OPINION: Anime

20th October, 2022, by Min K. (G.12)

Watching and liking anime is embarrassing. Even as an anime fan, I hurriedly close down the anime tab on my laptop whenever I sense someone walking behind me. Even though I’m not watching anything illegal, I feel vaguely like a teenager who got caught watching porn by their mother.

But why is this? Is it because watching anime is inherently a shameful activity? Of course not; it’s because of the stereotypes associated with the media itself.

“I like anime, but when I say it people think I’m a pervert or a mental child,” Sienna claims, who’s been a fan of the medium for over two years. “But not all anime is just about pretty little girls. For example, Attack on Titan covers some deep ideas like war and racism.”

There’s really no reason that anime should be considered a lesser form of media compared to others, such as films or TV series. Much like any other well-respected medium, anime conveys complex themes through various techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and world-building.

Attack on Titan (AOT) is a phenomenal example of how anime can be a complex form of media. I remember when my friend forced me to watch AOT for the first time, thinking that I would simply tolerate it until our little session was over so that I could get on with my life. Never did I expect that I would be binge-watching the entire 86 episodes of 4 seasons in the following few days. I can honestly say that I was taken aback by the nuanced message of the entirety of the show: moral greyness, the ethics of genocide, and the importance of perspective.

Studio Ghibli has also been paving the way for anime in terms of global recognition of the anime medium as a legitimate art form. In 2002, the studio’s most well-known film, Spirited Away, won the best feature in the Oscars Academy Awards and is still the only hand-drawn animation that received the honor (Abramotvitch).

Additionally, anime as a whole has been rising to the mainstream over the past few years with the onset of internationally successful anime such as Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach: three anime generally dubbed as “The Big Three” for their immense popularity and influence. Even if you’ve never touched an anime in your life, you’ll most likely have heard references to some of them: for instance, “Naruto run” is a popular phrase to refer to a specific type of running. The fact that such direct references to anime have become such a widely recognizable term even outside of the anime bubble demonstrates its influence on the general society, rather than being a niche medium that isn’t worth an outsider’s attention.

Moreover, Attack on Titan recently broke the world record as the most popular anime TV show in the world according to the Guinness World Records website, with the global demand rating being 75.4 times that of an average TV show (Guinness World Records). Netflix also reported that over 100 million households watched at least one anime title from 2019 to 2020, which showed a growth of almost 50% (Netflix). It’s unfair to treat anime as a silly medium only meant for weebs (foreigners obsessed with Japanese culture) when some of them have surpassed critically acclaimed shows and TV series, and more and more people outside of the anime circle are starting to recognize its entertainment value. If shows such as Breaking Bad and even Glee can be assessed as genuine pieces of complex media and entertainment, why shouldn’t anime such as Attack on Titan?

Many seem to either subconsciously or consciously relegate anime to a kids-only genre that isn’t worth adults’ consideration. We must recognize, however, that critics used to view animation as a whole in this light: that they were immature, and therefore lesser forms of media. And yet, animated films such as Coraline have proved that animation is not simply for children (if you’ve ever watched the movie, you’ll definitely know it’s not a children’s movie). Moreso, while many still target a generally younger audience, we’ve begun to recognize their value as a complex form of media that adults can enjoy as well. Many Pixar movies such as UP and Inside Out are examples of this trend.

Such is the case for anime. Even though some may be targeted toward a younger audience, many of them are definitely not. Nobody would take a look at Tokyo Ghoul, an anime known for explicit violence, and honestly say, “Yeah, seems like a children’s show.” Nor would I want to subject a child to the soul-wrenching sobbing session they would have watching I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, in which (spoiler warning) the female protagonist tragically dies, leaving her kinda-but-not-really-boyfriend behind.

It’s unfair to assume that anime is a silly form of cheap entertainment that only a certain kind of person can enjoy. Perhaps it’s subconscious xenophobia towards Japanese culture or simply a product of popular misconceptions about the media, but much of the accusations toward anime are largely unjustified. Instead of grouping all anime as only a certain niche genre with set characteristics, we should view it as a larger form of media that contains everything from children’s animation to gory, devastating horror shows. And much like any other form of media – such as films, TV shows, and animation, some of those works warrant careful analysis to digest them as complex media.

Works Cited

Abramovitch, Seth. ““Spirited Away” Broke Records and Made Oscar History.” The Hollywood

Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, Dec. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/spirited-away-film-oscars-records-history-1235052088/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2022.

Guinness World Records: Guinness World Records, 2022,

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/566455-most-in-demand-anime-tv

-show#:~:text=Attack%20on%20Titan%20.

“Netflix Bets Big on Aspirational and Diverse Anime Adding Five Major Projects.” Netflix,

Netflix, 28 Oct. 2020, http://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-animeslate.