Forum - View topicAnime romance that resolves in favor of a foreigner?
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Raftina
 Posts: 3282 |
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Or appears to be resolving favorably toward a foreigner at the end of the series, where the romance isn't resolved?
Some additional restrictions 1. Foreign from the Japanese point of view. 2. The foreigner must be one of at least two potential romance for the Japanese (or Japanese enough, e.g. a setting where the world has combined into a superstate, but where the character can clearly be traced to Japan) protagonist. 3. Foreign as in the character is supposed to be taken as descended from a country in the modern world other than Japan--not from fantasy land, not from another dimension, or not from another point in history, not genetically engineered space elves that conquer the galaxy while calling themselves human, etc. I can think of 1 only: Freezing, where it favors Satellizer. But then again, both contenders are foreigners: Satellizer is British; Rana is Chinese. It did go with the more foreign of the two though. All other examples that come to mind just uses the foreigner as an exotic choice, at best a distraction before returning to the real candidate(s). The worst case is probably Infinite Stratos, where Houki has apparently nothing in common with Ichika and doesn't get along with him; but after a point, the show says "Ok, personal arcs are over. Time to get back to the real romance of IchikaxHouki." Last edited by Raftina on Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bango
 Posts: 1122 |
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The immensely nationalistic mindset of the general Japanese viewers are only one of the factors that make this uncommon.
Another reason I'd say is the imouto or childhood friend crazes. If your lead is japanese then his sister or childhood friend (the default otaku choices) will most likely be too. While there's no mandatory ruling on this since a stepsister or childhood friend could come from anywhere in the world, these long-lasting relationships become harder to buy for japanese viewers because, for the most part, japanese parents don't want their kids hanging out with foreigners. Even if the parents themselves are tolerant they need to consider the social backlash that can happen to them and their kids and often discourage their kids. Their society is a lot more open now than it used to be but I think it'll need a lot more intermixing before the otaku's choice girl can proudly declare she's a brit. Adding to this is the lack of visual racial differences in anime characters. I bet all foreigners looked at the screen a little odd when Karen of Kiniro Mosaic mentioned her "small slanty eyes" (referring to her being tsurime, not actually looking remotely asian) because unless an anime character says they're foreign there's no reason to think they're not japanese. In cases where the otaku's choice girl IS a foreigner they'd just be more likely to make her a goddess or from a fantasy world or whatever to open up more plot and scenario opportunities. |
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WhiteHairGirls
 Posts: 4713 Location: New York City |
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The only anime that comes to mind that isn't on your list is Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu. The main character's choices spoiler[are between a Japanese and German girl. Through 2 seasons the romance hasn't been resolved, but I personally thought the German girl had the slight advantage.]
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Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
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Lets see...
Gosick - Japanese boy Kazuya Kujou and European girl Victorique de Blois. Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na -Crescent Love- (iBrighter than the Dawning Blue) - Japanese boy Tatsuya Asagiri and Lunar Kingdom girl Feena Fam Earthlight. Campione! - no final resolution, but in the pursuit of Japanese boy Godou Kusanagi European girl Erica Blandelli has a commanding lead. |
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Bango
Posts: 1122 |
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Oh, I forgot to mention an alternative is setting the story outside of Japan. Thanks, Furudanuki.
If you're including stuff like girls from fantasy worlds and stuff like Feena then you can throw in Belldandy and every other magical girlfriend out there. That breaks his Rule#3. If it were included, I'd wager they would outnumber the japanese otaku choice girls. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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This one is stretching it, in the Macross F movie Sayonara no Tsubasa spoiler[Alto ends up officially choosing Sheryl Nome over Ranka Lee, while most characters ethnicities seemingly are ambiguous Alto's is effectively of Japanese decent, Ranka's is if not Japanese then Asian, and Sheryl's notable tallness (and large boobs) "natural hair color" (it seems to shift between blond and cotton candy pink?) would come from the nature that she is Caucasian ]
It is stretching, but if the point is that in the end result a noticeably mixed ethnic couple then it would have to count. |
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Furudanuki
Posts: 1874 |
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The Lunar Kingdom in Brighter than the Dawning Blue is an Earth colony that broke away after a bitter war of independence. It isn't a fantasy setting, it is simply a separate sovereign nation. Feena's people are 100% human. |
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WhiteHairGirls
Posts: 4713 Location: New York City |
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Damn I watched all of these and forgot about them. |
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Bango
Posts: 1122 |
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3. Foreign as in the character is supposed to be taken as descended from a country in the modern world other than Japan--not from fantasy land, not from another dimension, or not from another point in history, not genetically engineered space elves that conquer the galaxy while calling themselves human, etc. Seems to fit that. I'm not on your case about it or anything. I'm just big on following a topic's rules to avoid clutter and give the TC what he's looking for and to defend my statement. |
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wcsinn
 Posts: 186 |
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OK, don't see how you can even say that - the main romance is obviously between Ichika and Houki right from the start. Yea, she's a bit of a tsundere type, but that is no big surprise in anime. They were childhood friends, they do get along (just because you fight does not mean you don't get along - just ask any married person), she is obviously jealous and frequently goes out of her way to impress or please him. In fact, much of her tsundere behavior can be directly attributed to her being embarrassed, something she would not be if she did not care for him. Then to answer your original question: * Mashiro from Pet Girl - she is British while Nanami is Japanese * Nadia from The Secret of Blue Water, she is Kenyean * Aria from Aria the Scarlet Ammo, she is British while Shirayuki Hotogi is Japanese * Asuka from Evangelion, German while Rei & Misato are Japanese just to name a few. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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Nobody wins romantically in Evangelion. |
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Sohma_Curse
 Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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Bamboo Blade...kinda. spoiler[Miyazaki never beats Carrie in a match, but she does end up scoring one point on her (which, if i recall correctly, didn't even occur in an official match, but rather during a quick little sparring session at the very end of the series). She does, however, best Carrie in the fight for Danjo's love!]
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Raftina
Posts: 3282 |
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Sorry. I did not note it, but I rewrote rule 3 specifically because Furudanuki's response showed that the previous version was not sufficiently rules-lawyering proof. i.e. one could use the loophole of a fictional country in the protagonist's setting, despite it being obvious a fantasy land equivalent. Same idea for the Sakurasou response: If you have to go into Mashiro's backstory to make sure she is a citizen of Britain rather than a Japanese who lived abroad--because she has a Japanese name written in Kanji and Hiragana--you should pause to consider whether she is supposed to be a foreigner in terms of the story. |
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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I don't think this one fits, but I'll throw it out there:
Hanasakeru Seishounen - of the reverse harem kind It's tricky, because I think the main lead, Kajika, is only of half-Japanese descent (EDIT: I did some research, and it is confirmed that her mother is Japanese). And then I think she's quarter American and quarter Raginei, a made-up country in the series. Also, of the four guys she gets to choose from, I don't think any of them are Japanese descent. Li Ren is Chinese, Eugene is European (EDIT: French, specifically), Carl is American (I think), and Prince Rumaty is from the made-up country, Raginei. So, I don't think it qualifies, but I think it's interesting to note anyways for how unique the situation is. Last edited by Crisha on Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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wcsinn
Posts: 186 |
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Really, so in your definition a person's name is the main determinate in their country of origin? Mashiro is British and that fact is made perfectly clear throughout the story. By your definition then any Japanese named Ken should be considered a foreigner? Is Asuka, certainly not a German name, to be considered Japanese? To FenixFiesta - Doesn't matter, according to the OP's original definition, they foriegn character should be the winner or the plot should be leaning in that direction. I think Asuka fits that definition, and judging by fan art, doujinshi, and general comments Asuka appears to be, at least, the leading candidate. But to each his own. |
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