nitrogen

I can already see the thought swirling in everyone's head after reading the title: WTF, Nitrogen? So, I'll explain.

I have noticed that in the KnJ manga there is a lot of kissing compared to other manga that I have read (excluding H-manga). And I've read a lot. Note that by 'kissing' I do not mean mouth-on-mouth kissing, but more the variety of a peck on the cheek. On several occasions we have seen Rin give Aoki a kiss on the cheek, or demanded one from him. Yes, she also kissed him on the mouth, but those kisses feel different to me than the pecks on the cheek. FYI in the Seishun Binta series, Binta gets pecked on the cheek a few times by Ami.

The reason I bring this up is because I find Rin's behaviour very different from what I know about Japanese people. Whenever I greet my female friends there, we either bow or shake hands. Never ever do we kiss nor hug. Of course this could be just because of me: I'm tall and have a deep voice so maybe they're scared off. Wouldn't be the first time. But, according to what I have read and experienced, the Japanese are not very touchy-feely and bodily contact is minimal (although they are crazy about sex).

This is very different from here in France (or Spain, Italy, Portugal, Brazil), where people greet each other with kisses on the cheeks, and they start in their teens! I regularly see teenage girls and boys exchange kisses by way of greetings at the bus stop on my way to work, and in other Mediterranean countries the situation is the same. Going further north, the greetings are more reserved and usually involve just handshakes or an occasional hug.

I wonder, thus, if KW is different from most Japanese people, or if she wants to try to set a trend with Rin's behaviour or if she is secretly trying to entice people to break a social taboo. I would not put it past her, though.

What's your take, and what is the social etiquette regarding kissing in your country?

'Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle humanity, and suppress truth.' - Liu Xiaobo

Ugetsu

In Volume 1, Chapter 1, when Rin claims Aoki as her "boyfriend" -- that starts the whole pattern of her as a sexy misbehaving scamp. And a big part of that is stealing kisses from Aoki. I don't see a whole lot of OTHER kissing going on. Kuro aches for a kiss from Rin, and does things to try for an "indirect kiss" by using the same straw after Rin has used it, and even that gets messed up. I think the Japanese concept of the "indirect kiss" is evidence for what you are saying, that kissing is something that is suppressed and unusual. And that means that Rin is being deliberately shocking when she grabs Aoki's necktie and plants a big kiss on his lips.

In my family, children kissed parents good night. And when I got too old for that, it was a little cold and lonely and touch deficient for a few years before I got up the courage to kiss a girl... When I see French friends and they kiss one cheek and the other, one accomodates to that but it never really feels natural. Probably it's healthier to have a little bit of natural interpersonal contact instead of just handshakes. I'll hug a good friend if I haven't seen him or her for a long time.

EmptySlash

Where I live, it is customary to greet your female friends with a look of contempt while telling them to make you a sandwich. When greeting male friends, be sure to engage in a rough, passionate kiss and heavy groping, after which you say, "No homo, bro."

If I grieve, if I grieve, can my heart turn white?

Shinobu

Isn't that called "bromance"?

You can have sexy underwear, or comfy underwear. But not both...


Unless they're shimapan.

Ugetsu

Sounds like he lives in the City by the Bay...

Dark Samus

Well, as I said once in one post: Here in latinoamerica, the Skinship is fairly diferent. The people usually greet each other kissing in the cheeks whe is a Man-Woman friendship. In the schools, you can usually see teenagers (11 to 17, boys and girls) having passionate mouth-to-mouth kisses, and as I said, even the adults-childrens skinship is something to remark: the kids (male an female) kiss their parents, uncles, relatives or even family friends in the cheeck, sometimes even in the mouth, those are called "de piquito" in Spanish, it's totally allowed if the man is a close friend to the family, for example in my family, I used to kiss my Uncle in the cheek, and sometimes in the mouth, now I only kiss him in the cheek whenever I see him.

La Oscuridad en el Corazón es igual a la Luz en el Alma

Samirahkitty

Sounds exactly how it is with my friends.... like EXACTLY rofl do live near each other?

sadkingbilly

Here in the Netherlands with close friends and family it's pretty common to kiss someone (usually on the cheek or corner of the mouth though), some people are more affectionate than others. Some (female) friends I don't see too often I greet with a big hug and kiss on the mouth.

I kiss my daughter when she goes to bed, sometimes on the lips. When she's sitting in my lap watching tv or playing a game on my iPod I kiss her head or neck. Kids of friends too, most are pretty cuddly.

I do have to say it depends on the person and I too noticed the further south you go (even withing Holland) the 'huggier' and 'kissier' people are

Dark Samus

n n Awwww Sad-Boy....that's so cute! I didn't knew that you had a Daughter, I want to have one someday. By the way, is good to see that the things in the Netherlands and here are not so different. You can say that skinship is a way of comunication too.

La Oscuridad en el Corazón es igual a la Luz en el Alma

EmptySlash

Haha, that's great!

If I grieve, if I grieve, can my heart turn white?