One thing I love about being an anime otaku is the way it seems to make fans happier than they otherwise might be. There are many ways anime and otaku culture can improve our lives, compared to all the “normies” out there. Let’s look at some of them in this blog post!
16 Ways Anime Otaku are Happier Than The Rest of Humanity
Anime Otaku Are Always Learning New Things
Whether it’s becoming acquainted with the unique concepts that make Japanese society tick or allowing us to learn how the cells in our body work through the power of anime, we otaku are exposed to a lot of fresh and new ideas that we could never experience elsewhere.
Anime Can Teach Us Japanese
Obviously opening ourselves up to media in a foreign country can allow us to learn that language more efficiently, whether we’re trying to undergo a serious study program or just want to learn more words and phrases because it’s fun.
Watching Anime Can Give Us Goals
I love it when anime positively influences us, giving us new goals to strive for. This might include wanting to fulfill our dream of visiting Japan one day or becoming a “brotaku” in the gym and getting strong just like Goku.
Anime Exposes us to Bright Colors
I’m positive that opening ourselves up to the beautiful colors and visuals of Japanese animation has a positive effect on our brains.
Anime Otakus Use Their Imaginations More
Daydreaming is seen as an important activity for the brain, and it’s quite likely that embracing our inner 2D world can be healthy for our brains. And there’s even science that backs this idea up!
Anime Otaku Regularly Explore Big Ideas
I love the many huge ideas that are found in anime, whether it’s high-stakes science-fiction stories where the lives of whole planets hang in the balance or stories that give us a whole new paradigm of thinking about how the universe might really work.
How did you become an anime otaku? J-List customers respond in this blog post!
We Love to Discover and Nurture New Subcultures Within Anime
I love the way anime is a “big tent” filled with smaller tents. If you get tired of one genre, there are a dozen more you can experience easily. It’s especially fun getting into some underground subculture, like Touhou Project once was, and helping it grow.
Anime Fans Can Potentially Have Lots of Online Friends
Another great thing about anime and otaku culture is that they can bring friends together. If you live in a small city in middle America, it’s probably hard to connect with friends with the same esoteric taste as you. But online communities like Reddit and Discord change all of that, and it’s not impossible at all to find a group of friends to hang with at the next regional anime convention, if you can find the right people.
Anime Can Bring Parents Closer to Their Children
When my son was born, I started planning all the great anime I’d watch with him, and as he got older, we went through all the Mobile Suit Gundam, Macross and similar series together. Few kinds of entertainment cross the generation barrier as easily as anime.
Anime Otaku Have More to Live For
When I ask J-List customers how anime has changed their lives, I get a lot of interesting answers. I’ve heard that watching anime has helped people get through dark patches in their lives and helped them deal with depression in healthy ways. I think that’s great!
Watching Anime Reduces Stress
There’s nothing like relaxing after a stressful day with a wonderful iyashi-kei (healing) anime to help you lay down your burdens at the end of the day.
Want a list of anime so relaxing, they’re potentially as good as therapy? Blog post here!
Anime Otaku Regularly Visit New Worlds
While Star Trek fans might “boldly go where no one has gone before” in each episode, anime goes way beyond that, with dozens of isekai shows to sample each season. It’s the perfect escape from the stresses of daily life, and can give the dopamine/serotonin centers in our brains a boost, too!
We Know That Any Goal Can Be Achieved
One thing I believe is that any problem can be solved by calmly looking for the correct “Konami code” that will unlock the outcome you deserve. This is a theme of many anime stories, too.
Anime Otaku Enjoy Cosplaying
Another fun aspect of being an anime otaku is that we enjoy cosplay at our favorite fan events, and if we make a great cosplay, we’ll get lots of positive feedback and praise from everyone around us.
We’ve Embraced Our Inner Weirdness and Don’t Give a Fuck What You Think
Most otakus I know have already made their peace with the fact that not everyone is going to approve of their hobby, and they don’t care what others think. Once we realize we don’t need the approval of others to get through the day, we can finally be free.
Anime Otaku are Experiencing a Golden Age of Anime
It’s a very special time to be an anime fan, as the global popularity of the anime industry outside of Japan has surpassed the domestic market for the first time. This means that even more money is flowing, often from streaming companies, to the anime studios we love, allowing them to create more seasons of our favorite shows. Now if they can somehow bring Newtype USA back, I’d have zero complaints!
Thanks for reading this post about 16 ways being an anime otaku makes you a happier person. Can you think of any other benefits to being an anime fan? Tell us below, or reply to us on Twitter!
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