Mina-san, ohayou!
I have a question to all of you who read my series _Ranko 1/2_.
After the past few parts of the series I got a few responsesalong
the lines of "There's so much mushy stuff with all the hugging and
squeezing of hands and stuff - Do you have to make this so
*touchy-feely*?" Even Uncle Fester wondered if I wasn't going a
little fast with Ranko and Akane's relationship - and *where*. :)
Well, I realized that this was my cultural bias shining through.
Where I live, a hug and a kiss on the cheek is a perfectly normal
greeting among young girls. You see it happen everywhere, so I
let Ranko and Akane display the same kind of casual affection.
The trouble is, they don't come from where I live - They're from
Japan, and I often read that the physical signs of affection and
friendship are very laid back in Japan.
So I want to know: Am I going totally over the top with these
two, speaking in japanese terms? I suspect that's the case, so my
next question is: What can I do to keep at least a *semblance* of
authenticity, while still conveying the same to the western
audience?
I would appreciate every suggestion (which doesn't mean I won't
ignore most and pick just the ones I like. :)
Sebastian