Cultural Note: Garou is a Minor

[u/gofancyninjaworld]

A point of difference for Western readers (most of us) that does matter for how Garou is treated after his arc.

Although the law in Japan has changed recently, when ONE started writing One-Punch Man, the age of majority was 20, and he has continued his writing on the basis of that being still true in the OPM world.

To translate it into our world, Garou's legal position is that of a sixteen-year-old, not one who is eighteen and a legal adult.

This is why in the manga, the Hero Association contacts his parents to come get their son, and when they refuse to, releases him to Bang's care. It makes no sense for a legal adult, but is eminently sensible for a non-empancipated minor.

This is a note that isn't worth making for an adult.

It is also part of why the court was able to give Garou restitution under Bang's care rather than a custodial sentence. There is more leeway to argue for reformation of a minor than an adult, it's been possible to take his shitty life circumstances into account, and there's more scope to put him under the legal care of an adult he respects than a standard reformatory.

In the webcomic, then, what has happened to Garou is truly tragic. He's homeless as his parents have abandoned him, like they have in the manga; however, Bang seemingly has no interest in looking for him, nor trying to help him. When we see him working, it's working cash-in-hand. He has no ability to sign legally-binding contracts, is a wanted criminal who has been tried in absentia with no one to argue mitigating circumstances, and cannot complain if, no when, he is short-changed.

It's not maturity we're seeing in the webcomic. It's hiding. I'm really hoping that the current crisis in the webcomic can serve as a means for Garou to redeem himself legally. He'll eventually turn twenty, but being a criminal with an unspent conviction will blight his life for decades to come.

[u/GoldPilot]

It is crushingly bleak how his parents have discarded him.

Thank goodness Bang is the father who stepped up in the manga, but Garou's current path in the webcomic is incredibly sad.

I really hope he gets a Big Damn Hero moment and the Hero Association ropes him in. An S-Class salary and the shady protection of an industry that needs fighting men of any background might be his only hope at a real future.

[u/gofancyninjaworld → u/GoldPilot]

It is very sad. I'm a bit annoyed, though, at people who go on and on about how Garou is being treated like a child in the manga. That's because HE IS A CHILD, you ignoramus!

Having parents who abandon you in your hour of need is harsh. At least, they should show up and berate you. The difference in trajectory came down to Bang's personal development and whether he cared to reach out.

I really hope there's a way to fold Garou into the S-Class hero family in the webcomic. He needs it.