Anime

I am often laughed at by my parents and mocked by friends for being an anime fan. They tell me that its time I grew up and stop watching cartoon. If you are one of those people-I feel sorry for you. So today I shall answer all of your acquisitions and defend the honour of all otakus (anime or manga fans)

Lets begin with a simple question-What is anime? In Japanese it refers to any kind of animation. But it has now come to describe specifically Japanese animation. They can be distinguished from other types of animations due to their colourful graphics, vibrant characters, fantastical themes and of course big eyes. They are often based on Japanese comics called mangas.

Most cartoons are made for children or teenagers. But there is no age limit for anime. They have many genre, from romcom to scifi, tragic to thrillers. There is one for everyone. You just need to look. I feel sorry for the children these days that grow up watching Chotta Bheem. That cartoon has no lesson, inspiration, no depth. It’s the same thing repeating in every episode. The bad guy comes in, no one knows what to do, Bheem eats a ladoo and beats up the bad guy. The good anime compel you to think even though they portray things that are unreal or even supernatural. They make you question life. They change your perspective. They inspire.
For example “Death Note” and “Code Geass” make you really wonder what is justice. Who decides who is good or bad? What happens when one person gets too much power? Can man be God? It makes you more imaginative. Infact you need some imagination to even watch anime. There are things that are beyond ordinary. In “Naruto” a light haired boy derives power from a nine tailed fox that is trapped inside him. Naruto has a really amazing story line. The kid is actually a reckless pest who troubles everyone. But he has a kind heart and wishes to one day be acknowledged by everyone. The anime takes us through all his adventures and shows us how he befriends even his enemies. One of its main themes is friendship. Infact most anime concentrate on friendship. They really make you value relationships and be open-minded. Another concept all anime lovers are familiar with is that nothing is impossible. Anything can happen in an anime, period. You also get to do cosplay. Cosplay is when you dress up like your favourite characters and take photos or perform short skits. Its kind of like Halloween except you get to dress up anytime and with other people. Also let me tell you that Anime fandom is a humongous community. We are everywhere. You have no choice but to deal with us. Thus we can be very interactive. But part of the reason we watch anime is because the characters in it seem better than real people. Amazing, beautiful, smart, elegant, wise, caring and funny. It breaks our heart that they don’t actually exist.
Even so one thing I have learnt from anime is that everybody has flaws, a past, a story. You can’t judge them. You may have known them for your entire life but still might not really know them. Even the greatest and wisest have been cowardly and foolish.
But apart from these philosophical lessons anime can also just help you relax. They are the right recipe to brighten up a bad day.

Now I know that anime have their negatives and not all of them are good. You need to be able to select the good ones if you really want to enjoy the anime bliss. But the long and short of it is that more people need to start watching it. Or at least we need to stop judging those who watch these amazing masterpieces. We may seem weird to most of you. We probably even are. But we are actually okay with it. Because you see, you are the ones missing out on all the fun.