The creators of the Persona series once commented in interview that they like to employ high school settings because it's something everybody can associate with. This seems to likewise be the mentality behind the scripting of many anime series. And it's true, with the exception of the lowest common denominator (no offense intended to said lowest common denominator. . . not that they can read this) we've all experienced school and the teenage drama that accompanies it. We can identify with themes like budding romance, unrequited love, new friendships and bitter betrayals, all in a high school setting with personality-devoid teachers for extras decorating our classroom backdrop. And who hasn't had lunch on the roof, like every Japanese middle schooler? (or at least three to each school, as there never seems to be a crowd)
But that's why the setting is not only over-used (much like the obligatory beach episode which comes with every series, like a car chase in a Hollywood blockbuster) but entirely unnecessary. A show's characters don't have to be timid, angsty and/or detached teenagers for me to relate to them. I identify with all the characters in Berserk despite the fact I wasn't raised in a war camp, and I sympathize with all the characters in Wolf's Rain even though I can't transmogrify into a furry toothy lupine monstrosity.
In fact, I find myself far more easily immersed in such shows, that discard the norm and give me something new and original to get wrapped up in, than in the common cliche, "everybody can associate with it," stories. The aim of fiction isn't to immerse yourself in what you already know, it's to be immersed in something that you can't find beyond fiction.
I dare say that what made Death Note such an original show wasn't the Death Note itself, or even the protagonist's questionable ethics, it was the fact that the story actually revolved around its eponymous plot device rather than reducing it to a mere gimmick used to add a bit of conflict to the end of each episode. I can just imagine Death Note as it would have been with a more standard treatment; half of each episode with Light interacting with high school chums and building a harem (without realizing it), a few minutes per episode of angsty, "I don't want the responsibility," soliloquy, and then some dramatic introduction of conflict which requires him to use the power to save his friends.
But we've all seen that. Far too many times.
And I'm not saying that no anime should have some slice of life themes or adolescent characters, but there should be more to them than a gimmick some producer came up with in a board room thrown into the same show with the same characters, over and over again. Writers shouldn't be afraid of non-standard settings and non-standard endings, and producers shouldn't be so worried about trending with their target demographic. The shows that stand out most aren't those we identify with, but the ones that broaden our horizons and expand our minds, that show us something new, something mature, something that isn't all-too-common.
In short, anime needs to graduate.
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