In manga, you often see the "childhood promise" device being used to justify a romantic interest: a typically attractive young woman reappears in the MC's life and decides that, by virtue of a promise made when both parties were ridiculously young, she has the right to control his entire life.

I can't be the only person who remembers next to nothing about my childhood, and quite honestly, I can't think of someone who might obsess over such a promise as anything but immature. But using my own poor memory as a basis isn't particularly responsible, either. For all I know, it might be normal to remember an important promise made with your #1 childhood playmate.

Hence, I was curious about how everyone else felt about the supposedly binding childhood promise and the realistic possibility of such a thing being remembered up to a decade later.

I think the childhood promise thing can be a cute way to add depth to a relationship, and sometimes I like those scenarios, but all too often its just a pathetic excuse by the author for a couple to be together when they lack any other reason or chemistry (like thinking a wife sounds tasty and then actually marrying her), or it just provides a reason to have a possessive stalker. Children in fiction are surprisingly capable, both physically and mentally, they can out smart adults and save the world so certainly their promises aren't to be taken any less seriously. Or at least that's what they'd have you think.

Sadly, it's not often used in a way that's really helpful to the plot. I've typically seen such shenanigans in male demographic romance stories (especially of ecchi or harem leaning), where hot girls don't need an adequate reason to be all over the main character. Luckily for me, I tend to avoid these like the plague and thus rarely run into them. It's a real travesty if a situation like this plagues a good manga but if it's already a series where female love is cheap then what do you expect?

I'm a fan of the childhood promise. It's amazing when used to add a drive to rekindle a friendship (and then turning into a budding romance);however, as Sapphiresky said, most authors use it as a pathetic excuse to hook up two characters or add a character into a harem.

[img]http://vdexproject.net/p/46696/partymini.png[/img]

It doesn‘t really count and should not..

What if you found someone that you love that isn‘t your ‘childhood friend’, would you break up with him/her for just a promise like that??

But if you and your childhood friend love each other, then its cool..

[color=violet]Tournament Round 1[/color]
[color=blue]Round 2[/color]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/CcwHreL.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/aQ0E4sC.png[/img]

not a fan
i do not think it is possible to remember a random promise made when 5yo a decade later
and usualy in those type of stories if they show flashbacks from that time
the children usualy behave very much like children

and what an awful uppringing this child must have if she or he remembers something like that

i think it can and...should be seen as something dark
woman in japan should be very dedicated to her man
so even random promises made as children from the "man" she loves
is to be seen as something very important
she must fulfill the promise her man made her
bascially a version of the horrors that is Yamato Nadeshiko
it is of course ofthen made fun of...but that is more to make fun of the woman who fails to be "woman" ...if they had acted more like a woman...the man would have liked her
or something like that