I've posted about this before but it continues to fascinate me. I'm also not talking about the more obviously fucked up topic of the sexualising of teenage girls in Japanese media, but what constitutes an "older" person over there.

I'm currently watching the Netflix adaptation of One Piece, and saw some Japanese discussion about the show's portrayal of Shanks and the actor playing him, who looks like this on the show:

Show

There were comments saying that he "looks too much like a man past his prime" but also comments like "I like seeing attractive older men in media" and I'm just confused since he looks like a perfectly normal handsome actor man. They talked about him like Western social media talked about a 65-year-old Jeff Goldblum

I guess you turn into an ossan immediately after your 25th birthday

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      ·
      9 months ago

      I think it's because traditionally (or at least in modern capitalist Japan) you are only thought to have a brief period of relative freedom that ends after university, after which you're supposed to slave away at a corporation while supporting a family until you croak or retire if you're a man or be a housewife if you're a woman.

      It's a large part of why protagonists tend to be so young in Japanese media- you could conceivably only be gallivanting around the world having adventures when you're a kid or a teen and all the grizzled experienced older guys are like 24 years old, otherwise it'd be weird and pathetic if they weren't settled down

      I mean, essentially there's no difference to how Western society has been set up since at least after the end of World War II but I guess the social expectations are strong enough over there that it also affects how fictional characters in fantastical settings are viewed

      • keepcarrot [she/her]
        ·
        9 months ago

        For what it's worth, Japanese labour law is substantially weaker than the US's, so your life is even more consumed by corporate life. Also Japanese culture is consolidated under fewer corporations.

        Stuff to think about. My mum (Japanese) is still working and she's nearly at avg lifespan for a Japanese woman. All remote work though

      • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
        ·
        9 months ago

        i much preferred the older style of 14 year old shonen characters looking and acting like 20 yearolds to the last decade or so of "18" year old characters who look and act 12.

      • SuperNovaCouchGuy2 [any]
        ·
        9 months ago

        you are only thought to have a brief period of relative freedom that ends after university, after which you're supposed to slave away at a corporation while supporting a family until you croak or retire if you're a man or be a housewife if you're a woman

        Really well put, the modern novel "A Personal Matter" encapsulates this attitude in its soy themes.