Goes for every Asian parent my friend. They want you to succeed especially if they themselves have succeeded. The difference is they won't feel too depressed after a while about it if you do something unconventional with your life, this manga kinda over dramatizes that part, because at the end of the day, you are still their child. (Some parents are dicks and will disown you)
Tbh, it's actually pretty common in Asian households. Specially if the family has a name to uphold. Happened a lot to my friends. Parents tend to put a lot of pressure on their children, much harder when there's one who's superior in terms of achieving results. Even in not-so-well-off families, it tends to happen. It's the usual, 'I'm your parent and I'm doing everything I can for your education, so I expect you to give me the best results. I am doing this for your future, and not for myself'. Suicide rate is also high for students who suffers from this.
Thank you both @Anonymous & @Anon for your thoughtful replies. Sad that it is so based on reality. The ramifications of such a status oriented culture is that people tend to judge a person much more on superficial qualities alone. No wonder then that so often characters in manga/anime seem to making such shallow value judgments of other people, even when they really don't have the right (like who is a 'worthy' partner for some idol or person). That isn't to say superficial or shallow judgment doesn't happen everywhere else, just to a more extreme degree in such a culture.
It is pretty common in asian households but sometimes its not about social status or upholding the name of the family .. Not everyone finish schools some didnt even reach high school so most of them know all to well how harsh life is and who in their right mind want their child to experience those .. They believe (in my country at least) that education will give u a brighter future so they push them to study hard.. Some sadly ended like their parents while some will really just inspires you (like the one i watch on tv recently a daughter of a fisherman graduated magna cum laude thats inspiration right there)
This isn't about pushing your children scholastically, though that can be done both in good or in bad way, but about not accepting or acknowledging your children if they don't live up to your expectations of them. Basically writing them off as failed, and mainly focusing on the child/children who do well. Not because the 'failed' children are actually bad, either by behavior or even in school, just your average normal child. To me that just seemed beyond cold, it seemed cruel. But it was a recurring theme in manga and I couldn't help but wonder just how acceptable such parenting would be socially. In such cases I would find the parents seriously lacking not the child.
Funny, while so many comments reflect a worry about fictional incest (don't read if it bothers you), the thing that struck me was once again the extreme seeking of social status, a theme that often pops up in manga and anime. I can't help but wonder how much is fictional exaggeration and how much is based on reality. Would the Japanese really find acceptable or be sympathetic to such parents who only approves of a child as long as that child achieves results?