>Side question- does Japan have some sort of cultural expectation in
>regards to the 8th grade? In addition to Utena, the Eva pilots were in
>that same age bracket as well as the Madoka cast, technically*.

Seems likely. The Sailor Moon main cast are all around that age, too, and Magic Knight Rayearth. Kaname in Full Metal Panic! is only a little older. School doesn't work quite the same way in Japan, but that age range is a popular target demo, and in certain genres the creators like to set their main casts to the same age as the viewers they are most hoping to attract.

--G.
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