Forum - View topicTraffic Accidents: The Silent Killer.
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6921 Location: Kazune City |
|
|||||
|
So, I was watching episode 3 of Welcome to Pia Carrot 2 DX, and in it one of the girls goes to visit her parents' grave on their death anniversary day. First thing that came to my mind was, "They died in a traffic accident. Gotta be a traffic accident." Sure enough, a few scenes later, the dreaded and all-too-familiar phrase "koutsuu jiko" came up, leading me to make this thread.
We had this thread awhile ago about the lack of parental figures in anime, and the "absent parents" idea is universal enough in all sorts of fiction. I can accept that anime series need to kill off or otherwise remove parents to allow adolescent characters to fight demons, pilot mecha, have live-in harems, etc. But after hearing "she/he/they died in a traffic accident" one too many times, I just have to wonder: just why are traffic accidents the #1 weapon of choice in the field of anime parental elimination? Hopefully somebody knows better than I do, but are the streets of Japan really that dangerous? I was under the impression that most people don't own vehicles and use public transportation instead -- are we really supposed to believe that all these people just walked out into the street and got hit by one of those "crazy drivers"? Moreover, do Japanese target audiences find it realistic enough to suspend disbelief? Or is it one of those "statistically unlucky" situations where anime characters suffer at a greater rate than the real-world population? (See also women dying in childbirth.) Sure, "It's just a dramatic device," but are the writers really so uncreative to use the ol' fallback of traffic accident death 9 times out of 10? Aren't there plenty of other ways parents* can die? Like cancer, heart disease (might be more of a Western thing though), other illnesses, miscellaneous other accidents like falling off a cliff  , violent crime á la Batman's parents (admittedly, that's not so prevalent in Japan), or even other kinds of transportation accidents (like bus/train/plane) -- that would at least provide some variety. I can think of some examples of most of those, but they're few and far between. On the other hand, it'd be a gross violation of teh rules if I went and listed all the traffic accident deaths I can recall.
So am I alone in thinking "there's way too many traffic accidents in anime?" I guess it's one of those things that you have to get used to after seeing lots of shows, but it's starting to affect how I see these shows. 4 years ago when I first saw Fruits Basket, I had no problems feeling sympathetic about Tohru's mom. But now "died in traffic accident" has become a running gag and an "I totally called that" device. *Plenty of other people die in traffic accidents, like spoiler[Akari's boyfriend] in Chance Pop Session, but parents form the vast majority of victims here. |
||||||
|
||||||
Mylene
 Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
|
|||||
|
I think there's a better spread than you do. I mean, mysterious illness, particularly the "she had a poor constitution and giving birth to [insert character] weakened her so she died" (immediately or when the character was very young) also seems to be very popular.
Actually, I think the only anime I've seen with the "parents died in a car crash" scenario was Sailor Moon. Oh wait, that was the case with Shuffle! as well, right? For Kodocha, Figure 17, and Cardcaptor Sakura the death of choice was the further weakened constitution due to childbirth. I think the commonness of that requires a much greater suspension of disbelief than traffic accidents personally. Unless there just is a really high mortality rate for young mothers in Japan. And if that were the case, no wonder no one's having babies over there anymore. Plus, does traffic accident mean it's limited to cars? Couldn't they have been pedestrians hit by a vehicle, or perhaps a train crash? "Traffic accident" seems like it could cover a pretty broad scope of issues that it wouldn't be that hard to believe. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
|
|||||
|
Maybe it has something to do with a lot of Japanese vacationing in Hawaii which according to some news reports I've seen is number one in the U.S. for pedestrian traffic deaths--I think the traffic was a traumatizing experience perhaps. As a pedestrian I can confirm how dangerous it is. I've twice almost been run over by drivers who drove around a car that stopped for me at a crosswalk
and I once saw someone almost get run down by a car that sped around another stopped car in order to run a red light. I'd say at least 75% of the drivers here should have their liscences revoked. I don't know what it's like in Japan, but from my experience the number of traffic accident deaths are totally believable. |
||||||
|
||||||
SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
|
|||||
Well, the guy who invented the Game Boy died by being hit as a pedestrian:
And, anecdotal evidence, I know, from some friends who've been or lived in Japan, traffic is insane which I suppose makes the old traffic accident common enough to suspend disbelief but at the same time, still a traumatic experience for the character in question. And, being that these friends were all from the Atlanta-area, to say that Japanese drivers are bad is an accomplishment. One story in particular - a friend was visiting Fukuoka, where he saw a roadway going downhill to to a sharp turn with mirrors all around it. The mirrors are so you can see traffic coming. And, since most people drove manual shifters, hills are a PITA, so instead of proceeding with caution, they'd usually lay on the gas downhill and cut the wheel for the turn so they wouldn't have to stop. It'd surprise me if no one's been hit at that place before. |
||||||
|
||||||
BunnyCupCakes
 Posts: 224 Location: The Sunshine State |
|
|||||
|
Yeah, I get tired of the whole "traffic accident" too.
It makes the Japanese sound like their bad drivers or something lol Also the illness scenario is pretty tiring and most of the time they don't say what they die of anywayz. Being caught in a shoot-up scene would be interesting,like a store or something >.> |
||||||
|
||||||
Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
|
|||||
|
You did see Minami-ke, right Zalis?
Ninomiya-kun had me in stitches. I guess too be fair, why in EVERY super hero movie adapation(and of course probably the original comic), are there 20 nightly acts of guys in black with shotguns stealing from banks and jewelry stores. These things might be just common enough to warrant an uncreative solution to a problem in plot development. I'm sure there are figures of accidents but unless it's been released in a way an english speaking person could peruse I only a few people here could actively look them up. |
||||||
|
||||||
BellosTheMighty
 Posts: 767 |
|
|||||
|
It's not unique to anime. It shows up constantly in american film and TV too. I think the reasoning is that it's a quick, easy, believable way to kill off both a character's parents at the same time, thus setting up a character with no attachments. There are other ways to do this, but most of them leave bigger loose ends that the audience will expect tied up. For example, if they were murdered, the audience will expect the hero to confront the killer. If they vanished without a trace, it will be expected that they'll show up sooner or later. If it was a disease, they'll expect a traumatic deathbed flashback that may not fit with the rest of the series- also this typically leaves you with another parent to take care of, since it's not terribly believable that a disease would kill both parents but leave the child untouched. And so forth. automobile accidents are cliche, but they get the job done and they're common enough to be believable.
|
||||||
|
||||||
rti9
 Posts: 1241 |
|
|||||
|
From the Japanese Government's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website:
Mortality probabilities by causes of death (%): 
From the World Health Organization (PDF): 
Although these numbers may make it look like death by traffic accidents are neglectable, I'd like to point out that in Japan there is an all-year heavy campaign about driver education. Therefore these numbers might be the cause rather than effect. I don't know the exact numbers but the fines involving simple traffic accidents are usually extremely high. Apparently the driver's license exams in Tokyo specifically are considered one of the hardest in the world. |
||||||
|
||||||
daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
|
|||||
But America is known specifically as a car culture where cars are a major source of death. Japan isn't. I've been to Japan three times now. I never saw anything that struck me as especially dangerous traffic. Most of the time it was moving slower than what I see elsewhere. Tokyo traffic seemed safer to me than many other large cities I've visited repeatedly (Bangkok, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, etc.). What I don't understand is why more parents aren't the victims of suicide. I mean, that would be an interesting plot device to me at least. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
|
|||||
|
Facts and figures on death in childbirth:
The WHO lists MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate, 2000 figures) for Japan at 10/100,000 births. Compare this with: Europe: 24/100,000 USA: 17/100,000 World average: 400/100,000 (Denmark: 5/100,000) - abunai |
||||||
|
||||||
Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
|
|||||
|
In Fruits Basket's defense, the manga does go back to the issue on two occaisions for plot reasons, even bringing in the other family involved in the accident, so it's not just a way to have killed off a character.
I'd imagine writers avoid diseases like cancer because the implied suffering and coping over a long period of time would create a background that doesn't mesh with the characters personality. Sudden heart attack doesn't really match with young (30s-40s), healthy characters (possible, but not likely), and if anyone in a series is ever sick, it's always a notable issue, so they doesn't work. |
||||||
|
||||||
Ishmoo
 Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
|
|||||
You beat me to the punch here. This is essentially what I was going to add. Its a common plot device to allow underage protagonists to act freely without any parental interference. If the parents BOTH die at the same time in a car accident, end of story. They simply become irrelevant, while providing just enough sympathy and angst for the poor orphan who had to "go it alone" without a family to support him/her. They are totally unnecessary to the plot, which can proceed without any need to further explore the incident. The parents can be totally removed in a stock (nothing to see here) kind of way. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
|
|||||
|
Hmm. Yes, well, I'm sure it is possible to get creative on the subject of "parents died suddenly", without necessarily being ridiculously inventive.
MICHIKO: I didn't know you were an orphan, Kei-kun? KEI: Yes, my parents died when I was twelve. MICHIKO: How did they die? KEI: It's a sad story... they died in a freak accident involving a blender, a toy poodle, two tins of baked beans and a kimono. I don't like to talk about it. The thing is, it really doesn't matter what kills the parents, so long as it represents a cut-off date in the young character's life -- a date after which the person is suddenly left without parental guidance and protection. There may be a substitute parent, a mentor or grandparent or whatever, but the point of the "traffic accident" or whatever is to leave the young person in a situation where he has to stand on his own two feet. Death from disease is sufficiently rare in these modern times that it is, somehow, far less believable than the convenient trope of sudden death by vehicular manslaughter. There are substitutes, of course -- in a recent anime (spoiler[Clannad]), it was a significant plot point that a supporting character had lost her parents in a plane crash. Other times, the sudden death motif is replaced by a very Japanese trope: the family has to move away due to the father's work, and the young character decides to remain, continuing at the same school (though this is usually only done with male characters, for culturally sexist reasons). The point is not to leave the character bereft of parents, but to place him in a position of more or less independence. This is an especially strong motif in stories dealing with high school students. It's not a frequent story element, but many stories do contain the high-schooler-living-alone. - abunai |
||||||
|
||||||
zawa113
 Posts: 7394 |
|
|||||
Wow, looking at this chart, it seems to me that it would be far more beleivable for a parent to die of a malignant neoplasm (aka Cancer), a heart-related disease or attack, or a cerebrovascular accident (aka Stroke) rather than a car accident. These methods would be just as sad and a more realistic form of death in more cultures. Car accidents are a far more prevalent method of death or injury in the United States (and driving while talking on cell phones just makes the matter worse), but for a series based in Japan, they really should try something more original than a car accident or childbirth complications. Actually, considering the dawn of Death Note, killing with a heart attack might be considered too common now as well. spoiler[Granted, Light could kill however he wanted to and indeed did cause a few people to die of car accidents as well. It was also discovered that you could make people die of other diseases and other accidents, but the heart attack was the most noted form of death in the series overall. At least it didn't kill everyone with a car accident or childbirth.] I personally think it might be far more emotional if one of an anime character's parents died due to renal failure (aka kidney failure) while waiting for an organ transplant, then maybe the other one commited suicide at the lose of their spouse. That also wouldn't involve a need to hunt down a killer and would provide the character freedom to have a harem anime take place in their house or whatever. Unless the character would be too traumatized to go near a car as a result (which I personally havn't seen yet), I wouldn't see an actual need for a car accident to kill off the parents. |
||||||
|
||||||
Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
|
|||||
Shoot-up scene? In Japan?  Getting hit by a bus, a car, and a motorcycle simultaneously would be just about as likely.
The problem with using suicide as a plot device to explain absent parents is that there is a social stigma associated with suicide. It would introduce additional complications for the surviving child that death by accident of illness would not. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group