大家族

A little while ago, I was chatting online with Honya. He told me that he had been checking out 4chan and had found an amusing thread where users had made anonymous posts about their own ideal families of... anime characters. He had already made his own blog post detailing his perfect family and the reasoning behind it, and challenged me to do the same. So, after some deliberation of my own, here is my response:

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Otou-sama: Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Honorable Mentions: Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)

Rationale: A father has to be the pillar of the household, someone with strength and compassion that the whole family can rally around. As the most famous and beloved pilot of the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War, Char used his strength and compassion to inspire thousands of his fellow countrymen - but with those qualities, he could just as easily be the head of a loving family. He's also someone that my "siblings" and I could look to as a role model. Spike and Kakashi don't even come close, and probably wouldn't want to be tied to a family. *laughs*

Okaa-sama: Haruko Harahara (Furi-Kuri)
Honorable Mentions: Haman Karn (Zeta Gundam), Sanae Furukawa (CLANNAD)
Rationale: This wouldn't seem to make sense at first. Haruko's an irresponsible, lazy, hard-partying maniac with an illegal scooter and a knack for guitar-based vandalism. But you know what? During those rare moments when her maternal instincts are showing, she's so sweet and moe that I can't think of anyone better for the job. That, and the prospect of all-night Guitar Hero sessions with "Mom" means Haruko wins - and she's tough enough to be an equal to Char, to boot. Haman's tough enough, too, but that would make for a military family (oh no!) and Sanae's just a little too sweet to be mixed up in all this.




Nii-chan: Renji Abarai (Bleach)
Rationale: He looks pretty tough on the outside, but Renji's actually got all the qualities you want in an older brother. He's hard-working and strong, and unafraid to stand up for the people or the causes he believes in. He'd definitely help me keep on the right path in life, and help me get out of any kind of trouble I might be in - and if you think I'm wrong, then take a look at the history he shares with Rukia Kuchiki, because he was practically a brother to her as well. Also, doesn't he look like he could be Haruko's son? No honorable mentions here because I couldn't think of a lot of "older brother" characters who were actually older than me.



Onee-sama: Rain Mikamura (G Gundam)
Honorable Mentions: Lynn Minmei (Macross), Tokiko Tsumura (Buso Renkin)
Rationale: While an older brother is someone who shows you all the fun hangouts in town and protects you from punks who make your life difficult, an older sister is supposed to teach you all the important life lessons and help you with problems at home and school. Rain has that kind of honest, dependable nature, and with her around, I wouldn't have to go to "Mom" and "Dad" for help so often. Rain's also pretty creative and tech-savvy, so I could depend on her to help me with that big project coming up. But don't think I'm just pigeonholing her into the "token older sister" role - she's got enough guts to take control of a Gundam and fight for what she believes, too. Minmei and Tokiko are close, but each lack an important trait - Minmei doesn't have enough resolve, and Tokiko would be hard to approach since she's pretty fierce on the outside.




Futago-no-Ani: Takumi Fujiwara (Initial D)
Honorable Mentions: Keitaro Urashima (Love Hina), Kaoru Kamiya (Rurouni Kenshin)
Rationale: Though I think Takumi's the best choice for my twin sibling, he'd probably be the black sheep in this family. Takumi's usually pretty aloof and doesn't seem to have many goals in life - he'd rather be staying out late and having fun, and he's always asking for the keys to the family car. So why is Takumi the choice for me? Besides actually having some kind of resemblance to me, and sharing my age, Takumi and I share a mutual understanding on one thing: the awesome power of a downhill mountain-road street race. Side by side in matching Toyota Sprinters, we'd easily be the strongest tandem on the downhill racing scene - and we wouldn't say a word about it to each other the next day. *laughs* Keitaro doesn't work because we'd just end up a pair of depressed underachievers together, and Kaoru doesn't stand out enough.




Imouto: Noriko Takaya (Gunbuster)
Honorable Mentions: Mahiro Muto (Buso Renkin)
Rationale: Noriko's not actually that much younger than me, but she still counts as a little sister. I'd be disappointed if my younger sister didn't work hard all the time to surpass me, so Noriko wins because she's got the drive to do that and more. Noriko's probably the hardest-working girl out there in anime, so in time our whole family could be proud of the way she achieved more than we could ever dream of. Plus, she's cute, and has some great tastes in music and anime (Van Halen and Totoro, hell yeah!) so "babysitting" her would be anything but a chore. Like Kaoru, Mahiro just doesn't stand out enough to beat out Noriko.




Otouto: Yuuno Scrya (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
Honorable Mentions: Son Gohan (Dragonball Z), Yahiko Myojin (Rurouni Kenshin)
Rationale: Never mind Rain, I'd probably be better off asking Yuuno for help with my homework. When your little brother is a child prodigy with an affable personality, mind-blowing defensive magic, AND the ability to turn into an adorable pet ferret, you've got it made. The easiest decision I had to make.




Waifu: None. I just haven't come across the right girl yet. I'm hoping I'll find one in Kanon, but it's okay no matter what because getting married is for chumps anyways.





Musume (adopted): Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
Rationale: I'll admit it, I'm protective of little Nanoha. I love to see her succeed, I hate to see her struggle, and when she breaks her armor/wand/self I always wish I could do something to help. If that can't translate into some kind of paternal instinct, then I don't know what it is. Later, Nanoha will make her adopted grandfather proud when she joins the Time-Space Administration Bureau and learns to cause mecha-scale destruction without actually needing a mech. Ah, that's a daughter to be proud of! No honorable mentions because there aren't any other lolis I'm willing to own up to. *laughs*

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Honya told me that I'd surprise myself if I took this challenge, and I really did. Some of those characters came back from some long-forgotten archive in my mind and won the job outright, and even some of the honorable mentions would've made great choices. Rain and Haruko were especially surprising. I'm depressed that there's no one for the "waifu" slot, but I guess I'll just have to manage. I think I put together a pretty good family that might actually manage to live together - and that I'm sure I would enjoy living with in my own anime fantasies.

So, is anyone else gonna do this? Seriously, it's fun, and I want to see if there are any more anime fans out there.