It’s interesting, the subtle things you can pick up from anime, which go beyond the story you’re watching. I recently finished the odd-but-refreshing Moshidora, aka Moshi Koko Yakyu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no ‘Management’ o Yondara?, or “What if a Female High School Baseball Manager Read Drucker’s ‘Management’?” It details one girl’s desire to help her high school baseball team by using techniques picked up from Peter Drucker’s famous book on management, bringing innovative ideas to the field. Through the show we get to experience the intensity of high school baseball in Japan, and the strong desire for the players to go to the National Championships at Koshien Stadium, near Osaka. Koshien is a very big deal, the focus of virtually every baseball manga or anime ever made, and millions of men relive their youths by following the games closely. There was a scene where players who were in their third year of high school were especially impatient, because they’d be graduating soon. “This is the last chance for us. If we don’t go to Koshien this time, we never will!” These unique cultural aspects of life in Japan would be impossible for us to access without the medium of animation. What unexpected things have you learned from anime?
You can learn a surprising amount of culture from anime.
