Recently, the question on Quora “Why do so many Japanese anime revolve around high school students?” went viral on forums in Japan, sparking heated debates among users. While the author’s response on the platform provided two main reasons, many comments on Japanese forums offered varied and, in some cases, controversial opinions.

The author of the answer highlighted two main reasons for the prominence of high school students in anime:

• The most important demographic for anime and manga is teenagers. Although the industry also has adult content, teenagers are still the most engaged audience, so the protagonists are usually characters they can identify with.
• The teenage phase is idealized in Japan. In Japanese culture, adolescence is seen as a period of freedom before adulthood imposes rigid social norms. Youth is seen as a time when one can “live one’s own way” before integrating into the rigid Japanese social system.

Comments on Japanese forums, however, took a more crude and direct turn. Some users disagreed with the idealization presented in the response and offered alternative reasons.

One comment provocatively stated: “Japanese men project their desire to date high school girls“, suggesting that some of the popularity of these characters is due to problematic desires of certain segments of the public. Another comment suggested that while other contexts have been explored, “It's easier to work with high school characters”In anime stories.

It was also noted that adult protagonists, especially older women, are unlikely to be marketedsomething that limits the exploration of characters outside of the school environment. Several users agreed that adult-focused stories tend to migrate to live-action series, while anime remains firmly in the teens due to the ease of connecting with that audience and avoiding more adult narrative complications: “With college students or seniors it would be strange not to include sex scenes, and that's not something otakus like.“.

Another recurring point in the forums is the idealization of adolescence in anime. As some users mention, “School life is seen as the most exciting and nostalgic phase”in Japan, while adult life is perceived as monotonous and rigid, with few dreams or hope. In this way, adolescence becomes a symbol of freedom and emotion that many seek to relive or experience through anime.

The discussion of why Japanese anime focuses so much on high school students reveals a combination of commercial and cultural reasons. Adolescence is idealized as a period of freedom and discovery, making it the perfect environment for the escapist stories that anime offers. However, some fans feel that this constant focus may be wearing thin and advocate for greater diversity of characters and settings in the future.

Source: Yaraon!