Anime, a love affair or passing fancy?

[Miaka-chan]

How do you view anime in your life?
I have, over the last few years, seen numerous posts on different forums regarding peoples loss of interest in anime, stuff like 'I shall no longer be posting on "forum name" because I find I no longer like anime' :?:

You see to me, myself, personally :lol: I cannot imagine life after anime, I can't see me ever going off of it (although the image of myself with grey hair and abysmal wrinkles drooling over Tanahome, is a little hard to picture :twisted: ).

So, do you view anime in your life as something to pass the time away whilst waiting for something more exciting to come along :? Or do you think in 5 or 10 or even 15 years time you will still be buying and loving anime

 

[aniki]

I can't ever see myself growing out of anime - not for a long time, at least.

There's enough maturity and adult themes (adult, not "adult") in anime that I'll be able to enjoy it for years down the line.

I'll be very sad if the day ever comes when I find I can no longer watch SaiKano or Cowboy Bebop.

 

[Martin]

i can't see myself growing out of it either. as long as anime studios and distributors keep supplying us with well-made, thought provoking and entertaining films and series i will continue to watch them. it would take financial ruin or loss of my sight and hearing to stop.

 

[buddy]

I don't really watch anime for the sake of watching anime- if there's nothing out there that interests me, I won't watch it. There are plenty of anime that I will come back to again and again though (Akira, Patlabor, GITS etc). I can't understand anyone giving up on anime as a whole- I don't like most of the stuff getting put out these days but that doesn't mean I'll stop liking the old series and movies

 

[Mangaminx]

Anime/ Manga etc... really is my main hobby and I cant picture myself getting tired of it anytime soon . Way to much I want to see!

 

[Miaka-chan]

Way to much I want to see!

You know that's what I love about it! I have been watching anime for 12/13 years and there is STILL so much I want to see and I don't just mean new shows in Japan! One of the complaints I recently read from someone who has "gone off it" was the lack of decent new anime, that astounded me because I think 2004 had some real gems and 2005 looks pretty good to me as well!
I know there are a lot of complaints about the same type of storylines being done to death but one of my favourite sayings is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

[Red XIII]

Getting into anime was a natural progression from my love of RPGs, sci-fi, fantasy, etc, it's very much linked to my other interests. I can't really imagine a time when I will be completely fed up with it, especially now when there are so many series that I want to check out, and old ones that I want to watch over again. I'm sure as time passes my current favourites or specific 'obsessions' will change, but overall I think my broad interests wil remain the same. Even if get temporarily fed up with posting on message boards about it, I'll still be watching the shows.

To conclude: "there is no life without anime!"

 

[valha]

I see myself watch anime for a long time and dont see a future without it (god im sad)

I could be one of them old guys in a wheelchair talking about anime and still watching and will have no real life (shiver), well i would not go that far but i belive anime is a big part of my life andl always will be.

 

[Charter_Mage]

I can't see i will ever go off anime, i've been a fan since i was ten and i have loved anime no matter what other obsession has come along and tried to take over, infact i would say that i love anime more and more everyday.
The UK anime market is getting better every year and with so many new titles being released not to mention all the ones i've yet to watch i can't see myself ever running out of anime that interests me or even watching all that i want to watch. If for some reason this does happen i will still have all the quality anime i have loved over the years, so i could never completly stop liking anime and i believe you can't have been much of a fan in the first place if you can (if that makes sense).

Frankly i'm not sure if i can imagine a life without anime, my days would be pretty dull without it and i'm sure it would be a landmark sad day in my life if that ever does happen.

 

[hopeful_monster]

l can see a life with out it, but probably will continue to watch it for a good while yet. Like much in my life it comes and goes in waves, big surdge then slack period (but still intrested), then another surdge.

 

[Suiseiseki]

Getting into anime was a natural progression from my love of RPGs, sci-fi, fantasy, etc, it's very much linked to my other interests.

It was the same with me - other interests led on to anime. I can't imagine ever growing out of anime because it's so deep and varied, unlike most Western media. I could grow out of certain shows, maybe, but anime is so fast moving that I would find another one just as good. Over the last three or so years its moved from one of my interests to my main one because it contains all the elements of my other interests.

 

[Paul]

I don't think I love anime just because it is Japanese animation, I love anime because it's so much better than almost anything else I see on UK TV or at the cinema. I love the way music is integrated into anime and I will always hold the likes of Bebop, Evangelion and Berserk close to my heart because they are just pure classics, and nothing will ever dampen my love for them.

I tend to avoid typical genre anime, mainly because I would rather not burn myself out on episode after episode of generic shows. This is why I'm following the likes of Beck, Monster and Gankutsuou- all so different and yet fantastic at the same time.

 

[Colin]

Being yet rather young, I find it hard to say. I don't see myself ever truly going off anime entirely, but I'd not be overly surprised if I find something else to divert my attention.

Besides which, in a rather more philosophical sense, the "me" of the future isn't the same person as the "me" now. It's hard to tell what I'll be like in ten years, given the mutable nature of "self".

 

[Charter_Mage]

It was the same with me - other interests led on to anime. I can't imagine ever growing out of anime because it's so deep and varied, unlike most Western media. I could grow out of certain shows, maybe, but anime is so fast moving that I would find another one just as good. Over the last three or so years its moved from one of my interests to my main one because it contains all the elements of my other interests.

This is so true, anime does not just come under the title cartoons. With anime there is trully something to suit every taste, so even if you find your tastes changing there will always be something out there for you.

I don't think I love anime just because it is Japanese animation, I love anime because it's so much better than almost anything else I see on UK TV or at the cinema.

This is in the most part true for myself also. I love anime because it is so diverse, there are so many original storylines and interesting characters, the humour surpasses anything else i have watched, there is often wonderful character development and aswell as being farther away from real life than anything else it is also closer to real life than anything else (if that makes any sense), especially if you compare it to it's american counterparts. Take Fruits Basket for instance, in no american animation do you tackle the subjects of abandonment, illness, death and so many other aspects true to life so well, if not at all.

 

[LadyGreen]

To live with anime is like a piece of my soul is missing. Anime's my whole life (pathetic) , with out anime I wouldn't be me. I would be some misserable girl working from 9 to 5 going home and doing nothing. Nothing to look forward too. But anime the more I have the more I want. :twisted: :wink:

 

[Charter_Mage]

To live with anime is like a piece of my soul is missing. Anime's my whole life (pathetic) , with out anime I wouldn't be me. I would be some misserable girl working from 9 to 5 going home and doing nothing. Nothing to look forward too. But anime the more I have the more I want. :twisted: :wink:

No, no, no, you should never think it's pathetic to love anime so much. Anime is such a wonderful part of my life, with out it i would just be a friendless loser with a freakish love of collecting. With it my lifes a little less boring, and also it makes me to laugh to myself sometime to think that i have discovered such a great thing while there are still many people who won't even give it the light of day and don't know what they are missing

 

[Garnet]

it started with pokemon... *cringe* and i can't see it stopping. I feel odd because i can't type as much as everyone else...

 

[Charter_Mage]

it started with pokemon... *cringe* and i can't see it stopping. I feel odd because i can't type as much as everyone else...

Hay, pokemon is just fine, if it wasn't for that i may never have liked anime (it was what first got me into anime).

And don't worry about not typing much, i have a habit of rambling and speaking complete nonsence, so it's better to be short and precise than be long winded and no one take in anything your trying to say

 

[Garnet]

pokemon was a global obsession at one point i think. Yay imprisoning animals and making them kill each other! XD

 

[subedii]

I once went through a similar thing with gaming, where I decided that I wasn't really interested in games anymore.

Having been a gamer since I was about 5, this was a significant decision. Gaming just takes up too much time and the majority of games felt like clones of each other, stuff that used up your free time but didn't really feel fun.

In essence, it was burnout. I stopped my heavy duty gaming.

But then, I found that my interest started picking up again, and I realised, that I'm not actually done with gaming.

Like most hobbies, it's a question of balance. I played too many games for too long, and ultimately, I burned out. I still think that 90%+ of games are derivative and/or crap, but that doesn't matter, because I've diversified myself a bit now.

I've learned not to just get a game and play straight through to the end as soon as possible, but rather to take my time with it. At the same time, I've learned that I hate games that deliberately waste your time, and take ages without getting you anywhere. I used to play Final Fantasy games, but I could never play one of those now. The endless grind of levelling up was tedious in the extreme. When I got to Final Fantasy VIII and the system where you had to 'drain' spells from your enemies, I thought to myself, "that's it, I just can't be bothered." If the plots interesting good, but if the gameplay is just tedious and poitless repetition and grinding, then it's not for me. But anyway, I digress...

I only recently remembered just how much fun gaming can be, after I had a two hour Onslought session with a couple of friends yesterday. It was actiony, tactical, and intense. Everything I remember gaming being.

I love gaming. It's still a part of my life, in terms of what I like to do during my downtime (certainly beats what's on TV anyway). But it's not the only thing I'm interested in, and I don't play games nearly as much as I used to. I'm lucky if I even manage to squeeze two hours in a week. But it doesn't matter, because I only play the very best stuff that's out there now, and don't go loading up on mediocre stuff just for something to do. I don't feel a rush to try and squeeze in every great game that comes around. I've got a list of about 10 odd games I'd love to play when and if I get a PC upgrade (Half-Life 2, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Knights of the Old Republic etc.). I'll consider myself fortunate if I play about 3 of them. Like I said, it doesn't matter how many I play, it just matters that it's fun to play them, and I'm not trying to cram a whole load of gaming in with the rest of my schedule, that just doesn't make it fun, and it ends up with me sacrificing other important things. Not good all around.


So why am I talking about gaming?


Because, with anime, I feel it's the exact same thing.


So when you feel as if you're burning out on something you love, take a break. Go and do something else. Heck for me, anime was my break from gaming. I've been an anime fan since I saw Robotech when I was about 6, but I only really started getting back into buying anime (and I've even started buying some Manga) because I stopped playing games so much, and decided to try some other stuff in between my schedule. I probably wouldn't have gotten to watch shows like Last Exile, and Read or Dream if I hadn't.

So now, I've got a bit more of a balanced time schedule, and I feel much more capable of getting what work I need to get done, done. When I've got a large block of free time, I might try playing something epic, or watching a movie. Less time, and maybe I'll just watch an episode of one of my favourite shows. 10- minutes to spare? I'll just have a flick through one of my Mangas. Maybe I'll just read a book instead, or organise a night out at the cinema (and remember people, as much as you may love your hobby, it's important spend time with your freinds as well. Being a geek, I have geeky freinds who are into anime and cult movies and games, so that works for me. But then, that's probably a topic for another post :mrgreen

The key is balance. I don't know how it is for everyone else, but for me, if I do something, (even something I really enjoy) too much, I'm going to end up getting bored with it.

Take a break, give it some time, and come back with fresh eyes. It could be a week, it could be months or even a year. But it makes your entertainment a lot more satisfying in the end.

Sorry for the long rant.