Thursday, July 7, 2011

The anime that changed your life

There's this thing I do every single day.  I'd like to call it 'life'.  I'm pretty sure you guys know all about it.  I'm also willing to bet that you take part in it as well!  We all have our daily routines, our opinions on thousands of topics, and a bunch of things that we have to get done every 24 hours.  Somewhere in there, we manage to fit some time for fun stuff.  That's where anime comes into play.

I like to watch anime to unwind.  Just like playing games, watching some anime will put a smile on my face.  Just being able to kick back and enjoy some free time with anime really makes my day.  There's nothing else to do in that very moment but watch anime and just take it all in.  That's probably why I get so much from anime!  I get to sit and really analyze what I'm watching.

Sometimes if it's a particularly engaging anime, it'll get me thinking about all sorts of story aspects.  I like to think about where the story could go, how the writers managed to build up the great story arc and so on.  Even higher than that are anime that make you rethink how you live and what you do.  An anime to make you look at your own life and reflect upon what you've done does not come often, but they are indeed out there.


I've actually been lucky enough to have that happen a couple times.  Most recently it happened with 5 Centimeters Per Second.  I really think that absolutely every anime fan needs to see this film.  It has such a 'real' vibe, if that makes any sense.  The way the story unfolds really makes you look at your life and the connection you have with family and friends.  For me, it helped me to better understand myself, why I value friend connections so much, and how I should never be afraid to work hard for something I love.

Did you ever have an anime that changed your life, be it in a little or big way?  I sure hope I'm not the only one!

5 comments:

  1. Welcome to the NHK cemented my feelings of FOREVER ALONE. But at the same time, I don't really care. I've never really been into relationships. I enjoy the connections I have now and don't feel like anything is missing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RMC, thanks for posting about 5 Centimeters Per Second earlier. I took the time to watch it, and I will agree that it is a beautiful story that does make you think about life and love. I am just coming out of watching it so it is fresh in my mind. Clannad: After Story makes me think about family, so I would include that one too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah anime hasn't really changed my life per-say, but it does effect it for the rest of the day once I end a series. Once an anime ends, it's like what now? Where do I go from here?

    But then in the morning I snap out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In all honesty, I was deeply affected by Trigun the first time I watched it. It isn't perfect, and the dub hasn't held up as well as some other anime, but the interesting relationship between Vash, Wolfwood, Millie, and Meryl really comes together as they all realize what it is that they want from their lives (which is a realization that sometimes comes too late). It's still one of my favorite series.

    Between that, my first viewing of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (which I still maintain has one of the worst titles EVER), Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Samurai Champloo, and Cowboy Bebop, I think that sums up the anime that has changed my perceptions about life.

    Thanks for the post!

    -BitNick

    ReplyDelete
  5. Higurashi. The intertwined world I entered really changed my overly pessimistic view of the world to only a slightly pessimistic view of the world. I found that some people can create really interesting things for those who think strangely.

    Nanoha A's. Strange, I know, but it gave me a small concept. What was Laevatienn? It was such a strange name amongst the devices. Turns out Laevatienn is from Norse Mythology. Called the wounding wand and later a sword wreathed in flames used by the fire giant, Surtr, to cut down the world tree Yggdrasil. That one word and many Norse and Germanic references in A's brought me to study Norse mythology and a few German myths. I've even created a large world based off of Norse mythos that I'm basing short stories in. Life changing indeed. One word too. Laevatienn. Laevantine. Welcome to the Shadows of Twilight.

    ReplyDelete