History ParentalAbandonment / AnimeAndManga

* Subverted in ''Gundam SEED''. In the first episode, we see nothing of the main younger cast's parents, and when they're taken aboard the ''Archangel'', they seem to slip into the usual unusually independent kids role. However, upon arriving at Orb, Captain Ramius informs them that their parents, who were apparently evacuated from Heliopolis separately, are waiting for them, allowing them to visit for a short time. Similarly, the equally young ZAFT pilots all seem to have visible parents when they return to PLANT on leave.

* A huge portion of the cast of ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}'' are missing one or more parents. Of course, this being ''{{Narutaru}}'', Shiina's mother is the only cast member who truly abandoned her child. [[KidsAreCruel The other cases of missing parents are much more... disturbing.]]

* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke lives with his drunken, cynical, goodhearted but irresponsible single mother Atsuko, who IIRC was kicked out of her house when she got pregnant at age 14. His actual father is never mentioned in the anime, but Atsuko is seen visiting with a man implied to be his father late in the manga. (Note that Raizen is not actually his father, but an ancestor several generations back.)]

** Meanwhile, Satoshi is the only other character who has a parent appear, and he's a rich playboy who allowed his dead wife to think he was having an affair to cover the fact that he was having an affair ''with someone else'' (although is otherwise a nice guy, from what we've seen); Meiko can't stand her home, as her parents are incredibly hateful towards each other, both having affairs and emotionally distant (not to mention the mother is apparently an alcoholic); Kei is estranged from his family due to [[EducationMama the enormous pressure put on him as a musical prodigy]], although he's implied to have patched things up in the end; Cousins Ginta Suou and Tsutomu Rokutanda are rivals because their family constantly compared them to each other growing up (and this throwaway line is the only mention they ever get!); Arimi and Suzu's families are never mentioned at all, beyond the fact that Suzu is Satoshi's cousin and, in the anime, her father gets Yuu his scholarship for an American school. In the anime we have Anju Kitahara, who apparently has a rather normal family life with parents who overprotect her a bit since [[IllGirl she has a serious illness]].

** In ''PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'', Hareta's father dumped him at Rowan's lab when he was an infant. Of course, Hareta's father, like Hareta himself, is kind of an idiot. Rowan however is supposed to be a genius--a genius who decides that Hareta is better off growing up in the forest. So the kid gets let loose in the woods till he's ten, being dumped off by both his father and his father figure. Oh yeah, and no mother is ever mentioned.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Usopp is the only Straw Hat who was actually raised by his biological parents, and even then his father had left his family. When it comes to other main characters, their parents abandoned them, are dead or [[spoiler:the world's most wanted criminals]] or, puzzlingly, never mentioned. Here's the rundown for the curious:

* Just about every major character in ''{{Saiyuki}}''. In sum: Sanzo's and Hazel's foster fathers are dead; Goku couldn't remember his even if he wasn't (but he is); Hakkai grew up in an orphanage; Gojyo's stepmother (Dokugakuji's birth mother) was killed by Dokugakuji to keep her from killing Gojyo himself; Kougaiji reveres his trapped, frozen mother, but refers to his and Lirin's father by his name; Lirin is well aware that her mother has no use for her beyond resurrecting her father, and wonders if Kougaiji's mother will love her instead; Kami-sama was raised [[spoiler: by Ukoku Sanzo, otherwise known as Nii Jenyi]] and is well aware he was nothing to him but a toy; and Homura was abandoned due to the manner of his birth and grew up in a prison cell. Whew!

* ''NightHeadGenesis'' is an instance in which the trope is strictly followed up to a certain point, Naoto and Naoya are literally abandoned by their parents because they fear the siblings' destructive powers. As a result the brothers spend 15 years in a research facility, eventually escaping only to find out that [[spoiler:their parents have blanked out certain memories and are convinced that the two have perished as children while trying to same a little girl from drowning.]]

*** [[spoiler: Nakago's mother was raped and murdered in front of him when he was a child. In his character novel, he kills the former general of the Kutou army, who is his DisappearedDad... of course, this happened after a LukeIAmYourFather moment]].
** In {{Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden}} Takiko's IllGirl mother dies of Tuberculosis in the FIRST Chapter, and her father is never around because [[spoiler:he was researching the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho to find a way to save his wife]], not to mention the fact that he never wanted a daughter to begin with.

** Of course, they are not alone. Walter is already a field agent for the Hellsing organization at the age of fourteen (per the prequel series ''The Dawn''), with no mention of parents. Maxwell was abruptly abandoned when he was young for being the illegitimate son of a man's mistress. Pip Bernadotte is implied to have lived with his grandfather, who instilled the mercenary mindset in him. [[spoiler:Alucard, as the semi-immortal Vlad III, has the historically nasty death of his father by the Turkish variation of scalping.]] And these are just the characters for which we ''know'' about their parents.

* In ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma,'' Kazuma gets literally abandoned by his parents after losing a match with his cousin. At least he gets a gold card from his mom, but he bends it to prevent himself from relying on them.

** And let's not forget Timothy. His father was a notorious thief, who went to jail. His mother is never mentioned.

** Saya and Diva’s biological mother [[spoiler:died long before they were born (they hatched out of cocoons found in her mummified corpse)]] and no information is given on their father, [[spoiler:though it’s probably safe to assume either Nathan is their father or he’s dead.]] They were adopted by the first Joel who [[spoiler: locked Diva in a tower and experimented on her while treating Saya like a princess. Of course when Diva got out she killed him.]] Finally, Saya was adopted by Kai and Riku's stepfather George Miyagusuku in 2004, [[spoiler:only to be forced to kill him as he was turning into a chiropteran.]]

** Atsuro is kicked out of the house for similarly choosing the band over more sensible options, but after some loud arguments and intervention by his [[spoiler: adoptive]] sister Yuuka (totally sister. In conclusion, sister) he returns home.

* ''ChronoCrusade'' has examples of this for pretty much ''every main character''.

** Ennis was "[[ArtificialHuman born]]" into servitude of Szilard Quates [[spoiler:before Firo did the world a favor and killed him for good]], and [[TrulySingleParent literally]] has no mother.

* An odd case in ''RealDrive'', where both Minamo's parents are alive and well (and even still married), but she was still mostly raised by her grandmother, due to their jobs' requirements. At the time of the series she's mostly cared by her older brother, who calls himself her guardian. Their father works on the same island and at least in theory lives in the same house, but is so often absent that his first appearance doesn't happen before episode 9. Still, Minamo never questions the extreme workaholism of her parents in true Japanese style.

* In ''Manga/TheSecretAgreement'', Yuuichi lived on the [[StreetUrchin streets]] and basically [[SelfMadeMan raised himself]]. He always thought he was a war orphan, but they actually just left him. His uncle isn't even his real uncle.

* In ''FairyTail'', everyone has their own story. Natsu was [[RaisedByWolves raised by a dragon]] after being abandoned/separated from his parents in a forest, while his rival Grey had his entire village destroyed by a demon. [[spoiler: Said demon was then sealed by his mentor some time later.]] Lucy ran away from home because of her uncaring father [[spoiler: and her mother has passed on sometime before the series, although this is not established until later]]. Erza [[spoiler: was apparently raised as a slave to build a device to use Black Magic, and the only thing close to a parent is an old man who acts as a grandfather figure to all the children there]].

* In ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'', we have the Kaiba brothers (biological parents died when they were little, adopted father raised Kaiba under a [[TrainingFromHell borderline abusive schooling regimen]], then committed suicide after Seto took over his company), Jounouchi/Joey (estranged from his mother since his parents' divorce, and his drunken father is only mentioned once in the first anime series), Anzu/Téa, Honda/Tristan, and Ryuji/Duke with no visible or suggested parents, and Yugi himself, whose mother appears twice, making him for all intents and purposes appear to live with his grandfather, a major supporting character.

* The lack of parents in the spin-off ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}'' is even worse. Even if the series does take place at a boarding school, some situations definitely call for parental involvement. Fubuki disappears for a year, and is in a coma for a few days/weeks after resurfacing; his sister Asuka, another student, falls apart over him, but where are their parents? (To be fair, one episode suggests that their mother died when they were very young.) Jun Manjyome runs away for three months; no parents looking for him or threatening the school with a lawsuit. (Indeed, his two older brothers seem for all intents and purposes to be his guardians, but why, after they become estranged, he still has access to an unlimited amount of his family's money, is a mystery.) Ryo and Sho Marufuji's living mother is briefly mentioned in the dub (when Sho talks to Rei in her first apparition, he says their mother said Sho is growing up more alike to Ryo, which suggests they're in good terms and maybe in regular contact), but she's never shown. The show is big on sibling relationships, but aside from an appearance by Hayato Maeda's father in an early episode, not at all with parents and children.
* Parents are mostly a foreign concept on ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds}}'': The four members of Team Satisfaction grew up on the streets after being orphaned in Zero Reverse. The twins' parents are explained as always being away on business trips... and just leave their kids home alone (albeit in a luxurious apartment complete with a swimming pool) with no supervision save online tutors (until Season 3, when they are seen attending school). Aki reconciles with her estranged parents... who are never seen again after they're introduced. The kids have several {{Parental Substitute}}s like Martha and Robert Pearson and, in cases like Crow's and Kiryu's, even ''become'' {{Parental Substitute}}s.

* Ayase from ''OkaneGaNai'' is an orphan whose parents have died when he was still a child and he is living alone when the action begins. This does not last long, though, as he quickly spirited away by Kanou with whom he is forced to live and have sex in order to pay an exorbitant debt. In the manga version, Ayase is shown to treasure every memento that reminds him of his parents, even going to the extent of disobeying [[{{Seme}} über manipulative and forceful Kanou]] to rescue pictures of them from his former apartment that is about to be sold.

* In ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'', we have the Kaiba brothers (biological parents died when they were little, adopted father raised Kaiba under a [[TrainingFromHell borderline abusive schooling regimen]], then committed suicide after Seto took over his company), Jounouchi/Joey (estranged from his mother since his parents' divorce, and his drunken father is only mentioned once in the first anime series), Anzu/Téa, Honda/Tristan, and Ryuji/Duke with no visible or suggested parents, and Yugi himself, whose mother appears twice, making him for all intents and purposes appear to live with his grandfather, a major supporting character.

* Ayase from ''OkaneGaNai'' is an orphan whose parents have died when he was still a child and he is living alone when the action begins. This does not last long, though, as he quickly spirited away by Kanou with whom he is forced to live and have sex in order to pay an exorbitant debt. In the manga version, Ayase is shown to treasure every memento that reminds him of his parents, even going to the extent of disobeying [[{{Seme}} über manipulative and forceful Kanou]] to rescue pictures of them from his former apartment that is about to be sold.

* ''HayateTheCombatButler'' practically lives on this trope. We have:

* In ''{{Noir}},'' Mireille's parents were murdered when she was a small child. And when Kirika awoke in Tokyo for the first time, she was alone in her apartment, with neither parents nor Soldats agents pretending to be parents.

* ParentalAbandonment -- specifically, the psychological effect of it -- is one of the overarching themes of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion.'' Shinji Ikari witnessed the apparent death of his mother Yui, and is -- to put it delicately -- emotionally estranged from his father Gendo after spending ten years apart from him (actually, the fact of Yui's disappearance does help explain what's wrong with both Shinji and Gendo). Asuka Langley Soryuu is estranged from her father as well (depending on the version of ''Evangelion'' you're following, this takes different forms: In the anime, it was implied he was never interested in having children, and firmly established that he was ''very'' neglectful in his parenting, while in the manga, Asuka never met him as he was a sperm donor selected from a bank of Nobel prize winners and scientists). Furthermore, when she was a young child, Asuka's mother tried to commit a murder-suicide with Asuka, though she only succeeded in killing herself. Rei Ayanami has, as far as most people know, no family whatsoever; when her true origins are revealed, they are ghastly and nightmarish, to put it mildly. Several other major and minor characters have lost one or both parents: Misato, Ritsuko, Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke all come to mind. (However, this is probably not uncommon after Second Impact, which killed half the population of Earth, and during the destructive Angel siege of Tokyo-3.)

*** [[spoiler:[[NightmareFuel Gah! Thank you so much for that]]]]

* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' is rife with parental abandonment. Ranma himself does not even ''realize'' he has a mother until the last two episodes of the series, having been separated from her when he was a toddler. Shampoo's father is only seen twice in the manga, her mother is never even mentioned, and in any event she cannot return to her village until she either kills or marries Ranma. Ukyou was actually abandoned twice: Once when her father sent her with the Saotomes, and again when Genma left her on the side of the road. (The notion that Ukyo's father forced her to take vengeance on the Saotomes is pure Fanon, both the manga and the anime imply that it's her own idea). Ryoga's parents [[NoSenseOfDirection are always lost]]. The Kuno siblings were abandoned by their father three years ago and their mother is never mentioned. The Tendo sisters' mother died when they were very young and Soun, their well-intentioned but ditzy father, is... [[BumblingDad well, himself]]. Every other major teenaged character is known or appears to be missing at least one parent, mostly their mothers.

* In ''DetectiveConan'', Shinichi's parents (a famous writer and a brilliant actress) ''do'' care for him, but they are always on tour and, since Shinichi doesn't want to go with them, he lives alone (though in active contact) until he physically reverts into a child via Odd Poison and goes to live with his girlfriend Ran. Ran herself lives only with her BumblingDad since her parents are separated on bad terms (she's still in more or less contact with her HotMom as well). Sonoko avoids it since her parents and older sister are more or less around and manage to be both rich ''and'' nice people.

* Considering its [[{{Shonen}} genre]], with the exception of [[DigimonFrontier Frontier]], the {{Digimon}} franchise subverts this trope. The parents not only play a supporting part helping their kids, they [[DigimonAdventure help develop the character]], [[DigimonAdventure02 give one of the more]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming emotional aspect to the show]], [[DigimonTamers or attempt to rescue]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome their daughter from the]] BigBad.

* Are you a main cast of ''InfiniteStratos''? It sucks to be you if you are one. To wit:

** Charles[[spoiler: rather, Charlotte]] is the illegitimate child of a country woman, and the CEO of the I.S. company of France, who abandoned him.[[spoiler: her actually]]

* Chapter 78 confirms that [[spoiler:Liz and Patti]] are an example of both this and [[spoiler:{{Son Of A Whore}}.]]

* The death of Rino Randou's mother in ''GokujouSeitokai'' is the catalyst that begins the series. Nothing is mentioned as to what happened to her father, at least at first.
** And it's not just Rino, [[spoiler: Machii and Kaori are also orphans; in Kaori's case, she has younger siblings, providing a PromotionToParent. And Rein was actually abandoned by her father, forcing her to live with Sayuri's family. And Ayumu runs away from her family.]]

** Naturally, it's {{Lampshaded}} in ''WebOriginal/{{Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series}}'' several times. After Tea and Tristan snuck on a boat heading for the private island of the BigBad of the season, Tristan wonders if their parents even care that they're missing.

* In ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', ''{{xxxHolic}}'''s sister series, nobody has a present set of parents. ''Nobody''. Perhaps the most egregious case would be Sakura, [[spoiler:who had both a mother and father way before the beginning of the series, but had them erased from existence when Syaoran's desperate wish to save her life screwed over the space-time continuum]].

** Majorly averted by Oscar, the protagonist, having both her biological parents outlive her! Also somewhat averted by Alain having his mother be alive until he is in his mid 20's.

* Watanuki from ''{{xxxHOLiC}}'': Orphaned at a young but unspecified age and has been living alone ever since.

* In ''YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke lives with his drunken, cynical, goodhearted but irresponsible single mother Atsuko, who IIRC was kicked out of her house when she got pregnant at age 14. His actual father is never mentioned in the anime, but Atsuko is seen visiting with a man implied to be his father late in the manga. (Note that Raizen is not actually his father, but an ancestor several generations back.)]

* In ''OnePiece'', Usopp is the only Straw Hat who was actually raised by his biological parents, and even then his father had left his family. When it comes to other main characters, their parents abandoned them, are dead or [[spoiler:the world's most wanted criminals]] or, puzzlingly, never mentioned. Here's the rundown for the curious:

* ParentalAbandonment -- specifically, the psychological effect of it -- is one of the overarching themes of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion.'' Shinji Ikari witnessed the apparent death of his mother Yui, and is -- to put it delicately -- emotionally estranged from his father Gendo after spending ten years apart from him (actually, the fact of Yui's disappearance does help explain what's wrong with both Shinji and Gendo). Asuka Langley Soryuu is estranged from her father as well (depending on the version of ''Evangelion'' you're following, Asuka's father was a sperm donor selected from a bank of Nobel prize winners and scientists). Furthermore, when she was a young child, Asuka's mother tried to commit a murder-suicide with Asuka, though she only succeeded in killing herself. Rei Ayanami has, as far as most people know, no family whatsoever; when her true origins are revealed, they are ghastly and nightmarish, to put it mildly. Several other major and minor characters have lost one or both parents: Misato, Ritsuko, Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke all come to mind. (However, this is probably not uncommon after Second Impact, which killed half the population of Earth, and during the destructive Angel siege of Tokyo-3.)

** However, the series seems to avert the trope overall. None of the instances cause damage or discomfort to characters or viewers, beyond engendering mild empathy for Konata. Her single-parent relationship with her father is very loving and supportive in both directions (the loli/otaku stuff is played for comedy). The Hiiragi twins, Miyuki and Minami all have delineated, idyllic family lives. Screen time is just too expensive to spend on multiple parental units, because the show isn't about them. Yet ''Anime/LuckyStar'' focuses far more often on family life than comparable shows like ''AzumangaDaioh'', ''HighSchoolGirls'', ''Hyakko'' and (despite the age differences), ''IchigoMashimaro'', and presents it quite positively.

* ''DeathNote'': Misa, Near, and Mello are all orphans, and it's implied that L is too. (One of the reasons why Misa is so devoted to Light is because the murderers of her parents were among his first victims.) The psychotic mass murderer gets a normal family, though, helping to emphasize how far he eventually falls.

* This is the central premise of ''AishiteruzeBaby'', when Yuzuyu's mother gets stressed out and abandons her to her relatives and Yuzuyu's cousin Kippei is forced to take care of her.

* Shun Ukiya of ''GateKeepers'' harbors more than a little resentment with his father for dying some years before the start of the series, and in turn [[spoiler:his daughter Ayane similarly resents Shun for his heroic sacrifice several years before the opening of the sequel series ''{{Gate Keepers 21}}'']].

* A suprising number of characters from ''Literature/{{Baccano}}!'' are a victim of this:

* In ''AiYoriAoshi'', Kaoru's parents both died when he was young, leaving him stuck with his abusive grandfather. He moves out as early as he can; that breaks off his arranged marriage to Aoi, his childhood friend, setting the events of the show in motion.

* In ''{{Mai-HiME}},'' the parents of the three main characters (Tokiha Mai, Kuga Natsuki and Minagi Mikoto) are dead; in addition, Yuuki Nao's mother is comatose in an hospital (with the rest of her family killed).

* In ''{{RoseOfVersailles}}'' there are several cases. Andre's parents have passed away by the time he is 8, so he goes to live with his grandmother. Rosalie's adoptive mother passes away in an accident when Rosalie is a teenager- and Rosalie later finds out who her biological mother is, to her horror. Bernard's mother dies when he is 5. Robespierre's mother dies when he is young as well. Marie Antoinette's mother is still alive, but sends her away to France to get married when Antoinette is only 14 years old. Not much is known about Fersen's parents- though he is very close to his siblings.
** Subverted by Oscar, the protagonist, having both her biological parents outlive her! Also somewhat subverted by Alain having his mother be alive until he is in his mid 20's.

* A huge portion of the cast of ''{{Narutaru}}'' are missing one or more parents. Of course, this being ''{{Narutaru}}'', Shiina's mother is the only cast member who truly abandoned her child. [[KidsAreCruel The other cases of missing parents are much more... disturbing.]]

** [[spoiler:Well, maybe not. It was recently revealed that [[CardCaptorSakura his parents]] are still alive somewhere. Just not in his universe. He doesn't remember them due to a DealWithTheDevil or three, and so just assumes them to be dead. His "[[TsubasaReservoirChronicle brother]]" does remember them, but ran away from home at the age of seven, and we'll stop there because that’s where the parental ''abandonment'' ends, and something [[OedipusRex else]] begins.]]