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Old 2012-01-16, 09:51   Link #6
SeijiSensei
AS Oji-kun
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
I think Kurenai fits as well. Though he has a couple of friends at school, and two rather doting (or explotative?) neighbors at home, he's still encased in a lonely world being an orphan with a rather unusual part-time job. Washimine Yukio, who is the focus of the final story arc of Black Lagoon: Second Barrage, is another high-schooler whose life outside of school isolates her from her classmates.

There are some other shows I can think of where one or more of the principals are social isolates at the start, but develop relationships of various kinds over the course of the story. In Twelve Kingdoms, all three high-schoolers are dropped into an unfamiliar world where only one of them, the main character Youko, can speak the native language. She becomes even more isolated as her role in the Kingdoms becomes clearer, though she acquires some good friends who assist in her integration. In Nijuu Mensou no Musume, the main character Chiko is an orphan living with unloving relatives. Over the course of the show she is "adopted" and abandoned on a number of occasions. Once again, though, she develops some strong friendships over the course of the story.

One might argue that Balsa in Seirei no Moribito is pretty much an isolate. She has a couple of friends that she sees only rarely as she wanders the country in search of work as a bodyguard. In House of Five Leaves, the main character is an unemployed samurai who seems totally lost without a master and household to protect. The story depicts his growing relationship with a criminal band.

I can't think of any shows where a character starts off isolated and remains that way throughout. Most such stories depict the growing integration of the isolated protagonist into one or more relationships, both friendships and romances. The one exception I can name to this pattern is the opening story of Aoi Bungaku, "No Longer Human." That's pretty bleak from start to finish.

There are a couple of other notable isolates in comedies. One is Harima Kenji in School Rumble. He's feared by most of his male classmates and generally despised by the girls. Kitarou in Hakaba Kitarou is the "last of the ghost clan" and doesn't really fit in anywhere except perhaps the underworld. Both the main characters in Nodame Cantabile are social isolates when the story begins.

Last edited by SeijiSensei; 2012-01-16 at 10:10.
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