My first impression of Anime (S)

Ah, is there any better feeling than effortlessly flopping onto your bed, opening your laptop and binge watching your favourite anime for hours and hours on end? Right now, I'd say no. However, if you asked me a few years ago, it would have been a completely different answer. This is an article on my very first impression of Anime and why I would recommend it to almost anyone.

So, let me take you back a few years, to 2012. I somehow had a girlfriend and was about to embark on a treacherous 3 years at University. My friend had been pestering me for a few months to start watching anime but I genuinely just thought it was 'some dumb cartoon' and often assumed it was the same as hentai. Ironically, this is now probably the most annoying thing a person can say to me when I recommend anime; "Isn't it just cartoon porn?" NO. No it's not. How dare you say such a thing!? You'd never catch me being so judgemental...

Anyway, eventually I gave in and the first ever anime I watched was Naruto Shippuden. Looking back, I'm not sure why I started with Shippuden but it did an excellent job of hooking me in. I remember watching this in dubbed as I naively thought it was "better" than subbed. I was wrong. Very wrong. Don't watch in dubbed folks, unless it's Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Cowboy Bebop. As I watched through the first few episodes, I actually noticed myself becoming addicted to it. Each episode made me say "just one more" and it was only when I looked at the clock and it was 4am when I realised just how wrong I was.

So, my friend filled me in on the rest of Naruto and that was me hooked. Now, quickly, I'd like to debunk some stereotypes of anime. First of all, as I believe I've covered already, anime and hentai are completely SEPARATE, with the exception of a controversial portrayal of women in a lot of anime, there is little to zero sex. Second, anime is not just for kids. There are a number of animes which have complex and unpredictable storylines, such as Code Geass, and others even stretching to torture scenes which are genuinely hard to watch; I'm looking at you, Tokyo Ghoul. This brings me to my final point; anime can be dramatic and emotional. I promise I'm not exaggerating when I say it is very easy to get attached to these characters so, for example, when they die, it actually makes you pretty sad. Now, I don't want to go as far as to say I've cried at anime, but I've come pretty close on a number of occasions.

To conclude: 1. No, that relationship didn't last, HOWEVER, I'm sure that was not a direct result of my interest in anime. 2. Anime is NOT hentai. 3. Anime IS awesome and you should totally go and watch it right now. I mean it. Go!

#anime #manga #weird #nerdy #fun #funny #Naruto #NarutoShippuden #CodeGeass #TokyoGhoul