xanithofdragons (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xanithofdragons) wrote2014-01-19 11:12 am
xanithofdragons) wrote2014-01-19 11:12 am
恋は甘くて苦い
I was reading a post the other day about non-sexual intimacies, and the first whole paragraph touched on some big parts of what bothers me about a lot of romance writing in fiction really perfectly. Too often, the writers focus overly much on romantic relationships while underdeveloping non-romantic relationships, or just seem to throw together the lead female character and the lead male character without considering compatibility or thinking about how their relationship would go after the story ends or even properly developing romantic feelings between them. It leaves me asking why they had them fall in love rather than leaving them as coworkers or partners or friends. It's bad writing and heteronormative too.
After reading that, I thought about listing some jdrama I've seen that had (what I think are) good non-romantic relationships between girls/women and boys/men.
Freeter, Ie wo Kau
The relationship between Seiji and his mother is such a huge part of this drama. Seiji's concern for his mother in particular becomes a huge motivating factor for him and his mother's encouragement helps him to turn his life around. Seiji's relationship with his father is equally important, but it sort of becomes about the trio of mother-father-son, with the mother trying to get Seiji and his father get along better and Seiji trying to get his father to help more with the mother's mental illness.
Ghost Mama Sousasen
This is another drama that focuses pretty heavily on the relationship between mother and son, since Choko stays in the world as a ghost out of worry for Tonbo.
IS
It helps that the subject matter of IS already lends itself to challenging assumptions about sex and gender, but I really liked the friendship between Haru and Miwako, and how getting to know Haru saved Miwako in a lot of ways. The different ways they saw their identities and handled similar issues contrasted their personalities well (and also hinted at the very different home situations they were brought up in.)
Kakushou
Hagio and Takeda's relationship was pretty standard for partners in a police drama, but I liked how early on in the series, Hagio talks with some of the other detectives about not knowing how to interact with a young woman as a partner, kind of like the drama was touching on her gender without making it overshadow other aspects of her character. It's like they were saying, yes her gender affects their relationship, but her age and her career ambitions and her background also affect their relationship just as much.
Legal High
Mayuzumi and Komikado's relationship is part boss/employee and part mentor/mentee. This one almost wouldn't make it on the list since there are some other characters who hint at or ask about romantic potential between them, but that doesn't really fit their relationship. The clash between Mayuzumi's optimistic outlook and Komikado's cynical outlook and the way Mayuzumi keeps arguing with and fighting against Komikado make this drama great. It's also really nice how Komikado slowly starts to respect her even while he avoids admitting it and realizes how Mayuzumi's style can help in a trial and figures out how to use it.
Are there any jdramas (or other works of fiction) that had a non-romantic relationship between a man and a woman that you really liked?
After reading that, I thought about listing some jdrama I've seen that had (what I think are) good non-romantic relationships between girls/women and boys/men.
Freeter, Ie wo Kau
The relationship between Seiji and his mother is such a huge part of this drama. Seiji's concern for his mother in particular becomes a huge motivating factor for him and his mother's encouragement helps him to turn his life around. Seiji's relationship with his father is equally important, but it sort of becomes about the trio of mother-father-son, with the mother trying to get Seiji and his father get along better and Seiji trying to get his father to help more with the mother's mental illness.
Ghost Mama Sousasen
This is another drama that focuses pretty heavily on the relationship between mother and son, since Choko stays in the world as a ghost out of worry for Tonbo.
IS
It helps that the subject matter of IS already lends itself to challenging assumptions about sex and gender, but I really liked the friendship between Haru and Miwako, and how getting to know Haru saved Miwako in a lot of ways. The different ways they saw their identities and handled similar issues contrasted their personalities well (and also hinted at the very different home situations they were brought up in.)
Kakushou
Hagio and Takeda's relationship was pretty standard for partners in a police drama, but I liked how early on in the series, Hagio talks with some of the other detectives about not knowing how to interact with a young woman as a partner, kind of like the drama was touching on her gender without making it overshadow other aspects of her character. It's like they were saying, yes her gender affects their relationship, but her age and her career ambitions and her background also affect their relationship just as much.
Legal High
Mayuzumi and Komikado's relationship is part boss/employee and part mentor/mentee. This one almost wouldn't make it on the list since there are some other characters who hint at or ask about romantic potential between them, but that doesn't really fit their relationship. The clash between Mayuzumi's optimistic outlook and Komikado's cynical outlook and the way Mayuzumi keeps arguing with and fighting against Komikado make this drama great. It's also really nice how Komikado slowly starts to respect her even while he avoids admitting it and realizes how Mayuzumi's style can help in a trial and figures out how to use it.
Are there any jdramas (or other works of fiction) that had a non-romantic relationship between a man and a woman that you really liked?
no subject
Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou is actually my favourite drama, hands down, and the singular least sexist drama I've ever seen. It's actually probably one of the least problematic fictional TV shows I've ever seen, in any country. I don't want to sing the praises too highly since if you see it differently than me, then you'll only be disappointed, but what I took away from it was that the main message was one of friendship and tolerance, that friendship is more important than romance drama or interpersonal differences in background, preference, or personality, and that if you try to be open-minded, your horizons will be broadened and you might learn and grow as a person. I really like the way it handles what most dramas would turn into something awful, so I really would highly recommend it.
It frustrates me so much that there are so many people who honestly believe that (straight) girls and boys can't be friends without romantic interest on one side or the other because it makes me really worried about their interactions with people of the opposite sex in any relationship. And then they put awkward pressure on people who are perfectly happy in their friendships, too.
This. This so much. It drives me absolutely bonkers that no TV series can ever have a man and a woman have a bond that doesn't become romantic or sexual before the end of the series. It's also something that drives me crazy about a lot of gender-swap fanfic and stuff like that in fandom. Because two guys could never be attracted to one another, but as soon as one of them is a girl, then there's no way they couldn't be attracted to one another. :|
That would be awesome! You really don't see a lot of that in dramas, so I'd be interested.
no subject
Yeah, so much of gender-swap fanfic is just... kind of half-heartedly or poorly done to start with, since few people really explore the question of "how would this person be different as a different gender", so when it's obviously done for no other reason than to turn something into romance, it's just :|. Not fooling anybody.
It's really weird and sad how rare good female friendships can be even in fiction targeted at women!
no subject
It really is sad how rare good female friendships (or shippable female pairs) exist even in fiction targeted at women.