Are Boundaryless Best Friends Common In Anime?

This is another beloved character that we love to watch in films. He is typically a bit gruff and perhaps not part of the main family but in the end he is so lovable that he ends up being the greatest father figure to this other person outside of his own family. We can recall the classic ‘Big Daddy’ starring Adam Sandler as Sonny, an eccentric and quirky man who after a night out drinking wakes up the next morning to find a baby in his care. Despite it all he goes on to care for the baby until the real father turns up. This film packs a lot of laughs throughout but it is a beautifully warming movie at the end of the day too. The ‘fun uncle’ or ‘best friend dad’ is once again another great example of why the ‘unconventional dad’ is so popular with audiences today. The biggest symbol of love and learning for how to be a parent is found in the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire”. In the movie Robin Williams plays the part of Daniel, a male spouse who wants to spend more time with his children after a divorce, so he dresses up as a female nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire. Most of the movie he is in ‘nanny’ mode, playing the part of a fun, loving, young, and loose ‘uncle’ to the children, but eventually the mask comes off and he exposes himself as their real dad. The movie not only shows him learning to be a father to his children but also a better husband to his wife. Taking a different turn, ‘The Game Plan’ is an action-packed film where a football player (Dwayne Johnson) finds his life turned upside down when he discovers he has a daughter he never knew existed. Fumbling his way through parenting and accidentally finding humor in moments meant for tears, he attempts to learn how to be a good dad. Scenes of him awkwardly attempting to braid his daughter’s hair and sitting at a tea party with her were sweet. Recent films are bringing another twist to this gruff but lovable father figure: even when he makes mistakes, simply showing up for his children is enough. This is particularly evident in the recent true story of Instant Family, in which Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne adopt three children including a hardened teenager. Watching the father figure struggle to connect with the teenager, often getting things wrong but realising she needs a friend as much as a parent, is a very real and powerful take on this.

Anime fans of the comedic and romantic styles will particularly enjoy ‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya’ written by Nagaru Tanigawa. High school girl Haruhi has unknowingly brought about a number of changes to her reality and is kept an eye on by Nikaido Yuki. ‘Ouran High School Host Club’ by Bisco Hatori is also extremely funny and contains a lovingly romantic storyline, which runs throughout this over-the-top novel. These are perfect examples of novels that are written in the style of anime and will be thoroughly enjoyed by fans.

It’s hard not to bring up the iconic Haruka and Michiru from ‘Sailor Moon’ when talking about yuri characters. They may be some of the first that introduced many people to the genre, cementing an extremely high standard of elegance and unrequited love. Even today, it’s clear why they’ve had such a lasting impression on many – often causing viewers to exclaim ‘Wait, are they more than friends?!’ The ambiguous relationship between the two characters was once touted as representation, and today it’s celebrated as such, cementing their place in yuri history.

Yes, technically speaking. I would say that The Godfather is a movie about a family and a business, not just a family. Similarly, while the friendship of the male lead develops into romance with the female lead, the core of the story revolves around their growth and healing from past wounds and their learning to effectively communicate with each other. He’s struggling with the immense pressure from his family and expects himself to meet an almost impossible standard, building walls around himself as he tries to cope. She’s recently gotten out of a very bad relationship that’s left her with very low self-esteem. In the safe space of their friendship, the two of them can finally begin to heal. And their eventual romance is a natural progression of the two healthiest people possible finding each other after each has done a lot of growing and healing on their own. Much of the book explores the male lead’s therapy sessions, his struggles with his career, as well as the separate lives of the two leads and their respective friend groups. A simple love story this is not. Rather, it is a deep and complex character study of two interesting people who just happen to find each other.

Within omegaverse types, you have the standard alpha, beta, and omega, but there are many more nuances to the others. Some works are even more focused on the pack dynamics between characters of different status within the group. These dynamics can create really interesting stories, even when they aren’t strictly part of the omegaverse, such as in ‘My Hero Academia’. The dynamic between characters and how they relate to one another within a hierarchy is really interesting and is often portrayed well within the Omegaverse. It is great to see how the relationships of characters can evolve and how they get to define themselves within a group of people. Many stories that are set in an omegaverse are full of tension and revelations and they can be very interesting to read. The aspect of mpreg can be especially interesting, because it can lead to new situations and conflicts in the story. The omegaverse is a very interesting way to portray character interactions and to explore themes such as love, power and identity.

Short story anthologies feature very short stories, and are usually published as ebook anthologies, on platforms like Kobo, Nook by Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks and many more. You can search for the title of your story plus the word ‘anthology’ or ‘collection’.

My take on this is to consider the plot mechanics. The twist that the best friend’s father is a pre-existing, deeply emotional relationship which gets instantly torn apart from the best friend is so much more powerful than two complete strangers in a marriage of convenience. And because this is released chapter by chapter on the app, that tension can simmer away for days/weeks/months and then get a wonderful resolution. You read the end of a chapter with the best friend crying in it, and then you get to sit with that for a day or so. The fact that you’re reading it on an app that doesn’t allow binging of chapters is, I think, a key part of the experience: the story is being delivered as intended: with forced pauses for emotional absorption. It’s a feature not a bug.

Someone mentioned Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (the classic extreme anime with tons of bondage and tentacles). That’s a sort of extreme classic. It’s not really a normal series (it’s a bunch of OVA movies), but it is worth watching as a sort of historical curiosity. Most of the plots are messed up in extreme ways. I didn’t find it enjoyable to watch, but it’s a sort of landmark of sorts for extreme anime, so I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to know where a lot of these very extreme plot devices and elements came from. It’s not for everyone, but it is a piece of anime history, for better or worse.

I sometimes get nostalgic for the old days when communication in anime was treated as if it were magical instead of merely based on technology, and the various methods are quite surprising to recall. First, there are the telepaths, and they speak in hushed tones. Next, there are the sensititives or empaths who absorb the negative emotions of others to heal them. And then there are the charismatics who attract followers wherever they go. Furthermore, the ways in which media and magic are combined in order to tell a story are quite unique and often get me thinking about things in a different way today. Ethics and intimacy are two major themes that I care about. How is forced privacy used for good or for healing? Can coerced empathy actually be kind? This is a highly heal-your-icker-ianchris smirk or worried face with curiosity-themed set of situations. Can I use my powers of Supercommunication for good, or am I just a overall tinged with immoral spoiled bratty kid who runs around and makes tirades of hurt? I don’t know, but the lines between healing and tyrannical behavior are blurred in most of these situations, and I tend to lean towards the more “meh” side of things.

Re-watching value. Some TV shows are only good once, while others have many layers that only reveal themselves on the 2nd viewing. ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ is, without a doubt, the king of TV shows with much re-watching value. On the surface, ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ is a regular mecha TV series with a story about teenagers fighting giant alien monsters. But, once you know where the story is going, you can see the many layers of depression, trauma and human relationships that the show portrays. Symbolism, foreshadowing and the character’s motivations are very apparent once you know where the story is going. Evangelion is a difficult, frustrating but highly influential work, and the ending movies ‘The End of Evangelion’ provide a slightly more concrete (albeit abstract) view of where the story is going. It’s not an easy or enjoyable work to watch, but is fundamental to an understanding of a large portion of anime’s artistic worth.