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[HeelPower]

Why ?
"Highschool uniform" considered to be so cool that they sell school uniform outfits as games DLC, massive bulk of anime revolves around highschool, Giant bulk of protags are usually 15-17 and barely older than that is "senior" ?

Is school maybe culturally different there ? Is it all consuming or something ?

I dont notice these trends in US,South American or European cultures.

 

[Demon Lizardman]

is college not a popular thing in Japan?

 

[Angry Grimace]

The obvious answer is that school is culturally different there.

 

[mjc]

I'd imagine their stressful experiences in HS bring some of that out, from what I've seen.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Just like my Japanese animes

 

[How About No]

Because life is over after hs in nippon

 

[shira]

Is school maybe culturally different there ? Is it all consuming or something ?

National Exam scores determine your college/job/social status in life.
Or that's what anime would have me believe

 

[Vilix]

Japanese highschool is the end all be all of Japanese culture. It effects everything a Japanese will ever do in his/her life. I know this because I watch a lot of anime.

 

[TheChaos0]

Because life is over after hs in nippon

.

 

[Zoe]

The US absolutely glorifies high school days.

Japanese adulthood sucks. High school and college (to a lesser extent) are glorified because you spend the rest of your life chained to a desk.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

They have a real creepy youth obsession. Aka LOL Japan.

 

[Tagyhag]

I always assumed is that because while high school had its stresses, it's nothing compared to the stress of Japanese college to get a good degree, and then the stress of the salary man culture.

It's a more innocent time.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I was told once (by Japanese people) that one of the reasons to choose an school over another is how nice their uniforms are.

I'm not joking.

 

[.JayZii]

Why ?
"Highschool uniform" considered to be so cool that they sell school uniform outfits as games DLC, massive bulk of anime revolves around highschool, Giant bulk of protags are usually 15-17 and barely older than that is "senior" ?

Is school maybe culturally different there ? Is it all consuming or something ?

I dont notice these trends in US,South American or European cultures.

Because it was the last time in many people's lives before they began their soul crushing careers. Even high school is super stressful over there, which is why there is a lot of middle school media too.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

1. aimed at HS students
2. adulthood fucking blows especially in Japan
3. cool uniforms

 

[Zoe]

I always assumed is that because while high school had its stresses, it's nothing compared to the stress of Japanese college to get a good degree, and then the stress of the salary man culture.

It's a more innocent time.

I've heard many people say that getting accepted to college is the hardest part--everything else is a breeze.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

The US absolutely glorifies high school days.

Japanese adulthood sucks. High school and college (to a lesser extent) are glorified because you spend the rest of your life chained to a desk.

This. Highschool is the last time they get some sense of freedom if they're going into a corporate job or devoting themselves 100% to their studies. For a lot of creators it's the best time they have to reflect on things and gain inspiration from.

 

[Chorazin]

I dont notice these trends in US,South American or European cultures.

Like 99% of CW shows not revolving around DC comics is set in high school. Other channels have/had stuff Stuff like Teen Wolf, Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210 ect ect ect.

It happens here, too.

 

[HeelPower]

I was told once (by Japanese people) that one of the reasons to choose an school over another is how nice their uniforms are.

I'm not joking.

The obvious answer is that school is culturally different there.

I never understood the uniform thing.

Back in my highschool,people hardly cared or thought about uniform and administration stopped enforcing them in highschool.

We couldnt wait to change of uniform as soon the day was over.

 

[Thatonemoor]

I was constantly asking myself while playing Persona 5 why they didn't base the game in college. Time Management is a much more important skill to have in college then in high school. Planning your work and your classes is key in order to graduate. Not only that but all the characters (Except Futaba) all look College age anyway.

This constant focus on high school in anime seriously makes me wonder if the Japanese people just don't like talking about college. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in japan don't have any interesting stories from their college days. Hell college is where my life got interesting. High school is where all the boring stuff happened.

 

[Imperfected]

At the end of the day, the high school experience is something 99.99% of your audience can immediately connect with. If you set something in a post-high school setting, there's a significant portion of your audience who completely lose that narrative and nostalgic/emotional hook because it's going to be something they never experienced.

Even making media about being unfulfilled in a grinding, dead-end job isn't and really can't be as universal as high school. There's going to be some people out there who just don't connect with it.

 

[old]

I just assumed it's because all the adults are too busy working to enjoy media so the media is geared towards young people who actually have the time to enjoy it and buy it.

 

[Sou Da]

I was constantly asking myself while playing Persona 5 why they didn't base the game in college. Time Management is a much more important skill to have in college then in high school. Planning you work and your classes is key in order to graduate. Not only that but all the characters (Except Futaba) all look College age anyway.

This constant focus on high school in anime seriously makes me wonder if in japan just don't like talking about college. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in japan don't have any interesting stories from their college days. Hell college is where my life got interesting. High school is where all the boring stuff happened.

Yeah I was wondering about that too, any Japanese Gaf users have college anecdotes?

 

[Trojita]

Idealized recreations of the school experience. And fetishes. That covers it up.

 

[Sinfamy]

 

[takriel]

they're a bunch of lolis

 

[LinkAndEpona]

As much as I like shows such as Lucky Star, it does NOT make me want to be back in highschool.

Life is so much more free during adulthood, imo anyway.

 

[Zoe]

I was constantly asking myself while playing Persona 5 why they didn't base the game in college. Time Management is a much more important skill to have in college then in high school. Planning you work and your classes is key in order to graduate. Not only that but all the characters (Except Futaba) all look College age anyway.

This constant focus on high school in anime seriously makes me wonder if in japan just don't like talking about college. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in japan don't have any interesting stories from their college days. Hell college is where my life got interesting. High school is where all the boring stuff happened.

Take the American high school experience and the American college experience. Now flip them. That's how it is in Japan.

 

[Trojita]

I was constantly asking myself while playing Persona 5 why they didn't base the game in college. Time Management is a much more important skill to have in college then in high school. Planning you work and your classes is key in order to graduate. Not only that but all the characters (Except Futaba) all look College age anyway.

This constant focus on high school in anime seriously makes me wonder if in japan just don't like talking about college. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in japan don't have any interesting stories from their college days. Hell college is where my life got interesting. High school is where all the boring stuff happened.

The Japanese college experience isn't anything like the average American one.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I never understood the uniform thing.

Back in my highschool,people hardly cared or thought about uniform and administration stopped enforcing them in highschool.

We couldnt wait to change of uniform as soon the day was over.

Japan loves their uniforms: Even the "salarymen" wear them (Black suits, black ties, black shoes). All kinds of workers wear them proudly. Yes, I don't understand that either. My school uniforms were ugly and uncomfortable. I've read articles online explaining the appeal for uniforms there, not only HS ones.

 

[aBarreras]

you say it like if a lot of not japanize media wasnt so fond of high school too.

the only reason i think you identify it more its because of the uniforms

 

[sphagnum]

I was under the impression that college was taken more seriously in Japan than America, so high school is where the lifelong friends and happy memories are made before everything turns to shit.

 

[jstripes]

Anime/manga series aimed at youth feature high school students. School life is depicted, and schools there generally have uniforms. The media culture is saturated with depictions of uniforms.

If most schools in the US had uniforms like catholic schools think of all the movies and TV dramas that would feature them.

 

[BocoDragon]

Has it dawned on you that you may be consuming media intended for Japanese teenagers?

 

[.JayZii]

I was under the impression that college was taken more seriously in Japan than America, so high school is where the lifelong friends and happy memories are made before everything turns to shit.

Middle school and high school are all about passing entrance exams to get into a good school after you graduate. Once you've finally made it to college, it's weirdly less pressure.

 

[Thatonemoor]

The Japanese college experience isn't anything like the average American one.

Ok fair enough but it's pretty strange that I have a pretty okay understanding of what high school is like in japan but have literally no clue what Japanese college life is like.

 

[Marmaladefire]

Highschool is like our college, and fetishes, and etc.

But, If you read or watch stuff that isn't shounen or otaku bait, you see adulthood represented pretty regularly in Japanese media.. We mostly get animus for teenage boys localized . Do you turn on the CW and also wonder why they're all unrealistically hot and unburdened 16 year olds?

Ok fair enough but it's pretty strange that I have a pretty okay understanding of what high school is like in japan but have literally no clue what Japanese college life is like.

Genshiken, Honey and Clover, Nana are all popular series I can think of that cover this time of life. There are more of course.

 

[Beartruck]

There is phrase in japanese culture that I feel applies here: "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down." Once you grow up, you better work your 12 hour a day salaryman job and fuck you if you try anything different.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

This. Highschool is the last time they get some sense of freedom if they're going into a corporate job or devoting themselves 100% to their studies. For a lot of creators it's the best time they have to reflect on things and gain inspiration from.

No college is a joke in Japan. It's basically a four-year break between the stress of highschool exams and the stress of full time employment.

My take is that graduating from middle school to high school in Japan is a bit like going from high school to college in America. High school is a bit of a free for all, in that students compete for entrance into prestigious private and public schools that aren't necessarily tied to the geographic area where the students live. So you've gone through kindergarten and elementary school and middle school with all of your friends you grew up with, now many of them and maybe you will be separated into different schools depending on where you get in, maybe even in another prefecture. Like going away to college.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

Life is over after hs for Japan.

 

[jstripes]

Middle school and high school are all about passing entrance exams to get into a good school after you graduate. Once you've finally made it to college, it's weirdly less pressure.

At that point all you have to do is graduate. Employers are looking at the diploma, not your GPA.

 

[Koppai]

What many people have already said...

People don't get to have all the fun once they leave High School. You get tied down to a 60 hour minimum work week (Japan works more than the rest of the modern world) and have no time to experience all the stuff they show off in anime.

 

[Hastati]

As far as I can tell college is mostly a waste of time for most people (blue collar or white collar) in Japan, and then you enter the work force which sucks a good forty or 50 years out of your life and in return you get to watch your grandkids do the same. Dreams end in high school.

This is probably different now with less job security and whatnot but I think postwar high school has had an image of freedom and play and moments of joy even with the painful realities of cram school and an overly competitive and small pool of high pedigree universities.

edit: I realize of course that this is a marketable image aimed at youth who want something better than reality. As far as I can tell the high school experience in Japan is definitely closer to college in the US and in fact college is more of a brief perios of relaxation as others have said.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I was constantly asking myself while playing Persona 5 why they didn't base the game in college. Time Management is a much more important skill to have in college then in high school. Planning you work and your classes is key in order to graduate. Not only that but all the characters (Except Futaba) all look College age anyway.

This constant focus on high school in anime seriously makes me wonder if in japan just don't like talking about college. I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in japan don't have any interesting stories from their college days. Hell college is where my life got interesting. High school is where all the boring stuff happened.

Yeah I was wondering about that too, any Japanese Gaf users have college anecdotes?

Japanese don't take college seriously. I've seen their classes and you'd see a professor talking to no one. Dudes sleeping at the front of the classroom, while a bunch of kids are playing at the back of the classroom, they were even laughing. And I'm not talking about colleges with bad reputation, that was at the University of Tokyo, the highest ranked university in Japan.

And you know what? It is acceptable for parents, professors and the society in general. Don't get me wrong though, when they become members of a research group they are really hard workers.

If Persona 5 were based around College life in Japan you'd have all your day available for Social Links.

 

[HeelPower]

Take the American high school experience and the American college experience. Now flip them. That's how it is in Japan.

Is it?

Back in Highschool you'd spend most of your time in class with very few opportunities to engage critically with the material.

Highschool eats up your mind and your time.Highschool students are brutish and mostly uninteresting.

Highschool was a nasty full time job in and of itself.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

Yeah for a lot of Japanese people the "high school is the best period of your life" thing is pretty true.

However, last time I went back my friend's lives were pretty chill after HS. Most of them weren't salarymen/OLs though. Like one became a mechanic, another became a geologist, and another worked at a clothing boutique. If you have jobs like that, work life can be pretty "normal", and not the hell you often hear about.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Highsxhool is considers the funniest time and the most freedom Japanese people experience inntheir life before they have to go into the workforce, its kinda the same here but its turned up to the ninth degree there because of what it means, its all about recapturing those times again and what probably led to the high school girl fetish

 

[Deepwater]

Yeah for a lot of Japanese people the "high school is the best period of your life" thing is pretty true.

However, last time I went back my friend's lives were pretty chill after HS. Most of them weren't salarymen/OLs though. Like one became a mechanic, another became a geologist, and another worked at a clothing boutique. If you have jobs like that, work life can be pretty "normal", and not the hell you often hear about.

I always found it weird how people portray that the only people working for a living in japan do so in a corporate/bureaucratic office

 

[Iva Demilcol]

http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/japan-loves-uniforms


They don't explain why but you'll see lots of adults wearing uniforms.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

I don't think it's so different from how a lot of Western media lionizes young adulthood (call it mid 20s to mid 30s) as the best time of life and everything is downhill from there.