Hey, so I consume a bit of Chinese content and culture, from their Anime to their Manhuas (their comics) to some movies and pop culture references.
One thing I note, is that there is a growing trope or archetype of desirability in the main character having a little sister.
Fantasy and fiction whether it be novels or stories or comics or movies or video games, are an escape for some, and there are two main themes that prevail to appeal to the audience. Desirability and Relatability. People want a main character with an origin story that is relatable, maybe some bullied loser (very relatable statistically speaking) turned hero (very desirable but not always relatable), and people want desirability, like super powers or wealth or an entourage of followers or even a harem (for male gooners).
Point being, I see the desirability aspect in people wanting to have a little sister to take care of or look after as a common reoccurring theme in Chinese Culture nowadays. As fiction is based from inspiration, as art is an imitation of life, we see the reflection of desires and underpinnings of our emotions and feelings manifest in the art or culture in society.
This is a collective shadow, a part of the collective subconsciousness of society being represented. Because it’s predominantly (from my experience) more prevalent to have a little sister as a trope in Chinese media than Korean or Japanese or even European or American Media, we can assume it’s a Chinese Specific angle of societal shadow.
A background on the formation of this shadow
China had a one child policy from 1970’s to 2015, then adopted a 2 child policy and later a three child policy. The ramifications of this policy lead to abortions and infanticide which the government publicly denounces and officially claims does not happen (or ignores).
People had to choose between having a child, and of two genders, they chose between male or female. Most families opted for male, to have a work horse and someone that could provide stable income and a legacy tracing a patriarchal family style lineage.
Depending on the different ethnic groups in China, and their customs, there might be a dowry of sorts to ‘give away their daughter’. Traditionally throughout the world many families would marry off their daughter for political or familial reasons, and the woman would take on the surname of the man. Thus the woman was effectively not apart of her familial family but now apart of the other groom’s family, you can see this tradition in royalty bloodlines which stand as a standard for civil decorum and customs.
So, based on the various ethnic groups that make up China, they might have a shared or similar tradition in which the family would lose their daughter. If this is the case, then the families that lose their daughter and have no other support are left to fend for themselves in retirement and old age.
If the Man is strong and successful, they might be able to take care of all four parents in a nuclear family arrangement. But because we don’t always live in ideal situations, the newly married man would typically hold his family and allegiance to his parents in higher esteem or value than that of his wife’s parents.
So the retirement plan for a lot of families was to ‘bank’ on having a son and not a daughter.
If I’m being honest, a lot of retirement plans are banked on having many children and hoping one succeeds or putting them to work to leverage their value. This is how traditional societies functioned since the dawn of feudalism. It was also the more effective strategy since death came at a much higher frequency with less technology and advances for a saving throw at life. So instead of having one child raised prim and proper, they diversified their investments to have many children.
With the single child being a son, they might have aborted numerous little brothers and sisters. With the application of the double child policy, families might have opted to have two sons and infanticide any females, thus creating the trauma wound for society to long for little sisters yet unborn which is manifesting it’s ghost in the art and culture of modern day China.
The results of these policies have lead to a male dominated society and gender imbalance in China, which further speaks to the truth that people either magically had more sons or that they aborted/infanticide their daughters.
As such, there is this interstitial and pervasive shadow in all of China for a longing for a daughter and a little sister that never came. And we see this shadow manifest itself -‘popping up’- in the pop culture.
As a side note
If I were to give the background to the formation of a collective shadow. Is that literal fore-shadowing? Ba dum tss.
Also, here’s a piece of 8 minute American media (SISTER by Siqi Song) that has etched this sentiment overtly in culture and references and won awards and accolades for speaking about this issue, which lead to controversy and removal, and it’s subsequent reinstatement;
I want to note that the collective shadow is subtle and it is manifesting itself in what could be seen as overt methods or ways after having been shown or pointed out. It only becomes obvious after you start noticing it.
Additionally–
I want to point out the Trivers-Williard Hypothesis,
It’s a theory or hypothesis in which a mother might subconsciously give birth to a specific gender of child based on available resources or some other external factors.
One branch or seed-theory of this parent theory is that essentially a mother will subconsciously render a gendered baby to match that of societal imbalance. It’s a theory, basically if there’s more men in a society than women, the mother may somehow or another give birth to a daughter to make the gender balance more equal.
I think this is a valid theory that is worth exploring and adds another nuanced feedback loop into this societal dynamic. From a genetic standpoint.
Of course, when I talk of the society and collective shadow, I’m tackling this perspective from a psychological and sociological standpoint. Yet, as it turns out, everything is connected to everything and there’s more than one way to look at any thing.
Epilogue
This is merely a musing I’ve found to be true for myself as I watch and consume content and literature and stories from many cultures.
Perhaps my observations on a minor detail such as the ‘main character having a little sister’ could mean that other details in ole Edda’s or epics could give us insight into society or their world. I pose this to you, dear reader, if We were to better understand our collective shadows then we could retroactively trace our lineage and evolution through a timeless endeavor of backdating our own phantoms. This would of course, result in a greater degree of understanding of ourselves as a species and our history. And if we know where we came from, we can see where we’re going, and aim or redirect our course.
To define a Human is an epistemic task since the dawn of being human, and I think we could benefit from looking at our history and our future and our hidden aspects or collective shadows.
Human, is a word, and I conveyed all of these thoughts outlined here with words, as such,
Words Mean Things
Words Mean Things 
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