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Generational Archetypes in Anime
#1
For the sake of brevity, I've included only one character per anime per archetype (ex: for Black Lagoon, I could have also included Dutch as reactive Gen), with a few anime including characters from multiple archetypes.
For the sake of avoiding confusion, I avoided examples that would place generations out of order (ex: Lelouch vs Suzaku in Code Geass seems like Idealist Gen vs Civic Gen, but as they are the same age, this would not make sense).

Idealist
- Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass)
- All Might (My Hero Academia)
- Light Yagami (Death Note)
- Hoenheim (Full Metal Alchemist)
- Yahiko Myogin (Rurouni Kenshin)

Reactive
- Yusuke Yurameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)
- Eraserhead (My Hero Academia)
- Monkey D Luffy (One Piece)
- Bando (Elfen Lied)
- Balalaika (Black Lagoon)
- Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Beebop)
- Kazuma Yagami (Kaze no Stigma)
- Vegeta (Dragonball Z)

Civic
- Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)
- Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer)
- Rock (Black Lagoon)
- Yuzuru Otonashi (Angel Beats) 
- Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko no Basket)


Adaptive 
- Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin)
- Tamaki Suo (Ouran Highschool Host Club)
- Kirito Kiragaya (Sword Art Online)
- Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)
- Shinji Ikari (Evangelion)
- Professor Oak (Pokemon)

honorable mention: Avatar isn't technically an anime, but I think we can solidly place Katara as Civic Gen and Uncle Iroh as Adaptive Gen
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
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#2
I have no idea what any of this refers to.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive;
Eric M
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#3
(02-15-2022, 02:09 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I have no idea what any of this refers to.

You're a boomer right? Most boomers are a little out of the loop when it comes to anime. It only really started in the late 80s and didn't take off until the 2000s, and it's only in the last 15 years or so that it has become more popular outside of Japan. If you'd like, I can give you a few recommendations based on your tastes.
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
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#4
(02-15-2022, 03:03 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:
(02-15-2022, 02:09 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I have no idea what any of this refers to.

You're a boomer right? Most boomers are a little out of the loop when it comes to anime. It only really started in the late 80s and didn't take off until the 2000s, and it's only in the last 15 years or so that it has become more popular outside of Japan. If you'd like, I can give you a few recommendations based on your tastes.

OK, but I don't even know what the word anime refers to.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive;
Eric M
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#5
(02-15-2022, 03:03 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:
(02-15-2022, 02:09 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I have no idea what any of this refers to.

You're a boomer right? Most boomers are a little out of the loop when it comes to anime. It only really started in the late 80s and didn't take off until the 2000s, and it's only in the last 15 years or so that it has become more popular outside of Japan. If you'd like, I can give you a few recommendations based on your tastes.

Anime was a real thing when I was stationed in Japan in the late 60s.  Hentai too.  It's a derived artform for them, and never made an impact here until the 90s.  The rest of what you wrote is correct.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
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#6
This Gen Xer has seen...one of those anime: Death Note.

I think Light Yagami is a Civic. He has a *perfect* system.
Steve Barrera

[A]lthough one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. - Hagakure

Saecular Pages
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#7
(02-15-2022, 08:31 PM)sbarrera Wrote: This Gen Xer has seen...one of those anime: Death Note.

I think Light Yagami is a Civic. He has a *perfect* system.

I could see that.
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
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#8
another Idealist Gen: Eren Yager from Attack on Titan
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
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#9
(02-15-2022, 04:06 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: OK, but I don't even know what the word anime refers to.

Japanese cartoons.

Millennials popularized anime in the US, although we Gen Xers had Speed Racer. It's SUPER big today. I work in a bookstore and our biggest selling genre by far is manga (Japanese comic books, often based on anime or vise versa).

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#10
What about Aggretsuko? It's a workplace comedy where the characters are all animals. It's characters are mostly core Millennials, with a few GenX bosses and long-termers. I think it captures the Millennial zeitgeist well.

Reactive
Retsuko's mother
Director Ton (main boss)
Director Gori
Ms. Washimi (admin assistant)
Tsubone 
Kabae 

Civic
Retsuko (main character)
Fenneko (best friend)
Haida (love interest)
Tsunoda 
Komiya 
Resasuke
Anai  

(anyone not described is a coworker fitting into some stereotype - annoying, manipulative, bootlicking, backstabbing, &c)
Steve Barrera

[A]lthough one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. - Hagakure

Saecular Pages
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#11
Yugioh is an interesting example. The spirit of a heroic adult civic (the pharaoh)...inside the body of a teenage civic (Yugi), and both interact with each other regularly.
ammosexual
reluctant millennial
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