Greetings and salutations, in the spirit of Father’s Day, today we are here to honor some of the best dads anime has to offer. There’s a funny trope or gag in anime where dads aren’t usually around much and is merely mentioned in passing- take Ash’s and Deku’s dads from Pekomon and My Hero Academia respectively for example. Like where are they? So, it’s rather interesting whenever these fathers are seen and fulfilling their roles.
These dads are by no means perfect, mind you, but credit is due where credit is due. Some are amazing as parents to our MCs, while some (just like dads in real life) do their absolute best to be a good father. With that said, these dads will not be ranked in any particular order.
When you look at it, Hiroshi from Crayon Shincan is the closes depiction of real-life dads and husbands to be depicted in anime. He is the archetypical-Japanese-salaryman who’s stuck in a job he doesn’t really enjoy, making very little money, and being sole source of income for his family- many of us can certainly relate to his struggles an adult or a kid growing with a father like that.
With over 30 years of appearance since the 1990, he’s had a lot of character growth over the years we see him change, gradually. From being a pervert who peeks at up skirts to an honorable man. Notable examples are when he decides to quite smoking when his wife is pregnant with their second child, buying the family an air conditioner unit for the summer months, and taking them family vacations despite his low salary. While these may be insignificant to much grander feats in anime, Hiroshi is just like our dads in real life.
On the opposite of end of the spectrum we have Krillin from the Dragon Ball series. Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has no shortage of fathers, introducing some that are just there (Goku), some are straight up bad (King Cold), those who try their best (Vegeta), and some who do it with ease (Gohan). But why Krillin and not the other Z Fighters? I see him being the most sensible out of all of them, that and he managed to win the heart of Android 18.
He’s a man who knows his priorities and keeps them straight: that’s keeping his family safe. Sure, he’ll help the Z Fighters when trouble comes, but he knows he’s not best of them, also is more than willing to let his wife do most of the fighting (she is an android). And there’s his daughter Maron who he dotes on her and often being overprotective. Krillin seems to have the most stable relationship with his wife and kid, next to Vegeta, and that’s saying something in the Dragon Ball universe.
Isshin Kurosaki from Bleach can come off as a joke on the surface, especially to first time readers/viewers. This is mostly due to his goofier personality and obliviousness when it comes to his son’s activities. There’s also the fact that he’s seen to be rougher towards Ichigo, like giving a piledriver as a wakeup call in the mornings. Yes, this that is rather unconventional, but underneath all this is a disguise.
If you were to watch Bleach in its entirety, you’d know that Isshin Kurosaki is more than just a simple dad who runs a local clinic, but was once a Shinigami Captain. Even at Ichigo’s lowest, Ishhin was there, whether it be directly or indirectly to help him. Also, he’s a man of honor and responsibility, this is evident when he was willing to sacrifice his own Shingami power and be with Misaki as a human. I don’t know about you, but when a man is willing to give up so much speaks volume of his character and resolve.
Byakuya is the adoptive father of Senku, our main protagonist of Dr. Stone. If there a trait to best describe him is that he’s a supportive parent. This is evident when we see him selling his car for extra cash so he can afford science apparatus for Senku’s experiments. His willingness goes further than that, he went above and beyond to help his son in the pursuit of knowledge. Despite not being as intelligent as his son, Byakuya never felt diminished by this, and continued to push himself- regardless of Senku’s teases.
This father/son relationship transcended space and time, while many of the world’s population was still petrified, Byakuya believed that his son would one day reverse the effects. So, for the remainder of his life, Byakuya gather resources and materials so that one day his son would use them to rebuild society.
When we’re first introduced to Joichiro in Food Wars he looks like just your typical single-dad, running a local diner, but make no mistake, this man has some history. Father to series protagonist Soma, Joichira was culinary prodigy on the verge of a mental breakdown, so he decided to keep his past hidden from his son as he did not want to pass such burden onto him. Luckily, Soma, much like his father share the same passion for cooking, this made Joichiro very happy and shared bit of his knowledge discretely.
Joichiro is shares similarities with isshin from Bleach, often coy when dealing with his son, though cryptic, the advice his gives come from a place of belief in his son’s abilities as a chef.
While not a father in a traditional sense, but Iruka sensei is very much a father-figure to Naruto. Many of you may argue that this role is more suited for the likes of Jiraya or Kakashi as a father figure for Naruto, and yes, that characters are valid. But Iruka has been has been there more for Naruto since the first episode. Plus, Jiraya has more of grandad vibe and Kakashi is his true ninja treacher.
Again, Iruka since the beginning has took the time to personally care for Naruto whenever he had the chance. We see many time in early parts of series and in flashback that Iruka has protected him both directly and indirectly. If there’s need for any further proof, Naruto himself asked him to become his father during his wedding. Like c’mon, Iruka is best dad in the world of Naruto.
Okay, another odd take, but Piccolo deserves to be on here. He may not have any kids of his own (that we know of), but after the death of Goku by the Saiyan, Piccolo decided to train Gohan and took him under his wing. During that time, Picollo looked after Gohan as if he were his own, teaching him how to fight, use his ki energy, and how to become independent.
Piccolo’s contribution as a parent/guardian should not be overlooked as not even many biological parents in anime take care of their kids in such a way. Piccolo left a profound impression on Gohan that in his youth, Gohan wore the same colored gi as Piccolo, even his cape.
Now, no anime list about dad can be complete without this guy, Maes Hughes. Yep, one of the most cheerful character in a very dark anime anime, he provided much-needed laughter and the polar opposite to Roy Mustang. Unlike his other military officials (besides the Fuhrer King Bradley), he seems to be the only one to have a family.
If there’s anything you need to know about him is that he adores his family, especially his daughter, Elicia. This man loves his daughter so much that he keeps a photo of her (which is sweet and all) and shows to who ever when he gets the chance. Unfortunately, he was killed of way to early in the series, but in his brief time and antics made him a memorable character, even past the series’ end.
Okay, now for an honorable mention, and one that I’ve been meaning to talk about for sometime now. As some of you know, I’m more of a nerd, huge sci-fan fan than an otaku, and a big fan or Star Trek- more specifically, Deep Space Nine. In Deep Space Nine, they introduced one of the best characters in not only Star Trek, but in all of sci-fi; Capt. Benjamin Sisko.
Ben Sisko is much like Maes Hughes in some regard, both are very sociable and likeable men, and are family men. In Ben’s maintains strong bonds with his crew through all 7 seasons of DS9. He treats those closes to him like family, even going as far as to cook them real food (not one made from a computer) or take them a baseball game. But his strongest relationship is his connection to his son Jake, and unlike other captains in Star Trek is that Sisko is parent since the start of the series.
While the father-son relationship isn’t at the forefront of the show, but rest assured Sisko is an exemplary father, making sure to spend as much time with his son whenever possible, encouraging to pursue a life outside of Starfleet.
Well guys, that’s about it, I guess. These are just some of the few examples of dads in anime who have certainly left their mark on the fandom. Dads who can possibly do it all, and those who take a little more effort getting there.
Di sini, saya akan senarai tajuk anime terbaru yang di tayangkan di negara Jepun untuk musim sejuk (WINTER) 2024 yang akan berlangsung dari bulan Januari hingga Mac 2024
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