Birth Years: Which Do You Prefer?

[yumachan]

Do you prefer characters to have official birth years, or do you think it's better not to specify them?

As I get older, I sometimes feel a little sad when I realize that the age gap between me and the characters keeps changing. Characters who used to be older than me eventually become younger than me.

I never thought about this when I was younger, but lately I've been thinking about it more and more. If a character was older than me when I first met them, I want to stay forever younger than them.

That's why, personally, I'd actually be happy if their birth years were officially given. Even if I get older, I can still think of them as older than me and keep that feeling of being forever younger.


My first fictional crush was an adult man. But now, I'm older than he is.
A character I fell in love with when I was 14 is still 14, while I've been an adult for quite a long time now.
(Back then, I felt like we were living through the same moment in our lives and falling in love at the same time. Now, though, the age gap between us makes me feel a little awkward about openly saying that I still love him.)
But because their birth years are established, they're technically still my seniors in life, so to speak.

It might just be a matter of how I choose to think about it, but I'd still be happy to have it as an option.


What do you think? Do you like knowing a character's birth year, or would you rather leave it unspecified?

 

[yumachan]

It might be an eternal dilemma for those who fall in love with 2D characters.
It's an older anime, but I can finally understand how Haruka from *RahXephon* felt.

 

[enren]

I'm choosing the - Nay - option.

With the power of imagination age is irrelevant.
No matter how old you may be in real life.

 

[osanajimimi]

It's okay for me. It's a date to celebrate, in reality their age does not increase, one of my favorite characters was 14 just like me at that time, now we are far away in age, and I still like him for his mentality.

In my case, the age of the character vs visuals makes a bigger difference, but in general it doesn't turn out to be something that affects me as the time passes (¿)

 

[yumachan]

>>enren
Your comments give me courage.
In the rural area where I live, people are very particular about age, and there is a deeply rooted belief that romance is a privilege reserved only for the young; perhaps my own thinking has been influenced by that mindset. You're right; imagination is important. It was nice talking to you.


>>osanajimimi
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I'm sorry, but I didn't quite manage to translate part of your comment correctly.

Just to clarify, what I was asking about specifically was their birth year—the year they were born. I wasn't saying that I don't want characters to have birthdays. Of course, a character's birthday is something to celebrate, and I'll happily celebrate it to the fullest!

Sorry if there was any misunderstanding!

 

[SmallEagle]

Knowing their birth year doesn't really matter to me, I tend to be more influenced by at what time in my life I met them.

I can still play the routes if characters that I met when I was a teenager without feeling werid about the age gap tha now exists, because, I still feel them as older than me.

However, I do feel awkward with new characters, so in those cases I just don't self-insert and treat it more as a movie or a book.

 

[osanajimimi]

[COLOR=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.87)]>>osanajimimi[/COLOR]
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I'm sorry, but I didn't quite manage to translate part of your comment correctly.

Just to clarify, what I was asking about specifically was their birth year—the year they were born. I wasn't saying that I don't want characters to have birthdays. Of course, a character's birthday is something to celebrate, and I'll happily celebrate it to the fullest!

Sorry if there was any misunderstanding!

Now I understand it better thanks for the clarification

I don't think my answer will change much, but I understand why some may find it that way

 

[Adoris]

I think I won't really investigate the birth year of characters. All in all not all characters live in a same centery with me. When I play the game that happened in past, like Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 7，and Meiji Tokyo Renka，emmm, most of them died before I exist in this world? Instead of thinking they lived forever young, I would rather think something like, their time start rolling forward after we first met？

But I do play an otome game that background setting in modern age, Tears of Themeis. The company explicitly give 2030 as the year the game has started, and they also show the background of each character. Since the year doesn't really far away from the real time, players can deduce the birth year of the characters, and find the result that one of the main characters is in primary school in 2020, and should just go to high school in 2026.......It's hard to describe the feeling every time I think about that

 

[Hisami]

I don't mind cause I don't really think much about the characters age in the first place. Many games have barely legal Mc and much older LIs still that does'nt stop me from playing. Are they problematic? Maybe, but at the end they are fictional and I don't ponder over it.

 

[2DLoverx]

For me character ages don't really matter. I might notice a character's age when I'm looking at their profile on VNDB, but I usually forget it pretty quickly anyway. They're fictional characters after all and their age isn't something I really care about.
But if it bothers you, you could self-insert maybe? The MC presumably has an intended age too, so if you self-insert, you can just consider yourself to be the same age as the MC. That way, you don't have to think of yourself as being older than all the LIs.
don't worry too much about things like that, and just enjoy the game!

 

[0123456789]

Even if it isn't explicitly stated, things like the fact that it's a school setting or the character's position/job title usually give you a pretty good idea of their age, so I've never really paid much attention to it.

 

[Lotucias]

Since I often play the main character—who is of an appropriate age for the love interests—I admit I don't pay much attention to the age gap. I think that's the biggest issue for players who fully immerse themselves in the game as the protagonist.
I enjoy the story through the main character and appreciate the interactions, but I don't really fantasize about the relationships with the various love interests.

 

[yumachan]

Sorry if the translation didn't turn out quite right.


>>SmallEagle
I really relate to what you said about characters you met when you were younger. Even if the actual age gap has changed over the years, I think the way you first experienced them can stay the same. In a sense, I still feel like I'm the younger one when I think of characters I fell in love with back then, even though I'm technically older than them now.


>>osanajimimi
Thank you for coming back and replying again after I clarified what I meant! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question again. :)



>>Adoris
You're absolutely right—there are characters who live in the past, just as there are those who live in the future.

The first fictional character I ever fell in love with actually lived in the 16th century. When we first met, there was an age gap of about twenty years between us.
(He wasn't an *otome* game character, though.)

The same applies to characters from the future. Even if they are living in the "future" when we first meet them, that future eventually becomes our "present," and the age gap between us narrows in much the same way.

Thank you for sharing that perspective on characters who live in the future.

 

[yumachan]

I would like to thank everyone for taking my minor concern seriously and thoughtfully sharing your respective perspectives. Thank you so much for your warm and sincere comments!

 

[haiane]

I don't feel any need for a set year of birth for fictional characters. They don't care about your birth year either, you're still their heroine no matter what.

If you prefer for a character to have a set birth year, there's nothing easier than taking a release year of the game (or other medium) and deducting their age from it.

If this still doesn't work for you, look at the age of the seiyuus, but do it with caution since this may be a bit of a dangerous teritory. You might find out you're too young for them

 

[imonusi]

When I was a teenager, I used to enjoy stories featuring characters who were around the same age as me. But somehow, before I knew it, I'd gotten quite a bit older, and now most of the characters are younger than I am.

It felt a little bittersweet and sometimes even a bit weird at first, but I've gotten used to it now

Whenever I listen to CDs or play games (though I don't play much these days…), I feel like I'm transported right back to my younger self. The power of imagination, I guess!

That's also why I'm definitely the type who wants to know a character's age. I can use my imagination to fill in the gaps, but I still want to KNOW.

 

[satory]

It's kind of sad to overgrow someone who used to be older than you, but I'm still interested in character's ages. Specific birth years tho - let's go with a "no" for that. If a character is 20, I'd like them to be 20 in any year, and not try to calculate how old are they right now. For example, if it's an old story and it was stated that a person was born in 1980 and they are going to high school, it feels kind of strange.

 

[yumachan]

(I hope the translation turned out well.)
Please let me share something a little personal.


In Japan, there was a controversy around 2017 where some fans said things like, "It's gross to like a character who is ten years younger than you," or that it was "painful/gross" for older women to like young characters.

There was a lot of criticism and debate over those attitudes, with many people arguing that your age shouldn't determine whether you're allowed to enjoy a fictional character or support someone you love.


At the time, about ten years ago, I didn't really think much of it. But recently, as I've gotten older and started thinking more about the age gap between myself and the characters I loved when I was younger, I suddenly remembered it.

I found myself wondering, "Am I gross for still feeling this way?" or "Am I eventually supposed to grow out of this special feeling I have for the characters I loved when I was young?"


After talking with everyone here, though, I feel a little better.
I think I'll continue to cherish the things I love, no matter how old I get.

I'm really glad I got to talk about this with all of you. Thank you so much.

 

[satory]

(I hope the translation turned out well.)
Please let me share something a little personal.


In Japan, there was a controversy around 2017 where some fans said things like, "It's gross to like a character who is ten years younger than you," or that it was "painful/gross" for older women to like young characters.

There was a lot of criticism and debate over those attitudes, with many people arguing that your age shouldn't determine whether you're allowed to enjoy a fictional character or support someone you love.


At the time, about ten years ago, I didn't really think much of it. But recently, as I've gotten older and started thinking more about the age gap between myself and the characters I loved when I was younger, I suddenly remembered it.

I found myself wondering, "Am I gross for still feeling this way?" or "Am I eventually supposed to grow out of this special feeling I have for the characters I loved when I was young?"


After talking with everyone here, though, I feel a little better.
I think I'll continue to cherish the things I love, no matter how old I get.

I'm really glad I got to talk about this with all of you. Thank you so much.

When someone starts talking about things people should like or not I always remember the phrase 「好きなものは好きだからしょうがない 」("I like what I like, and nothing can be done about it"). Everyone have gross things they like, people who say they don't are ignorant or just trying to hide it I hope you will feel better about your hobbies

 

[yumachan]

>>satory
Your words comforted me. Thank you so much.
And thank you for the sunflower!
Coincidentally, it's the flower used as a motif for two of my favorite characters.
(These aren't characters from otome games.)

 

[enren]

I found myself wondering, "Am I gross for still feeling this way?" or "Am I eventually supposed to grow out of this special feeling I have for the characters I loved when I was young?"

There's nothing gross about it.
You like a character for their personality, not their age.
Their story is just a moment frozen in time. Like a photo.
That's it.

 

[yumachan]

>>enren
Thank you for understanding my worries.
You're so kind, enren.

After my exchange with satory earlier, I wanted to send someone a flower too. I thought the rose on the hat in your icon was cute, so here you go! Haha!

 

[RedLipsSourApples]

I never really thought about it beyond thinking it would be cool if a character liked and I shared birthdays LOL.

 

[imonusi]

(I hope the translation turned out well.)
Please let me share something a little personal.


In Japan, there was a controversy around 2017 where some fans said things like, "It's gross to like a character who is ten years younger than you," or that it was "painful/gross" for older women to like young characters.

There was a lot of criticism and debate over those attitudes, with many people arguing that your age shouldn't determine whether you're allowed to enjoy a fictional character or support someone you love.


At the time, about ten years ago, I didn't really think much of it. But recently, as I've gotten older and started thinking more about the age gap between myself and the characters I loved when I was younger, I suddenly remembered it.

I found myself wondering, "Am I gross for still feeling this way?" or "Am I eventually supposed to grow out of this special feeling I have for the characters I loved when I was young?"


After talking with everyone here, though, I feel a little better.
I think I'll continue to cherish the things I love, no matter how old I get.

I'm really glad I got to talk about this with all of you. Thank you so much.

Even if there is a voice of criticism, everyone has a time when they are young and then they get old, so don't worry

I'm getting a lot older, but I'm still enjoying my hobby

May your favorite characters brighten your heart forever

 

[O cha]

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. I had a huge crush on Athrun Zala from Gundam SEED when I was really young. Back then, he was older than me, but now I've grown quite a bit older than him, haha. It feels a little strange knowing that I keep growing and getting older while the characters I love remain the same age. It also makes me realize that as I've gotten older and further away from the sensitivity and perspective I had back then, I've gradually become a more realistic person.

These days, I really like Satoru Gojo, and since his date of birth is officially established, I can still think of him as being older than me in terms of the year he was born, no matter how old I get.

Like you said, thinking of him as someone who is ahead of me in life makes me feel like I can keep loving him without that bittersweet feeling, even as the years go by. I think I could always go back to the feelings I had when I first fell in love with him and love him in the same way.