Osananajimi to Kanojo to - Ch. 1
- Thread starter MangaDex
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That "no dating" rule is not as universal as you're making it out to be, at least according to anecdotal evidence from the handful of people I know that taught English in JP.
According to them, it was more along the lines of "no overt pda on school grounds" and "keep it wholesome in public." However, it could be that it was written into the rules, but only loosely enforced. I didn't bother making that distinction when asking about "is x from anime real?"
What I said is based on a video I saw were a Japanese Content Creator talked about weird school rules in Japan.
In it he did say that while that rule isn't enforced in Tokyo reguon, it is followed in other areas more strictly.
Hmmn, maybe it's less enforced in major cities (where my acquaintances and friends worked), or it could be the fact the schools I heard about were JET-affiliated schools? It could even be a combination of both. Originally, I assumed it was more of a high-end school practice, but it's interesting to think it might be more of a regional thing.
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It really is a profoundly painful experience when you found a manga that seems to be perfect in every way but it is still ongoing and just a couple of chapters is available so far, kinda like falling in love to the most beautiful girl you have ever seen but finding out that she's 12 yrs old so there's gonna be some woeful waiting involved. I do know that I am absolutely willing to wait, for the manga ofc not, yk
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Yeah, full porno is much better
Another "blackmail the ML" story. After reading manga for so long, I think I know why these keep getting made. Like isekai, betrayal and revenge stories that have been a tag for authors to exploit serves to either;
1. Vent about their experiences or the experiences of others.
2. Write a fantasy where accountability lies in the hands of others who are not the MC.
3. Some combination of 1 and 2.
4. Write a fantasy where the MC takes accountability and stands up for himself and isn't punished for it. A fantasy for those who tried and ended up worse for it.
(Read further if you don't mind my reasoning.)
Japan's collectivist culture expects a lot from its people, and from it, a shaming culture, should you fail in what you're deemed responsible for, that is so toxic, that it even extends to the victims, as in, you will be shamed for failing to prevent wrong done to you.
As a result, they have a defense mechanism that, while not exclusive to Japan, is heavily exploited. That is "shifting blame". Aggressors and spectators will shift blame onto their victims, victims will shift blame onto their aggressor, witnesses, and even people who they have kept their troubles from, victims will even blame themselves for their issues even though they themselves wouldn't know what "wrong" they have committed. "I was wronged because I...", "He/she is doing this to me because...", "if I wasn't like this, they probably wouldn't..." Victims end up thinking this way because the rest of society will believe that the victim plays a part (to varying degrees) in their misery, like a consequence, even if there is no evidence leading to such a belief, which is why victims don't come out and say anything and bear the damages until the aggressor gets tired of them.
Due to their shaming culture, accountability in Japan appears to be heavier than it may seem to a Westerner like myself because my society doesn't demand collectivism.
An example of shifting blame that I've ALWAYS hated that I see in many doujin (I am ashamed to admit this, but I'll use it here), is blaming a significant other for a kink someone may have. "It is your fault..." or "It is because of your...". Anything to avoid any form of accountability. You can see this in this chapter when Rui blames her for him accepting her confession. What pisses me off here is that the way he words it makes it sound like he wanted to reject her but couldn't. I get he has his reasons not to get into a relationship, act on them. Don't get into a relationship you're not ready to play a part in. That's cruel to the other person.
In this story, the victim is the male lead, and generally, men don't get assaulted, and if they do, it is often seen as intentional, like a kink. People around the world have a hard time taking situations like these seriously, so when it happens, not only will it be taken as a joke, but if they don't take it as a joke, the male victim's masculinity will be undermined. So there's that.
1. Vent about their experiences or the experiences of others.
2. Write a fantasy where accountability lies in the hands of others who are not the MC.
3. Some combination of 1 and 2.
4. Write a fantasy where the MC takes accountability and stands up for himself and isn't punished for it. A fantasy for those who tried and ended up worse for it.
(Read further if you don't mind my reasoning.)
Japan's collectivist culture expects a lot from its people, and from it, a shaming culture, should you fail in what you're deemed responsible for, that is so toxic, that it even extends to the victims, as in, you will be shamed for failing to prevent wrong done to you.
As a result, they have a defense mechanism that, while not exclusive to Japan, is heavily exploited. That is "shifting blame". Aggressors and spectators will shift blame onto their victims, victims will shift blame onto their aggressor, witnesses, and even people who they have kept their troubles from, victims will even blame themselves for their issues even though they themselves wouldn't know what "wrong" they have committed. "I was wronged because I...", "He/she is doing this to me because...", "if I wasn't like this, they probably wouldn't..." Victims end up thinking this way because the rest of society will believe that the victim plays a part (to varying degrees) in their misery, like a consequence, even if there is no evidence leading to such a belief, which is why victims don't come out and say anything and bear the damages until the aggressor gets tired of them.
Due to their shaming culture, accountability in Japan appears to be heavier than it may seem to a Westerner like myself because my society doesn't demand collectivism.
An example of shifting blame that I've ALWAYS hated that I see in many doujin (I am ashamed to admit this, but I'll use it here), is blaming a significant other for a kink someone may have. "It is your fault..." or "It is because of your...". Anything to avoid any form of accountability. You can see this in this chapter when Rui blames her for him accepting her confession. What pisses me off here is that the way he words it makes it sound like he wanted to reject her but couldn't. I get he has his reasons not to get into a relationship, act on them. Don't get into a relationship you're not ready to play a part in. That's cruel to the other person.
In this story, the victim is the male lead, and generally, men don't get assaulted, and if they do, it is often seen as intentional, like a kink. People around the world have a hard time taking situations like these seriously, so when it happens, not only will it be taken as a joke, but if they don't take it as a joke, the male victim's masculinity will be undermined. So there's that.
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huh? then the JP streamers who had stories of having had relationships in their high school years would have been untrue. You also kinda see them out on the streets those high schoolers.
I don't think what you're saying is true for every Japanese school. Also, I'm Asian and I don't see anybody frowning upon romance between high schoolers here either.
The reason why there is so much fiction written about high school is because:
1. they're targeting a demographic that its within the same age range (high schoolers will read fiction about high schoolers)
2. deep and heavy nostalgia (they make a huge deal about all the school events, basically making entire arcs about it)
Not everyone every Japanese student takes their studies seriously. Otherwise, we would have had more Japanese people who can communicate in English. Also, there would have been less shut-ins and deadbeats.
Japanese people not marrying is more of the same issue that 1st world countries have in general. It's the metropolitan mindset in the internet age plus a lack of confidence in the economy. Japanese women can be quite picky.
Well yeah that rule isn't followed in every region.
Atleast from the Japanese YouTuber i heard this from, this rule isn't strictly applied in Tokyo & a few other major cities. But for the rest of the nation it is. Though even in those regions it is dependent on School to School.
Majority of those who had dated during their School days probably did it in secret without letting anyone know, especially their School. I mean, i also saw a video of a Japanese YouTuber interviewing women in there late teens or early 20's on when they lost their virginity, and majority of them who had lost their virginity said they did it while they were in Middle School (aka., Junior High School in Japan).
As for weird School rules in Japan, well there was the recent coverage on how girls in school were forced to not tie their hair in ponytail, because their bare nape was apparently sexually arousing the boys and distracting them from studies.
On the topic of why there are so many fiction based around the School life setting, especially of romance genre. Well it's probably because of wish fulfilment aspect. I mean, even if they wanted to date someone it was hard for them to do so, so they wished for fictionto fill in the hole. As for why they don't have much fiction after that. Well most workplaces in Japan actively discourage romance with colleague. And unlike school life, work life is far more busy that many don't have time to properly socialize with anyone.
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Excluding web novels, it's really more of a numbers game than wish fulfillment. They leverage trends, mix and match genres, target specific demographics. Publishing usually isn't free, so they would rather take their chances with trends than personal tastes.
An example of this would be Type Moon of Fate/Stay Night. In their earlier years, they seem to actually prefer writing psychological thrillers featuring female protagonists. However, they would swap the genders around and make it a harem genre with a school setting - that's what sells.
Harem genre came to be because they have a shotgun approach to romance to appeal to a large audience as much as possible. Having every archetype ensures that everyone is going to be catered to and will have a favorite. This is especially more important with dating sims as you want to offer the player choices. The trope is further entrenched in the culture when these galge are adapted into anime. That's not to say that manga and anime couldn't have come to the same strategy.
The school setting is a popular setting because it's easy to write about. You could just lazily write all the heroines to be students and faculty that the protagonist can see everyday.
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