There are many reasons that Japanese animation has grown popular in nearly every corner of the world, including the uniqueness of the characters, the bold stories in which people actually change and fall in love and die, and a willingness to tackle a wide range of issues that are important to viewers, even if they might be on the silly side. There’s also the built-in kakko ii (coolness) factor that anime has going for it, since it comes from a distant foreign land. (Hmm, that might explain why Japanese beer-drinkers will choose Budweiser while I’ll always order a Grolsch…got to think on that one a bit more.) Another reason anime is so enduring might be the way the best shows channel strong emotions to viewers. And not just the sappy boy-meets-girl-and-they-kiss-under-the-sakura-tree kind, either: often the themes can be bitter and sad and all the more exhilarating because of that. In the show Hatsukoi Limited, there are three boys who’ve gotten their hearts broken when the girls they liked didn’t choose them, so they decide to take a trip to “find themselves.” Frustrated by his one-sided love for Nao Chikura, a girl who’s in love with a senpai who painted her favorite picture, Hiroyuki shouts: “I can’t forget Chikura-san! Her smile is such a wonderful thing, but I can’t win her love the way I am now…I can’t go back until I find a way to become worthy of her!” The frustration and sadness — called setsunai in Japanese, if you want to know — becomes the most interesting aspect of the show.
At least, that’s me. What do you get out of your favorite emotional anime? If we’re getting some kind of emotional high from shows like Clannad, does it mean something has changed in our meatspace lives compared with the old days?
In the end, the attraction of anime might be the emotions it summons up inside you.
