Some reasons why I like anime. I’ve not already written this post before, have I?

sincerity - Despite when a character says, “I’m not just a side character in a manga,” the characters and the shows they’re in are earnest. The anime itself does what it does as if it’s the first anime ever produced. No character ever ends up just going through the motions.

cinematic - Anime directors use all kinds of camera angles you wouldn’t find in a typical TV show. Even when the show is low-budget, they make the framing and angles work despite the static drawing, or pan/scan over a beautiful scene with dialog voice over. Who can resist the moment when the ice, in an otherwise motionless shot of a glass, clinks?

consequences - Quite often when a disaster happens that’ll radically change the world, it actually happens. No return to the status-quo.

tonal shifts - The animation style fits the mood, turns into a goofball style when it seems appropriate. The animation is free to fit the inner mood of the characters.

dubs work - Dubs work well for anime when they never work for live action. The worst you can say is that the acting might be bad, but that’s on a case-by-case basis and isn’t the fault of the dub itself. My guess is that any animation can be dubbed well. That said, the original is always good, too.

optimism - Every main character says, “I can do better” and they keep trying until they either do better, or are routed into their proper course, where they bloom. Hard work. It pays off, and it’s fun.

found family - Anime almost always ends up being about a found family and how that family makes you a better person, makes your life worth living. It’s not a groups-over-individualism thing, it’s that the group and the individual are two sides of the same coin. The Japanese, or at least as they’re depicted in anime, do not poison themselves with too much individualism.

adult wish fulfillment - High-school anime has the kids relating to each other, their sports (or other interests) in ways we, as adults, wished we had experienced at school. I don’t think anime even gets the feeling of high school correctly. I’ve come to believe that’s not even the point of it. Coming of age stories are for people who have already come of age and (maybe) look back at their own experiences with their mature perspectives and would love to have a chance to try it again. Anyway, the imagined high school anime authors come up with is, on the whole, about people being or learning to be generous and kind to one another. I like to see it.

There you have it. Thems might thoughts on the matter. Profound, eh? Despite the fact that so much anime is the same in terms of tropes, I keep watching it. Each series has a unique set of characters, but, really, it’s the earnestness that keeps me interested.