Jun admits that he feels no guilt in treating Tomo like anyone else, even in the sparring ring. This rare scene shapes Tomo-chan Is Girl! to be iconic…
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In Episode 3 of Tomo-Chan Is a Girl! finds Jun talking to Misaki about his relationship with Tomo, specifically around the subject of martial arts about. The reveal of Jun’s competitive relationship with Tomo is a rare moment of gender equality in anime shows – specially when he admits that with no guilt that he’ll fight her just like he would anyone else.
While When Jun shares the truth of his intense sparring sessions with Tomo, he exemplifies this equal treatment even further. He explains how much he wants to win in martial arts and won’t hold back, even when fighting with Tomo. This fair treatment of female characters is an unfortunate rarity in anime show– among many other mediums — and is why Tomo-chan Is a Girl in the anime, is shaping up to be an iconic series.
Anime’s History about Women Being Treated With Kid Gloves:
In many of the anime that involve any action or fighting, the female characters are treated differently when fighting against their male counterparts. The males either hold back or refuse to fight the female characters altogether. To be fair, there are exceptions to this rule — like Tsunade from the shonen juggernaut Naruto — but examples like this are far too rare, even though in more recent anime.
All Though more female characters have been welcomed into the action genre as fellow fighters, they are still not quite on equal terms with the males. While the debate is controversial when discussing differences between male and female fighters in general, there shouldn’t be such a difference that puts limits on the women in every story that is told. That’s what helps make Tomo-chan Is a Girl! Much special.
Tomo-chan Is a Girl’s Jun Rises Up Against the Standard:
Jun’s refreshing treatment of Tomo is rooted in their shared childhood moment, where he built up a great respect for her as a person. Regardless of how she dresses and expresses herself throughout Tomo-chan Is a Girl, all Jun sees is his best friend. He puts his respect into literal action when he willingly hits her during their sparring matches, which she is clearly okay with that. With how competitive they both are and how much they love the sport, Jun’s physical attacks on Tomo aren’t a form of abuse and shouldn’t be seen in that way. When a match begins and Jun sees how serious Tomo is, he start follows in suit..
Jun’s refreshing treatment of Tomo is rooted in their shared childhood, where he built up a great respect for her as a person. Regardless of how she dresses and expresses herself throughout Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, all Jun sees is his best friend. He puts his respect into literal action when he willingly hits her during their sparring matches, which she is clearly okay with. With how competitive they both are and how much they love the sport, Jun’s physical attacks on Tomo aren’t a form of abuse and shouldn’t be seen that way. When a match begins and Jun sees how serious Tomo is, he follows in suit.
From that point, the separation of their genders fails to matter because when the match begins, they are both martial artists on equal footing both. Jun proves this sentiment by giving it all he has and fighting Tomo without kid gloves or refusing her challenges. Other male martial artists like Misaki state that they hold back against Tomo and wouldn’t think of bringing physical harm to any girls under any circumstances. On the other hand, Jun shows there is another option too: sportsmanship that emphasizes equal treatment to a fellow martial artist, regardless of the gender.