brother complex
{{Short description|Common theme in Japanese pop culture}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - Biblis (1884).jpg obsessed with her brother Caunos{{Cite book |author=Takeshi Harada|year=2001|title=インセスト幻想 人類最後のタブー|publisher=Jimbunshoin |page=171|isbn=9784409240656}}]]
Brother complex ({{Langx|ja|ブラザーコンプレックス}}) refers to a state of strong attachment and obsession to brothers. It is also commonly abbreviated as "brocon" ({{Lang|ja|ブラコン}}),{{Cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/ブラザーコンプレックス-1693072 |title=ブラザーコンプレックスとは|access-date=January 24, 2021|website=Kotobank|department=Daijisen|publisher=The Asahi Shimbun}}{{Cite book |editor=Akihiko Yonekawa |year=2003 |title=日本俗語大辞典 |publisher=Tokyodo Shuppan |page=560|isbn=9784490106381}}{{Cite web|date=October 10, 2018|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2018/fall/my-sister-my-writer/.137973|title=My Sister, My Writer - The Fall 2018 Anime Preview Guide|website=Anime News Network |accessdate=January 25, 2021}} and in this case, it is also used for brothers and sisters who have a strong attachment and obsession to their brothers.
History
In 1917, {{Ill|Yoshihide Kubo|ja|久保良英}} stated in his work Psychoanalysis that Ophelia and Laertes had a "brother-sister complex" relationship.{{Cite book |last=Yoshihide|first=Kubo|year=1917|title=精神分析法|publisher=心理学研究會出版部 |page=241}} In his 1932 work Psychological Analysis, Kubo called the relationship between father and daughter by sexual instinct "father–daughter complex" and that between mother and son "mother-son complex". He argues that "brother-sister complex" is a transfer of "father-daughter complex" and "mother-son complex".{{Cite book |last=Yoshihide|first=Kubo|year=1932|title=精神分析学|publisher=中文館書店 |page=225}}
The word "brother complex" is used in the manga work Laughing Clown, which depicts a brother and sister who aim to become violinists, which is included in Akemi Matsuzaki's book Labyrinthine Castle released in 1988.{{Cite book |author=Akemi Matsuzaki |title=迷宮城|year=1988 |publisher=Asahi Sonorama|series=ハロウィン少女コミック館|isbn=9784257980803|page=243}}
Overview
The term "brother complex" was originally a slang term for fetishism, but it was generalized by this term because fetishism and complex were related concepts in analytical psychology. When the other party is a sister, it is called a "sister complex".
In general, the brother complex is described as a sister who has "love feelings toward her brother" and "exclusive desire to own."用例でわかる カタカナ新語辞典 第3版 [Understand with examples - Dictionary of new katakana words, 3rd edition], Gakken, July 2011, p.563 {{ISBN|978-4053032645}}{{Cite book |author=Masao Yokota|year=2016|title=教養のトリセツ 心理学|trans-title=Education manual - Psychology|publisher=Nihon Bungeisha |page=123|isbn=9784537261448}} For a woman with a brother complex, brothers, combined with sexual aspirations, can become an idealized image and have more influence on her life than her parents. For example, choosing a lover or spouse who has something in common or similar to her brothers.{{Cite book |author=Takashi Okada |year=2015|title=きょうだいコンプレックス|trans-title=Brother complex|publisher=Gentosha|isbn=9784344983915|pages=173–174}} It may be accompanied by a negative image, and it may be seen as "making the brothers accept her selfishness to the maximum" or "treating the brothers freely and conveniently". On the other hand, the strong bond between male brothers is often seen positively as a symbol of masculinity.
According to psychiatrist {{Ill|Takashi Okada|ja|岡田尊司}}, women in the brother complex can become depressed or unstable when their brother has a lover or when they get married. Also, in such a case, she may feel jealous of her brother's partner, or may idealize her brother's partner as an entity that has acquired the love of her brother that she could not obtain. In order to appease her feelings, a woman in such a situation will, among things, decide to avoid her brother's home, depending on how attached she feels to him.{{Cite book |author=Takashi Okada |year=2015|title=きょうだいコンプレックス|trans-title=Brother complex|publisher=Gentosha|isbn=9784344983915|page=175}}
According to a research conducted by Mynavi Corporation on women with siblings by September 2019, more than 20% of women identified themselves as a brother complex.{{Cite web |author=Noriko Takesue|date=August 15, 2019|url=https://woman.mynavi.jp/article/190815-2/|title=ブラコンは恋愛面で不利？ 実録・みんなが遭遇したブラコン女子|trans-title=Can a "brother complex" affect your love life? Real accounts from a brocon girl like we all have come across|website=Mynavi |accessdate=January 24, 2021}}
Cause
It is speculated that the cause of the excessive brother complex is due to parents' problems and social anxiety. Interpretations related to the child psychologist Jean Piaget speculate that the older sister may be trying to resolve her dissatisfaction with her decentralization due to her younger brother's birth by controlling her younger brother.
Moe term
Since the 2000s, the term brother complex is sometimes used as a moe term in video games (especially eroge), anime, and light novels. In Chinese, it is called "兄控".{{Cite web |date=January 7, 2021|url=https://www.hk01.com/%E8%97%9D%E6%96%87/571405/%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3%E5%B8%B8%E8%AC%9B%E7%9A%84-%E5%8F%AF%E6%84%9B-%E6%98%AF%E5%87%BA%E6%96%BC%E8%83%BD%E5%8C%85%E5%AE%B9%E9%86%9C%E9%99%8B%E7%9A%84%E6%AF%8D%E6%80%A7|title=《少女歷史》｜日本少女常講的「可愛」 是出於能包容醜陋的母性|publisher=HK01 |accessdate=January 24, 2021}} As a concrete example of works dealing with brocon (or a person with that temperament appears), there is Gekka no Ichigun,{{Cite book |author=Shinbo Nobunaga|year=2008|title=現代マンガの冒険者たち|publisher=NTT Publishing |page=377|isbn=9784757141773}} Sister Princess,{{Cite book |author=Tohru Honda|year=2005|title=萌える男|publisher=Chikuma Shobō |page=182|isbn=9784480062710}} Oreimo,{{Cite book |year=2014|title=アニメ『俺の妹。』がこんなに丸裸なわけがない。 |publisher=Kadokawa Future Publishing |page=103|isbn=9784048664509}} OniAi, I Don't Like You at All, Big Brother!!,{{Cite book|author1= Jonathan Clements|author2=Helen McCarthy |year=2015|title=The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation|publisher=Stone Bridge Press |page=|isbn=}} My Girlfriend is Shobitch, Hensuki, My Sister, My Writer,{{Cite web|date=November 27, 2018|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/this-week-in-anime/2018-11-27/.139957|title=What the Hell is Happening in My Sister, My Writer? - This Week in Anime|website=Anime News Network |accessdate=January 24, 2021}} World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman.{{Cite web |date=January 11, 2015|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2015/winter/world-break-aria-of-curse-for-a-holy-swordsman/.82906|title=World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman – The Winter 2015 Anime Preview Guide|website=Anime News Network |accessdate=January 24, 2021}} Minako Saito states that Sayla Mass is more of a brother complex to Char Aznable.{{Cite book |author=Minako Saito|year=1998|title=紅一点論 アニメ・特撮・伝記のヒロイン像 |publisher=ビレッジセンター |pages=156–157|isbn=9784894361133}} Takako Shimura's Beautiful Everyday features a girl from the brother complex.{{Cite web |last=Hodgkins|first=Crystalyn|date=January 1, 2021|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-01-01/takako-shimura-ends-beautiful-everday-manga-on-february-8/.168048|title= Takako Shimura Ends Beautiful Everyday Manga on February 8|website=Anime News Network |accessdate=January 21, 2021}} Anime News Network's Theron Martin states that Suguha Kirigaya's unrequited love for Kirito in Sword Art Online seems to be intended to pander to fans of the "Big Brother Complex".{{Cite web |last=Theron|first=Martin|date=December 28, 2012|url=
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sword-art-online/episodes-15|title=Sword Art Online episodes 15–25 – Review|website=Anime News Network |accessdate=January 25, 2021}}
By August 12, 2012, Flex Comix had opened a special page on its official website for the comic anthology Brocon Anthology Liqueur, which is based on the brother complex.{{Cite web |date=August 12, 2012|url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/74558|title=ブラコンアンソロ2は草野紅壱表紙、執筆陣に位置原光Zら|website=Natalie |accessdate=January 3, 2021}}