What's new

What Impact Has Anime Had On Your Life?

When I was 12, I was going through a difficult time and I remember watching anime after school was one of the few things I looked forward to. I was also very good at drawing manga.

Also, certain anime quotes inspire me: two of my favorites quotes I find myself saying sometimes are:
-If you want anything out of life, you have to be persistent.
- Don't give up the sun is not down yet (as in it's not over yet)
 
Well, can't say anime had some profound impact on my life, but it did get me to start learning the language seriously, which I have going for me, so it's nice.
 
Well, one of the few things it made me rethink was my whole stance about religion, being a man, being a friend and an importance of family. A good deal of impact 'twas certainly.
 
Well, it is on of the factors that makes me wanna learn Japanese and have a care about Jaan, too.
Second, hmm... I don't really know, but it kinda helping me finding another hobby (my first anime was Sora no Otoshimono, which 1 year later, I realized that is is 17+)
Third, it links me with my native and foreign friends :p
Fourth, I used some techniques that is used a lot in ordinary life, and it works awesome!!!
 
I generally find I love the strength of emotions in anime and the stories have had great emotional impact in how I think about things, and my priorities of thought, too. The more 'everyday life anime' have definitely made me see ordinary activities in ways I can make fun vs. monotonous. Of course there's a line that I draw because I know it's all fun and fiction. But it can be just as impactful and important to me as any other work of fiction and storytelling.
 
It made me feel close with loved ones. I found a comfort in anime during a tough time - possibly because of the story lines having depth that out-measured my life, and emotions that made sense to me or explained how I was feeling. Plus the artwork is impressive.
 
I have been watching anime since I was 3 or 4 years old. I haven't started thinking about what anime has done for me and to me until recently.

Honestly, it has served as a first taste of addiction. I remember times when I would bug out if I missed the latest episode of Pokemon or Dragon Ball Z when I was young. It also might have messed with how I thought of and dealt with women when I was younger--since many of the anime have women as overly sexual and weird.

However, the strong, stoic characters (that I think now are definitely loosely based on the samurai Musashi) of Goku, Luffy, and Naruto might have led to my resilience as a child (of course I was nowhere as mentally strong as these characters.)

Honestly, outside of these few things, I can't think of where these shows have helped me. In fact, I definitely treat them as a bit of an addiction because they give me a range of emotions without any effort on my part--not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, the act of questioning anime's effects on my life have made me more self aware, which is good.
 
This is an interesting question.

Anime never had any kind of impact on my life. i use to only watch full action anime only until i took a theator class in college and started watching what many call "boring anime" with only 10 to 20% action. These type of anime are more like watching the daily life of people, like K-ON and Tamayura – Hitotose, it sucks at first then i love to watch them.

After watching so many anime, anime fan become all Japan crazy and they think know everything about Japan, with there Anime Japan education, i know i was one. yes anime did make me want to learn Japanese, i also wanted to find a GF that fit my favorite female anime character. I remember before traveling to Japan i was on youtube checking out these Japan videos and making comment about Japan like i know stuff about Japan, SHOOT, i knew nothing about Japan beside what i seen on anime and little facts i read from book or other people blogs. i remember this guy post this comment on youtube to anime fan about to come to Japan. he said something like "you people watch so many anime and think that what hapen is about, but Japan is nothing like anime". After return back from Japan, i hardly watch anime or any at all and wanting to learn Japanese i don't care for.

Overall, Anime had no impact on my life and gave me a lot a faults hope about Japan. Anime is good and fun to watch but it does not have really real connection to Japan culture at all. maybe like 1 to 5%.
 
I am not sure if it was a large impact or not, but certainly being exposed to another culture developed interest and desire to learn more about it.

We all know anime doesn't always offer the most accurate description of Japan (lol?), but being able to share in that community with friends, family and complete strangers has always been a lot of fun.

I used anime among many other forms of media to help boost my Japanese studies and keep me interested in studying when things got difficult.

I never took it as seriously as some fans do and I don't really watch much anime anymore, but I will always be thankful for stuff like Toonami for sparking more interest in Japan.
 
I started watching anime after receiving a few suggestions from a colleague, and must say I enjoyed it thoroughly. From funny and relaxing slice-of-life series over mecha and fantasy romance to horror, it's made me both laugh and, yes, cry (and I'm an adult male). Soon enough I started learning Japanese with the intention of eventually being able to watch without subtitles... But ironically, because of that I ended up spending my time studying instead of watching.

It's been three years since then, and while I do still watch anime from time to time, it's very infrequent. On the other hand I continue to practice Japanese reading and listening daily. It's become such a habit that I can't stop, even though I have little practical use for the language. Unlike some others I've fortunately not been infected with yellow fever - I have absolutely no plans to go to Japan for any long period of time, let alone move there and/or find a partner. The culture is too different, I could never fit in! :)

So yes, anime has kickstarted this long-term project of learning the language for me, which has now become self-sustaining through "you've come this far, you can't stop now", the sense of accomplishment when I notice how much progress I've made, and plain interest. I'll probably continue even if it takes so long that by the time I actually could watch any anime without subtitles, I've lost all interest in anime.
But other than that the effects have been limited I think. I'm fully aware that even "slice of life" series are overly dramatic and completely unrepresentative of real life. And you won't see me enthusiastically talking about it to someone (even if they were into it too) or visiting conventions.
 
Last edited:
I realized that I had truly found anime too late. When the realization hit that such a thing happened that everything I had ever looked for , the narrative, the storytelling, the plot all of which I never found in the countless movies watched or games played. This beautiful medium of conveying a narrative, an artistic medium to some, a belligerent kink to others, I realized that just as I was on the verge of complete adulthood, having completely left childhood behind, I had found what I was looking for back then and so I, for the last time went on a marathon (catching up on everything I could, every famous title, every moment of childhood I thought I had missed, every famous manga all the anime I could find, all of it led me to mainstream Japanese movies which led to Japanese culture) and then I quit. A fair way to bid your old self goodbye.
 
Quite a massive one! I loved the old Battle of the Planets, with other stuff like the Mysterious Cities of Gold and Laputa, they were so much different and better than much of the other stuff I was watching at the time, so I was quite captivated by it. Now roll on 28 years (I definitely feel old now I've said that), still enjoying Anime and get at least one DVD or Blu-Ray, every other week... not much room left on the shelves :D
 
Back
Top Bottom