Anime

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Anime is a very taboo topic within the internet community. In my travels across Discord servers and Twitter comments, most have either been in vehement defense of or violent opposition against these imported cartoons. 


For most of my life, I have been in the second camp. The strange obsession people had with those angular and unfriendly cartoons which they needed subtitles to understand baffled me...until I watched Attack on Titan.


I was (somewhat forcefully) recommended the series by a friend a couple of months ago, and I loved it. It wasn't as a result of the foreign language and animation style; it was just a good show. 


Since then, I've spiraled down a bit of an anime rabbit hole. My Netflix recommendations are filled with nothing but Japanese television programs, forever taunting me with "why not watch just one more." 


I've never been a particular fan of live-action television. I remember that I would always shut my eyes and yell "grown-up show" whenever something like The Power Rangers would appear on cable. 


As I grew up, my usual cartoons became much less appealing, but my aversion to the traditional camera/actor TV program didn't fade. For about four years, my video streaming accounts lay dormant, my cable television hadn't turned on in ages, and my days were spent watching endless YouTube "let's play"s. 


My passion for video was revived by Bojack Horseman. The animated but mature humor perfectly fit my tastes of the time. Between seasons though, I regressed to my YouTube addictions. 


During my viewing of the LA-centric program, I developed a system of exercising while I watch, excavating my mother's old stepping machine from the crevices of my garage. This is another reason why anime appealed to me. 


There is an extreme upper limit on the type of plots that can appear in a physical medium. Attack on Titan's excessive gore caused my larger than life "titans" would be prohibitively expensive to edit with computer graphics. The high-octane fantastical environment assisted with my drive to exercise. When the character's heart was beating fast in a tense moment, so was mine. When the episode finished and everyone was dripping with sweat, I was too.


Anime certainly doesn't appeal to everybody, but I implore everybody to give it a try. In a time of global lockdown, you have no reason not to. 

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