This month’s OC Analysis puts a spotlight on found-families. We’ll look at brother figures, sister figures and parental figures and how these relationships affect the characters. Beware, for there be spoilers afoot!
Haru & Mitsuye (Dreamer)
Haru has no family that he knows of and only hazy memories of his past. He lives on the run, carrying only a duffle bag of first-aid supplies and a photo of the mysterious woman who haunts his dreams. Though they don’t look anything alike, he begins to wonder if she is his mother and sets out with his friends to find her. He discovers that the woman, named Mitsuye, took him in for a time until the military-contracted BIOTECH organization that experimented on him and gave him his powers snatched him away from her. Out of fear of putting her in danger, Haru leaves her; but once he knows he has “family” and friends who care for him, that finally gives him the strength to stop running and to face BIOTECH and his past.
Naoyuki, Ikuo & Taki (So Distant)
Though Naoyuki has a biological family, it’s far from ideal. Buried in medical bills during a time when Naoyuki was very sick, his desperate parents left him with a caretaker and traveled to another town, looking for a specialist who could treat him. But they stayed there. He developed personality problems after their desertion, and his father distanced himself from him and adopted another boy named Ikuo. When Naoyuki finally finds his parents, his father is unable to accept the changes in him and makes the boys’ lives a living nightmare. Their schoolmate, Taki, who lost her little brother, finds herself attached to the boys, protecting and supporting them. She especially treats Naoyuki like her little brother. While he’s uncomfortable with her affections initially and tries to push her away, she soon becomes his lifeline as his real family seems to be crumbling. And Ikuo, who was cold toward Naoyuki at first because he felt like Naoyuki was taking his step-parents away, warms up to him thanks to their shared bond with Taki. She helps both of them to open up and gives them shelter from their turbulent home life.
Kaori & Nikkō (Eternal Rain universe)
Kaori is a self-centered only child who resents that her parents spend more time on their Keyholder jobs and with their Keyholder teammates than with her. After going into training as a Keyholder herself at her parents’ insistence, she meets Nikkō, and despite her initial hesitance, is almost immediately won over by his sweetness. When she learns that he recently lost his father, she completely softens toward him and starts treating him like family, and he latches onto her, as well. Kaori completely changes after meeting Nikkō and learning about his family. She appreciates her parents more and soon focuses more on others than always herself. She absolutely adores Nikkō and goes to great lengths to protect him and to make him happy.
Shay & Tristan (Pet Projects)
These two half-animal outcasts meet when their gangs tangle in a fight over territory. Shay lost a young boy in her gang to an illness not long before. With the loss still fresh, she can’t hurt Tristan when she realizes he is sick. After his gang turns tail and leaves him behind, Shay vouches to take him in. Wary and skeptical of Shay’s pity, Tristan puts up a wall at first. But as it becomes apparent that Shay’s concern for him is genuine, he reciprocates by trying to get strong enough that he won’t be a burden to her, and they grow closer until they are a nearly inseparable tag-team. Because of Tristan, Shay realizes that she wants to belong to a family. So, she leaves her militant gang and takes him with her. Now with a small gang of their own, the surrogate sister-brother team is the backbone of a larger found-family.
