For some anime and manga, it’s not only hard to keep track of all the characters, but also remembering how they are all connected.
Recently Japanese TV show Ame Talk did a whole episode on Hunter x Hunter. In one part, the program tried to explain how all the characters were connected.
Complex, no?
In Japanese, these diagrams are called “soukanzu” (相関図), with “soukan” referring to a mutual relation. “Zu” refers to illustration, picture or drawing. In English, I’ve seen soukanzu translated as “character diagram” or “correlation chart.”
A soukanzu isn’t necessarily difficult to follow, with notes and arrows explaining the relationships between each character, such a parent-child or boyfriend-girlfriend, as well as things that happened between them or things they would like to happen.
To better explain, here is a Game of Thrones soukanzu, with added maps.
And for LoL.
But... Peter Rabbit?
Even the Japanese news does this to explain complex scandals.
See how this could help keep track of all those different folks? That’s why manga and anime have official and fan-made soukanzu.
Though, sometimes they are.
And then, there’s One Piece.
There’s always One Piece.
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