Why are people interested in watching anime?
For the majority of adults that are in my life, whenever we talk about our hobbies and I mention that I like watching anime more often than not they say: isn’t that for kids?
Or they respond with cool but I don’t understand why you like it.
It doesn’t bother me that they think this way and I totally understand their point of view.
You see, growing up, most anime series that were aired during my childhood were specifically targeted to children or teenagers. It made sense that they are grown ups now and grew out of that phase of their lives and they think that they wouldn’t enjoy watching anime as much now.
If you want to know what type of anime I watched growing up , you can read about it here.
Honestly, to me what makes a good show or a good movie is three main things.
- A good plot or a story
- Diversity of unique characters with missions and ambition
- Events that can move your emotions
Good anime series tick all the boxes and deliver much more than that.
What is interesting about anime series is that it has many genres that can cater to many people’s preferences and tastes. I have found a well explained and organized post about all types of genres , read about it here.
What is the point of watching anime?
If you like fictional stories or fictional novels, you’ll enjoy watching anime. Simply because it is an animated world and it doesn’t have to comply with nature or reality. It can be a magical world full of unlimited potential.
You have the opportunity to explore Japanese culture, sometimes Chinese culture depending on the anime.
You’ll be introduced to Asian cuisine and their table manners.
Most likely you’ll be introduced to the ancient katakana (weapons).
The old structure in retro style anime or the modern ones will showcase Japanese architecture.
Their school system and students day to day activities. This is just the tip of the ice-berg there is much more to explore.
How can anime improve people’s lives?
In my humble opinion, I think watching anime has significantly improved my life in many aspects. Many people share the same experience as me. Here’s a list of the positives:
- Watching anime as a hobby brighten my mood and I look forward to it daily
- It restored my short attention span from excessive social media doom scrolling, now I can tune in to 20 minute long episodes without checking my phone every minute.
- Watching anime in Japanese made me start learning Japanese because I liked the language
- I started learning how to properly draw all the interesting anime styles
- Admiring an anime character is cooler than liking real celebrities in my opinion
- Whenever I get negative thoughts at night before my bed time watching a funny episode usually keeps me occupied and I don’t ruin my night
- Many anime fans forms communities online where everyone can share their thoughts and opinions without being judged or bullied which feels nice to belong to something you enjoy
- It encourages me to read, I never liked reading books but I love reading mangas a lot
- Creating anime journals brings me so much joy
- Watching anime has motivated me to create this blog that I’m proud of.
I don’t do cosplay but there are a lot of people who enjoy taking inspiration from anime characters for their cosplay conventions.
I don’t think it is a waste of time, I understand that it’s not for everyone but for those who are like me. It can mean a lot to them. I bet there are more positive points I can add in the future.