The fantasy of growing up fast in older anime/manga

The other day I started entertaining the following idea:

While transition between childhood and adulthood tends to be non-existent, barely noticeable or artificially shortened in older manga/anime (perhaps as a reflection of social and economic realities of the time), the fantasy of growing fast up that seemed to dominate those older works has never completely gone away - it only changed its form into a sort of Messiah complex where a teenage protagonist is saddled with the great responsibility of saving the world, in which case adulthood is artificially achieved fast by means of a role reversal where adults are typically reduced to a relatively helpless state as the teenage protagonist takes charge.

Then I tried to think of examples to support this idea, and realized that the idea does not work out as neatly as I thought it would be.

Below are some examples that seem to characterize the fantasy of growing up fast in older anime/manga:

• Marvelous Melmo, Magical Angel Creamy Mami, Full Moon o Sagashite, Fancy Lala and Magical Fairy Persia all feature an elementary schoolgirl who is able to turn into a teenage girl by means of magic.

• In The Drifting Classroom, elementary school children who have been mysteriously transported into an environmentally doomed wasteland assume adult responsibilities. (For example, the son of a doctor performs surgery.)

In short, you have to be on the right side of the age demarcation in the old days. If you are a child, you do things befitting a child. If you are a grown-up, you do things befitting a grown-up. If you are a child wanting to do things befitting a grown-up, then you had better take on the appearance of a grown-up (by means of magic or otherwise), or you had better have extenuating circumstances to justify your acts.

However, the fantasy of playing or being grown-up works in more oblique ways in other older works:

• In Fly Me to the Moon, a precocious little girl of 10 begs a man of 26 to be her boyfriend. The man has a sort of dating relationship with her, after having travelled to the future and seen what she will grow up to be like. The precocious little girl also saves his life time after time.

Then at some point, the mood seems to have swung from longing for adulthood to discrediting adulthood, typically by means of surpassing it through the sense of validation great acts bestow upon an individual - and there is no greater act than saving the world. As in - 'look what I can do that adults cannot do.'

(And then fastforward to the fall/winter season of 2007. What with all the moe stuff, it seems to me that even the Messiah Complex is in decline...)

As I said, the idea may not work out all that neatly after all. But I like entertaining ideas for the sake of entertaining ideas. Please do not hesitate to let me know your thoughts on this.

Comments

[psgels]

A more recent example of the idea you described is Asatte no Houkou: a small girl who dreams of being grown up and a young woman who longs back for her childhood get their deams fulfilled. The thing is, that they're not able to change back.

I really agree with the following line, though:

"As in - 'look what I can do that adults cannot do.'"

There are just too many anime these days that give children and teenagers an non-sensical advantage over adults.

[Wabisabi]

Thanks for reminding me of Asatte no Houkou.

Now that I come to think of it, I wonder why it is only girls who get the magic power to grow up fast in anime, but never boys. It is a girl thing?

[A Girl]

I think it's part of the gender definition of how boys and girls should grow up.
Boys are expected to mature slowly through hardship. Whereas girls are expected to jump right into their sexual identities which is less provocatively represented by physical maturity.

Although, my honest, personal opinion is that the magic is in part a device to aid male fantasy about the sexual availability of the girls. ( ~_~)

[Wabisabi]

Asatte no Houkou has vibes of what you described. Though to be fair, in some older works like Takemiya Keiko's Fly Me to the Moon and Umezu Kazuo's Baptsim, it is more like the young girl who is craving to be loved by a grown man as a romantic interest. In neither case is the young girl 'objectified' (as seems to be the case in eroge or harem anime out there).

[A Girl]

Hm. Well, I meant more from the viewer's standpoint. So it's not so much about objectifying girls, as it is about coaching audiences on gender roles. But as far as objectification goes, just because it's not explicit, doesn't mean it's not there. :P

As a sidenote: A friend once told me she had trouble watching Miyazaki's work. She was okay with the object-heroines meant to represent a pure, youthful feminine ideal. But when she learned about Miyazaki's pedophilic tastes, she had a hard time separating that objectification from being sexual in nature. Even if it's not meant to be an exercise in desire, there's little that can be done about suppressing the unconscious. She did find Howl's Moving Castle okay, though. Probably because of Sophie's age and the availability of an attractive male love lead. XD

Ahhh my reply got too long and confusing.
A pretty straightforward example of sexual availability would be the popularity of magical girl shows with older men.

The shows themselves are chaste, as are the characters, but male fantasy persists. Why? Perhaps for those uncomfortable directly fantasizing about children, there is the post-transformation adult body which greenlights the fantasy. Male desire is further validated since the heroines are eager to be recognized as adults as defined by their nubility and physical attractiveness.

(Responsibility which features prominently in boys' maturation stories becomes second-tier with girls.)

Euuuhh sorry if this is all kind of tangential and difficult to follow. This is one of those things that I have so much to say on, that thoughts get jumbled XD

Oh yeah, always meant to say you're blog is great. It's a nice change of pace from the 100,000,000 screaming, "I CRIED MANLY TEARS" at Gurren Lagann and Kanon.

[Wabisabi]

I think I understand what you mean. But some of these works were actually created by women - so it's not like a male creator endorsing that sort of relationship consciously or subconsciously and coaching a young female audience to believe in the same. I think what is expressed in these works is a genuine, girlish longing for adulthood and the pain of harbouring some sort of crush on a grown man - which, if you are honest about it, is more common than you think.

And thanks for your compliment about this blog. If you like it, then do comment often. Feedback is what keeps me going. ^-^

[A Girl]

Well, if it helps clarify where I'm coming from, I identify as a misogynist more than a feminist. XD

There's nothing wrong with women seeking solace in domestic fantasy. But their work, like any media, does influence their readers however subtly. And it's just sad there's such a lack of material that provides challenging social values to audiences. :/

Male or female, doesn't really matter. Since women are just as eager to limit and herd themselves. ("Sisterhood" is probably more a myth than "brotherhood.")

There's also the male construct of the industry, despite the gender identification of the original creator. Kodomo no Jikan comes to mind. It quite cleverly uses a female author to soften the acceptability of its blatant lolicon-marketing tactics.
Consumers feel more comfortable engaging in the work because it must not be okay since a woman made it.

This came from a blog entry on the top moe characters. Many commentators agreed female creators made the best moe characters. Why though? Is there a natural gender discrepancy that allows women to better understand and replicate moe? Or does marketing's psychological manipulation have anything to do with it?
(Moe is one big scam imo.)

Sorry this is the last I'll say on this XD
Not really saying anything, and saying too much all at once. -_-;

[Wabisabi]

Misogyny means you are strongly prejudiced against women. I guess the word you are looking for is 'misandry'? ^-^

[A Girl]

Nope. Misogyny.

[Wabi Sabi]

So let me get this straight - you are a woman with strong prejudice against women. I would have thought that it is against the men that you have strong prejudice of... ^-^

[Neohybrid_kai]

Have you seen this season's mahou shoujo: Shugo Chara? I've watched it recently and I find the concept of an egg within your soul that's represent the potential of changing your character/personality into anything interest me. There's no boundary like "That's so not me" or "Someone like me wouldn't do something like that" when a person uses his/her guardian chara. However it is told that only children has the egg inside them. I think this is somehow express that "even if the potential exist, adults can't change their personality as free as what they want". I think changing character could be considered as part of growing up, too.

..or maybe I just think too deep of a mahou shoujo show ^^;;

[A Girl]

Neohybrid_kai: I agree that sounds like it's referring to the flexible potential of children. And maybe it's not so much that adults can't change, but that their potential has become shaped with experience. And I guess any sort of definition becomes a kind of boundary?

I'd like to see a magical adult show. :D And then maybe Japan's social policies will change.

WabiSabi: In a way, a hetero woman can make a more sound misogynist than a guy, right? Because then her prejudices aren't blindly developed, or obscured by sexual anxieties. And, they can be supported by direct experience with the "women's world" that is unapproachable to most men.

Although, I guess prejudice is prejudice and it doesn't really have levels XD

"Misogyny" is also just an easy way to explain otherwise difficult, mixed-up views =_=;; And it's fun to throw in since ppl don't expect it XD

[Wabisabi]

Neohybrid_kai:

No, I have not seen that. Thank you for pointing it out though.

A Girl:

Good point about an adult magic show. I should like to see something like that too.