AnimeSuki Forums

SeijiSensei · 2013-03-26, 15:06

If you are going to reply to a spoiler, please keep the spoiler tags intact. Thank you.

DragoonKain3 · 2013-04-01, 01:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwalin

I know there are many animes with childhood friend characters, but I noticed that unfortunately the main hero almost always chooses somebody else.

I'm gonna forgive your ignorance just this once heathen.

Seriously though, you want a list of anime where childhood friends 'win' after 2010? I'll start at 2010, with only TV series because I still have to catch up with all the movies... (bolded are what I REALLY recommend)

Spoiler for definite wins:

Spoiler for implied wins:

Spoiler for if you consider non-blood related siblings as one:

Spoiler for winner as part of harem ending:

Spoiler for draw, but still worth watching IMO:

Spoiler for avoid like the plague!:

Dwalin · 2013-04-01, 08:09

Thanks, most of the animes in this list never popped up during my searches even though I spent really huge amount of time searching for animes with happy endings for childhood friends. Could you please continue updating the list if you see any other similar anime?
By the way, does Shukufuku no Campanella really end with a win, not with a harem?

Sackett · 2013-04-01, 08:51

Were are Cross Game and Touch on that list?

DragoonKain3 · 2013-04-01, 13:37

Cross Game started in 2009 (OP only asked for 2010 onwards). Touch is like 80's lol.

Which yeah, go check out Touch. Like I read the manga beforehand (I'm an Adachifag.. with the exception of H2 for obvious reasons

), but I like the series because the OP song grew on me. (Which reminds me, why latest chapter of MIX not scanslated yet?

)

Mizuiro Jidai I think has never been finished subbed. Which makes me sad, as LUNAR were among my favourite sub groups. I mean, how can I not when they were named after the game.

As for the list, looking for childhood friend wins is THE reason why I am watching anime. For this cour, I'm keeping a watch on...
Valvrave the Liberator (Asami as another osananajimi <3)
Attack on Titan ('fake sister' again)
Photo Kano (While I'm not the biggest fan of Itou, at least this doesn't seem to be omnibus)
Oreimo S2 (I hope they get to the part where Manami...)
Red Data Girl (stupid jerk on the male half >_>)
Hayate no Gotoku (bah ombinus format)
Samurai Girls S2 (prolly harem ending)

Oh yeah, anything by Watase Yuu? Avoid like the plague, and I'm not even touching this cour's Arata Kangatari with a ten foot pole.

As for Shukufuku...

Spoiler for BIG ASS SPOILERS:

EDIT: Go watch the first few episodes of The World God Only Knows, just to figure out what the premise is all about. Then go watch the OVA with the subtitle Tenri-hen... actually, I'm not gonna go into more detail than that.

Dwalin · 2013-04-01, 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Cross Game started in 2009 (OP only asked for 2010 onwards). Touch is like 80's lol.

Could you please put the 2009 ones you know about anyway? I may have missed something in my searches. If you remember something from the 80s and the 90s, could you list it too, maybe I am asking too much, but you seem to be the most informed around here about this particular kind of anime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

As for the list, looking for childhood friend wins is THE reason why I am watching anime.

Good to meet somebody who thinks like that, I have seen too many people who really hate the childhood friend love stories, I even became kind of depressed because of that, I think those kind of stories are the most moving ones.

If only they made an anime from the games Dragon Quest V and VIII !

DragoonKain3 · 2013-04-01, 17:49

Can't help you with 80's and 90's. I only started watching anime in great detail starting the digital age, and what little of 'classic' projects my favourite groups have done.

Again, this is only TV series (I got a backlog with movies thats why I haven't updated my main list lol), and this is just a quick run through so I might have missed something. For example, in the last list I missed...

Spoiler for Avoid like the Plague additions:

Spoiler for 2009, unsorted right now b/c I have to go in 15 mins lol:

Actually a good year, since Cross Game, Hanasakeru Seishounen, Full Metal Alchemist, and Erin is in it.

Quote:

If only they made an anime from the games Dragon Quest V and VIII !

Bah, you just gotta remind me of Final Fantasy Type 0, ie. probably the highest rated game that never went to English in recent times

Also reminds me of the Lucky Star episode where Kagami 'believes in true love' because she thinks that Bianca should be chosen despite Flora giving better abilities lol

SeijiSensei · 2013-04-01, 17:57

Warning, ranting ahead.

Personally I find the childhood-friend romance rather unrealistic. In a world as mobile as ours, it just seems implausible that most people would keep up relationships with childhood friends after they leave for college or go on into the working world. Perhaps the Japanese are less mobile than we here in North America?

This meme strikes me as another way in which sentimentalism about youth seems such a strong force in Japanese media. It seems to derive from the workaholic lifestyle of many young Japanese adults, particularly Japanese men. Is the workplace off-limits for romance? What about the usual mixing places like bars and clubs? What about people you meet in college or graduate school? It just feels very claustrophobic to me to exalt a lifestyle where your ultimate romantic interest is someone you knew as an eight-year-old.

Is this a common meme in Western romances and dramas, too, or, as I suspect, more Japanese? And even if it is common in Japanese media, how true a portrayal is it of modern Japanese romances?

Dwalin · 2013-04-01, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Also reminds me of the Lucky Star episode where Kagami 'believes in true love' because she thinks that Bianca should be chosen despite Flora giving better abilities lol

I personally never choose Flora, not only because of the childhood friend romance with Bianca, but also because I think she has too weak a character, she does whatever her father says her to. If he told her to marry the slime knight from my group, she would have probably sighed and done so. And, of course, I feel too bad for Bianca, Andy and Duncan in case I choose Flora.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Warning, ranting ahead.

Personally I find the childhood-friend romance rather unrealistic. In a world as mobile as ours, it just seems implausible that most people would keep up relationships with childhood friends after they leave for college or go on into the working world. Perhaps the Japanese are less mobile than we here in North America?

This meme strikes me as another way in which sentimentalism about youth seems such a strong force in Japanese media. It seems to derive from the workaholic lifestyle of many young Japanese adults, particularly Japanese men. Is the workplace off-limits for romance? What about the usual mixing places like bars and clubs? What about people you meet in college or graduate school? It just feels very claustrophobic to me to exalt a lifestyle where your ultimate romantic interest is someone you knew as an eight-year-old.

Is this a common meme in Western romances and dramas, too, or, as I suspect, more Japanese? And even if it is common in Japanese media, how true a portrayal is it of modern Japanese romances?

It may be unrealistic, but I personally find it more moving and heartwarming than others. How could somebody dislike the innocent affection between two children that they are able to maintain through their lives?

DragoonKain3 · 2013-04-02, 03:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Personally I find the childhood-friend romance rather unrealistic.

To be honest, anime would be like the last thing I would look realism for, especially if you factor in romance. When you've got ___deres (especially the yan variety), wussy males gathering a harem they don't deserve, otherworldy spirits as lovers, pseudo-incest or even full blooded incest (oh boy isn't this one popular nowadays *cough*nothankstooreimo*cough*)... yeah, I think osananajimi are more 'down to earth' than most other romances depicted in anime. XD

Quote:

In a world as mobile as ours, it just seems implausible that most people would keep up relationships with childhood friends after they leave for college or go on into the working world. Perhaps the Japanese are less mobile than we here in North America?

I knew I read a blog post that answers this from before. From, http://thebaboose.wordpress.com/2010...-february-8th/

“I asked him if it was true that Japanese people are better friends with their elementary, junior, and high school friends than people they meet in college or work. Which is interesting because most people in America tend to be closer with their University and work pals. He answered that I was half-right: “Japanese people tend to be closer with their 幼いなじみ (childhood friends), but mentioned it does not necessarily mean that they like their childhood friends.””

Quote:

This meme strikes me as another way in which sentimentalism about youth seems such a strong force in Japanese media. It seems to derive from the workaholic lifestyle of many young Japanese adults, particularly Japanese men... It just feels very claustrophobic to me to exalt a lifestyle where your ultimate romantic interest is someone you knew as an eight-year-old.[

I personally think it's less about sentimentalism and more about convenience (which by golly, Japan is all about convenience isn't it?

). Why go through all the trouble of finding THE one who truly understands you and accepts you for who you are, when those conditions are the very premise of the childhood friend, who has been with you all along?

And there lies the appeal; from the Japanese business man who got no time to date on one extreme end of the scale, to the Japanese otaku who has trouble finding someone who would accept their hobby on the other extreme end. Combine this with how widely known the fable of the blue bird of happiness "Aoi Tori" is with modern Japan (no seriously, it's EVERYWHERE from anime, to manga, to novels, to even dramas), and one can see why they put such emphasis on the childhood friend as the best candidate for marriage.

But of course, all this is just speculation. So meh, I'll just chalk it up to culture. I mean, I have heard stories of people teaching English overseas in middle east, with their students asking "If people don't marry their first cousins, WHO do they marry?" While certainly not that extreme, but maybe in Japan they just tend to childhood friends more than other cultures. :shrug:

Quote:

Is this a common meme in Western romances and dramas, too, or, as I suspect, more Japanese?

Childhood friends of opposite sex in western romance/drama? Pretty much non-existent, and those that exist pretty much never win. Heck, main reason why I watch anime IS because I always got the feeling that something is wrong whenever a childhood friend loses in a western show. I think it started with Pretty in Pink, and haven't looked back since discovering anime.

So yeah, definitely a Japanese thing. Or maybe even an east orient thing, as I have heard it's decently common in Chinese and Korean stories, though not nearly as proliferate or as successful as it is in Japanese anime.

Quote:

And even if it is common in Japanese media, how true a portrayal is it of modern Japanese romances?

What modern Japanese romance?

Isn't their declining birth rate mainly caused by workaholic men and women who have no time to date? If I remember a survey corrrect, even a good portion of high school kids don't even have time to date because they're too busy trying to get into post secondary school.

But to answer your question, to be honest, I dunno. I know of a couple articles online where the couple that wed were childhood friends (one has to question how such articles made it in print in the first place... certainly won't happen in western media), with one of them being the imperial princess having to give up her royal status in order to do so. But I doubt there ever was a real scientific study in this regard, nor will there ever be.

Dwalin · 2013-04-02, 09:52

By the way, DragoonKain3, why don't you like the omnibus format (it's when there are alternative stories like in Amagami SS, right?)? When there are alternative stories, at least the main character focuses himself on ONE girl in each story (even though I am interested only in the osananajimi one), while if there is only one story for the whole anime, the main character often behaves like a fool in a harem and can't make a choice until the last episode.

Sackett · 2013-04-02, 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Warning, ranting ahead.

Personally I find the childhood-friend romance rather unrealistic. In a world as mobile as ours, it just seems implausible that most people would keep up relationships with childhood friends after they leave for college or go on into the working world. Perhaps the Japanese are less mobile than we here in North America?

Is this a common meme in Western romances and dramas, too, or, as I suspect, more Japanese? And even if it is common in Japanese media, how true a portrayal is it of modern Japanese romances?

Actually up until very recently it was very common in real life. I once saw a study back in the 1980s that found 50% of men married their first love.

Remember it's only recently, (as in the last 10 years), that the marriage age has started to rise, and marriage among non-college attendees has diminished.

DragoonKain3 · 2013-04-02, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwalin

By the way, DragoonKain3, why don't you like the omnibus format (it's when there are alternative stories like in Amagami SS, right?)?

Too much influence from Sohryuu Asuka Langely (ie. the character who has more appearances as Shinji's childhood friend in alternative storylines..)

"If I can't have you all to myself, then I don't want ANYTHING from you."

All or nothing baby!

In omnibus format, it's worse. I can't enjoy such series when everything outside of the childhood friend arc I feel like the MC is cheating on her. So like I'd rather have a loss than a harem ending because I feel like the childhood friend should have each other all to themselves, I can't stand omnibus in the same fashion because the childhood friend is merely relegated as another stop in this story of musical chairs. XD

Dwalin · 2013-04-03, 03:05

Have you watched the series "Future boy Conan" (Mirai Shōnen Konan)? If you have, do you know something about what did they plan for the sequel before it was cancelled? My mother says she read an interview with somebody involved in the production in which they told they wanted to tell the story of the children of the main characters, but we can't find the link to the interview anymore.

Anyway, a good series with a very optimistic ending. I really recommend it to everybody, osananajimi shippers especially (even though at the end of the series they are still children, it is heavily implied they will always be together and the interview mentioned something about their future children).
It's a pity the second season was cancelled, Miyazaki put a condition that he would be allowed to show the first season in cinemas to see the public's reaction and gather money for the second season, but he wasn't allowed.

Dwalin · 2015-01-19, 13:25

Sorry for bumping the thread, just would like to remind: please continue to add suggestions if you remember something I missed, would be really grateful.

Ghiest Cid · 2015-01-21, 06:18

Mahoraba. The young man went to art college. He living in an old apartment complex filled with eccentric characters. Comedy.

SeijiSensei · 2015-01-21, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sackett

Actually up until very recently it was very common in real life. I once saw a study back in the 1980s that found 50% of men married their first love.

But that need not be a childhood friend. I met my first love in college, though we decided not to marry.

This article cites a survey of American married couples that found fewer than 20% knew each other in "school" which included both high school and college. The rate in Japan might be higher since, in 2012, only 90 women attended college for every 100 men; in the US and Europe is the ratio is more like 120-140 women per 100 men. (What's with Qatar, with nearly seven women in tertiary education for every man?)

Chiibi · 2015-01-29, 23:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwalin

How could somebody dislike the innocent affection between two children that they are able to maintain through their lives?

It just.......sometimes it feels like the characters never "grew up". People change as they age and feelings change too.

I normally dislike osanajimi because of the Westermacker Effect. If there is no other love interest though (like in Edward Elric's case) I'll end up shipping them.

Watch Nisekoi.

Spoiler:

Can't go wrong, there.

Tenzen12 · 2015-02-01, 08:14

I am suprised noone mentioned Allison to Lilia. It doesn't happen often than you can see TWO generations of childhood frieds hook with each others

Dwalin · 2015-02-02, 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiibi

It just.......sometimes it feels like the characters never "grew up". People change as they age and feelings change too.

I personally think it's good if this one specific aspect of their personalities never grows up. It's like staying forever pure and innocent in a certain sense. Things changing isn't always a good thing by itself. Sometimes it is, but not in this case I think.
I mean, changing partners and moving on or not doing so doesn't really have anything to do with psychological growth. People have different tastes.
I understand about the Westermarck effect, but it's one thing if the children are step-brother and step-sister, have grown up in the same house since birth etc, it's another if they met later, maybe at age 7-8, are just close friends but live each with their own family. In this case, what's so bad if friendship becomes love and stays lifelong? It's rare, but very good in my opinion.

I understand not everybody agrees, I just wanted to say that to me personally love formed in childhood and lasting till death is one of the biggest ideals ever.

2013-03-26, 15:06	Link #21
SeijiSensei AS Oji-kun Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 74	If you are going to reply to a spoiler, please keep the spoiler tags intact. Thank you. __________________ Taking Anime Seriously - Politics by the Numbers - Sports by the Numbers - MAL List - Avatars - Images

2013-04-01, 08:51	Link #24
Sackett Cross Game - I need more Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: I've moved around the American West. I've lived in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Oklahoma Age: 44	Were are *Cross Game* and *Touch* on that list? __________________ Cross Game - A Story of Love, Life, Death - and Baseball. What more could you want?

2013-04-01, 13:37	Link #25
DragoonKain3 Osana-Najimi Shipper Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt. Ordeals	Cross Game started in 2009 (OP only asked for 2010 onwards). Touch is like 80's lol. Which yeah, go check out Touch. Like I read the manga beforehand (I'm an Adachifag.. with the exception of H2 for obvious reasons ), but I like the series because the OP song grew on me. (Which reminds me, why latest chapter of MIX not scanslated yet? ) Mizuiro Jidai I think has never been finished subbed. Which makes me sad, as LUNAR were among my favourite sub groups. I mean, how can I not when they were named after the game. As for the list, looking for childhood friend wins is THE reason why I am watching anime. For this cour, I'm keeping a watch on... Valvrave the Liberator (Asami as another osananajimi <3) Attack on Titan ('fake sister' again) Photo Kano (While I'm not the biggest fan of Itou, at least this doesn't seem to be omnibus) Oreimo S2 (I hope they get to the part where Manami...) Red Data Girl (stupid jerk on the male half >_>) Hayate no Gotoku (bah ombinus format) Samurai Girls S2 (prolly harem ending) Oh yeah, anything by Watase Yuu? Avoid like the plague, and I'm not even touching this cour's Arata Kangatari with a ten foot pole. As for Shukufuku... Spoiler for BIG ASS SPOILERS: Only girl shown in the end card with the protagonist. Pretty definite if you ask me, though you only get THAT one still the entire series lol EDIT: Go watch the first few episodes of The World God Only Knows, just to figure out what the premise is all about. Then go watch the OVA with the subtitle Tenri-hen... actually, I'm not gonna go into more detail than that. __________________ Yes its YOU childhood friend - source of BERZERKER RAGE since forever Childhood Friend couple STATISTICS(spoilers abound though) Last edited by DragoonKain3; 2013-04-01 at 13:58.

2013-04-01, 17:57	Link #28
SeijiSensei AS Oji-kun Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 74	Warning, ranting ahead. Personally I find the childhood-friend romance rather unrealistic. In a world as mobile as ours, it just seems implausible that most people would keep up relationships with childhood friends after they leave for college or go on into the working world. Perhaps the Japanese are less mobile than we here in North America? This meme strikes me as another way in which sentimentalism about youth seems such a strong force in Japanese media. It seems to derive from the workaholic lifestyle of many young Japanese adults, particularly Japanese men. Is the workplace off-limits for romance? What about the usual mixing places like bars and clubs? What about people you meet in college or graduate school? It just feels very claustrophobic to me to exalt a lifestyle where your ultimate romantic interest is someone you knew as an eight-year-old. Is this a common meme in Western romances and dramas, too, or, as I suspect, more Japanese? And even if it is common in Japanese media, how true a portrayal is it of modern Japanese romances? __________________ Taking Anime Seriously - Politics by the Numbers - Sports by the Numbers - MAL List - Avatars - Images

2015-02-01, 08:14	Link #39
Tenzen12 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012	I am suprised noone mentioned Allison to Lilia. It doesn't happen often than you can see TWO generations of childhood frieds hook with each others __________________ "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it" (Charles R. Swindoll)

2013-04-01, 08:09	Link #23
Dwalin Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Milan; Italy	Thanks, most of the animes in this list never popped up during my searches even though I spent really huge amount of time searching for animes with happy endings for childhood friends. Could you please continue updating the list if you see any other similar anime? By the way, does Shukufuku no Campanella really end with a win, not with a harem?

2013-04-02, 09:52	Link #31
Dwalin Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Milan; Italy	By the way, DragoonKain3, why don't you like the omnibus format (it's when there are alternative stories like in Amagami SS, right?)? When there are alternative stories, at least the main character focuses himself on ONE girl in each story (even though I am interested only in the osananajimi one), while if there is only one story for the whole anime, the main character often behaves like a fool in a harem and can't make a choice until the last episode.

2013-04-03, 03:05	Link #34
Dwalin Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Milan; Italy	Have you watched the series "Future boy Conan" (Mirai Shōnen Konan)? If you have, do you know something about what did they plan for the sequel before it was cancelled? My mother says she read an interview with somebody involved in the production in which they told they wanted to tell the story of the children of the main characters, but we can't find the link to the interview anymore. Anyway, a good series with a very optimistic ending. I really recommend it to everybody, osananajimi shippers especially (even though at the end of the series they are still children, it is heavily implied they will always be together and the interview mentioned something about their future children). It's a pity the second season was cancelled, Miyazaki put a condition that he would be allowed to show the first season in cinemas to see the public's reaction and gather money for the second season, but he wasn't allowed.

2015-01-19, 13:25	Link #35
Dwalin Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Milan; Italy	Sorry for bumping the thread, just would like to remind: please continue to add suggestions if you remember something I missed, would be really grateful.

2015-01-21, 06:18	Link #36
Ghiest Cid Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2014	Mahoraba. The young man went to art college. He living in an old apartment complex filled with eccentric characters. Comedy.