Well,if you have been apart of the anime community for long,you would have most likely seen people rage on forums,discussions,and videos,about what many of us think of,as idiotic things.Anime,light novels,and closest to my heart,manga.People fight each other constantly,which start because people with different opinions,about a subject matter clash.Even my favorite anime podcast,Podtaku,argue a bit sometimes..Okay,alot.People constantly argue about images,and sounds projected on a screen.

So..Why do we keep getting so emotional,over fictional stuff? Why do we keep getting invested in things,we know are not real? And finally,should we? When should we say that this is a horrible representation,of reality? And when is it right to say,"Its just anime...?"

Well,i am here to try to answer the question.Starting by giving you guys some history lessons! *BOOO!* Shut up,and learn something!

You see,when film first began,nobody cared about studying and critiquing it.They were just to blown away,by how powerful the illusion was.Which made many people even begin questioning reality.Which leads to the whole,"What is reality argument." that i do not care to get into.

But,humans are a very adaptable species,and get used to things very quickly.Overtime,we got used to this illusion,and the impact it can have on us.We began to get invested in story,characters,and sometimes,hidden meanings.

An Angel exploding in evangelion could mean alot of things.It could even be a message from god.Telling us that we are in fact the demons,that are getting purged by the Angels.


On the other hand..It could just be a stupid explosion,that happens to look like that.See? That's what makes anime,and film in general,such a great medium of storytelling.That said,is it really worth getting so upset,over someones fictional version of something? When you really analyze it,its not really hurting you.As good as comic books,and manga are,its never gotten to the point where it can leap out of the pages,and punch the crap out of you.

However,the pen can in fact be mightier than the sword.Stories can change our mind,and perception of the world.Do you know how much my life changed,after reading fullmetal alchemist? I actually believe in Zen now.Complete balance over good and bad,and light and dark.With to much light,you would go blind.With to much dark,you would also go blind.If the earth was to close to the sun,we would all burn to cinders.If you earth was to far away from the moon,we would have no light.That,is what that series taught me.

In an odd way..I would say that we learn more in fiction,then in reality.Alot of anime try to take our lives,and give them a greater understanding,and purpose to them.However..When is the line between fiction,and reality,to blurred? When does a character become to real? Sure,alot of people in our community cosplay,as awesome characters.And alot of roleplayers make up there own little worlds to explore,but they eventually come back to our reality.

Still,there are some that let the illusion consume them.I think we all know who i'm talking about.
I love warcraft by the way..Just putting that out there.


If you read some news stories,you will read many instances of people entering,and creating online worlds,to escape reality.And i don't mean logging on for a few hours,in some online world.I mean becoming completely devoured by the world.People that just completely give up on reality,and choose to live in a world they,or someone else created.Sort of like Eddie Brock,letting the venom suit completely consume him.

Some would say,as long its not hurting anyone,why can't someone just shut themselves in there room never to come out,and just give up on this reality? I mean hey,anime,and any form of fiction is basically doing the same thing.We just choose to not let it take over are lives.There just escapes from reality.

And as popular as that argument is,i would argue that the purpose of fiction is not to escape reality,but learn from it,and apply these lessons to assist us in our everyday lives.It takes you to a different world,to apply real life lessons.Now obviously,that is not true for EVERY SINGLE THING! Imagine if Death Note taught us its okay to kill people with notebooks,dropped by gods of death. Howevever,i believe anime can actually assist me,in explaining my argument.I would actually say that i learned alot from this lovely little medium.

Light Yagami's crusade on the wicked,made me believe that there is no such thing as peace.


We give in to the world of Monster,to understand the darkness the human mind is capable of.


There are so many different lessons,and so many different ways to learn them.Thats why shows like Barney The Dinosaur,and Blues Clues exist.Even shows that seem to have no meaning,can surprise you.

However,there is still a question to be asked.When is a story just a story,and when is it more than a story? I guess i would say..It's all just an opinion.When you feel that something is just stupid nonsense,let it be stupid nonsense,and laugh.When you feel that something is actually a deeper look into the human mind,let it be a deeper look into..I don't feel like repeating that.To lazy.

Just try take in what you believe,is the most important,and best message out of fiction.Not the worst.I believe that it is good to analyze why good stories,and messages work.As it helps us understand why bad stories,and stupid messages,don't work.And yeah,sometimes people can go a bit to far.I am a bit guilty of this as well...

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=81051

STILL! The more we show are passion for something,the more we show how much it means to us.And hey,if something means so much to another person,just let it mean so much to them.I've had alot of people laugh about the amount of money i have spent on my manga collection. *562 volumes,and the collection keeps growing.Sadly,the space in my house does not.*

But in the end,i really don't mind it.As they don't know how much it means to me,and every person is different.
Try not to force your opinion,share it.Anime can be very powerful,if we let it effect us in the right way.However,if you let it consume you,more than you consume it,chances are that you're most likely not choosing the best route.

To sum it up,an anime can just be a anime,or it can just be something more.It all depends on how you look at it.It all comes down to if you allow it to impact you,or not.And don't misunderstand,you do have the power to let it impact you,or not.

Alot of times,its worth all the study,and thought you posses to analyze it.




And other times...




Meh..just stupid backround noise.

Anyhow,thats it for me.But to end this,i would like to ask you,what you think of this topic.How much do you think an anime should impact you? Anyhow enjoy your holiday.In the mean time,i'm going to study family guy.As we all know that show is so thought provoking.And deserves my complete attention.*Waves*

*Fairy Tail Oreimo and Hellsing Ultimate fans hold guns up at me*

You know..It was just a joke guys...Besides,even you have to admit,those shows can be pretty stupid sometim-*Gets shot*


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Well....I keep on reading these thread of yours and I say it does have an impact in a way. Yes, I have know for people to fight about an anime. What they like about it and what they dislike about it. Fair enough people have opinions about their likes and dislikes for anime. BUT the most simple way to do it is to say the right thing saying why you like the anime and why you like or dislike it for a reason. Then that person should at least respect what you say of it and leave you alone. I see some unnecessary fight or spam and some don't give a good reason to say what they like and dislike.

All I hear is because its cool. Got cool powers and stuff. But what I see is more depth. I would say. Look I dislike this anime because it is dark. It doesn't make sense and there is a lot of killings in there. Also this type of anime doesn't suite me very well, I'm more of an action or magical girl anime person. Dark type anime could give me nightmares and more. So tell me what does that anime teach you? For my likes I would say. I like this anime because it teaches me many things. To be more strong and confident. It reminded me of a forgotten past which was painful but now watching it, that anime has helped me a lot life wise and more. That's what needs to be said from people. Not constant fighting without reasons.


Some people don't even try to sit down and think about who they attack. What I mean is how they say it to that person who dislikes the anime that the love to watch an more....

relinquish022 :

That post was beautiful. 


I think that anime can mean a lot to some people, and to others it's just "something to do other than minecraft and WoW".
 
 
When I watch anime I take it very, very, seriously and watch the stuff over and over and over again along with looking up details, on fan-wiki's and listening to the audio commentary. It's how I get my entertainment out of the stuff, I want to know what the producers were thinking, what the director/voice actors were thinking and I always want just more insight about the stuff.....and the awesome Vocal trax I listen to over and over again. (this is part of the reason I've only watched 5 anime series since I was introduced to it [10 months ago])
 
Also 90% of the above doesn't exist/is horrid in Cartoons, so that's when I found out that anime has this stuff I almost squealed. ^^
 

But yes, anime shouldn't consume us, or be a escape from reality (for longer than 2 hours at a time anyway. ) It should be used to if anything open our eyes wider to what reality actually is, And enable us to more readily be able to handle situations in a better different way. 


I've had anime affect me in more ways than one, it made me start to question how childish I was acting and actually showed me what "love" actually was (no... not porn, I'm talking about the other kind). I was told about it when I was young, sure, but actually seeing it in action, and with characters I could relate to took me completely off guard.
 
And also the beauty of how your morality-ness (I made a new word, yay) before hand directly effects the moral you can extract from watching the said series/movie. 
 
"When you really analyze it,its not really hurting you. As good as comic books,and manga are,its never gotten to the point where it can leap out of the pages,and punch the crap out of you."

Whell, not physically at least. I don't think Yuri, or off screen/page rape is that great for 8-year-olds....  Or even 20 year-olds if you what my honest opinion.



"To sum it up,an anime can just be a anime,or it can just be something more. It all depends on how you look at it.It all comes down to if you allow it to impact you,or not. And don't misunderstand, you do have the power to let it impact you, or not."

Couldn't have said it better.