Forum - View topicWhy Do You Watch Anime?
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16974 |
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Tony suggested this to another poster in another thread. His post got me thinking though; why is anime enjoyable? I could easily answer that question, but that to me is just scratching the surface of WHY I watch anime. I mean anything can be enjoyable but there has to be a reason behind why it is. Beef Jerky is enjoyable, but why? It tastes good, well I think so anyway. His idea got me thinking back into why I started watching anime. I am an only child myself so I got to spend many a day by myself alone. With 2 working parents and no siblings I was home alone much of my early and middle childhood years. I was the dorky shy cop son so friends were a commodity I didn't have much of. books were my escape from the daily name calling and misery. I mean books took me away to a different place where everything just disappeared. Then one day I stumbled upon this thing called manga. Wow, it's those books but with nice pictures. Not some kiddy story book either, real material. That inevitably lead me to the world of anime. For me anime was all those stories I loved brought to life. Think about it, each series could easily be a clone of some book series out there. It was like my childhood friends were almost alive and in front of me. that might seem corny but as I said, I had a lonely childhood. I didn't even have a dog to play with for crying out loud. Those series were my way of forgetting my troubles and finding some happiness in an other wise unhappy period of my life. Couldn't exactly drive between 10-16. So, for me anime is enjoyable because it reminds me of the happiness I found as a child. With all the fighting and arguments that pop up between groups of fans I wonder if some have even forgotten why they watch it, or why they enjoy it. They're too busy defending it and their views to remember why it's fun. So, what about you people? Why did any of you get into anime? Why do you watch it at all? What makes it enjoyable for you to continue to watch it now? |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1363 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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It's entertaining. Logically, anything not entertaining isn't worth any attention at all. Though, I'll admit. It's the anime girls. But that's not the only reason. Just give me a good story plot - and I'll be interested. Doesn't have to be an anime either. In particular, I can still watch re-runs of Futurama and Star Trek -- and still be interested. Though sadly, after seeing anime for so long -- it can be rather easy to find them to be rather... predictable. Enough so such that Spoilers are rather insignificant. Although, there are the few who still catch my attention with mystery, cliff-hangers, or whatever else that gets me hooked to a particular series. Currently, Code Geass. I'll make a recommendation for that one. 
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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Well, I watch anime as an escapism. Truely not a great reason, but here we go.
Back when I was a major bookworm, and I read novels all the time, I was so proud of myself and fancied myself so high above all the silly people who spent so much time watching TV. But now that Iv been watching alot more anime then I am reading books, Iv realized just how silly that was. I mean, yes there is defonatly more brainwork involved in reading a novel then zoning out in front of a screen, but when it came right down to it, novels were escapism for me. So is anime. So are live action movies. Excpet for the comedies, which are pretty much purely entertainment. But when I watch a serious show, or read a serious novel, its mostly about loosing myself in the story. A window into another world, another existance, another persons life. But there is more to it then pure escapism and entertainment. I tend to try to seek out anime that is more thoughtfull, so that I can expand my mind even slightly by taking in the ideas and feelings of the show in question. This obviously dosnt work with your run of the mill beat em up action show, or your average fanservice haha-boobies show, but as it certainly works for 'deeper' shows which have some sort of point, lesson, philosophy, or idea that they are comming from. As for my particular choice of anime, as I have mentioned I do experiance stories through a variety of mediums including animation, live action movies, and novels, as well as live theater! But as for why I like animation? I like the way it looks. Its a part of the whole escapism thing, because animation looks and feels like an alternate reality, where everyone and everything looks like a certain style, depending on which show it is. And it isnt that I like Japanese Animation perse, it is that I like Animation in general. But Japan seems to be one of the only places that puts out animation aimed at older audiances. Do you see much besides The Simpsons type stuff comming from the States? Not alot, no. So it just naturally works out that most of the animation I watch is anime. |
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ManOfRust
 Posts: 1935 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Short answer: it's fun.
Somewhat longer answer:
I think escapism is a big part of what I like about it. Let's face it, for most of us most of life is fairly boring. That may sound a bit harsh at first, but I think it's true. I sit at a desk all day, put up with a lot of annoying people, make a lot of stressful decisions, and at the end of the day while I don't by any means dislike my job it's not exactly a rush a minute excitement either. Every now and then I get to do something I really love and a couple times a year I get to go somewhere exciting on vacation, but the day to day routine is, well, routine. Sleep, work, exercise, eat, repeat. It's nice to have some diversion and anime fits the bill quite well. The stories are imaginative. The pictures are pretty. The music can stir our emotions. Without the bounds of reality as a limiter, anime can explore any number of fantastic scenarios and is really only constrained by the imaginations of the creators. At the same time, it can bring us engaging characters that we can relate to enough that they allow us to put a little bit of ourselves into the story and go along for the ride. For the few bucks it costs to pick up an anime DVD I can sit back and explore other places and scenarios that not only would never happen to me, but that would never even be possible in reality. You can get this kind of diversion from other mediums (for example I read a lot and for much the same reasons) but anime just seems particularly compelling to me. I think it's the overall package (creative stories, great music, beautiful animation) that makes it so attractive. |
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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I have three reasons, none of which are particularly impressive.
1. stories that wont be told in other formats can and are told 2. anime characters can be cute, sexy and funny in ways other media isn't (you can't tell me any recent Disney character has ever been 'sexy') 3. it's fun to watch if the same stories as told in anime were told in other media formats i would watch/read/listen to those as well or instead of. I don't care that it's anime, I care that I enjoy what I am watching. Because anime is an easily accessible media type (relatively anyway) that has what I want then I watch anime. In much the same way I read epic fantasy, for example Steven Erikson, as it does the alternate world epic in a way no other media format does as well. I have yet to see a fantasy epic that lives up to a book fantasy epic. Movies/radio/anime/art/music etc all try but a book does it best. So to sum up, anime does what it does better than other media types, thus when i want to see that I watch an anime. |
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Master_M2K
 Posts: 127 Location: UK, London |
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I watch anime because it can have the most unrealistic plot but still feel like it could happen
 . Anime are fun to watch and definitely better than the usual cartoons I used to watch with the same old cliches that I'm bored of. But the best thing I like about anime is that I can watch them nonestop, just going from anime-to-anime which is why I have seen over 40 different series. 
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Where to start...
I watch it because I gotta fill my time somehow. I dont like to go out, I dont care for people all that much. I dont like activities that are hard work, I like to do stuff that I can do from a chair. I watch it cause it entertains me. I enjoy the subjects/topics covered in Anime. These are things that most TV/Movies wont touch cause theyre not gonna appeal to most people. Also animation has the advantage over Live action of relatively easier special effects. |
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arkady
Posts: 74 |
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It's entertainment, yeah. But the best of it is intelligent entertainment. And it stretches my imagination in ways that few other genres do. I used to read a lot of science-fiction, but that became so stale and predictable for me that I lost interest years ago. Fantasy took up the slack for a while, and sometime still does, but the same effect is taking hold in that field, too. I find that anime is the place where I'm most likely to see something out of the ordinary, something that will make me think.
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TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
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1-Because it made me into what I am. Ever since I first watched it, when I was 7 years old, I felt this was my kind of TV programs.
2-Because the characters are quite appealing. Many of 'em may be quite unreal, but that doesn't mean they're just quite appealing. 3-Just because I LOVE ANIME!! A dumb reason it may be, but it's something that's beyond words. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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first reason that came to my mind is that it's way more interesting and entertaining than normal TV shows. Normal TV shows has its limits, and in anime, there's almost no limits.
It's also for fun, of course. I don't watch it just because I'm bored and have nothing better to do, it's what I can do that's better than almost everything else. Another reason is that it's an escape from reality, which is sort of related to my first reason. Like I've said, there's almost no limits in anime, so anything can happen in anime. I sort of wish it would be the same for real life. Finally, the last reason I would like to add is that anime amazes me, mostly due to the all the work behind it (by the way, I already mentioned this in another thread with a similar topic). If you think about it, a 30 minute episode is the product of long hours of work. It's really amazing what some people can do, and I wish I'm just as able. EDIT: just spotted an "order" mistake Last edited by jetz on Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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Well, I first started watching anime because I was disgusted with American cartoons these days. Nothing really all that intelligent out there, save for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Anime is very intelligent a lot of the time (save for the many mindless comdies and other things), and I really like entertainment that you really have to get your head into, you really have to think it through, perhaps watching scenes multiple times before you actually understand it.
I also like the animation style of anime, I particular enjoy how most anime girls are drawn, with the large eyes and all. I never fully realized how cute the large eyes make the girls look until I really dove into anime. In addition to the girls, many shows have great action sequences which are a lot of fun to watch. Finally, I watch it because it's entertaining. I wouldn't watch anime if it wasn't, now would I? I really like many of the comedies, and the more mature humor/content that shows up in some series (no, I don't mean hentai). It's much more entertaining that stupid gross out humor and stuff like that that degrades American cartoons. Fanservice is nice also, although I'm not really big on excessive fanservice. |
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Obaa-chan
 Posts: 16 Location: Israel |
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Well, I started watching anime to enhance my japanese lessons. And I started learning japanese to enhance my understanding of Aikido. So the main value of it is educational - hearing japanese language and seeing japanese culture, historical and modern.
Of course, like arkady said, it is intelligent entertainment (or at least it can be), which makes it a very good use of my time. I find that anime insults my intelligence more seldom than other shows on TV. And also, I'm very fond of the art style. Must be for growing up on Star Blazers. I just dig those thin, large eyed bishounen. So kawaiiii 
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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I love anime for the characters and stories, but in addition to that I love the wide variety of genres that anime offers. As much as I love American cartoons, they tend to fall into two genres: fantasy or sci-fi action and comedy and most of the time the shows are typically targeted towards a male demographic. While anime has these genres itself, it also covers a lot of different genres that most American animation doesn't bother with, like romance, sports dramas, slice of life, psychological/horror, and even pornography. Anime also has genres that can appeal to all genders and ages, so there's like a series out there for everyone. And even the shows that are targeted towards children can be just as intelligent and entertaining as the shows for adults. They don't talk down to the audience and they don't sugar coat the harshness of reality by trying to cover up things like death, either.
Growing up as a kid, I always liked the female characters in cartoons more than the male characters, but the majority of the time the female characters were either weak and always reliant on the male characters to help them or if they were powerful they usually got shafted, this was especially true for action cartoons like X-men or Batman. However, with anime the females are just as powerful and independent as the males are and more often than not it's the females that save the males instead, and it's this kind of diversity that draws me to anime. Of course, I also love the animation and the musical scores. I think anime is about the only genre of television where I actually actively seek out the soundtracks just because I enjoyed listening to it so much. I mean, sure American movies can have excellent sountracks too, but they just aren't as entertaining to me enough to warrant listening to on a frequent basis like anime soundtracks are. And you can count me in as someone who enjoys anime and fantasy and sci-fi in general for the escapism. I love how anime can take you to many different worlds and universes and make you feel like you're really there. You aren't just watching the shows from your TV. It makes you feel an attachment to the characters and makes you root for them, feel frustrated with them, and even cry with them and I just love how anime can really make an impact on you like that emotionally. |
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Amethyst Alchemist
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 312 Location: where it's always a good morning |
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As others have said, I watch anime because it can be a very intelligent form of animation or just plain "story" for that matter. I think it's especially nice because characters are appealing to look at generally. Also, animated characters can do anything, literally anything. If we were watching live action, sure they could do special effects, but it might not be the best and we can all tell what is a special effect. I personally like there is a lot of fantasy or magic in some anime, since that is the genre of story I usually lean towards. There is also the fact that Japanese culture is just plain interesting because it is foreign. Overall, anime is a unique experience you can't really get anywhere else.
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Eruanna
Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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Oh yes I can! Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet.... damn.
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