A preponderance of people who do not like anime are part of the "anime is for kids" school of thought; for all of those subscribing to this ideology, I urge you to watch any four minute clip of Tokyo Ghoul, High School of the Dead or Ouran Host Club just to dispel that notion. It is a blanket statement that just is not true, a significant portion of anime's intended audience is not children but young adults and older viewers. That being said there are positive things that come from being a fan of anime that make me wonder why people are so against it. If game shows, reality TV shows and TV dramas have their place in people's show selection without being judged then anime also deserves a seat at the table.
While anime offers several contributions to the lives of its viewers, one of the first dividends paid out is the increase in multitasking capabilities. Keeping track of the action whilst reading the subtitles is not an easy task, at first; initially, there is a lot of rewinding because you missed what a character said or something didn't make sense so you played it again just to make sure you caught everything. Especially when a villain is explaining the elaborate scheme, and the work it took to setup said scheme, it can be a taxing affair. As you continue watching, however, your reading speed increases and you learn to read the subtitles and track the action happening on screen simultaneously. Multitasking is a skill that is necessary in our day in age; as a project manager, student or a entry/mid-level worker we are often given multiple assignments to work on at the same time. Even though when watching anime you aren't juggling the same task as you would in a work environment, an anime watcher has established the groundwork to figure out a system that works for him or her.
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Anime also exposes it's viewers to different cultures, much in the same sense that reality shows expose the culture of different areas where it is being filmed. There are a variety of anime that are based on real events of history, feature different time periods and/or are based on cultures; one particular anime comes to mind, Hikaru No Go. The description for it from my personal preferred anime viewing website, Kissanime, reads as follows:
12-year-old Shindou Hikaru is just your average 6th-grader. One day, while searching through his grandfather's attic, he comes across an old Go board. Upon touching the Go board, Hikaru is possessed by the spirit of Fujiwara no Sai, and continues to be haunted by him soon after. Sai was once a great Go player, who committed suicide and continued to stay in the world as a spirit desiring only to play Go once again. Finally bending to Sai's pleas, Hikaru allows Sai to play Go through himself, unknowingly attempting the first game with the young prodigy Touya Akira. Time has finally started moving, as Sai's quest for the perfect game, "The Hand of God", is set underway.
This anime makes several references to a popular game in Japan known as Go, along with several references to Feudal Japan. Albeit, this is only one example there are plenty of other anime that provide similar insight into history.
Depending on your perspective anime can be considered a type of secular parable, a story told to convey a message or ideal. Most anime has some kind of story and/or lesson to offer within the arc/sage, the overarching story, that the episode falls in."Never giving up, despite the massive odds against you" and "Finding the good in people" are usually the big ticket lessons; of which are great lessons to keep in mind in real life. There are countless anime series: Naruto Shippuuden, Fairy Tale, DBZ just to name a few, where these lessons allow the hero(es) to surpass the obstacle(s)in their path; however, the flip side of the coin is that sometimes you have to lose. Practically every series have at least one episode to display this lesson; while not as numerous, there is still a decent portion of series have this as the main focus of the story: Code Geass, Zetsuen No Tempest. This might be more applicable to the real world because sometimes good things happen to bad people and sometimes the odds can't be overcome. While this is a hard concept for some to grasp, it is critical in order to be successful in the real world. I speak on that from personal experience, I have been very successful academically and in a lot of other endeavors so losing/failing is not something that I was well prepared for when it first happened. Aside from family and friends telling me it wasn't the end of the world I was totally convinced it was, seeing the heroes of different anime overcome arguably similar loses, of a different scale, definitely
Anime is not for everybody, just like game shows and reality tv aren't for everybody. With anime covering genres such as: action, magic, sports, history, sci-fi, horror along with numerous additional genres more likely than not, there is an anime in a person's desired genre to possibly reel them into the ranks. However like the other tv genre's mentioned, anime has its value and deserves to be given a fair chance. If you watch an episode or two, and you determine anime isn't for you that is alright, but don't criticize or look down on us for our love of it. As avid anime watchers, we appreciate you giving anime its fair shot and respectfully accept, while simultaneously disagreeing, with your decision.
