By Assoah Ndomo | Photographer
Over the past five to 10 years, I have witnessed a phenomenon: anime, the treasure I used to hold so dear to me, is beginning to spread nationwide. I have a fear that once it becomes mainstream in America, the quality of anime will decrease due to us forcing our societal norms onto the shows.
I am a devout fan who is obsessed with anime, manga and Japanese culture. Ever since TikTok was released, people have been taking this treasure of mine bit by bit and acting like it has always been theirs.
Now, you may ask, why should you begin to watch anime, and does it have any benefits? When first watching anime, people focus a lot on the art style and how obscure the characters look compared to the typical human. This tends to scare some people, but other people look at the drawings and see art in the styles. Why did the artist decide to emphasize the lats more for this character and accentuate the legs more for that character? These characteristics all add color to the anime.
Also, unlike television, which uses actors and actresses, anime is able to exaggerate the extremes of human situations. What I mean is that anime can show the most cruel aspects of humanity. For example, Monster is a thriller anime that is about a doctor who has saved the life of a serial killer. The protagonist is dealing with the consequences of rescuing a serial killer, while the serial killer has the ability to manipulate people and single-handedly destroy the governments of Germany and the Czech Republic.
Anime is a way to immerse yourself in different worlds. In one show, you could be in an action-packed storyline with monkey-human hybrids destroying the world. In another, you could be in a romantic high school love triangle in which the girl of your dreams is the one who likes you first.
All in all, before anime becomes completely mainstream and gets ruined by popular trends, I suggest people begin their journey now. We are already starting to lose the original greats, such as Akira Toriyama — the author of “Dragon Ball,” who recently died. So, while anime is in its prime, hop on!
