Ask John: Are Student Representatives Always Cute Girls?

Question:
There exists a scenario often found in romantic comedy or “harem” situations. Stated briefly, the actions of a school government official towards “maintaining a standard of moral behavior among the school population” – often portrayed to a rather extreme level; a scenario with way too many examples to list. Is this scenario merely the creation of one director’s imagination, or is it rooted in real life? And notwithstanding that, in the majority of instances, the official is a girl – more often than not, either one of the romantic rivals or a member of the “harem.” Are you aware of any feature where the official in said scenario was a boy?

Answer:
I figure that a legitimately knowledgeable answer to at least part of this question requires thorough knowledge of Japan’s secondary school system – knowledge which I don’t have. I simply don’t know how common strict disciplinarian “iincho” (class representative) students are in Japan’s educational system. By rule of averages there must be at least a few teens in Japan in this situation, having this personality. But I don’t know if it’s so common in real life that it’s stereotypical or if anime merely emphasizes this characterization for dramatic effect. I imagine the later case is more probable.

Student representatives that struggle to maintain dignity, proper etiquette, and educational discipline, especially in fictional environments characterized by chaos, are pretty common in anime. A few examples I can recall include Kanokon, Gokujo!! Mechamotte Iincho, To Heart, Vampire Knight, Negima, Denpa Teki na Kanojo, Magikano, Evangelion, Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Hayate no Gotoku, Bakemonogatari, Sora no Manimani, Genshiken, and the upcoming Kaichou wa Maid-sama! The strict and formal disposition of these characters makes them an excellent illustrative foil to the series’ delinquent, misunderstood, or independent-minded characters. Furthermore, the inclusion of these strict characters serves to characterize anime itself. The authority figure that unsuccessfully struggles to value and maintain formal order is the representative of traditional, conventional Japanese social order. While classmates may acknowledge or even respect the demands of dignified discipline, their defiance represents anime’s own revolt against conformity. Having a present symbol of social structure yet defying it – either by intention or accident – represents independence, uniqueness, and freedom in the face of rigid social convention.

The class representative in anime is often an attractive girl – frequently one wearing glasses because this archetypal character serves as a fetish object for countless male Japanese otaku. The attractive girl is, naturally, an object of interest herself. Her strict personality and devotion to rules and order form a dual pronged appeal. The disciplinarian personality establishes a mother archetype. Boys with low self-esteem or masochistic tendencies appreciate, respect, or even idolize a woman that takes charge and diligently looks after them. Furthermore, as a representative of social convention, adoration of the female student representative is an abstracted way of expressing patriotism – showing respect for the traditional values of Japanese society without becoming a literal salaryman drone in service of the national machine. The glasses that typify so many female student representatives are a fetishistic visual depiction of intelligence. In the stylized world of anime schools, girls that wear glasses are smart and dignified, which makes them attractive and worthy of respect.

Since the class rep character frequently exists to serve as an important but subtle anchor point for male anime viewers to latch onto, they’re usually, but not always, attractive girls. Anime series including Toradora!, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!, Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Tenjho Tenge, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu have male class representatives or student council presidents. These male authority figures, however, typically either exert dominating willful authority or practically no authority at all. There’s little need for them to serve as a foil to the independent spirited protagonist or represent the Japanese cultural order because these male characters aren’t designed to be objects for viewer objectification and adoration. Male student representatives are much more frequently present as story devices rather than fetish totems. One, among possibly numerous, notable exceptions is Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu’s student council president Atsunobu Hayashimizu, whose strict demeanour and insistence on strict adherence to off-kilter interpretations of rules serves as a parody of the typical strict disciplinarian student representative character.