“….In my opinion, most of all, anime has that quality you can’t define. Call it magic.”
I adjusted a quote that I got from sports involving my favorite team. Now, I believe if I did a “why do you like manga” post, I’d actually have reasons for why I like manga, though that stems from enjoying reading.
Anime, on the other hand, is a lot harder to definitively say why I like it. This stems from the fact that I don’t really watch many TV shows, or a ton of films, or play many video games anymore. I also didn’t realize how vast anime was until I started blogging about it. So sure, I’ve kept up with anime since I watched Pokemon and Dragonball Z, and sure, I dabbled with other anime on TV since they were on TV (Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, Banner of The Stars, Gad Guard for example). But there’s a greenness to anime for me, and I have a ways to go before I feel comfortable saying real reasons why I like anime.
So, there’s a decent chance I’ll revisit this question many years from now. For now, Marow asked a question: why do you like anime? I’ll boil it down to the quote above: anime has that quality you can’t define. Call it magic.
Now, there certainly are times where anime feels less magical and more like having your reality crushed instantly. That will continue for as long as you last as an anime fan. But, there will be that anime, that one anime, that gives you the goddamn chills, makes you feel extremely smug and cocky, that you’d want to tell your next door neighbor about, even if they don’t give a shit about anime.
As an example of what I mean, here’s three specific episodes of three anime series that are easily one of my favorites of all time. You can bet there’ll be spoilers.
Usagi Drop, Episode 7
It was supposed to be a story about Rin and Daikichi, and how the two would manage to get along, how they would be able to help each other out, and all that jazz. Episode 6 was a simple tradition involving tree planting.
Episode 7 however, brought in relatives of Daikichi’s that ran away from their home.
When that happened, I couldn’t help but be completely shocked. Out of nowhere Daikichi’s cousin Haruka suddenly intrudes, along with the brat Reina. How would all these issues get resolved?
It got resolved in a manner that uplifted me, big time. It showed new sides to characters I previously couldn’t care about. It provided a challenge I didn’t even realize the show needed. And it brought up problems – marriage issues, how a child handles family issues, etc – that were touched on simply, but effectively.
It was an episode that floored me. Up to that point the show had been pretty fantastic, but as it turned out, the prior episodes were but a prelude, a good pitch. Then Episode 7 happened.
Gintama, Episode 211
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the Four Devas arc. At this point, my opinion on Gintama was sealed: I liked it. I loved the manga (I have every US volume), and while I haven’t watched every Gintama episode, I’ve watched a decent chunk of it, and many of them ranged to gut-bustingly funny to surprisingly serious and were executed decently enough.
The Four Devas arc, however, was a brand new level of comedy and action that worked.
The episode that sealed the deal that this was going to be my favorite arc no matter what was Episode 211. It was an episode that killed off one of its best characters (Otose), and followed it up with a battle between two warriors that had something to protect. It was a battle that managed to be completely serious and heart pounding. Usually any of those words associated with Gintama can mean bad things, but in this case, it fit.
That episode, along with the others in this arc, was truly memorable.
Hunter x Hunter, Episode 126
However, the episode that immediately made me wish I had someone to talk to, as opposed to thinking about it 5 or 10 minutes later, was Hunter x Hunter Ep 126.
HxH is a weird beast. It starts off all happy and kind of cheerful, then suddenly embraces a side that’s dark, unexpected, and yet doesn’t come off as overdone. I was disappointed when Greed Island arc started since it was solid, but coming off the Phantom Troupe arc, it felt like a downgrade.
Then the Chimera Ant arc happened. It’s been a long, brutal ride. It’s been completely terrifying at spots. Above all else, it’s been mesmerizing to watch how all the characters evolve and change from week to week as a natural progression.
All of that build-up, all of the challenges we’ve seen, and, in some aspects, all the stalling…
It came to a head in Episode 126. Still the finest damn anime episode I’ve ever seen in my time as an anime fan.
I was speechless. I couldn’t even think. Now sometimes when I watch an anime or a show, irregular thoughts pop in every now and then. NOTHING popped into my mind watching this episode. I was extremely focused on everything about the episode: the narration, the battle between the King and Netero, the animation, the music. It was at a point where I realized that I cared about the two characters battling, and one of them was going to die….despite the fact they both had shown throughout the series they were invincible! How could one of them die? And yet, that had to be the case, no matter how unbelievable it would seem.
Simply put, that was the episode that reminded me why I am an anime fan.
There’s little doubt you can have an equal or maybe even superior experience from a TV show, a video game, etc. But I guess, to put it simply, I like anime because it possesses a quality that’s hard to define, but it can be magical. For others, I bet it means something else.
So, why do you like anime? Feel free to share however you like (and don’t worry about spoilers and stuff.)
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Justin
Justin is the founder of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses. Anime & manga fan that likes to blog about anime and manga, is addicted to sports, and weak to crossovers. You can follow Justin on Twitter @Kami_nomi.
Latest posts by Justin (see all)
- Summer Anime 2014: Anti-Social Genius Compendium - June 25, 2014
- Why Do You Like Anime? - June 24, 2014
- Spring Anime 2014: A List of All Who Made Their Anime Industry Debuts - June 24, 2014
- K: Missing Kings is Getting Screened in 45 US Theaters, Prepare For More Filters - June 23, 2014
- Shonen Jump Manga Competition’s Nick Kanoza On The Golden Rabbit, Creating Rules, & Hunter x Hunter - June 23, 2014
