The Portrayal of Antagonistic Mothers in One Piece, The Promised Neverland, and Diabolik Lovers

Abstract

Unconventional characters have always piqued people’s interests, and that includes characters in anime. Mother is a role that is so familiar in the society, with certain characteristics expected of them. Certain mothers in anime acts differently than what is usually expected of them as mothers. This study is conducted to analyse the portrayal of the three antagonists in Japanese anime series One Piece, The Promised Neverland, and Diabolik Lovers respectively: Charlotte Linlin, Isabella, and Sakamaki Cordelia that can be considered unmotherly. The study is done using theories regarding good and bad mothers provided by A. E. Kaplan (1992), Huppartz and Goodwin (n.d.), and H. L. Hadley (2018). The analysis shows how the three mothers deviated from their role as a nurturing mother, showing actions that proved the three mothers to be destructive towards their children. The writer concludes that the three mothers show how mothers are people capable of emotions other than gentleness and care, they are capable of malice and hate, calculating and cruel as well be it biological mothers or foster mothers.