Introducing Non-Otaku Friends to Anime

Growing up, none of my friends were into anime. They'd laugh at my obsession with it and most of
them would make fun of me (some friends right?), but I had a few that actually enjoyed it after I finally managed to introduce them to it.

Since then I've managed to introduce a lot more people to anime and have had varying degrees of success along the way. I've learned a lot and have come up with a pretty straightforward means of introducing non-otaku to anime and increasing my chances of success.

The first step is to think about the types of movies you guys usually go to see. The first person I introduced to anime had a similar taste in movies to me. Which meant I was fairly confident that if I enjoyed a show, she would enjoy it too.

If you find yourselves normally going to see chick flicks, then maybe a slice of life anime would fit your friend better. If you're normally into Super heroes and big flashy battles, try something Naruto or Bleach. If they enjoy supernatural movies and television then maybe try something like Blue Exorcist or possibly start on the "spookier" side of anime.

Next, don't even bother trying to introduce them to a show that isn't dubbed. Chances are that they will flip out and refuse to go on if they're suddenly forced to start reading subtitles. That's something you can ease them into in the future. Trust me, your chances of success go up exponentially this way.

Third, don't fangirl/boy around them too much and don't nag. If they've shown some interest but haven't taken the final plunge, the easiest way to chase them off is to nag them about it.

My housemate and I both enjoy anime, though I'm the bigger fan. A mutual friend of ours discovered Attack on Titan and began going on and on and on about it, constantly nagging us to watch it NOW. I had planned on watching it anyway, so I went ahead and got it out of the way. I enjoyed it, it wasn't my favorite anime ever, but it wasn't too bad.

My housemate, however, absolutely refused. He hates it whenever anyone tries to force him into something. He was determined not to let this friend of ours push him into doing something that he wasn't really sure he even wanted to do.

And that's from a guy that actually likes anime. If he didn't it would probably have turned him off of it forever.

So, don't nag.

Your best case scenario looks something like this.

Tell your friend in advance that you want to introduce them to anime. They might put up a fuss. Just tell them, "don't worry, remember (insert movie here)? It's a lot like that, and I know you liked that." You can also make promises of having plenty of popcorn and snacks (perfect chance to introduce them to pocky).

When they finally agree, set a date and time. Don't just surprise them with it one day.

Make your show selection carefully. Depending on the person in question, you might only get one shot at this. Don't pick something that takes a few episodes to wind up. They might not want to keep watching that long. They're not going to be as forgiving of a show as you might be, so choose something that starts out strong and stays interesting throughout.

Be sure to be prepared for a binge watching session, because if things go well you could end up going through the whole series (or at least a large chunk of it).

You should be able to tell pretty quickly if they're actually interested or if they're getting bored. If you suspect boredom, don't force them to keep watching. You might be able to salvage things by switching to a different show if you spot it quickly enough, but don't try to force them to keep watching. That's probably the quickest way to completely stomp out any interest they may have had.

If, after it's all over, they seem confused or unsure don't respond with "well you should probably read the manga." You can introduce manga at a later date. This ties in with picking the right anime. You shouldn't pick one that ends on a confusing or uncertain note that wouldn't make sense if you hadn't read the manga.

Try to end on a positive note, if at all possible.

If everything goes well, you may just have a new anime watching buddy. Be sure to tell them where they can find more anime online and encourage them to keep watching on their own. Maybe schedule another anime watching session and have them pick the show this time. Just don't rush them, they're still new to all of this. It'll probably be a while before they're ready for Subs and manga.

Keep in mind that some people just aren't going to like anime no matter what you do. Don't try to force them and don't nag them. Maybe some day they'll change their tune.

Preparing for the Perfect Binge Watching Session

I'm a binge watcher. I can't help it. Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll have all spoiled me rotten. I recently caught up to Fairytail's current release schedule. No longer can I spend 6+ hours immersed in the world of Fiore, now I can only enjoy it for 20 minutes once a week.

So, I did what I always do and went in search of another anime to binge watch while waiting for the new episodes of Fairytail to release. Then I began my ritual of preparing to binge watch the entire series in two days or less.

I've gotten it down to science, and as such I thought I'd share it with those that might be interested.

Step 1: Finish all chores, homework, work, etc. 

 Some of you might groan at this, but it's incredibly important. The key to a perfect Binge Watching session is a minimum of interruptions. If you've got important things that need to be done, like turning in an essay that's due on Monday, get it done now.

You might say, "oh, it'll be fine. I'll wait until I'm done with this and then crank out that essay in no time flat." But unless it's an anime you've seen before, you can't possibly predict how you're going to be feeling once you've finished watching it. Just imagine that you decided to binge watch Angel Beats, are you really going to feel like writing your essay after that ending?

Step 2: Take a shower and Put on Something Comfy

Chances are, you're not going to remember once you've gotten into the midst of whatever anime you've chosen. This is not only for the benefit of everyone around you, but your own benefit as well. Feeling grimy and nasty can seriously but a damper on your enjoyment of a show.

Don't forget to slip into something comfy (I prefer my Pjs) and preferably clean too.

Step 3: Round up Your Favorite Snacks and Plenty of Water

You're still going to have to come up for air around meal times, but there's nothing better than nervously chomping through pocky during super intense moments.

Be sure you drink plenty of water during this as well. If you're like me, then you absolutely love soda and probably drink it several times a day. That's not going to help you stay hydrated and healthy though. Yes, more water means you'll need to pee more often, but it also means fewer trips to the doctor because of infections. Which one is going to put more of a hamper on your anime watching time?

I personally keep a great big glass of water next to me at all times and take a sip every now and then. Then get up to refill it when I take a break for the bathroom or food.

Step 4: Communicate

It's not really fair to get pissed at the people in your life for interrupting your binge watching if they had no idea you were actually doing it. So take a few minutes to communicate your intentions to the people who are most likely to interrupt you.

Pro Tip: You'll have better success with parental figures if you approach it like this, "Mom/Dad, I finished all my chores and my homework. I'm going to go watch anime in my room now. Is there anything else you need me to do first?"

There's a good chance they'll be suspicious of you, especially if you're not usually this nice. Just tell them you'd like to watch your show with as few interruptions as possible and decided to get everything out of the way before hand.

Step 5: Find a binge watch worthy anime

Now this step may seem like a no-brainer, but it's really important. Take you time to read reviews and mentally prepare yourself for whatever you're about to watch. If you don't usually watch Slice of Life anime, then you're not likely to have the perfect binge session with one.

Figure out how much time you have to actually watch anime and choose your show based on that. I can comfortably watch 24 episode in two days and still have plenty of time for chores and various other things that need my attention. For less time than that, you might want to experiment with watching anime movies instead.

Step 6: When Someone Interrupts you, Don't be an ass

It's inevitable, someone will interrupt. They always do. Ignoring them, yelling at them, or just being rude aren't going to make them go away any faster and may actually make it more difficult for you to complete your session.

Just stay calm, pause your show, and address whatever it is that they need/want your attention for. Chances are you'll probably think it's dumb and that they could've waited until you were done. Don't voice that opinion. Keep the peace, by doing whatever they want as quickly as possible so you can get back to your show. They'll appreciate you taking the time to complete the task quickly, and without complaining, and be less likely to disturb you in the future.

Step 7: Don't be Discouraged

If things don't work out, if repeated interruptions get in the way, if the show you picked ended up really crappy or just confusing, then don't be discouraged. You can always try again next time. Not every single binge session you have will be able to be called "perfect."

Life gets in the way sometimes and no one can plan for that. Just keep your chin up, and try again next time.

Starting my Summer with Anime Awesomeness

I've been absent from updating for a little while, since real life stuff kept getting in the way of my anime time. But I'm back now and I thought I'd share the anime that I'm currently watching to get my summer started off right.

First up is Fairytail. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that's read my blog before. This show is pretty much my favorite thing ever, at least right now. A high powered battle-anime with a fantasy twist. Lots of really interesting characters and story arcs.

The best part is, if you've never watched it before, you'll have quite a lot of episodes to binge watch before you catch up to the current arc.

Next we've got, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? This anime kind of took me by surprise. With a name like that, I was expecting a rather thin harem anime in a fantasy setting. What I got was a harem anime, in a fantasy setting, with a surprisingly complex world full of really interesting characters. And, unlike some harem anime out there, not every single female character in the show is obsessed with the main character.

This anime just finished up its first season. No word yet if it's going to get a second, but the first one is so good you should definitely give it a try.

No Game, No Life, another anime with only one season so far but definitely a must watch for the gamers out there. The premise is that a brother and sister gamer team gets pulled into a fantasy world where all conflicts are solved through games. I absolutely loved the main characters, and definitely enjoyed the plot.



Tokyo Ghoul, I'm currently on the second season of this and simply can't stop watching it. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. As far as bloody anime go, this isn't as bad as say Elfen Lied, but it does get pretty extreme. There's also a pretty extensive torture scenario in the first season that had me curling my toes in fear. Our hero starts out as pretty wimpy, and not all that interesting, but he definitely grows and changes as the series progresses.

What about you? Is there an anime you recommend watching this summer? Old or new, it doesn't matter. I'm always looking for new ideas on what to watch next. I'm thinking my next series will be either Yona of the Dawn or Parasyte: The Maxim unless I get some other suggestions here.

We're all Otaku, Can't We All Just Get Along?

I'm a little upset right now. Actually a lot upset. I felt that I really need to write a post about this and kind of get my feelings out there a bit.

So I was on Instagram last night and saw an image that someone posted. I can't find it now and I can't

remember exactly what it said, but it was basically someone in the Attack on Titan fandom berating another fan (and wishing they get eaten by a titan) simply because they didn't know that Shingeki no Kyojin was the Japanese name for the anime/manga.

In that person's mind, the other fan deserved death by titan because they didn't have the same level of knowledge. 

Do you realize how idiotic that is?

If someone shares your fandom why the hell would you disparage them!? If they lack the same level of knowledge as you, then enlighten them! Don't be an asshole. 

Someone is not an Otaku based on how much, or how little, they know about anime. They're otaku based on their love for anime, manga, and all things Japan. 

I know I made a post a while back talking about this very subject, but I feel it needs to be touched on again. In that post, I mention that being an Otaku is more than just how many anime you've watched. It's also more than how knowledgeable you are about Anime. 

Imagine a scenario where you come across someone who doesn't know that Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro were made by the same studio. They've never even heard the name Hayao Miyazaki. But they've still got a totoro hoodie, they've memorized all the lines in Japanese and English, they cosplayed Mononoke at the last con they went to. 

I admit, that scenario is kind of far fetched, but it's not implausible. Would you say that person is less of a fan than you are? 

Personally I'd embrace that person, compliment their cosplay, and introduce them to the rest of the Ghibli films. I'd share my knowledge with them which would not only benefit them, but potentially earn me a life long friend. 

We Otaku get picked on and misunderstood enough by people who don't understand us and our obsession. Try as we might, we're always going to be somewhat misunderstood by people who just haven't accepted that anime is more than a Japanese Cartoon. 

Why then should we isolate and push away people that actually share our fandom? Instead of telling someone they're not an Otaku because they've only ever watched Naruto, why don't you say "Hey, if you liked Naruto then I bet you'll like Fairy Tail as well."

If you make an effort to improve the people around you, your own life will be improved as well. 

I hope someone reads this and takes something away from what I've shared here today. I feel it's important, not only to Otaku but to everyone. 

Bloody Anime

I've dabbled in the "horror" anime a little. Not much, mind you, but a little.

My very first one was Blood+ but it wasn't that bad in the long run. I enjoyed the story a lot and found it to be a very interesting twist to the whole Vampire thing. I've been actively avoiding Blood C, I've heard people say it was terrible and I'd like to avoid spoiling an anime that's nearly perfect in my mind.

The next one was Elfen Lied. Let me tell you, I was not prepared for that. It was well above the level of blood and gore that Blood+ exposed me to. But, at least in my opinion, the gore always seemed to make sense for the sake of the story. It's been a long time since I've watched it all the way through so I might be mis-remembering,

Since then I've watched a number of different anime, all with varying levels of blood and gore. Not all of them could be classified as "horror" but some of the scenes might be described as "horrifying."

I couldn't name them all even if I tried.

The most recent "bloody" anime I watched was Psycho Pass. Which I completely enjoyed. I keep hearing that there's more to it than what I was able to watch on Netflix. I'll have to do some more research to find out if that's true or not. But anyway, as with Elfen Lied and Blood+, I always felt like the gore and the blood made sense for the story that was being told.

So I've been sitting here waffling back and forth on this decision that I'm sure is going to affect me.

I'm considering watching Parasyte - the maxim- because it sounds really interesting and the plot is actually kind of intriguing to me. But every time I see the trailer for it, I kind of wince a little and peek at the screen through squinted eyes because I'm not sure I want to see it or not.

However, the manga has supposedly won several awards and is being made into a pair of live action movies. Apparently the first one earned something like 800 million yen in it's first two weeks, that's roughly 6.6 million US dollars.

So obviously it's good. Obviously people like it. I just don't know if I'm too much of a weenie to handle it or not.

Thoughts?

Canon or Not

I've been browsing through the Fairytail Wiki and I'm getting the impression more and more that I'm
vastly missing out by not reading the Manga.

It's not like I'm actively avoiding the Manga or anything, I just discovered the anime first. When I'm not derping around on this blog, or instagram and pinterest, I actually do have a job that I do full time. So it's not like I've got a lot of time in my day to day life to fit in a lot of stuff.

I usually unwind with a couple episodes of anime, staying up much later than I should, and then head to bed.

But, I was reading that the Key of the Starry Sky Arc wasn't actually canon. And there've been a couple of characters I've read up on where they wiki has mentioned events that were never covered in the anime and we're already well past the point where they could happen in the timeline of things.

So I feel like story wise there's a lot I'm missing out on.

I'm also wondering just how canon some of my ships are according to the manga (no one tell me I want to read it for myself!).

But it means tracking down somewhere to read the manga (which isn't that hard I know). I'd much rather have actual physical copies of the volumes (Wouldn't we all?), but right now that's not really an option.

Anyway.

It just kind of irked me that there was a whole story arc that I'd watched that wasn't canon while there's apparently plenty of canon material that never even got covered. Aside from the fact that I really liked Michelle and the twist near the end of the arc made me sob bitter tears.

I guess that's enough ranting for the moment.

I'm sorry this post isn't anywhere near as inspirational and full of wisdom as my last entry, but I didn't want to overdo it on the "inspiration and motivation" front. Apparently this is only going to be a weekly blog for now. I hope to update it more frequently in the future, but I find that if I do the daily updates thing I don't really have a lot to say.

Alright, that's it for the moment, I hope you all visit my blog again next week!

Anime Wisdom

Over the years, I've learned a lot from Anime. A lot of very powerful wisdom is handed down by some of our favorite characters in scenes that usually stick in our minds as being incredibly badass. And yet, very rarely do we actually take that wisdom and apply it to our every day lives. 

So I've taken a moment to collect some of my favorite anime quotes and share them here. Ones that I feel we would all benefit from if we took a moment to apply them to ourselves. 

 First up, Gildarts Clive from Fairy Tail gives us some incredibly powerful words to mull over.
"Fear is not evil. It tells you what your weakness is and, once you know your weakness, you can become stronger, as well as kinder."

That quote is pretty much self explanatory, up until that last little bit. How can fear make you kinder?

By understanding that if something makes you afraid, it makes someone else afraid too. If you gain the power to overcome that fear then you will be more understanding of those that are still trapped by that fear, and maybe you'll even be able to help them.

This next quote is also on the subject of fear, and it comes from Maka Albarn from SoulEater.

"We might be scared, but that's what makes us stronger."

Both Maka and Gildarts believe that fear can make you stronger, but how is that?

Gildarts believes that it's by identifying your weakness and learning to overcome it. That's part of it.

However, I think that it's more than that. I think Maka's quote leans more towards the famous (non-anime) quote by Nelson Mandela:

I learned the Courage is not the absence of fear, but triumph over it. The brave man is not he who is not afraid, but he who conquers that fear. 

Being afraid, but still mustering up the courage to go ahead and do it anyway. Whether it's talking to someone you've got a crush on, standing up for your beliefs, or going sky diving for the first time. Being afraid is natural. Doing it anyway is courageous.


 This is another Fairytail quote. I tried to mix things up a bit, but I've been binge watching Fairytail lately in an effort to catch up, so please forgive me.

This quote from Lucy is one that I feel a lot of people would really benefit from.

"There's nothing fortunate about having your fate decided for you. You have to grab your own happiness."

Now how does this apply to someone who isn't the daughter of a wealthy man trying to arrange a marriage you don't want?

It's all in that last line. "You have to grab your own happiness." If you want something from life, go get it. Screw the circumstances you're currently living in. You're only as happy as you allow yourself to be.

Sure, there's shit in the world and it makes life difficult, but if you sit around and do nothing then your fate has already been decided for you. Get up and make something of yourself, don't take no for an answer. Grab your own happiness.

 I was a kid when the original Pokemon Movie came out. I went and saw it in theaters with my sisters and cousins.

At the end, Mewtwo said some pretty inspiring things that were, unfortunately, lost on my young mind.

Thankfully, my love of pokemon endured into my adult life and I was able to rediscover that wisdom.

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

You might have been born into the poorest, most down on their luck family in the world, but that's irrelevant. Just like with the quote from Lucy above, what you do with your life is up to you. You are not where you were born, or who you were born to. You have the ability to decide and change everything about your life.

It's not easy. Things will be difficult and there will be times when you want to give up, but remember that you are ultimately in control. No one can decide your fate for you unless you let them.

And finally, our last quote is another Fairytail quote. This time from Mirajane.

"When people realize how lonely it is being on their own, they will become kind."

This one is a little less obvious, and kind of cryptic in its wisdom.

I believe that ultimately what it means is that people who are unkind or mean-spirited will ultimately change their ways if they find themselves alone and ignored.

People who don't bring positive things into your life don't need to be in your life. Don't associate with people who bring you down or make you feel badly. I don't care how long you've been friends for, I don't care what memories you share in your past. If they're unkind to you then they don't deserve the kindness of your friendship.

Don't be mean to them. Don't fight them. Don't yell or argue. Just leave them alone. If they value your friendship and find themselves suddenly cut out of your life, then they will find a way to change and make things right.

If more people cut the toxic people out of their lives, there would be fewer unkind people in the world. But too many people tolerate the mean behavior of people around them because they themselves are afraid of losing that friend.

If someone treats you badly, they're not your friend. You lose nothing by cutting them out of your life. And so long as you're kind and genuine you'll attract new people who want to be in your life and value your friendship.

What about you? Is there any anime wisdom that has spoken to you and helped to change your life?