A Yu Yu Hakushu Question

[Shnay]

On the last epsiode they mentioned that Kuawabara and the other characters went to junior high school (though it was probably mentioned before this episode and I just didn't take notice of it). This struck me as kind of odd, I always thought Kuawabara looks closer to 17 or 18 than 13, which would roughly be his age if he was in junior high.

While it's definately possible that Kuawabara failed a few years, it just seems to me that most of the male characters look much older than junior high school kids. Anybody else get this impression, or am I just making too much of a small detail?

[Killtacular]

Well, I don't see how kids that get 7's, 12's, and 40's on their tests would be moving on the next grade for a long time..

[Naraht]

I dunno, it might be a translation problem, due to the fact that Japan has a vastly diffrent school setup than here in the states (where it was dubbed)

[Killtacular]

Yes, they do. From what I heard, this particular episode was harder to translate to English because of that.

[SSJ_Gogeta]

What was hard to translate?

Tell me Matt!

So thier not in Junior High?

[Shnay]

Yeah, that was another thing I thought it could have been. Also, they probably don't have the same grading systems either (if a kid got a seven on a test they'd put him into special education).

[SSJ_Gogeta]

That could be. Maybe Yusuke got a 12/50, and not a 12/100. Maybe Japan normally grades on a 50 scale.

[livingfruitvirus]

The hard to translate part was Okubo's job. The school kept saying if they didn't clear 50 points he would lose it. In Japan the schools actually have more control over students' lives than in America.

[MeatWad]

Originally posted by SSJ_Gogeta
That could be. Maybe Yusuke got a 12/50, and not a 12/100. Maybe Japan normally grades on a 50 scale.

It couldn't be that way,cause Kuwabara or someone got fifty three percent. Unless it was extra credit.

[Watagashi]

This is true... but that doesn't make anything clearer. I do think that those guys ARE around seventeen or eighteen; they probably just don't have high school or something over there or something. I don't know; that's confusing. :confused: :confused: :confused:

[MeatWad]

No,they're all mostly fourteen. Go to www.yuyuhakusho.com and You click on characters of something and It'll tell you their ages. So,Kuwabara is fourteen,Yuske's fourteen,everyone almost is fourteen.

[Shnay]

Thanks for the info meatwad. Does anybody else think the males look older than 14 and the females look younger than 14? Maybe its just the voices.

[Naraht]

Originally posted by Shnay
Thanks for the info meatwad. Does anybody else think the males look older than 14 and the females look younger than 14? Maybe its just the voices.

Part of it is asian women in general, tend to be quite small...(not that their men are huge...[Sumo Wrestlers excluded])..and anime tends to exagerate this...

[Artemis]

I've seen plenty anime that have junior high/middle schools (i.e. Sailor Moon, Key The Metal Idol) so this leads me to believe that Japan has elementary, middle, and high schools just like we do.

The only thing different between our schools and theirs are the grading systems, the apparent lack of lockers and uniforms.

Actually....

...well, not to get off-topic but what is the deal with uniforms in Japan right now? I'm beginning to see anime where students don't where uniforms at their schools at all (i.e. Digimon Tamers, 5th season of DBZ). Is it only a few schools that are abolishing this or is it just in these anime only, because their in some sort of fantasy world or alternate universe?

[Space Pirate]

Maybe Yusuke got a 12/50, and not a 12/100. Maybe Japan normally grades on a 50 scale.
Japanese grades on 12/100 scale.

Japan has a vastly diffrent school setup than here in the states
elementary 6 years, junior high 3 years and high school 3 years. Kawabara and Yuseke are in the last year of junior high which means they are in ninth garde, if it's in the U.S., they are in high school.

I'm beginning to see anime where students don't where uniforms at their schools at all (i.e. Digimon Tamers, 5th season of DBZ).
the kids in digimon tamers dont wear uniforms because they are in elementary, not all the elementary require to wear uniforms, as for DBZ, it's because it's in a fantasy world.

Thanks for the info meatwad. Does anybody else think the males look older than 14
yes they look much older than 14, but it's not a big deal anyway, i always think they are 17, besides they look the same when they are 17 at the end.

[Anyone00]

The show is probably meant to be an escapist fantasy for boy around the age of 13.
If you were one of these boys would you want the characters that you were meant to identify with to be pre-pubescent weaklings, squeaky voiced zit covered nerds, or muscular brawling menly-men.

[Zorakfan]

I dunno. That depends. Do the squeaky-voiced zit boys have access to superpowers and/or firearms?

[Anyone00]

Originally posted by Zorakfan
I dunno. That depends. Do the squeaky-voiced zit boys have access to superpowers and/or firearms?

Giant robots or the like, actually.

[randomguy]

This happens all the time with anime. They depict young characters, physically, much more adult than they are in real life. Take Sailor Moon for example. Go out there right now, LOOK at the 14-year old girls out there, and see if you find a lot that are that tall, leggy, and, um "developed". It's common.

[SSJ_Gogeta]

Originally posted by randomguy
Go out there right now, LOOK at the 14-year old girls out there, and see if you find a lot that are that tall, leggy, and, um "developed". It's common.

Isn't that illegal?

[Kesh]

Originally posted by SSJ_Gogeta
Isn't that illegal?

Only if you do more than look. :yakko:

[ohmrbill]

...and if you're over 18.

[PPRyan]

So wait... the girls in Sailor Moon are supposed to be how old?

[dolphin917]

Originally posted by PPRyan
So wait... the girls in Sailor Moon are supposed to be how old?

In the first series, they are all 14. By the time the series ends, they're 16. The outer senshi are only a year older, though they act like they're in their 20s.

The age thing in Japan is a big issue. Many Japanese men have a lolita fetish, and a vast majority of animes reflect that in the ages of their characters. Most characters are drawn older than they're supposed to look.

[randomguy]

Well, I'm 16, so I'm ok... but people in their teenage years are almost inevitably drawn older in anime. Like previous poster said, it's a lolita-complex thing. I only spent about a year in Japan, but from what I gather, it's a SERIOUS social and cultural problem there.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

The legal age of consent in Japan is 16 or 17 right now...it used to be 15, I think.

It's not too surprising, given the culture of Japan. Goes back hundreds of years when Japanese women were married off at age 14, sometimes younger. This still happens in some of the smaller, less developed nations in the world.

In a democratic society, however, and especially since Japan has great ties to the West, this is considered taboo.

EDIT--Some states or cities in America also have lax laws concerning age of consent. Utah still has very vague laws--I've heard of girls as young as 14 getting married--legally--over there.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

Here's another Yu Yu question:

If the principal knows that the two teachers are trying to screw over Kuwabara & his friends, why the hell doesn't he fire them?

[Anyone00]

If the school system is a complicated government bureaucracy over in Japan it's probably like firing a government bureaucrat here in the US.
Anyone (else) have some info on this?

[Kesh]

Just to clarify, in the United States, the legal age of consent varies between 16 and 18, for the most part. However, a few states apparently dip as low as 14.

So it's not that odd for Japan to have an age of consent of 13.

http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm

[The Tentacle of DOOM]

Originally posted by dolphin917
The age thing in Japan is a big issue. Many Japanese men have a lolita fetish, and a vast majority of animes reflect that in the ages of their characters. Most characters are drawn older than they're supposed to look.

Says a member of the culture that brought you Brittany Spears...

[randomguy]

Says a member of the culture that brought you Brittany Spears...

That's nothing compared to the J-pop bands in Japan, with their 13 or 14 year old "idols". Believe me, the situation is MUCH worse in Japan. Besides, I lived there, I'm qualified to say ^_^.

[The Tentacle of DOOM]

I don't know if I'd say worse as much as I'd say more readily apparent...

[NewLib]

Spears was 17 when she hit the big time, so I would say there is a bit of difference.

[dolphin917]

Brittney definitely used her underage status to attract many men who would otherwise ignore her synth-pop prepubescent music. My only point with Japan is that the lolita fetish is so rampant, it's practically condoned mainstream. This is reflected in a lot of anime we watch.