Anime, defined as a style of Japanese film and television. Personally, this art form of storytelling has nearly consumed my life many times before. I have postponed important assignments in order to finish an episode of "One-Punch Man." I have had genuine hatred against those who think "Dragon Ball Z" is for children only. I have cried and mourned for weeks, and felt as if a foundational pillar of my happiness was stripped away after the finale of "Naruto." Hell, I can definitely say that I have blown off whole career opportunities because of my attentional investment in anime.
Born in Japan, my dedicated love for this medium bloomed as a child who, instead of looking forward to Saturday morning cartoons, looked forward to Saturday morning Anime. It started with the shows directed to a younger audience, such as "Crayon Shinchan" and "Doraimon." My interests progressively grew into more action based shows like "One-Piece," "Inuyasha," and "Dragon Ball Z." And finally, as a 20-year-old college student, I still to this day watch the shows I watched as a kid and watch shows that are directed more to an older audience. Out of all the hobbies I have taken on thus far in my life, Anime has engraved a permanent place in my heart.
Anime has such diversity within the genre. With dozens of subcategories, there is a show for any type of audience out there. But from experience, I have noticed that those who are not willing to open up to a world of imagination and highly fictionalized realms, do not enjoy anime.
99.999% of the anime that I have seen, are set in worlds that encompass more than your average fictional story. Anime makes tales of dragon slaying and wizardry sound pathetic. For example, "One-Piece" (one of my all time favorites) revolves around a teenage pirate, striving to be pirate king, who ate the Gomu-Gomu No Mi, which gave him the ability to fling his body around like a rubber band. But if a rubber pirate man fighting his way towards becoming the pirate king doesn’t tickle your fancy, it’s okay.
Anime also has an amazing capability of creating dystopian worlds with such detailed framework. With meaningful concepts such as reality vs virtual reality, corruption, and kinship, anime/manga provides its audience with lessons about the human race.
I personally understand that many individuals who never got in touch with the world of anime and manga, think anime nerds such as myself are a little weird. But i truly hope my quick discussion with myself on the love of anime will convince others to at least give it a go (I recommend "Hunter x Hunter" as a beginners anime). I believe in a utopia where all races and genders laugh and mourn along to the beautiful art of anime; but that might just be my love for unreal realities talking.
