to do it. Like I said before, something like time travel which has dumbfounded scientists for centuries isn't comparable to fixing a simple machine... And you can't really get a "general idea" of time travel from something like the phonewave because the concept is so abstract and complex (as evidenced by all the scientists who couldn't understand it) that it can't be drawn out from observing it working primitively like they did with the phonewave. I think we will just have to agree to disagree here... I doubt either one of us will be able to convince the other. |
What's the difference? |
rsc-pl said: Please tell me that you are joking. Two words: Science Fiction. First of all, there is no such thing like time machine and there will never be (excluding concepts like - orbiting on black hole and 'travel' to the future). So please, give me a break. The fact that they discovered time travel isn't the issue I have with it; my problem with it is that a group of teenagers discovered it rather than actual scientists who have worked on things like that their whole lives. Obviously there is a suspension of disbelief when watching science fiction, but you can only do it to an extent. |
What's the difference? |
_Ako_ said: OP, do you want a protag that's gonna die soon? That actually sounds really awesome. An old man that's dying but does what he can to avoid death. |
Gohdhand said: Aquamirror said: Daru's interesets are mostly software, mechanics.. and waifus. He doesn't understand much of theoretical physics and neuroscience. I am fairly certain you have to be good at theoretical physics and the type of stuff Okabe was into if you are studying engineering at university... Not sure how it is in Japan but I know in most US universities you do need to take courses on those concepts if you are studying engineering/mechanics. Some of the things they talked about were more obscure, I can understand Daru being confused and not getting the purpose of their talks immediately. Most of the tests and phonewave explanations were done by Kurisu though. Gohdhand said: Things got smaller.. but basic parts are still pretty much the same. If you know something is broken, you find reasons why it doesn't work. The machine broke fatally because of the rain/thunderstorm, so the cause was most likely a short circuit, which wouldn't be that hard to detect and fix. They had a general idea of what in the microwave could cause the black holes and time travel, he maybe also found similarities in the way things were connected and controlled. Sure, there was the limited time and luck factor involved, but given the in-universe explanations and character's understandings, it's not that far off for him to be able to do it. Like I said before, something like time travel which has dumbfounded scientists for centuries isn't comparable to fixing a simple machine... And you can't really get a "general idea" of time travel from something like the phonewave because the concept is so abstract and complex (as evidenced by all the scientists who couldn't understand it) that it can't be drawn out from observing it working primitively like they did with the phonewave. SERN were already researching time travel which was similar in action to the phonewave, their scientists of course didn't know about it at that time. Daru doesn't need to know anything to be able to change some parts. We never sew what was the problem, it could have been something entirely trivial which wasn't necessarily part of the time machine module. Again, a lot of stuff was achieved by accident, random people messing up with time is Steins;Gate's core idea. Even if the characters were adults, that doesn't change the fact that nobody believed time machine could be built and time travel could be achieved. |
|
| because Japan has a big obsession with youth and cuteness, and school girls are big fetish for them no one wants to be old... no one is sitting there thinking about how they want to be 30 people care about legal drinking age and being able to watch porn... thats about it... after a certain point theres no real reason to "want to" physically grow older your teens are when you're at your most energetic, you start falling apart in your later 20's |
EcchiGodMamsterJan 26, 2017 1:17 PM
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| Well - Shonen is probably the "biggest" and most popular/best known genre - that's why there are a LOT of kid/teenage MCs - but we also have a lot of adult MCs if you keep your eyes open. A lot of Anime take place in school - I doubt that anime would be the same if we get way too much of salary man anime. [There are good ones of course.] |
 |
Gohdhand said: _Ako_ said: OP, do you want a protag that's gonna die soon? Fate/Zero is a good example of an anime with (mostly) adult characters, so I would prefer it if more shows had characters like that. I just find it annoying how in shows like Code Geass for example kids are the ones who are making enormous geopolitical and philosophical decisions as well as constantly outsmarting adults, which makes no sense. Is it just me or you're bad at finding series you'll like? |
_Ako_ said: Gohdhand said: Fate/Zero is a good example of an anime with (mostly) adult characters, so I would prefer it if more shows had characters like that. I just find it annoying how in shows like Code Geass for example kids are the ones who are making enormous geopolitical and philosophical decisions as well as constantly outsmarting adults, which makes no sense. Is it just me or you're bad at finding series you'll like? Don't really know what you mean. It's not that I don't enjoy shows with younger main characters, it's just that I think they would have been slightly better and made more sense if the main characters were older. |
What's the difference? |
Gohdhand said: Don't really know what you mean. It's not that I don't enjoy shows with younger main characters, it's just that I think they would have been slightly better and made more sense if the main characters were older. Is it just me or you don't try to find series that there's no younger character? |
_Ako_ said: Gohdhand said: Don't really know what you mean. It's not that I don't enjoy shows with younger main characters, it's just that I think they would have been slightly better and made more sense if the main characters were older. Is it just me or you don't try to find series that there's no younger character? Most popular/mainstream anime feature younger characters which is why I have mostly only seen shows with young main characters. The age of the MC is really more of a minor thing that annoys me. If the plot and everything else is still good then I can overlook it to an extent. |
What's the difference? |
Gohdhand said: Most popular/mainstream anime feature younger characters which is why I have mostly only seen shows with young main characters. The age of the MC is really more of a minor thing that annoys me. If the plot and everything else is still good then I can overlook it to an extent. I dunno, is it the age of the character that annoys you or their personality because of their age? I mean... I dunno... Might as well find a series that's the protag is 60 years-old... |
Honestly, I don't know if I'm generalizing too much, but I think Japanese are really fucked up to the core. I once posted an ironic image about the drake meme and lolis in a Japanese community. All the responses were along the lines of "Why is the dude getting arrested? Age doesn't matter because people in Saudi Arabia can marry child brides!". Your post reminded me exactly of that. |
| "Now, come here. So long as we hold hands, we won't be separated." |
azoth212 said: Honestly, I don't know if I'm generalizing too much, but I think Japanese are really fucked up to the core. I once posted an ironic image about the drake meme and lolis in a Japanese community. All the responses were along the lines of "Why is the dude getting arrested? Age doesn't matter because people in Saudi Arabia can marry child brides!". Your post reminded me exactly of that. And the reason is: EcchiLordMamster said: because Japan has a big obsession with youth and cuteness, and school girls are big fetish for them no one wants to be old... no one is sitting there thinking about how they want to be 30 This.So yea.The NEET and otaku thing is real. |
sasalx said: azoth212 said: Honestly, I don't know if I'm generalizing too much, but I think Japanese are really fucked up to the core. I once posted an ironic image about the drake meme and lolis in a Japanese community. All the responses were along the lines of "Why is the dude getting arrested? Age doesn't matter because people in Saudi Arabia can marry child brides!". Your post reminded me exactly of that. And the reason is: EcchiLordMamster said: because Japan has a big obsession with youth and cuteness, and school girls are big fetish for them no one wants to be old... no one is sitting there thinking about how they want to be 30 This.So yea.The NEET and otaku thing is real. I've asked my girlfriend about it, she speaks Japanese and talks often with natives. According to her "they're mainly just nerds". Well, seems like they aren't all pedos in disguise after all. |
| "Now, come here. So long as we hold hands, we won't be separated." |
| Because MC are made to be similar in some way to the target demographic and a lot of anime is shonen, or at least people tend to go toward shonen, so the protagonists are often young. As to why characters like Naruto can be the strongest before going past twenty, that's another question but I suppose protagonists can do whatever they want, yo. |
| I have also thought this thing like in Deadman Wonderland the main character is still young but its ANIME there is no logic or principle that it follows so its acceptable. It is also like why do they have powers? how come they can punch the wall and make it crumble? |
 |
| I think it's because old people and adults are boring and more static. Personally the generally young age of characters is fine. It's the kind of age where they are energetic, prone to error and it makes sense for them to reevaluate themselves to change themselves. If I wanted to watch a man-child for entertainment (or at least people that pretend to be man-children for the views), I'd watch Youtube channels like PewDiePie or Markiplier or whatever cancer teenagers watch. |
| If your favourite character is Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, you are my soul mate. Been a long time since I've been here, I'll continue expressing myself freely and believe everyone should too. My MAL Interview |
| You focus too much on whether it's possible or not, rather than realizing none of it is real and asking yourself what it means. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
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