Where has my anime gone?
Ever since I was an angsty teenager with a big imagination, anime was a large part of my pop-culture life. It all started with Sailor Moon during early mornings before school. A daily cartoon for my nine-year-old self. At that point in my life, everything was just a cartoon. It wasn’t until I began watching Naruto that my interest in anime expanded. All of a sudden, I wanted to watch it all. Major titles such as Berserk, Gantz, Code Geass, Gundam Seed and Monster topped my list of favourite anime and standards of watching.
After I finished high school, my interest in anime began to drop. My life in high school as a partial loner and part of a pack of “losers” was over. In university, I was a lot more than I ever imagined I could be. I began to make more friends, become part of a community and transition into an adult with responsibilities. With friends and adult life and living independently, I had so much more to do and things to be serious about. I still watched anime, but not as much; and I mostly kept with ongoing serials. When I finished university, I saw my interest in anime all but disappear. It seems that I can’t find anything good to watch anymore. Apart from very select anime titles released in the past two or three years, I can’t think of any good anime titles that used to garner such admiration from me as a teenager. It’s the same old stuff that comes out year after year. Ecchi, fan-service, slice of life from lolita-looking characters and main characters that make me want to cringe. I’m all for making the female character role in an anime stronger and on par with male characters, but the boys these days, they’re all — for a lack of a better word: weak.
Characters no longer have guts and the sense of adventure that previously existed in anime of the 90’s and 2000’s. Characters are looking much younger, as well. I know of the stereotype that Asians age better than the rest of the world; but this is too much. Much of the anime released nowadays is rehashed; the same old plot; there’s nothing that makes audiences think or wrap their head around some amazing plot twist (Code Geass is a great example). I miss characters with dark pasts and their goal of vengeance for whatever reason. For example, Elfen Lied was a great anime. Sure, you’ve got a cute pink female with horns, but later you learn about her dark and gruesome past and it gets you hooked.
Anime today just doesn’t interest me anymore. If I do watch anime, it’s re-runs of the classics which I love or I’m actively hunting for something from the previous two decades. I thought it was just me growing up and being adult; while that is true, it is also because of the lack of great content. With my loss of interest in anime, I’ve started to read more manga. Naruto was a fantastic childhood series that ended well. Bleach doesn’t know where to end properly; and Attack on Titan is currently my favourite serialization. The only downside is that it’s a monthly instead of a weekly release. I hope that writers, animators and publishers will find newer content to produce. Granted, good content takes time, but it’s worth it.
