Why Are Parents of Main Characters in Anime Rarely Told?

Are Monkey D. Luffy's parents still alive? 

Why then did Luffy have to live alone? 

Why did Goku's parents have to leave their child? 

And many others. 

These questions arise in the minds of fans when they are introduced to the main protagonists in a series, especially the shonen genre series.

In almost every series, many characters have to go through all the stories throughout the series with only one of their parents. 

Or they have to lose both of their parents. 

All of this happened for various reasons, for example, both his parents died from illness or other causes.

Seeing how then the parents of the main protagonists in a series are rarely shown, of course, makes many fans curious about this. 

Losing both parents is usually an important key in future character development. 

With something tragic happening to their parents, it's usually that moment that triggers everything they do.

However, something different is shown when the main protagonist doesn't remember the tragic moment at all. 

A real example of this is Uzumaki Naruto and his friend Uchiha Sasuke. 

For Sasuke, with the death of both his parents and the entire Uchiha clan, he was in tremendous pain.

He spends most of his time and life trying to get revenge for what happened. 

Another thing was shown by Naruto, who never knew his parents at all. 

Minato and Kushina died when they tried to protect Naruto from Kurama's attack. 

The death of his parents did not really affect Naruto's life.

Naruto never understood how painful it would be to lose both parents. 

Sasuke himself had mentioned this in their first fight in the Valley of the End. 

The difference between these two characters when they grow up and how they grow up without both parents, creates two different things.

If a protagonist has to lose both of their parents as a result of being killed, then that moment will usually be the trigger for them to do something. 

This is also often the motivation for the protagonist to kill or avenge the culprit. 

There are some vivid examples of this, which are the protagonists of several anime series.

For example, Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan), Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass), Shinn Asuka (Gundam SEED Destiny), and many other examples. 

For them, the loss of both parents and parental figures is the source of the anger and pain they experience, and they hope they can erase all these feelings at the end of the series.

Ironically, parents are far from home due to busy work in the office and other jobs, actually not only a common phenomenon that occurs in anime, but also in Japan as a whole. 

A vivid example of this is Gendo, the father of Shinji Ikari, the protagonist of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

In the series, the father deliberately stays away and keeps his distance from the child because he knows how important the job he has is. 

In addition, Gendo also does this because he does not know how to communicate properly with his child.

In addition to the two parents who died or distanced themselves from the child, there are also types of parents in the anime series who actually never raise their children, for one reason or another. 

One example of this is Ging Freecs in the Hunter X Hunter series. 

He left his son, Gon, as well as all his family to become a Hunter.

Another obvious example is Monkey D. Luffy. 

His father, Monkey D. Dragon left his son when he was born. 

Dragon entrusted his son to his father, Monkey D. Garp. 

Dragon himself then formed the Revolutionary Army which has the goal of destroying the World Government. 

Luffy himself never even knew his father.

Apart from all the irony and also the sadness and various tragic things that the main protagonists experience without the presence of both parents, there is a positive side that is then also presented in the story. 

Even without their parents, they are able to live a very extraordinary life, surrounded by good friends and also people who care about them.

We can see this from the main protagonists of popular series such as Monkey D. Luffy, Goku, Natsu Dragneel, Naruto, and even Yuuji Itadori. 

So, in conclusion, why then are the parents of the main protagonists rarely shown up? 

The answer is first, because the story needs.

Second, their parents may not have a major influence on the story or on the character development of the protagonist.

Third, usually in the absence of both parents, the main protagonists will have more motivation, whether it's to avenge the death of their parents or show their parents that they can make their parents proud. 

What do you think?