Compared to other mediums, anime and manga present a unique view when it comes to parents. Aside from parent driven series like Full Metal Alchemist with Trish Elric, very few teenage characters seem to have parents at all. Obviously it's easier for a creator to "write out" the parents in some way or never answer the question in the first place. Few series have likable parent figures when present, even counting Planetes and Kamichu. Often times in the case of shows like Rahxephon or Evangelion, the parent is challenged by the child, thus ending that relationship..
This is why when you get a good "mother character" in a series, you take hold of it. Characters like "Rico" from Witch Blade fight crime and juggle being a mother. Of course I don't know how high up that request is when it comes to a new series. I can't imagine the staff of a new hit show saying "hey, why not make the lead character a single mother or a mother with two kids?!". It just isn't going to happen, especially when anime is aimed at the teenage audience.
Still it doesn't stop one from taking heart when you get "grown up" characters. This Mother's Day it would be too easy compiling a list of my "favorite moms in anime". So like most things in life, I decided to make it more difficult. Instead I asked myself, "what characters would be good mothers?".
Would you go with the fail safe option of Belldandy from AMG?
What about Mizuho from Onegai Teacher?
Tanabe from Planetes?
What about a spoilerific mom in Emma?
Anyone of those would be a fine choice. So on this mothers day, who do you think would be a great mom? Could you imagine Revy from Black Lagoon or Ryoko from Tenchi taking care of a kid(non Washu of course..)? That's some creative licensing right there.
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