Anime can be a powerful tool for personal growth, self-discovery, unity, and peace. Through the stories, characters, and themes portrayed in anime, viewers can explore complex emotions and ideas that may be difficult to confront in real life. Watching anime can provide a safe space to learn about oneself and others, and to reflect on one's own experiences and perspectives. One might say that anime has a limited reach and is a form of escapism. I agree that anime has a limited reach, but it grows and impacts more people every day as technology gets into the hands of more people around the world. It is a form of escapism like any other art form and a healthy one at that. Whether you like to watch or draw anime, it will help you understand and process real-world events. For example, anime series like "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "Death Note," "One Piece," "Dragon Ball Z," and many more tackle themes of identity, morality, and the human condition in thought-provoking ways that can challenge viewers' preconceptions and lead to personal growth.
Anime can be an important tool we need to approach real-world problems. The "Naruto" series shows us how violence and war can affect a nation over time. As we know, all wars are devastating not only to the soldiers but to the people and children of the world. War creates a cycle of violence that can last ages after the original dispute. Countless orphans and people are forced to do whatever they can to survive, and those who have survived pass on those teachings. War creates an infrastructure for hate, negativity, greed, and, yes, "hope." We lose our perception of the person or people next to us. So, rather than seeing the person or people as a fellow human, mother, father, son, daughter, etc., we see them as enemies who are inferior to us and who don't deserve the same as we do. We cling onto hope and spread that feeling around to those whom we try to save. We wish and pray that the strength and will of our hope will conquer over the hate and negativity. As seen in "Naruto," the strength of our will, hope, and love can prevail to bring the world to a better place. Yes, I understand that there are many plot twists, plot holes, and elements that won't ever happen in the real world, but every day, we are surprised with things we never thought would happen or ever become reality.
Self-discovery and self-worth are topics that are not new to us as people in society. To make this society work, we may lose ourselves in the process. To be a little more specific about what I mean by "lose ourselves," I mean traditions, values, health, mental and emotional intellect, and even, sadly, sometimes ourselves when we can't handle the stress anymore. Anime like "Dragon Ball Z" and "One Piece" show and teach us that no matter what we are faced with, we can overcome it. "Dragon Ball Z" shows us that through mental and physical training, we can exceed our past selves. Through conditioning and training, we can prepare ourselves to tackle society and mold it to us rather than let it mold us. It also teaches us that our body is our temple and we should strive to make it as strong as possible because the strength of the opposition cannot be underestimated. Sure, Super Saiyan transformations are make-believe, but we have the power to transform our imagination into reality. Our hair may not glow, but our power will increase tenfold. We can see that many characters have their own unique personalities and quirks that we love and that make us gravitate toward them. I feel that society has pushed us to lose that individuality, and anime can help us foster and nurture it within ourselves. Watching our favorite characters tackle new things, jobs, battles, and training should reassure us that it's okay to do different things and to be ourselves. In other words do you gangsta.
One Piece is a legendary anime that promotes unity, strength, peace, and love. The Straw Hat Pirates come from diverse backgrounds, each with their strengths and weaknesses. However, they learn to work together and complement each other's abilities to achieve their goals. This message of unity is emphasized throughout the series, and it serves as a powerful reminder of the value of teamwork in achieving success. I don’t have to go into depth about how our modern world lacks unity among its people, which is sad. In One Piece, people from diverse walks of life are able to group together through their belief in one another. Instead of promoting us to unify and strengthen each other, this world continues to separate, divide, and put down its people. Yes, other factors are in play, like the governments of the world (which can be compared to the marines) that push their selfish agendas, which haven’t helped any people around the world. They create a world where you have to rely on and be subjected to their rules and policies. The Straw Hat Pirates refuse to let the world govern how they may dream and build. Yes, the characters are fictional, fishmen, doodles, but the harsh realities they face are almost symmetrical to our modern-day realities. The fishman people face discrimination, biases, being sold off, aggression, because “someone” had labeled them inferior. I don't know about you, but that sounds eerily similar to what goes on around the world because of our skin color, shape/size, and ethnicity. Regardless of where you come from, the Straw Hat Pirates embrace you no matter what. They fight for the better treatment of people and to save them from brutal injustices. They go so far as to even put their lives on the line, which should teach us that we have to give it our all to create a world.
A common subject that unites, defines, and separates us is trauma. We all carry personal baggage, and anime can help teach us how to maneuver through our trauma. For example, panic attacks can happen at any time, and I myself suffer from them. To be real, no one or show has shown me someone going through a panic attack. Anxiety disorders, including panic attacks, are often stigmatized, and people who suffer from them may be hesitant to seek help due to fear of being judged. The portrayal of panic attacks in anime can help to destigmatize this condition by showing that it is a common and treatable mental health issue. Many characters in anime have suffered panic attacks like Naruto, Luffy, Usopp, Shoko, Eren, Mob, and many more. Loss of someone special is a feeling that will never leave and may cause anxiety, stress, and fear, but watching some of my favorite characters go through it has helped ease that pain. Seeing Luffy, Naruto, Levi, and Eren lose their close friends and loved ones showed me that it’s okay to break down. Seeing them prevail through their stress proved to me that it is our job to push for those who can’t push any more. Through our work, we can still spread the message that our fallen brothers, mothers, sisters, and dads can't. We can all work through and manage our anxiety, fear, trauma, loss and come out as champions.