Why You Should Watch Anime

If you follow this blog, an anime review blog, it’s pretty likely you watch anime, right? But this post is not directed at you.

Due to recent events, some people have had a lot more time to consume media, and I’ve been seeing folks recommend shows or movies to each other. Which is great! Art is how we get through difficult times. But whenever I recommend a great show that happens to be anime, a lot of my friends won’t even give it a chance because they “don’t like anime”.

In my opinion, it’s pretty ridiculous to outright state that you “don’t like anime”. Of course, there are some reasons that make sense. If you don’t like watching animated stuff at all, then sure, that’s valid. And the art style can definitely be off-putting for folks who are used to western style animation. But that doesn’t seem to be the reason for the majority of people who say they “don’t like anime”.

I’ll admit something about myself: I actually used to think I didn’t like anime! The only anime I knew about as a kid were shows like Dragon Ball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Naruto, and truthfully shonen action doesn’t appeal to me at all. I thought that all anime was like that, because that’s all I ever really heard about. The fact is, there’s anime about literally everything. Any genre of film/tv that exists, there’s an anime version of it. One of my favorite anime is about child prodigy classical musicians, for fuck’s sake.

Another reason why someone might think they won’t like anime is because “it’s too sexual/weird”. And... yeah. Honestly, there is a lot of anime out there that makes me cringe and that I would not want to associate with. But it’s definitely not the majority of anime, and it is very easy to avoid weird or sexual content if that’s not what you’re into. The fact of the matter is, anime is a medium and not a genre. There is something for everyone! If you find yourself adamantly opposing all anime because of these reasons, you might just not be giving it enough of a chance.

That’s not to say that anime is perfect or idealized; obviously, you should be critical of all forms of media. The anime industry in itself is kinda problematic if you look into how some studios treat their employees, and within the actual content of the anime, lots of shows have poor depictions of other races/LGBTQ+ individuals. But hey! Unfortunately, you can say the same exact things about western media, too!

But honestly, anime is great because of its versatility. There’s so much you can do with animation artistically that you can’t do with live action; it’s a great format for more exaggerated movements and action that would look weird or bad if done with CGI. I’m always impressed with the way some anime manage to tell a beautiful story that wouldn’t work in any other medium. (check out Parasyte: the maxim if you want a specific example of this)

Anyway, this is just a short plea to some of you out there who are stubbornly opposed to watching anime. If you give it a chance, you might find something you really enjoy. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking