Is anime deep? What are you doing with your lemons?
Posted by TheBigN on Fri, 03 Aug 2007. View the original post at Drastic My Anime Blog
More on variations of this topic can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here. Amazing what one can do with just talking about things. :P
I’m sure that many of us tend to realize that there are delineations regarding anime fans as a whole. But actually defining those distinctions tends to be difficult. I would assume that in order to be a fan, one must like what they’re watching, but other than that, things tend to diverge. What shows someone will watch, what paraphernalia someone will obtain, how one expressed their love, if at all (why am I writing this blog, for example? :P), etc. tend to cover many bases, and are also limited to what means people have for doing these things. I lament the summer break because of my inability to obtain, let alone watch much anime during the time, for example, and many of us have moments where we would get that series if only we had the pecuniary support for it (some still obtain it at great cost physically, but psychologically? Who knows? ). How one looks at anime is just another one of those indefinable examples.
Pretty, but is it deep?
As I’ve said in an earlier post, I can just sit back and watch anime and still enjoy what I see. It’s why I can tolerate many shows that other people can’t stand to watch (like Cromartie High School or Bo-bobo). And from my experiences with my anime club, it seems like this tends to be the prevailing method regardless of how “hardcore” a fan may seem. Everybody wants to be entertained at some moments in time and it makes things easier. If you don’t like a series from the first go because the director likes to throw out (unnecessary) fanservice or non sequitur montage, or the art/music/mascot character isn’t doing much, you can just leave it, and that’s cool.
For me it seems that method tends to limit what people watch, which is good if you just want to watch what appeases you. But I feel that just solely focusing on enjoyment is too simple and too boring; I have to be more active with it to keep watching it. And by “it” I mean anime in general; it’s easier to get jaded and lose interest in seeing things the “same” way. I also don’t want to quickly forget thing that I watch. I’ve spent hours to finish the thing, and why would I want to waste my time by essentially acting as if it doesn’t exist? Of course the same thing can still happen with being more involved with anime. It just makes me feel better to believe that~
Being proactive is one of those things that you have to put effort to get results, and considering the context (It’s anime! It’s not serious business!), this can also be one of the sillier things you do, depending on the person. If you try hard enough, you can go more in-depth in a series than anyone expects. Some series (Dennou Coil, Haibane Renmei) are easier than others at first glance to do this. They give you material to work with and talk about, places to ask questions (Why is the lead character in Zetsubou Sensei so negative? What’s with the world of YKK? What exactly is a “Combat Butler”?), even when you don’t know anything at the start. And you don’t even have to do this. If you can keep watching because of the art or music or so you can write a blog post or whatever floats boats, then that’s good. The problem with this lies in getting people interested in the series enough to do that in the first place, and once that is done, trying to maintain the attention is much easier than done.
Pretty /and/ deep. :3
Is attempting to experience anime the mark of a hardcore fan? Of course not, especially since I don’t like to see myself as a hardcore fan (despite appearances to the contrary :P); I’m just an little excessive. :3 So why do I put so much effort into being active in watching anime? Why do I have a blog trying to express my viewpoints in unique and interesting ways, and participate in forums with the purpose of talking about it? Why do I feel that anime is deep, when others see it just as a way to pass the time? It’s fun for me, it makes things more interesting, and it seems like something that I can actually apply in the practical world (don’t ask me how, since I haven’t quite figured that part out yet :3), among other things ^^. Besides, with how much I’ve spent watching and buying things, it would seem like a shame to stop now. :P