Why do anime mothers often get the short end of the stick?


In a significant amount of anime, the protagonist (and possibly others)
experience one of the following parental situations:

  1. Both parents are dead and are inconsequential to the story.

  2. Both parents are dead, but one was more consequential to the story than the other. Based on my experience, it's usually the father.

  3. Both parents are alive and are relatively normal.

  4. Both parents are alive, but one is more consequential to the story than the other. 

  5. One parent is absent from the story, or dead. The other is still alive, and is usually more consequential to the story.

I'm going to name some examples, and assign them a letter according the
scenarios I described above.

  * _One Piece_ \- 5. Luffy, Usopp, Shirahoshi, and Rebecca's mothers are all either dead, or absent from the story. Their fathers are all alive and very relevant. Ace's situation would fall under 2. His mother was largely normal, while his father is the pirate king and the catalyst for the whole story.

  * _Fullmetal Alchemist_ \- 5. Mother is dead, while father remains a somewhat prominent figure in the story.

  * _Attack on Titan_ \- 2. Both parents are dead, but the father had a much larger impact on the story.

  * _Bleach_ \- 5. Mother is dead, while father remains relevant to the story.

  * _Berserk_ \- 5. Mother is dead. His adoptive father is short-lived, but he still had an impact on Guts' life.

  * _Cardcaptor Sakura_ \- 5. Mother is dead, while father is alive and kinda relevant to the plot.

  * _Fairy Tail_ \- 5. Lucy's mother is dead, but her dad is alive for a good chunk of the story.

  * _Medaka Box_ \- 5. Father is alive and influential.

  * _Shokugeki no Soma_ \- 5. Mother is absent, but his dad is far more influential to the story thus far.

  * _Ouran High School Host Club_ \- 5. Mother is dead.

  * _Sweetness and Lightning_ \- 5. Mother is dead, dad is one of the MC's.

  * _Garo: Divine Flame_ \- 5. Mother is dead, father is quite relevant to the plot.

  * _Katekyo Hitman Reborn!_ \- 4. His mom is pretty normal, while his dad has actual ties to the mafia world, which is relevant to the plot.

  * _The Prince of Tennis_ \- 4. Ryoma's dad is a former pro, while his mom is an attorney. Being an attorney is still pretty badass, but his dad is far more consequential in the story, since it is about tennis after all.

  * _Boruto: Naruto Next Generations_ \- 4. Boruto's dad is a powerful ninja and the Hokage, while his mom is just a housewife.

  * _Naruto_ \- 2. While both parents were strong while alive, his dad, Minato, was the stronger, and had a larger impact on the story, being the Hokage and all.

  * _Beelzebub_ \- 3. His parents are background characters, usually for comic relief.

  * _My Hero Academia_ \- 5. For the most part, Deku's parents are support characters. However, his mother gives him parental support, while his father is working away from home.

  * _The Disastrous Life of Saiki K._ \- 3. His parents are background characters, usually for comic relief.

  * _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ \- 5. I know it's not a Japanese anime, but I'm going to include it. Katara and Sokka's mother is dead, but their father is alive and well, and a prominent figure in the Water Tribes.

_Kill la Kill_ is an interesting example. It doesn't fall under any of the
scenarios I listed, since the mother is alive, more powerful than the father,
and is super relevant to the plot. However, she's the final villain. I guess
it'd be nice to have a character like her who isn't a villain, is what I'm
saying.

That's definitely not all the examples, but it's just a few. Whenever an anime
character has a missing/dead parent, chances are very high that it's the
mother. If both parents are alive, it's usually the father who is more
relevant to the story. If it's a shounen/seinen series, the father is usually
stronger and/or more relevant than the mother.

My question: Why do anime mothers get the short end of the stick? In many
stories, the mother is dead ( _Bleach_ ). If they're not dead, then they're
largely irrelevant ( _Katekyo Hitman Reborn_ ). If it's a shounen series,
they're often weaker than the father ( _Naruto_ and _Boruto_ ). If not, then
they're the villain ( _Kill la Kill_ ).

How come there's not as many series where the mother is the living parent, is
relevant to the plot, is not a villain, and is the stronger parent in the case
of shounen/seinen? The father tends to get all the spotlight. Personally, I
would love to see more badass mothers in anime.

* * *

_Disclaimer: These are all generalizations. I know that not every anime is
like this, but I've observed it in enough series that I thought it was worth
asking a question about. I also realize that my observations are biased mostly
in shounen anime. I tried throwing in a couple of shoujo, but this largely
remains a shounen trope._




You know, there's a lot of reasons an anime character could be an orphan or
motherless.

**A mother symbolizes peace and maternal care.**

Everyone knows that if someone's being mean to them, they can cry to Mommy,
and she'll set things right. But if there's no mother, there's none of that. A
character who has a mother often doesn't have a traumatic experience.

**No mother can be a catalyst for great change.**

The loss of a mother can change a character to be able to be the character the
mangaka/anime director they need to be. Grief changes us all, and the loss of
a mother is one of the greatest grief that can be caused.

**Mothers will protect their children.**

A mother wants to protect her child(ren), and wants to keep them out of harm.
But, most of the time, a character needs to put themselves in danger, and with
Mommy trying to protect them from a dangerous job, it's not likely to happen.
Quick fix? Kill Mommy.

That's just a few of the reasons off the top of my head. Hope this helps!

