Anime relationships that seem problematic/taboo but are actually kind of sweet and wholesome?

Old male teacher x teenage/young adult female student

Old female teacher x teenage/young adult male student

@tchitchouan lol, is this from some series or just a meme?

Mahoutsukai no Yome's (Ancient Magus Bride's) Chise and Elias.

The premise is easily enough to raise eyebrows. Chise is a very vulnerable, mentally disturbed, traumatized and very underraged girl, I believe 15 years old.... who was bought off the black market (she literally sold herself into human trafficking to feel like she was wanted by someone -the person who would buy her-, not a healthy mental state at all) by an ancient magus fellow who's literally ancient so hundreds if not thousands of years old.

He buys her to have her become his eventual wife. First thing he does when he brings her home is attempt to undress her to.......give her a bath... (But Chise protests and says she can do it herself and he leaves her to it thankfully.)

Now from that premise alone you could easily assume Elias is a creepy pervert p*do though and that he is planning to groom Chise into his wife...

In actuality though, Elias is a really strange creature, very much non-human and doesn't understand regular human emotions and things like like romance or sexual urges.

He doesn't force any of that stuff on Chise and frankly he probably wouldn't even know how to or want to.

He just wanted a wife so he could have a companion....and so he could learn more about and understand human emotions more, but he's not pushing the issue and wants Chise to do things at her own pace.

He gives her a place where she feels like she finally belongs and they get closer gradually as they open up to each other more. Their relationship is pretty wholesome overall and I'm not even sure I'd call the first season at least even really romance? They're very close for sure, but Elias is still pretty clueless about romance at least by the end I think.

@BirdyTheMighty It's from persona 5 and a canonical romantic route you could choose in the game.

https://myanimelist.net/character/142795/Ren_Amamiya
https://myanimelist.net/character/165085/Sadayo_Kawakami

@tchitchouan awww hell no, I have to play a game for the story? Fuck man, I ain't a gamer.

Hope they make anime with the pairing. But thanks for the info anyways

@KeepCalmAndMal good. And definitely don't read that shit (like, ever).

Fuck Usagi Drop

@BirdyTheMighty @KeepCalmAndMal yeah Usagi Drop is like the opposite. The anime is supposed to be wholesome and then it turns into some real taboo shit.

@BirdyTheMighty
They kinda did (in some episodes at least)

@Israel_Is_Evil yeah, about that - to me the "taboo" part isnt the issue,

Old male teacher x teenage/young adult female student

Old female teacher x teenage/young adult male student

Not exactly, but maybe close enough: https://myanimelist.net/anime/55150/Yarinaoshi_Reijou_wa_Ryuutei_Heika_wo_Kouryakuchuu

@aweebwhoexists right. Please learn the definition of pedo (no, seriously. actually go out there and read the definition, not some ideologically loaded bullshit).


But other than that, based choice👌

So this ship seems controversial for a meaningful reason? Why? Because he freed her from slavery by buying her?

Probably taboo in society, but not necessarily reflected in the law, many western countries allow 16+ year old minors to have a romance with adults under certain conditions.

So this ship seems controversial for a meaningful reason? Why? Because he freed her from slavery by buying her?

@Zarutaku I think that (that she was her slave) and the fact Raphtalia looked like a child, so the relationship has a lot of grooming vibes. Of course it's a fantasy so to take with a grain of salt, but if you want to trace real life parallels to toxic relationships you can.

@jal90 It seems many people misuse the term grooming, because it requires intent by the groomer, but Naofumi had no such intent, Raphtalia just fell in love with him, that's not grooming.

Old male teacher x teenage/young adult female student

Old female teacher x teenage/young adult male student

Mahoutsukai no Yome's (Ancient Magus Bride's) Chise and Elias.

The premise is easily enough to raise eyebrows. Chise is a very vulnerable, mentally disturbed, traumatized and very underraged girl, I believe 15 years old.... who was bought off the black market (she literally sold herself into human trafficking to feel like she was wanted by someone -the person who would buy her-, not a healthy mental state at all) by an ancient magus fellow who's literally ancient so hundreds if not thousands of years old.

He buys her to have her become his eventual wife. First thing he does when he brings her home is attempt to undress her to.......give her a bath... (But Chise protests and says she can do it herself and he leaves her to it thankfully.)

Now from that premise alone you could easily assume Elias is a creepy pervert p*do though and that he is planning to groom Chise into his wife...

In actuality though, Elias is a really strange creature, very much non-human and doesn't understand regular human emotions and things like like romance or sexual urges.

He doesn't force any of that stuff on Chise and frankly he probably wouldn't even know how to or want to.

He just wanted a wife so he could have a companion....and so he could learn more about and understand human emotions more, but he's not pushing the issue and wants Chise to do things at her own pace.

He gives her a place where she feels like she finally belongs and they get closer gradually as they open up to each other more. Their relationship is pretty wholesome overall and I'm not even sure I'd call the first season at least even really romance? They're very close for sure, but Elias is still pretty clueless about romance at least by the end I think.

@tchitchouan man, he's living the dream xD

@Hiyajo-san Oh yeah, what if the roles were reversed, would the girl be living the dream. Double standard much ?

@aweebwhoexists This is a pretty good example, why did I not think of that?

Personally I like occasional change in power dynamics within the realationship between Elias and Chise once it is established that Elias' emotional intelligence is close to a child and has to rely on Chise teaching him about and interpreting his feelings.

Kazuya and his rental girlfriend Chizuru.
The foot fetish laden student-teacher relationship of Kotonoha no Niwa
The guidance and protection Yoshida extends to Sayu in Higehiro (may not be a romantic relationship?)
The step-sibling relationships in Gimai Seikatsu, Domestic Girlfriend, and Tsurekano
Freed slave relationships like in Madome or Ikenaikyo