TV-Series
Description
The Père adoptif d'Opale is a minor supporting character in the anime Queen Millennia. In the original Japanese version he is known simply as Ramen-ya no Ojiisan, meaning the old man of the ramen shop, and in the French adaptation he is identified as the adoptive father of Opale. He is an elderly man who runs a small ramen restaurant with his wife in an ordinary town near Tokyo, and the couple have taken in the young woman known on Earth as Yayoi Yukino, renamed Opale in the French version, as their adopted daughter. Opale lives on the second floor of their shop, and he looks after her as if she were his own child, treating her with warmth and welcoming her into the daily life of his home and business.
His role in the story is modest but meaningful. He belongs to the circle of ordinary human beings who give Opale a place to belong during her long stay on Earth, and the affection she receives from him and his wife is part of what binds her to humanity. As the confrontation between Earth and the planet La-Metal intensifies, her attachment to her adoptive parents and to the people of her neighborhood contributes to her growing unwillingness to follow the plans of her home world. The adoptive father himself never takes part in the battles or the political schemes of the series; he appears mainly in scenes of everyday life, serving customers in his shop and watching over his adopted daughter.
His principal relationship is with Opale, whom he treats as a daughter, and with his wife, the adoptive mother of Opale, with whom he shares the running of the shop and the household. His motivations are simple and domestic, centered on his work and on protecting the girl he has raised. He shows little personal development over the course of the series, remaining consistently a caring foster parent, and he has no special abilities beyond the modest and honest life he has built. His importance is emotional rather than practical, as a symbol of the simple human warmth that Opale has come to value and ultimately chooses to protect.
His role in the story is modest but meaningful. He belongs to the circle of ordinary human beings who give Opale a place to belong during her long stay on Earth, and the affection she receives from him and his wife is part of what binds her to humanity. As the confrontation between Earth and the planet La-Metal intensifies, her attachment to her adoptive parents and to the people of her neighborhood contributes to her growing unwillingness to follow the plans of her home world. The adoptive father himself never takes part in the battles or the political schemes of the series; he appears mainly in scenes of everyday life, serving customers in his shop and watching over his adopted daughter.
His principal relationship is with Opale, whom he treats as a daughter, and with his wife, the adoptive mother of Opale, with whom he shares the running of the shop and the household. His motivations are simple and domestic, centered on his work and on protecting the girl he has raised. He shows little personal development over the course of the series, remaining consistently a caring foster parent, and he has no special abilities beyond the modest and honest life he has built. His importance is emotional rather than practical, as a symbol of the simple human warmth that Opale has come to value and ultimately chooses to protect.