It’s a question I ask myself more often than I’d like to admit as a dedicated anime fan. I lament the thought of even asking myself such question for I know it suggests the future possibility of letting go of something I don’t want to, though the question still finds ways into creeping into my psyche. Ten years from now, will I still love anime the way I do now? Part of me says “yeah, no duh, it shouldn’t even be a question”, but another part of me recognizes that I’m only getting older, and anime characters? Well they’re about as stuck in high school as my old classmate Justin. Well, until he eventually dropped out after his third semester as a super senior. Point is, as the years go by, my ability to relate or even remember how to relate to a majority of anime characters in most anime shows will start to fade.
As high school kids in real life start to more and more resemble toddlers to me, so do the matters of high school kids in anime seem more trivial to me. Sure I can relate to the angst and uncertainty these characters feel, but I can also see the stupidity and naivety just as easily. The struggles that these characters experience feels less and less real or compelling because the real life you is smarter and more cynical. Sorry, I might be projecting just a bit.
While I can confidently say I still enjoy anime set in high school settings such as shows like Clannad, Full Metal Panic!, Angel Beats, and School Rumble just to randomly name a few, I do find myself tending to enjoy shows more often when they handle more young adult matters. Not because they’re more mature per say, but because I find them just more relatable. This is to be expected as this is where I currently find myself in life. Some shows I really enjoyed, that partially had to do with their more older setting, include Golden Time, Wagnaria!!, and Servant x Service.
All three shows are fairly silly and comedic, but to me they have a certain relatable charm that capture where I’m at in life. Yeah Golden Time is still a romantic comedy anime, but it focuses more heavily on the quality of the relationships as opposed to the idea of just getting into a relationship for the sake of being in one. Like how Golden Time is in a college setting, that was the main difference I noticed in the relationships I formed while in college as opposed to the ones I had in high school. In terms of Wagnaria!! and Servant x Service, both anime deal with joining the work force. While these shows do feature high school kids, the main drive of the shows is very much becoming an adult and working. No silly high school shenanigans, just silly work shenanigans. The humor is the same, but at the same time not, cause it’s not set in high school. It sounds silly, but it’s also really all there is to it. If a show can keep away from the boundaries of a high school, then it’s less likely for people like myself to project their disdain for the immaturity of high school onto the show itself. Everyone can relate to a character maybe being stupid, but high school stupid is a time sensitive experience we will all outgrow. Except for Justin. Justin just dropped out of it.
My main point out of all of this is that anime relies heavily on the high school setting when I don’t think it has to. Sure, it’s what the market demands, but I also believe there is a largely almost untouched young adult market that is looking for more shows that speak to them. Anime doesn’t need to be set in high school to keep its charm. At this point, its become almost absurd how many shows utilize the high school setting. It in of itself has become almost a joke within the anime community along with the obligatory hot springs and beach day episodes. All I ask is for a larger recognition from anime studios that the older anime community is only going to continue to grow and that there is a lot of room to thrive in a market that doesn’t appeal to just teen angst and up skirt panty shot fetishes. Anime set in high school should never disappear, but it also shouldn’t be more than half of the shows coming out every season, but what do I know? I’m just a nerd with a laptop.
I’m currently typing this while marathoning an anime set in high school.
- Daniel