‘Escapism.’ - #N9NEThoughts
Escapism. - ‘The tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy’.
The link to the playlist is at the end of this post.

The world needs to be put a massive bowl of rice right now. Escaping from reality is essential once in a while, regardless of how you do it. Playing sports, listening to music, blowing out backs, billin’ it.
‘Certain man even use Cunch as a form of Escapism.’
Others like to take drives or walks. Like the end is endless cuz. But for myself, from knee high, it’s been Anime.
‘I can’t lie if you’re caught by surprise and you’re an Anime hater then you better close your mouth and read on.’
Honestly, I don’t understand the slander like it baffles me proper. So gone I decided to just break down why Anime is literally the best thing next to Mango Juice.
No Creativity boundaries
Compared to real life series, anime’s creativity boundaries goes levels above. The fact that you can mix a fictional narrative with a fantasy setting attached with stunning animated visuals, there isn’t much more you need to grasp a viewer's attention.
Fantasy Escape
Like the title of this post, it’s an escape. Why not get lost in a fantasy universe for half an hour? How amazing does that sound? What I love about anime is that you can peacefully place yourself in a fantasy you feel comfortable in, around characters who you can almost ‘trust’ more. This will also sparks curiosity and almost get you thinking about things you won’t naturally think about, easing you into difficult situations that actually happen in reality and how not/to react.. i.e. death of a loved one.
Dropping some real ass gems
You’ll be surprised how many gems are dropped in Anime. I’m not joking when I say Itachi, Pein & Naruto have taught me more than my own Father. Levels.
The Breakdown
Here I’m going to drop my Top 3 Anime’s that changed my life. Hopefully, for the lovers, it’s time to kick back and reflect on greatness. And for those stubborn head to grow a pair and accept the amazing work of merit.
Death Note

Death Note is set around a high school student who finds a notebook, which is dropped from the sky from a Shinigami ‘god of death’, that allows him to kill anyone he pleases, just by writing their name in it & picturing their face. If the cause of the death is written, then they die within 40 seconds. If no cause is specified, they die from a heart attack. But of course, killing always comes with a consequence.

The second year of University is when I was introduced to Death Note. I can’t lie it freaked me out the first time, then a few months after being up to date with Naruto - Shippuden I needed something new. So I decided to give it a go.
‘Big up Netflix every single time, biggest plug since Rubicon’
Fam. It blew my mind. Possibly the most intense Anime I’ve ever watched. I never knew you could have animation series that are so heavily character based & story driven. This could easily be a leading series in real life, hence why there’s speculation about making it into a movie. I want to keep this spoiler free so I’m going to be as brief as possible.
What I loved the most about this anime is that it sparked thoughts that I would never think of.
‘Really though, if man really got hold of that Death Note ting.. Who am I laying out first…?’
The main character, Light, when discovering the Death Note he swore to use it to create a land where criminals didn’t roam and where he is the ruler, he wanted to be seen as a ‘god’. I found that particularly interesting as a religious person these thoughts are pretty blasphemous, so stepping out and really studying his headspace was something I found captivating. You see how Light demonstrates why humans should never ever have the power of a ‘god’, but also how bad things are driven by good intentions.. making it almost difficult to make a judgement. We’re introduced to different characters who are influenced by the Death Note, all react in different ways. For instance, you’ll be introduced to a character called ‘L’ who is the World’s most famous detective. Super weird but so interesting to observe. I don’t want to spoil too much but his clashes with Light are the best, it’s so well written that almost every meeting became thought provoking. My favourite rivalry in Anime. I was so emotionally attached to this anime, I would even reference the Death Note mid argument.
Aye iMJ, you know if man had the death note, you’ll be laid out before 3 o’clock cuz’
Definitely worth the watch. You can read the Manga, watch the Anime on Netflix or wait for the movie to come out. If I were you I’d do all three of them. Solid 8.5/10.
Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is about two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are sons of a gifted alchemist (Hohenheim), later taking interest in alchemy and becoming pretty amazing at it from a young age. Unfortunately, Hohenheim left them while growing up, as well as their mother who died from an illness. They then decided to leave home to travel the world and explore alchemy in more depth. Upon arriving back home, both attempt to bring their Mother back to life using the knowledge that they’ve gathered. Now in alchemy, human transmutation is the ultimate taboo and consequently failed the attempt. As a result of attempting bringing her back, Edward & Alphonse both lose something in return. Well, Alphonse loses everything, his whole body lol. And Edward loses a leg and arm, well a leg firstly but then lost his arm as he tried to bring Alphonse back. This is because The Law of Equivalent Exchange says -
‘To obtain, something of equal value must be lost’

They then decide to go on an adventure to find the ‘Philosopher’s stone’ which when obtained offers immortality in aid to bring back Alphonse’s body.
Yo. If you’ve never watched an Anime before then I highly suggest you watch as your first. This is a complete master class. It has a perfect fuse of action, drama, science, religion, comedy and romance. As well as topics on civil violence, racism, government corruption, war etc. Again, magnificently written. The whole alchemy concept gets me gassed! Alchemy is seen as the art of manipulating and altering matter by using natural energy. With that, they’re able to do some cool shit which makes the fight scenes proper wavey.
The character depth/development is so deep, you actually start creating an emotional attachment to these characters. I also find it interesting when I talk to people about the anime and ask them who their favourite character is and their explanation, you can really find out a lot from that.
‘Ask your WCW/MCM who their favourite character is and see if you don’t fall inlove or want to glass ’em with a bottle’
Anyway, even though the character plot is fixed on the two brothers, you’re constantly introduced to new characters who will shine their stories throughout the plot. You watch them grow, change, learn, fight, make mistakes etc, almost like your own youth. The plot changes are very interesting too, it keeps you guessing (no spoilers). But overall, this anime is a perfect blend of real life acts and the fantasy world, from corrupt political systems to institutions of magic/science. It’s great. My favourite anime ever, I highly suggest you watch Fullmetal Alchemist- BROTHERHOOD first before watching Fullmetal Alchemist. 9.5/10 for me.
Other animes I recommend watching -
- Samurai Champloo - 8/10
- Afro Samurai - 8.5/10
- Terror in Resonance - 8/10
- Ajin - 8/10
- Naruto (Shippuden) - 9/10
- Blue Exorcist - 7/10
- Gangsta - 7.5/10
- Detective Conan / Cased Closed - 7/10
Before I go I’d like to leave you with one of my favourite Naruto quotes -
‘Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain, because life’s greatest lessons are learnt through pain.’- Nagato/Pein
Just quickly before I skr’ off, I’m going to make some changes. Instead of me releasing written content every week, it will now be every other week. My week is already jam packed with juggling work & projects, this places me in between a battle of quality v quantity. So for the sake of the quality I’ve decided to give myself some extra time. Instead on a weekly basis, I will release a playlist of some cool tracks that I’ve been listening to. Thank you for following me on this journey, I’ve got some exciting news once I hit a milestone. Stay blessed and enjoy the playlist.
