My Love for Anime - The Ins and Outs *Guest Article*

Anime! Why?

Why do I love Anime? Well, to put it plainly, it helps distract me. It gives me an escape from everyday life. You know the days where everything goes wrong or when you're feeling particularly down and you can't think of a way to make things better? You go home and stick an anime on and you're instantly transported to another world completely. I become immersed in the world, its lore, the characters, and I completely lose myself; whether it be for 20 minutes or 45 minutes and it completely changes my day.

Coming from someone with social anxiety, depression and the inability to go out very often to socialize, watching anime helps greatly. It allows me to think about other things which I can use to theorize with friends on what could happen or what we think about a plot line or about character development. Watching fantasy and otherworldly anime gets me out of my head and transports me somewhere else so that the things that depress me don't affect me. I just focus on the anime at the time, which on bad days I really need. That's why I started watching anime, as an outlet. A way to get out of my head and be different and not focus on my depression so much.

How Long?

I’ve watched anime for roughly a year now, maybe just over that. This time-frame is excluding when I was a child and watched the iconic Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, as well as shows like Pokemon, Digimon, and Yu-gi-oh. The first anime's I watched were No Game No Life and Elfen Lied. They were the start of my adult years of watching anime and brought about my love for it. Now I regularly watch anime using sites Hidive and Crunchyroll to get my fixes in. I regularly have conversations regarding anime seasons that I'm currently watching or have watched and my opinions of them. I happily recommend anime to friends who ask for certain things or just want to immerse themselves in the anime world and are unsure where to start. I've now gone to the lengths of making a discord server that features an anime bot and an anime room for all anime discussion. The link is readily available for people wishing to join and I'll post a link at the bottom if you would like to come hang in a geeky area involving anime, gaming, geeky nerdiness and a bit of streaming stuff. In the last year, my love has grown for anime. I've gone from watching them in Japanese with English subs, for most, to collecting the Blu-rays of my favorites, picking up wall scrolls, figurines, anime bags/purses, anime tops and even dabbled in manga. Now I also adore anime games. As you can see, I have completely immersed myself in the anime culture.

Claymore

Anime I Love

No Game No Life, even though it is an unfinished story, takes me to another world; one filled with games and rules. Being the avid gamer that I am, this world speaks to me in big ways. Not only that but the twins echo who I am at the very core and speak volumes to me as a person. I see many similarities between them and me. Elfen Lied, even though filled with gore and blood, had me hooked within the first five minutes of the first episode and if an anime, or any show, can hook you that quickly you know it's good and worth a watch. Lucy contains a character with a split personality. Her innocent side, protective nature and misunderstood past coupled with the way she is treated, all help to bring us a wonderful and heartfelt story that is filled with sorrow. Lucy has a mix of all genres and it actually works. Not all shows that mix multiple genres work well, but this was superb and really had me wondering what would happen next, about her past and how much would be revealed. The idea of games was brought into Future Diary, also known as Mirai Nikki. Here, the development of the characters, the deep love Yuna holds for the main character and the lengths at which she will go to protect him just astound me. I love and adore the obsessive nature of Yuna and how she acts throughout the entire series. Then, the undying, faithful willingness to sacrifice herself to save her lover, even after knowing he doesn't feel the same, makes her an astounding character. She is twisted and crazy beyond a doubt, but in ways that work and sometimes you relate to as well. After finding out she was a Yandere I eagerly awaited more shows with Yandere characters.

Claymore was another beauty of an anime. Once again an anime transported me to another world. I watched this in English because it had better audio and fit more than the Japanese did. The cold-hearted, outer shell the protagonist showed melts away over time with her companion by her side. She yearned to protect him after awhile, wanting no harm to come to him. She realizes that things from her past are not always as plain as they seemed and uncovers many truths. The way her character so quickly changes from a harsh and cold individual, dedicated to her way of life and her job to then warming up to and wishing to protect her companion was astounding to see. Another season would be well worth a watch.

Re: Zero

Re: Zero, another world transporting anime that I adore and has beautiful artwork. It has bright characters, is fascinating, and posses a gripping story which includes the backstories to its' characters. The love our protagonist has for Emilia is undeniable and the longing love Rem holds for him, even though it isn't returned, is astounding. She will protect him with her life knowing he will always love another. The way the story progresses is gripping and I'd love to have more of this anime. To see more, to enjoy its' artwork, and to revel in the story again. It's a must watch for any fantasy lover out there. Re: Zero had me smiling, laughing, loving and crying at different parts of the anime. The numerous deaths in the anime that our protagonist has to live through, time and time again, while constantly trying to change them is disheartening and extremely sad but necessary for our characters growth and you can see how well it works.

Danganronpa

Danganronpa is another anime I love. It has you thinking each episode; trying to work with the characters to figure out who murdered a student. You begin routing for certain characters and wanting to get rid of others. Each one has a very unique personality and they bring different things to the anime. I adored this as well as how the anime is split between part anime, and part game in order to figure out the entire series. The fact that it engages the viewer and you end up wanting to help/work out who was involved and how it happened speaks to me greatly. It keeps me occupied and distracts me. Danganronpa engages my brain in tasks it usually wouldn't do and is a great watch for anyone who enjoys puzzles and mysteries. The way Monokuma is played is astounding. The way his humor and use of despair is brought into the anime works well together. I've seen so many more animes, though if I were to include them all then this article would never end and you would become increasingly bored. So, for now, I've written some of my top watches in the hope that you will watch them, too. If you would like to find me on Twitter to talk to me about anime or see more suggestions, check me out here!  Also, if you would like to join the Discord to discuss things or talk with like-minded people you may do so through this link Yandere Family Discord