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Yusaku, this is a very interesting topic. It has inspired me to rewatch these stories in the "Anthology". I just recently bought the Rumic World Trilogy and the Rumic Theater, so I may first read those and then watch the anime stories again.

What you say, Yoiko, makes me think. I have read that the work ethic in Japan is as much or worse than it is in America. This work ethic can really work real damage on relationships. If someone, on account of work, doesn't see his family, or spends very little time with them or pays no attention to them, to the point where that is considered the norm, I could only understand that the relationship, whatever it had been to begin with, shall whither to the point where it dies. Add to that the modern phenomenon of the dual income household, and it simply takes the problems and squares them.

I'm not in any way saying work isn't important or that someone should not take his/her work seriously. But if work is such a force in one's life as it often is here, where jobs demand 60 hour work weeks, plus time to travel back and forth to work, that is just not right. Time for family simply goes by the wayside. Parenthetically, I read that Japan's interest in robotics is directly derived from the fact that they cannot fill service jobs which is because they are not reproducing themselves due to their work ethic. If, as a culture, one's work is working against reproducing the species, something is just plain wrong! And they're working so long and hard, likely, due to the shortage of workers. The problem spirals in on itself.

Commitment to family must be at least as great or moreso than commitment to work. One ought to see one's work as service to one's family, not the family as an inconvenience to one's work. Priorities.

I will withhold judgment until I read and/or watch them again, but I don't necessarily see adultery as being portrayed as a good by Takahashi. I think I see the temptation to adultery as being presented, through masterful storytelling, as an understandable temptation. And the reality that Yoiko relates likely helps the audience relate.

In some ways, the romantic comedies, especially the romantic soap opera like Maison Ikkoku, provide a bit of idealism and something to strive for as young persons heading into marriage. These short stories may provide therapy to those who are in marriage, or were in marriage, who have seen their relationships devolve from where they had once were. I don't know, just a thought.

To Yoiko's remark about seeing Ranma and Akane or Lum and Ataru in such dire straights as portrayed in Shinonome or Hayashi's shoes one day, I can say I could see it. Its more than possible. Of course, these are fictional persons, but we give them the credit of reality. And in reality, without good choices, disasters occur. The idea of a wedding is very romantic. The idea of marriage has been equated to a ball and chain. And a family is a job unto itself. They say in business, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Marriage needs a plan too, and being two persons, needs a commitment to a relationship, to work. I don't know about Lum and Ataru, as I haven't read that one, but I would at least give Akane and Ranma the credit that they learned to rely on each other before coming together. That, at least, can be a good start. Sometimes overcoming obstacles can lead to a track record that makes one's job easier, but marriage and relationship is still a job. I'd like to think Akane and Ranma can make it work. Can't really say whether it would for sure.

One relationship I would almost bet my life on would be that of the Godai's, Kyoko and Yusaku. One thing I think would factor in their favor is their willingness to make it with less. That can be an asset, from what I've observed. If you're not over obsessed with "keeping up with the Otonashi's" then you can focus on what really is important, namely your spouse and your child. Hopefully, work is balanced well with family life.

Everything in moderation. Work, sleep, drink, eat, and give moderately of one's time to one's family. It reminds me of the village elder in Mermaid's Saga, chapter 3. A good lesson to know and live by.

Sorry for waxing philosophical, but it was a very philosophical topic.

Hmm, well I think it's more that they work to support their families rather than to get away from them. I think ideally most fathers (and we are talking pretty much exclusively about fathers as they are the primary breadwinners) wish they could come home and see their family more often. They feel pressure to provide the best for their families and that means working as hard as they can.

I agree with you Yoiko. Part of the pressure men feel is this strong identification with their work. Work equals their identity. My statements go more against workaholics I have known, but also against the whole notion that all a man is worth is his paycheck. If I have heard it once, it's a hundred times. "All you're worth to me is your paycheck." And in the dual income household, it's even worse. My female coworkers are always complaining about how they never see their husbands. I guess I'm pointing out that balance is needed. There is a threashold where work is too much. Finding that balance is the tough part, to be sure.

With work, you're really expected to bond with your co-workers. It's pretty common to go out to eat or have drinks with them after work, and this is where a lot of social climbing happens. If you decided to opt out of this you'd been seen as not being a team player and you'd never get promoted. So it's a catch-22. Spend time with family = no promotions... promotions = no time with family.

I understand this is a problem in Japan, and likely in the U.S. too. Work, especially salaried work, where someone is a "company man" is meant to keep a person practically 24/7. Would you agree there's a problem with this? If the culture is failing to reproduce itself, and an indication of this is in the distribution of the elderly population to the younger that Hoshi was pointing out. Our culture is facing this problem too. Without immigration from Mexico and other places, we'd be facing a great worker shortage. I don't want to bore you with economics, but the whole Social Security Pyramid Scheme was based on a certain ratio of workers to retirees, and that ratio is diminishing. So it's not only a fatherhood problem, it's an economic problem. And the problem isn't just personal, in fact it is part of a larger cultural problem. It's the culture that sets up that catch 22 conundrum.

But I don't think that Takahashi is trying to portray adultery in a positive light. Or a negative light either really. It's just an occurance that comes out of the situations the characters in "Permanent Love", "Pop in His Early Teens", and "One Day Dream" find themselves in. In the first two both fathers have either been transfered away or are on the verge of being sent off. Both of their families decided not to go with them, and consequently they meet someone that shows them a little compassion just by being there when they needed them.

Once again, I agree with you, Yoiko. And I know I got sidetracked to a certain extent on my soapbox. I think adultery, or the potential for adultery, is seen as a possibility and one understands and sympathizes with the characters who are in that situation due to the circumstances that they are in. To that, I guess I have to agree with Yusaku's original point. But in the bigger picture, adultery is neither positive nor negative, but seen as a possibility that could occur. The fact that it doesn't, makes it a "good ending".

But for all the talk of unhappy marriages, divorce and affairs none of Takahashi's characters are ever unfaithful or succumb to their base instincts. Of all her characters, only one is actually divorced (Yukari in "Merchant of Romance").

I know this is mere speculation on my part, but I wonder if it could be that Takahashi isn't providing a social commentary in her works, showing the many unhappy relationships and the potential reasons behind them. The fact that none of the marriages, despite how unhappy they are, break down "on screen", and only one of her main characters actually is a divorcee, could indicate that she sees marriage and family as an important institution worthy of protection. Yet, the unhappiness shown in some of the relationships (the Morobishi's, for instance) could be seen on her part as a subtle warning. The fact that Takahashi herself hasn't been married may be closer to a simple realization that marriage is fraught with many pressures and choices, and she simply was not willing to give up her career or allow it to be affected by such, rather than a complete disinterest in the whole matter. In any regard, I think that an author's values and mor'es come out in their works. That is the reason for my speculation. Am I way off?

In such a discussion, I know people all have experienced divorce in one way or another. If not personally, it's touched people's parents, spouses, siblings, friends, etc. My sister was divorced, and many of my cousins and good friends are divorced. I'm certainly not judging anyone who has ever had this experience. Can I at least expect folks will agree with me that it isn't a good thing? I guess I was just brainstorming as to certain factors in society (Japanese or U.S. and Canada) other than the standard adultery that may make divorce more prevolent than it needs to be. Its a sober point to a sober discussion. I may have stretched the topic, but I think the points were germain. I certainly don't want to step on any toes.