Why do so many main characters in anime live orphans or have no parents around?

Many people often notice a fact in the sets anime, especially shonen series where the main characters often lose their parents at a young age or don’t live with their parents. Let’s find out with us!

Perhaps the most common way for anime characters to lose their parents is to die tragically. If it happened when the protagonist was too young to remember, then it wouldn’t really mean anything to this protagonist’s development. If they remember, it’s often a traumatic experience that changes these protagonists.

A good example of this contrast is the protagonist Naruto and his friend Sasuke Uchiha. For Sasuke, the killing of his parents and the rest of his clan was so painful that he spent his youth seeking revenge. Meanwhile Naruto never knew about his parents so he wasn’t really affected by their deaths.

If a protagonist loses his or her parents because they were killed, that can become the driving force behind the protagonist’s actions. This often manifests as a strong desire for revenge. There are many characters like Sasuke such as Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan), Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass), Shinn Asuka (Gundam SEED Destiny) and Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist). For these main characters, the loss of their parents is a source of great pain and anger that they desire to avenge their parents.

However, in many anime series, the main character’s parents are still alive but do not appear. The best representative of this in anime comes from Neon Genesis Evangelion. In this movie, Shinji Ikari’s father, Gendo, keeps his distance because of his job and because he really doesn’t know how to communicate with his son. Being neglected by his father caused Shinji to have very negative thoughts.

Besides, in many anime series, the main character’s parents are still alive but they do not raise children for various reasons. A good example is Hunter x Hunter. The father Ging Freecs leaves his son Gon and the rest of his family so he can pursue his goals as a hunter. Instead of worrying about being abandoned, Gon becomes curious about the hunter and becomes one in hopes of finding his father.

Even without parents, the main characters can still have a fulfilling life with good friends and people who care about them. This is true of Naruto and many other shonen protagonists like Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail) and Goku in Dragon Ball. These characters are almost better off without their parents.

Overall, the fact that the main characters don’t have their parents present in their lives is a way to develop the plot in different directions. It is because of this that in the series anime, especially in the shonen genre, the main characters often don’t have their parents around. What do you think about this, please leave your comments!