WHY ANIME IS INSPIRATIONAL (MY FIRST BLOG)

 I've been watching anime for a really long time. Honestly, almost my entire life and I'm pretty close to my 30s. The amount of lessons I have learned from watching my favorite series amazes me. I found myself constantly gaining new information, ideas, and experiences even with the series that I re-watch. Anime, in my opinion, is still under-looked and underrated when it comes to why people…especially creative people… are inspired the way they are. That being said, here’s how and why anime inspires me. 

Creativity

Let's start with the fact that anime has so many different worlds, genres, characters, colors, art styles, music, and many more elements. With all of these things that contribute to putting an anime together, I'm bound to be inspired by it! For example, the music in a series is always an important element. Music can make or break a scene. It can change the tone, create the tone, and help build the tone of a series/film. Now even though that particular type of music worked for one anime, I don't want to hear the same for another anime. There's got to be something different and unique about it to make it stand out. That's where being creative comes in! The composers, directors, producers, sound engineers, and anyone else that's involved will need to think outside the box to keep the music from feeling generic. Same for the art style, plot, and overall execution. Being unique can be a struggle when there are already thousands of ideas and concepts that are public, so I’m always amazed when I find an anime that feels original and creative with their approach.  

Relatable characters

When I first started really watching anime...and I mean REALLY WATCHING IT....like not just for the cool action sequences and fights....I found myself being able to connect with the characters. It was never something I was purposely looking for, but just naturally happened the more episodes I would watch. I would find myself being able to relate to this fictional character in many ways and it made me feel like I wasn't alone. This was major for me when I was a huge introvert and would spend weeks in my room staying away from society. I could easily relate and connect with that one mc who had very little friends and would always be a lone wolf. There was something really beautiful about connecting with a fake character and not feeling by myself. As cheesy as this will sound, it wasn't until that character would gain friends in the end or accomplish their goal that would inspire me to do more for myself. To find friends who rock with me... That fictional character being able to accomplish that fictional goal, made me want to accomplish real goals in my life. All because I was able to relate to them. 

The Hard Work

Now I don't mean the hard work the MC does. I mean the animators, the artist, the technicians, the director, the marketers, I mean everyone that is involved with that favorite anime of yours. There is so much work that goes into making an anime, good or bad. You've got to get the idea, write the story, go through revisions, storyboard, art style, the animation process itself, music, color correction, check-ins, deadlines, marketing, more revisions, BRO...there's a lot of work that has to be done and I am more than sure I am missing a lot of steps. My point is, I appreciate the effort that is put into creating an anime and I recognize how much work goes into it. It inspires me to work just as hard as them. It makes me want to push myself to create great content because they provide me, which I do not deserve, with great content. Giving me the opportunity to experience incredible work is a major privilege and it inspires me to work as hard as that studio to provide high-quality content. So to everyone that works in animation or just an artist in general, thank you!

Life Lessons

It's not uncommon to get a life lesson or two in an anime series you're watching. Most people who don't watch anime tend to be ignorant about the valuable lessons that are given to us who do watch anime. For example, those Shonen characters who don't know when to quit even when they are getting demolished by their opponent. Those same characters teach us about perseverance, courage, and how to keep your eye on the prize. I mean, Naruto became Hokage... he said to believe it, and now we are forced to believe it because he did it! I have learned so much because of anime. It's been a friend, an experience, and a mentor. I am able to grow because of it. There are so many series dropping gems and giving you million dollar information for free. As I continue to watch new series and re-watch old series, I find myself relearning these lessons, along with learning new ones.. It keeps me inspired, it keeps me humble, and I'm grateful to be able to learn so much from my favorite shows. 

I have many more reasons, but I think for today that's a good place to end it. I am very grateful to anime and everything it's done for my life! I don't think I would be where I am today, both as a person and my career, without anime. How has anime inspired you? List your reasons down below! Thanks for checking out this post. I hope you enjoyed it!