Why I Like Anime

Before I begin this post I just want to put it out there that I am not a weeaboo. Ok? Ok.

So as you can tell by the title I like anime. I like it a lot. My first anime was either Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z, I’m unsure which came first. Back then I wasn’t aware that what I was witnessing was Japanese animation. I did, however, notice the difference in the style of the animation. American animation doesn’t look like this. I noticed that American animation tends to lean more towards the cartoony/goofy side whereas Japanese animation will often try to mimic the real world a little more. I really enjoy this detail-oriented style of animation.

I come for the animation and I stay for the stories. Anime tell stories that are unlike most American cartoons or movies. Think about it though. Is there anything on TV like Naruto or Dragonball Z or even Death Note? If there are please let me know because I haven’t seen anything like these anime. Anime is different; not only for the stories that they tell, but also the way that they tell them. During funny moments the animation style will suddenly change. It could go from sharp lines and considerable details to bold, rounded outlines with the facial features suddenly becoming nothing more than a few black lines. Or vice versa. This isn’t something that you see in American animation. I was watching season 3 of The World God Only Knows (great show, 9/10, would recommend) and one of the characters calls the main character a cockroach. The main character, feeling defeated then proceeds to actually become a roach and is crawling through the halls of the school. All of this while the main character is having this inner monologue and then he is squished by a teacher. This is another example of something that I’m not entirely sure that American animation could successfully get away with.

Another thing. The theme songs. The ending songs. Theme songs are a huge part of anime. Everyone knows the Pokemon theme song, everyone knows the Attack On Titan theme songs, they are an integral part of the anime itself. Prior to the start of the actual anime the theme song will set the tone and give you a taste of what your in for. The second theme song to Attack On Titan at first makes you feel patriotic; you know, they’re in this army and they are uniting against these monsters (the titans). Then it takes a dramatic turn because the anime is epic and it has a lot of serious moments. You get a lot of information from the theme song; they’re also just a lot of fun. I mention the endings because they often will portray a different side of the anime. The intro to Inuyasha is epic but the endings are often very calm. The ending (Every Heart) shows you that the characters have hard moments and internal struggles but then in the ending the sun comes out and they have hope and they have each other. They too are also a lot of fun.

I stopped watching Anime for awhile while I was in high school and also during college. The second semester of my freshman year of college was when I picked it back up and started watching an anime called Fairytail. Anime is just so much fun to watch, they have good lessons in them, they teach you stuff, they make you laugh and cry and you can learn a little about another culture. You’ll be introduced to new ideas; things you’ve never even thought of.

Now I will say that there are some people who take their love of anime a little too far…the weeaboos. These people are obsessed with anime and manga and they try be Japanese even though they aren’t. It’s a total cringe fest and it’s not something that should be encouraged. The reason I say that I’m not a weeaboo is because I’m not obsessed with anime and manga or Japan. I do enjoy it, but I don’t live and breath for it.

So yeah I guess that’s all I have to say about that. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t seen any anime before or maybe you’ve only heard of it or maybe you had a bad experience with a weeaboo to try it again. There are funny anime, there are serious anime, there are sad anime, all sorts of genres to choose from. This month I will be starting a new thing on this blog called: Monthly Reccs. On this list of recommendations I will be recommending all kinds anime as well as some other things. So you can look forward to that if you are interested in anime but you don’t know what to start with.

Thank you for reading,

God bless