What's with Japan and their obsession with schools? Kuromoko

>>14221528
High school is the time when you're most free to do what you want in Japan.

>>14221528

So their prime demographic will relate to the characters.

In the case of the samurai, it arguably makes more sense. Gives him an opportunity to interact with his peers and get used to modern people in a safe structured environment, as well as learn about the modern world.

>>14221543
>University is the time when you're most free to do what you want in Japan.
Fixed that.

>>14221528
Most Japanese have a huge nostalgia for their high school years. High school is stereotyped as the last time they could live free and careless lives before being mercilessly grinded down by the Japanese society.

Which is funny because high school in Japan is basically a miniature version of their adult society. It's the university years when they get a break (the first and only time in life), but there's far less shows running on college nostalgia than on high school nostalgia.

>>14221571
Yeah, I can only remember Genshiken as a show that was about college life.

>>14221528
>Why are there teenagers in shows for teenagers?

>>14221543
A lot of Japanese high schools are very restrictive. There are rules concerning personal appearance (no piercings/dyed hair - and by dyed I mean non-black, even students with naturally light hair got in trouble), obligatory school club attendance (count on Japan to take something fun and make it a chore), obligatory festival attendance, even shit like taking a part time job after school's over. All of that depends by high school of course, but generally the more prestigious the stricter the rules. And there's a lot of pressure to perform well on tests and be at the top of the class, even though it's physically impossible for everyone to be above average.

Compare that to Japanese universities, which while genuinely hard to get to, are a cakewalk once you're in. You really have to try to get expelled or in trouble, the only troublesome parts are getting into one, and then job recruitment at the end. And in the middle you can do basically whatever you want, there's no social pressure to do anything you don't want to do and as long as you attend classes semi-regularly you'll pass.

Still waiting on a primarily school setting Gundam series. It will happen, the question is how long will I have to wait?

>>14221636
>Still waiting on a primarily school setting Gundam series. It will happen, the question is how long will I have to wait?

Didn't we get that with Age ?

>>14221631
Clubs aren't supposed to be fun

>>14221528
>watching the kind of garbage that has that shit in the first place
>especially the shows you mentioned

Get some fucking standards.

>>14221528

The school is barely relevant in the show after the first couple of episodes. That is how it usually is in mecha.

>>14221650
That only lasted a few episodes before going right back into being the Cliff's Notes version of UC.

>>14221636
There's always 0080 or Blaster Mari

>>14221528
Wait, M3 BDs? Since fucking when?

>>14221730

Since tripfag decided to waste his time on them

>>14221551

it literally makes no sense because the samurai is so fucking far behind modern human knowledge that 99% of what is being discussed in the classroom is completely foreign thus exposing himself as a man out of time.

would be better off just having someone 'tutor' him, at least for a few months or so.

>>14221772
>things not making sense
>in a giant robot cartoon
Remind me, is the sky chartreuse?

M3 at least had the justification that they were in high school when their forgotten past of being the only known survivors to get out of the Lightless Realm became relevant.

And not all of them were students at first, one of them was already a professional pilot, another was working as a janitor.

>>14221880
>another was working as a janitor.
FOR FREE

>>14221650
Age isn't primary school. Even Kio is 13 years old, that's middle school, and both Flit and Asemu are older than him at the start of their respective arcs.

>>14221651
What are they for then? I know the US turned high school football into both a huge business and breeding grounds for future NFL players, but hey - it's not that Japan has monopoly on fucking its schools up.

>>14221905
Being pointless garbage that nobody with a brain joins

>>14221905
>What are they for then?
Education and/or experience.

>>14221905
Clubs are for connecting and making social networks.

>>14221924
Education and/or experience that will be absorbed best if the kid in question wants to be there. Clubs are supposed to be fun but that doesn't mean they're for screwing around. If you're in one, you can (and should) take its activities seriously - but you should be in one because you honestly enjoy doing whatever the club is about. Not because someone (parents, the school, whatever) forced you to join. Then you won't get jackshit from the activities because you will actively resist the experience. Well, unless the high schooler in question is a brainwashed little drone like what Japan prefers its people to be, it seems.

>>14221968
That counts as fun unless you form social networks only so the contacts will be useful for you later.

>>14221795
I can suspend disbelief for physics defying robots, but not for character interactions that make no sense.
Saying "hurr it's just a robot cartoon the characters don't matter" is just a copout.

>>14221571
High schoolers appeal better to children as being inherently cool than college students, who look too much like grown adults. Same reason America has so many tween dramas.

aside from target demographic reasons the reason why anime are often set in middle/high school is because within the Japanese mindset it's the time where people grow as a person as well as the age where you're allowed to act irrationally, once you hit 20 you're considered a fully grown adult and youthful exuberance and "immature behaviour" are no longer acceptable (this by the way is only true in the perception but not in reality even in Japan).

but mostly it's target demographics

>>14221735
Well that's not a very nice thing to say.

>>14221631

Yes but compare high school to the soul-crushing life that is a salaryman.

>>14221571

Because a lot of otaku I'm going to guess never got to go to college.

>>14222033
they do, just not 1st or second rate colleges, there are actually more otaku that goes to college compared to the stereotypical NEET

It is because of nostalgia or otakus unwilling to grow up and be an irresponsible high schooler.

I personally hate high school shows, but don't mind teenage properly enlisted soldiers who has an actual job and responsibility.

High school kids are selfish and don't care about the well being of the world, they just want themselves to come out at the top along with their group.

>>14222015
>>14221631
I've been wondering, is college portrayed as a "fun" time in Japan the way it is in the U.S? In America we have stuff like Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds which are all about college kids having sex, having frat parties, playing pranks on the dean, etc. etc. etc. Are there any animes like that in Japan, or is college life significantly different in that respect?

>>14222053
>there are actually more otaku that goes to college compared to the stereotypical NEET

Isn't that true by definition? NEETs don't go to college because they're neet.

>>14222077
their culture is like "study more"

>>14221528
Because anime is still stuck with the same audience and demographic and will continue to be for another 15 years when Japan's birth rate finally dries up.

>>14222079
what I meant was people often associate otaku with being NEETs when in fact the otaku NEET only makes up for a small but visible number (if only due to over exposure of said lifestyle) of the Japanese otaku, most otaku go to college and work if only to continue their hobbies

>>14222077
College is a cake walk for most students; they study hard to get into a college with a good name, and then they're mostly set as long as they do the minimum to get by.

College in Japan is about cutting loose and experiencing the freedom of being a young adult before you get a real job which later becomes the focus of your life.

Obviously there are also students who are in it for the learning and all that too, but the popular conception is more as a social thing for a lot of people.

The only anime I can think of that's about college students is Genshiken (and it's great), though I'm sure there are more.

>>14223459
Honey & Clover. Anime about students at an art college.

>>14222098
It has no exact demographic. The older person gets nostalgic about their school days with those things, while young people relate to it.

>>14222077
Yes, college is portrayed as funtime in Japan. It's less about Animal House shenanigans because it's still Japan and that'd be improper. But it's a few years when you have a lot of free time, little duties, and can finally focus on expressing yourself through hobbies, having fun, and attending parties because you want to (and not because your boss wants one and you have to come with him).

College students themselves tend to be stereotyped as laidback, lazy, and having a lot of free time.

>>14223474
Also Golden Time but that sucked

>>14221528
>>14221608

This.

>>14221979
I'm sorry you don't like being proven wrong, you stupid fucking cuckold.

>>14222018
It's not supposed be, dumbass.

>>14222077

While it IS fun time since Japan doesn't really do Animal House type stuff (or at least wouldn't want to imply their youth do that) it means most fictional college settings in Japan are mostly dull with the occasional "Hah it's not like high school at all because nobody cares" but without clubs tests and usual school drama that sets the background tone for most high school animes it means there's nothing really for the show to do with.

You can't have "main character is a college student that has balance his school life and society expectations with saving the world!" as a theme because that would really be no big deal at all. He could easily just blow off college completely and it wouldn't be a problem.

>>14221528
I suppose they just appreciate getting an education more.

I like how the characters in Ranma 1/2 spent the entire day running around in the school yard and kicking their principal in the face.

>>14223855
College has clubs. They just tend to be less serious business (but not always - didn't Gainax start as basically a club project at first?), and more about actual spending time on a hobby with like-minded people. And unlike some high schools, no one will force you to be in a club.

But yes, there is no need to balance school life with whatever the series is about, so series about college age protagonists either focus on club activities (Genshiken) or on personal drama/shenanigans with the college part being mostly just a background (Honey and Clover, Oh My Goddess).

>>14223855
>>14223915
It's manga and not anime, but Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer also has a college aged protagonist. Yuuhi barely spends any time on campus grounds and the series is mostly focused on supernatural stuff and saving the world. So once again, just a background more than anything.

>>14221543
>High school is the time when you're most free to do what you want in Japan.

You mean the USA, right?

>>14223558
OP doesn't ask why shows have teenaged protagonists, but rather why do they have to attend school even when it makes little sense for them to do.

As a contrasting example look at original Gundam and SDF Macross. Both Amuro and Hikaru are high school aged but neither of them attends school, due to war getting in the way and shit.
Compare with Macross Frontier and its infamously tacked on high school parts.

>>14223930
>tfw Japs probably can't understand Ferris Beuller's Day Off
>"why is he stealing the car, that's his father's"
>"why do they want to drive so much"
>"why isn't the class president trying to get him in trouble"
>"he's lowering his school's reputation, how terrible"
>"I hope the principal gets him back in time"
>"he is going to miss finals"
>"why don't they want to go to a university after high school?"
>"where are the friendly police to non-lethally stop those thieves"
>"car crashing is karma from ancient Shinto god that lives on their property, punishment for destroying their household and bringing dishonor"
What a sad life.

>>14223964
It's a shitty movie anyway that is only still brought up today by tasteless hipsters like you, whose only reason for liking is "B-but It's a CLAssIC AnoN!!! How Can You NOT LIKE FERIS BULER"
What a sad life.

>>14223964
Who are you even quoting? Not like any of the things said there are wrong, either.

>>14223484
if I was nostalgic about high school, I wouldn't watch fucking anime. I'd probably re-open my facebook account

>>14223950
>Compare with Macross Frontier and its infamously tacked on high school parts.
You mean the one acknowledgement that they go to school even though we virtually never see them in class?

But please go ahead and pretend you saw Frontier.

>>14224456
there was the filler/low budget episode about chasing sheryl's panties around the school

>>14224462
It's not until after Macross Frontier ends that you realize that episode wasn't filler at all -- it was where Ai-kun learned to like humans. Sheryl's panties defeated the Vajra!

>>14223964
>can't understand Ferris Beuller's Day Off
How abominable

>>14224627
How dare they not know my shit movie

>>14223974
It's a decent comedy for high school kids. I'm just pointing out culture differences.

>>14223979
Maybe if you think comedies are real life or Shinto revenge spirits will fuck you up.

>>14223950
Ironically, both Gundam and SDF Macross were aimed to actual teenagers while Macross Frontier was aimed a late night anime aimed to adults.

Actual teenagers want to get out of school, they hate it and wish to have adventures somewhere else. Meanwhile, adults have nostalgia googles, especially the otakus for being so horribly bullied on high school. Japanese people are especially nostalgic about the things they never lived and otakus could never get over it the abuse they received on high school so they want to pretend they had an idealized school life.

>>14224659
>I'm just pointing out culture differences
While pretending one is better.

>Maybe if you think comedies are real life or Shinto revenge spirits will fuck you up.
Or you just don't have shit taste in movies and like actually like decent comedy movies, you mouthbreathing retard.

>>14224456
>even though we virtually never see them in class?

You mean multiple scenes that take place on school grounds?

Sounds like I'm not the one who only pretends to have seen the show.

>>14224726
>on school grounds = in class
What kind of hippie ass school did you attend?

Would a Japanese kid even enjoy seeing school in anime?
>come home from grueling day at high school
>turn on cartoons
>just more high school
I feel like I wouldn't even want to think about school in my spare time.

>>14224731
One that wasn't run by his inbred mother, I would guess.

>>14223930

Nah in USA we have freedoms and people aren't pressured in the same way to get into a specific career or get good grades.

Japs think school is the best after that they become depressed salary men and such. Animes are often set in highschool because it's an idealic time for them.

>>14224731
Multiple scenes taking place on school grounds, some of which were in class. Like 75% of any kind of interaction Nanase got was in class, at least early on.

Happy now? No need to be a nitpicky dipshit.

>>14224740
See >>14224702

>>14224798
Guess that explains why you're all so goddamned fat, due to never being taught any self control or to be smart.

>>14224801
So the contents for targeted demographics are as follows?
Adults: high school, college, or workplace
Teenagers: no school at all
Kids: no school at all, elementary school, middle school
All ages: middle school, high school

Is this correct?

>>14223855
>>14223549
>>14223459
>>14222088
Very interesting--so it's fun, but not the animal house type of fun. Thanks anons!

>>14222088
>>14225005
Adding to that, Liveman explores the implications of this in Sentai's usual larger-than-life approach. Some parents essentially force their kids to attend cram school.

>weebs caring about this shit

You could easily circumvent this issue by watching shit made by countries that actually know how to write worth a damn.

>>14224816
Japan's schools don't teach you how to be smart either.

File: Japan-meiji.gif (113KB, 306x380px) Image search: [Google]

113KB, 306x380px

>>14230334
Say what you want about Japan but becoming a first world nation and the first non-western industrialized nation despite being a small island without natural resources requires a lot of guts and hard work. Yeah, they kinda went insane as a result but the history of Asia and the world would be completely different without Japan

>>14223459
>College is a cake walk for most students

if you're not in a "Real" major

>>14223974
>>14224634

take your hurt ass somewhere else

>>14230349
>requires a lot of guts and hard work

Not really. Korea was already quickly following in Japan's tracks before Japan invaded.

American businesses laid plumbing, electricity, trolleys, etc. in a course of a few years and even said they'd turn Korean cities into the cleanest in Asia in a few years (but then Japan took over). Once you get an industrialized country bringing over their resources you industrialize quickly as long as the people aren't violent stoneage luddites or your country isn't in some sort of turmoil. You underestimate just how much power nations like America were bringing with them, the natives basically just had to be complicit with some sacrifices and capitalism, the latter being the most important part.

Another thing to remember about Japanese high school is because it fosters more conflict and issues for the characters to overcome.

What you do in Japanese high school matters immensely for your future as getting into a good university, or at least university at all, will effectively decide the rest of your life. Good grades and having championships or some accomplishment of note in school clubs are a HUGE deal for your application. This is one of the most serious times of a Japanese kid's life because it will make or break your entire future.

In contrast university in Japan is easymodo playtime. The reason is now that you've gotten into university, prestigious or not, what you do from here on out doesn't matter nearly as much. Clubs are a hobby, grades are just token to keep you from getting kicked out of school. The name of your university (or at least the fact you went at all) matters FAR more on a job application than your GPA. No one cares about anything but what school you went to, no workplace cares about what clubs you were in or what your grade was in maths. It's so relaxed that there's not nearly as much potential for drama or conflict in university as high school.

You'll notice that any time there is some kind of anime, manga, or drama that takes place in university, that the fact they're in university is barely a footnote and not even part of the story. While, most of the time, high school aged characters having to balance school with whatever the story is about is a major part of the story.

>>14221528

This thread is my pet peeve. Virtually every mecha show since 1996 has started the same way:

- MC is a generic teen
- first ep starts with MC in school
- MC meets a mysterious character of the opposite sex

Every. Damn. Time.

>>14221528
So the target audience could self-insert better. And because the rest of the life is pretty much scheduled.

>>14230689
Virtually every show of any medium of a given genre from any country start in the same ways.

>>14230727
>And because the rest of the life is pretty much scheduled.
It's been said multiple times already this isn't true. High school life in Japan is far more scheduled and strict than any other point of a child's academic career, including uni.

>>14221528
>Kuromoko has the out of time samurai guy literally from Feudal era Japan attending the high school. Why?

He needs to learn about modern Japan to function. And what's more fitting than have him enrolled in a proven educational institution?

>>14222077
I want to see an anime adaptation of animal house

>>14221528
how new are you

>>14221528
You might as well ask why the girl in Kuromoko is literally retarded and why they don't just sit down and discuss what the hell happened in the past and explain what has changed to the samurai like proper adults.
It's just a trope for comic relief.

>>14230364
Top kek Americuck