'Indirect Kisses' in anime... what?

[yoropa]

Okay so basically to those who don't know, an 'indirect kiss' is when two people end up having a kiss indirectly (so descriptive, I know). It's easier to describe in example. A girl takes a sip through a straw of a drink, and offers some to the guy. The guy uses the same straw to drink. This is an indirect kiss, since their lips touched the same thing, and by the transitive property (the only useful thing ever learned in Geometry), they kiss. It is most common to happen with drinks, as I said above.

But I'm curious about this. Is it really such a big deal? In anime it generally is considered to be a huge deal. Culturally speaking, is an indirect kiss as significant in Japan as it appears to be in anime, or is is exaggerated? What about America? Does such a concept seem foreign, or is it present in average American life? How about the rest of the world beyond those countries? Is anime overdoing it, or do they have the situation right?

[Marcus H.]

Actually,

Bizarrely enough, a form of this notion, the sharing of a drinking glass with a lover as an intimate act, appears in a treatise on romance by the Roman poet Ovid.

Ironically, it seems that Indirect Kissing is not that much of a topic in the West. On the other hand, most anime shows (especially romance or otherwise shows which involve characters of middle school age) would point to it and the involved characters would point to the event happening with embarrassment, so it seems that Japan has that thing about Indirect Kissing.

[Khu]

Not in Australia, insofar as I know.

[Radiosity]

It's well known here in the UK, at least where I live; I had my share of 'incidents' during my young years

It wasn't a big deal here though, more of a joke thing really. Like two guys hanging out and one passes his drink to his mate who takes a drink, suddenly it'll be like 'zomg indirect kiss!'. Nothing really serious about it.

Japan probably has somewhat different ideas about interaction between male and female too though. Over here a male/female friendship can work the same as a male/male friendship, so having fun with something like this is easy to imagine, whereas in Japan I can easily see it being taken very differently indeed.

edit: forgot to mention that in anime it's also a simple and convenient plot device

[Autumn Demon]

The concept of indirect kisses doesn't exist in America. When Americans drink from the same container the only concern is germs.

[Eater of All]

I assume the Japanese (and most people in Asian countries?) are just more conservative and shy about these things. You can see this especially when contrasted with how anime tends to portray generic Americans as being extremely open and carefree.

In the end, it's just a matter of whether the environment allows you to get used to it or not. My Asian friends can put stuff in their mouth that I took a bite out of (and personally found to be crap) without hesitation.

[roriconfan]

So here I am reading Aki Sora, an incest manga. At one scene the lead boy's sister kisses a female schoolmate that has the hots for him saying "My first kiss was with my brother. So this was an idirect kiss of him to you."
Ok, this was hot and stupid at the same time. This notion is unexisting in my country and sounds just like another ridiculous superstition like "not being able to marry if you are not a pure maiden". This is a leftover from the times when women were fragile merchandise and had to be locked inside all the time as getting a tan even from moonlight was bad for their beauty.

[Zu Ra]

Depends on the environment more than anything .

If you been around girls or your friends circle is of mixed gender . It happens a lot and its hardly considered romantic . Its not that much of a big deal . It does signify a bond and level of compatibility but not necessarily inclined towards romance . More than physical aspect of this the emotional aspect hold more weight . Romantically its called having a Moment . They are cornerstones of building any relationship . Due to such moments like this you understand the chemistry you have with an individual .

[Haladflire65]

I think it's partly because Japanese people are so concerned about their own private spaces that this 'indirect kissing' became such a huge deal. Japanese don't share their things in ways that many people from other cultures may find is normal. So yeah, it's a cultural thing.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by yoropa

Culturally speaking, is an indirect kiss as significant in Japan as it appears to be in anime, or is is exaggerated?

I'm not sure if this question has actually been answered already and I'm curious myself. So, does anybody have hard facts about the situation in real, 3D Japan or is everybody just assuming that it must be real because they've seen it a thousand times in anime?

[Seitsuki]

It's just different values. In the West casual sexual relations are taken as the norm, people pick dates like picking ice cream (this one was nice, but I wanna try a different flavor~) and generally take such matters for granted. In most of Asia however male/female relationships are still rather sanctified and casual hook-ups are still largely frowned upon; when you seriously start to go out with someone the expected course is that you will commit to a full relationship. And kissing someone is about as serious as it gets, a real declaration of love which would lead (well supposedly anyway) lead to full consummation of a relationship, eventually marriage. So of course even an indirect kiss would seem like a pretty big deal.
Doesn't really work like that in real life now with the westernisation of youth todays, but yeah a reminder of innocence, purity and of course a good plot device.
all shippers, ON DECK! ATTEN--SHUN!

[janipani]

It is indeed a big deal if you are young virgin and never kissed anyone before + that you have not somehow grown up to be cynical too early, in that case I bet it would be for anyone.

but of course as mentioned in world of casual sex, porn and romance turned into "sex and the city"-concept. I think biggest deal here in dirty west is indirect sex via toilet sheet. -_-

I think it should be a big deal, then life has much more in to it. Maybe if we would be able to live more like that life would still feel something in age of 25. And I wouldn't have to dig up those feelings by watching anime.