Maybe it depends what it is that you're watching, but my experience is absolutely the opposite. The majority of mass-market media western characters seem pretty vapid to me compared to a lot of anime characters. Probably not the ones in the harem and the shonen action shows, but Japan at least makes a certain amount of animation targeted at an older audience that can cope with more complex characters and the west... really doesn't.
Admitedly my knowledge on anime isn't as vast as many of you here, and I'm just stating opinions based on what I've seen. For me I appreciate anime more as a form of art, and I'm pretty picky about shows I want to watch anyway. I think since coming to this forum, I've realised I'm perhaps not as "enthusiastic" as many of you are on here about anime, but that said, there are certain things I would like to check out for sure; I'm just not "proactively" seeking things to watch, and anything I come across or hear about is likely to come from recommendations here or from me just accidentally finding out about it whilst searching for something else (usually art stuff). Yuri On Ice!!! was a massive let down for me, and whilst I know that I shouldn't be put off by that, I'm definitely someone who knows what she likes and what she doesn't like; there are genres and animation styles I'm just outright
not interested in, and something really has to appeal to me visually for me to even want to find out more about it in the first place. As for characters in anime, I've found many to be either overly-annoying, or a bit too outlandish to really relate to on a personal level. There may be certain traits or qualities I can relate to, but overall, I find it harder to gel with anime characters, for sure.
Can you really blame people when reality (well not necessarily physical reality itself, I mean that's generally quite beautiful, but the reality of say, having to exist in a society you had no real say in creating with other people who buy into it) is so crap?
Personally I'd say that comes across as being quite cynical, because trust me, I've been there and done that; I know just how crap life can be, and for me, 2017 was a year I'd quite frankly wish to write-off and not even acknowledge it's existence. I'm an artist, and I often use art as a form of escapeism from reality, but as a pragmatist, I have to be practical and face problems head on instead of just burying my head in the sand. Whilst it can help us cope with life's difficulties, anime/manga itself doesn't solve problems, only we can do that ourselves, but we need to have the right mentality - only
we can choose to do something about our situations. I used to be
really cynical and pessemistic about
many things, and suffering for years with anxiety and depression didn't help. Added to that I was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia a few years ago, and whilst by comparison, it's not as serious as many other conditions out there, it does affect me. For the most part though, I don't let it get me down, and despite the fact I know not what the future will bring regarding jobs, relationships, and other general stuff, I feel that being practical and realistic, coupled with a dose of optimism works for me!
Ultimately, I've learned to just live in the moment, and deal with stuff as it happens. I'm one person, and I can't change the world, and I'm only here once, so instead of trying to worry too much about the bigger problems like poverty, global warming et al, I'm just going to do my best whilst I'm here and then expire knowing I've lived life to the best of my ability.
hey lots of people make lots of awesome stuff and not much really stops you from trying either ^.^ like a car it only takes one thing; a good drive!
I agree with this statement
@Captaaainuniverse . There's lots of crap in the world for sure, but we only have to look for the good stuff; it
is there!