Let’s Talk About Anime

Anime—around school, that word seems to have a negative connotation. Tell anyone that you watch it and their reaction will most likely be something like: “Oh, you watch…anime?” Followed by laughs and jokes about how you watch anime, or being called a “weeb.” And because of this, most people at AISG refused this type of entertainment.

Junior Sanshiro M. never understood why people disliked anime. “Being Japanese myself, I have always thought that [liking and watching] anime was normal. Having grown up reading mangas [or comic books], anime has always been equivalent to cartoons for me.”

I decided to give anime a shot and started watching One Punch Man, mainly because both One Piece and Dragon Ball Z had way too many episodes and seasons. Madhouse Inc.s’ One Punch Man follows Saitama, a hero who is just a hero “for fun.” He trains too hard one summer, and finds that he can defeat any opponent with a single punch. He seeks to find a worthy opponent after growing bored by a lack of challenge in his fights.

I watched one episode, then the next one, and before I realized, I had finished the entire season within 2 days. I, then, quickly found season 2 of “One Punch Man” and finished watching it within a week. I got addicted to “One Punch Man.”

To prove that all anime was good, I decided to check out other series. This time, I chose to watch Haikyuu, another popular series among the few AISG students who watch anime. Haikyuu is about Hinata, a short middle school student who joins his school volleyball team after gaining a sudden love for the sport while watching a match on TV.

Again, I found myself watching Haikyuu almost every single day.

Why is it that at AISG, students seem to dislike anime? Both series that I watched were so addictive and pleasurable.

Paoping Y., a junior who frequently watches anime, thinks that not many people at AISG watch anime because “of the stigma associated with [anime]. How everyone who likes it is the nerdy and introverted kid.” She also thinks it is because “students [at AISG] always joke about it being inappropriate, when there is actually a huge variety of genres.”

Ryan K., a former student at AISG, builds on Paoping Y.’s ideas and mentions, “When I was at AISG, I remember that FilthyFrank was really popular, and a video that was popular was the one about weebs and anime.” He thinks that because of the exposure to these stereotypes at such a young age, people grew up with the negative connotation towards anime.

I would like to wholeheartedly encourage everyone to give anime a try. Find a genre you might be interested in, and start from there. You will be surprised by how good anime may be, and you might become a fan. What are your thoughts anime? Comment down below!