Why is anime cool to me? Because it makes me feel emotions and think thoughts that I never would have otherwise.
I love how the images move on top of each other to create motion. I love how the music in each scene can flip my mood like a switch. I love the variety of voices and sounds actors make to give characters life.
But I don’t just enjoy anime for its aesthetics. Anime is special because it’s made me a more empathetic person. In a world where we are constantly bombarded by reports of atrocious events by news sources and social media, becoming desensitized to tragedy is common. As I finished my seventh grade year, I felt myself becoming less and less empathetic; it’s not as if I didn’t care about those who were suffering, sad, or in pain, but rather like I couldn’t quite connect with such people on an emotional level. It was difficult for me to relate my own experiences to those of others, and although I always experienced sympathy, empathy became an ungraspable concept for me.
Then, I discovered anime.
In 2012, I attended a programming camp for a week. This was the first time I’d ever slept away from home by myself, so I often sought the guidance of my camp counselors, who were students at the university I was visiting. One evening, as I was sitting around in my room, one of my counselors came in and asked if I wanted to watch a show with my dorm mates. I hesitantly agreed. I followed my counselor into our common room where scenes of the anime Angel Beats! were flashing across the TV screen. As cliché and insane as it might sound, it was love at first sight.
As far as I’m concerned, Angel Beats! is one of the greatest shows in the modern world. That night, my eyes became fixed on an unrealistically blue ocean and my ears were soothed by the sounds of beautiful and flowing piano music. The show depicts the experiences of several characters that are in “limbo” after death. In this limbo, the characters can experience pain and even die, only to awaken again with no injuries. Only after they have learned how to let go of their lingering attachments can they pass on into the next life. The message behind Angel Beats! is that living life to the fullest while you are alive is incredibly important, but so is letting go of the unchangeable past. The show is able to tell this simple message through a heart-wrenching, engaging story and beautiful visuals.
Perhaps what had the greatest impact on me was that I could see snippets of my reality reflected in the show’s fictional elements. Through Angel Beats!, I gained a deeper understanding of human emotions and how people could be truly scarred by past experiences. I also realized how perfect anime and other forms of animated arts are for clearly conveying a meaningful message to viewers.
Since watching Angel Beats!, I’ve watched a variety of different kinds of anime series and other animated art forms, such as Pixar shorts and Cartoon Network cartoons. While not all forms of animated arts have a thought-provoking message, the reason I continue to watch these shows, shorts, cartoons, and movies is simply because, no matter what, they make me happy. Stupidly, stupendously, and incalculably happy.
