Ask John: Where Have the Tough Guys Gone?

Question:
A look at this screenshot of Kamijou Touma of To Aru Majutsu no Index brought back to my mind that catch phrase from those Timex Watch commercials, “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Assuming you are familiar with Index and the likely reasons why that catch phrase might apply to its male protagonist, who else does John recall from any other corner of the anime universe who might also qualify to be described by said phrase?

Answer:

This playful question evokes fond memories for me. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, I vividly recall that members of my local anime fan club enjoyed playing an amusing game of identifying what we referred to as the “indestructible anime hero.” Times and tastes have changed, as in the 2000s anime protagonists have gotten younger and many of them have become more vulnerable and human. But the 80s, in particular, seemed to frequently introduce masculine, adult male characters that seemed to be able to withstand any physical abuse. Grey Death in the 1986 Grey: Digital Target movie lost most of his body but continued fighting. Hiyuu Kyouichi loses both of his arms in the 1987 Maryu Senki OVA series yet still manages to defeat his nemesis. In fact, even the women were tough back in the day, as Angel in the 1989 Angel Cop OVA series also took so much damage that her body had to be rebuilt, yet she continued to persevere. And Priss grits her teeth to a lot of punishment in Bubblegum Crisis 6. Jubei Kibagami absorbs tremendous pummeling in 1993’s Jubei Ninpocho. Riding Bean seems to have supernatural endurance in his 1989 OVA. The heroes of Masami Kurumada’s St. Seiya and Fuma no Kojiro seem able to survive ungodly amounts of damage. But the two “indestructible heroes” that I recall most vividly are Goku Furinji of the Midnight Eye Goku OVA series and Taki Renzaburo, the human detective in the 1987 Yoju Toshi (Supernatural Beast City) movie.

For better or worse, during the 80s and early 90s, anime was filled with masculine, macho, determined characters. Examples include Kenshiro, Ryo Saeba, Captain Harlock, Momotaro in Otoko Juku, Guts, Violence Jack, Madara, and Jojo Joestar. But as the 90s unfolded and progressed into the 2000s, anime became more sophisticated and, in a sense, less primal. Evangelion and Gundam Wing introduced teen angst; the harem genre emerged, eventually to be complimented by the moé phenomena; an increasing number of female fans entered the anime hobby, and muscular, determined heroes softened into present day characters like Touma Kamijou who isn’t especially prideful or determined. He seems to survive and battle on as much by circumstance as personal resolution. Certainly, Touma gets knocked around frequently yet always seems able to face the next day, but characters that get stepped on and abuse yet get up again to fight another day seem to be a lot more common in older anime than in contemporary anime.