So I don't really care about anime/manga

[RoseWagsBlue]

I never ever watched an anime or read a manga befor I started here.
But I have got hooked on Studio Ghibly movies, and on a few of the KyoAni titles.
So, okay, obsessed with Studio Ghibly. I just can’t watch violent stuff.

[rumade]

Me, I’m pretty far from super into it. Akira is a work of art and one of the best films ever made but a huge chunk of anime is utter trash, just like a huge chunk of TV made all around the world.

I’m reading a しろくまカフェ book at the moment because it’s easy and has useful vocabulary for me. Also, cute drawings. But I don’t seek out manga particularly.

[ewright]

Eh, I think it is to be expected with a Japanese language learning community based outside of Japan. Anime/mange are the only easily accessible resource for a lot of people.

That being said, I am pretty ambivalent about anime. I’ve seen a few, but would by no means consider myself an otaku. I do like manga, though (especially old ones from the 80’s.)

However, my main interest in Japan stems from military alliances, East Asian international security, politics, and maritime security.

Sooo, you aren’t alone lol.

Unfortunately, it may make your other Japanese language learning friends a bit uncomfortable if you declare you don’t like anime (from my experience at least.)

Also, you probably won’t be able to do any presentations in Japanese about missiles (trust me, I tried.)

[ematan]

Although much of my early interest in Japanese was much influenced by reading manga and watching anime, I lost most of my interest once I actually went to Japan for the first time. Back then I got interested first in j-drama (Hana Yori Dango aired just back then) and watched those for a while. Then I lost time and interest in those as well…

It’s kinda funny that the only “anime”-serie I’ve been interested in the past few years, isn’t even Japanese production, but from China

[plantron]

[haris2322]

all im going to say is JOJO

[Subzero_Eclipse]

Used to like them a lot during high school, as well as video games and that’s what made me grow an interest towards Japan and its culture. I have however outgrew this phase, and went through a bit of… soul-searching.

[Psittacus]

Is that an Attack on Titan reference?

[Belthazar]

It’s… probably a Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure reference.

… Why would it be an Attack on Titan reference?

[Psittacus]

That was the joke, because “is that a JoJo’s reference?” is a popular phrase often quoted in memes so I turned it on its head a little to create an unexpected twist.

[morpheme]

Count me as another who doesn’t care for anime or manga. I see them mostly as a necessary intermediate step until I can read light novels, but struggle to find anything I connect with enough to use as a learning tool. Fortunately, I’ve found a few slice-of-life and sports anime that don’t have too much chibi (omg, I loathe chibi, sorry!) or fanservice. Heck, I even found a rugby anime which is bearable…and I liked Shirokuma Cafe’s puns!

It’s taken a lot of work and some very knowledgeable friends to help me find things.

[Kuropanda_meow]

[snow-pine]

I’ve watched a few series, mainly when I was 9-12 years old (Higurashi & Naruto), but after that I didn’t find much that stuck with me even when I wanted them to.
I still read doujins, hence my icon : P Those are very short one-shot stories though.

[Kazzeon]

Watching Higurashi while being 9-12

[sergiop]

I love anime and manga as much as I love Showa era Japanese cinema (Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, etc… films). But I will never read light novels, I’d rather go with short stories of Japanese literature (Souseki, Akutagawa, etc…). One thing I really like about anime is that even if you are super tired, you can still easily get one hour of listening to Japanese dialogues without falling asleep. I have no regrets to every penny I pay Netflix, Amazon, Crunchyroll and Funamination. Recently, the dialogue in Sangatsu no Lion (Netflix) is music to my ears.

[snow-pine]

Yeah it took a while to stop being terrified of being murdered in my sleep after watching all of that, but it was really interesting

[MusaB]

That was me, until I got sucked into Naruto… Then FMA… Then Dragon Ball (original)… Now a days it’s mostly Japanese drama.

Recently I watched Hitoshi Matsumoto’s Documental - it’s a bunch of Japanese comedians stuck in a room for 6 hours, the only rule is you’re not allowed to laugh. It’s hilarious, definitely check it out.

[Hinaa]

I’m not particularly into it either (even though it’s literally everywhere here). I’m primarily a fan of the art from the studio/artist’s accounts on Twitter, and seeing what they work on. Reading their Tweets is good reading practice too!

[Vendemiaire]

It’s pretty okay since Japan isn’t all about Anime and Manga. It’s just one of the gateway drugs.

[flowersandflames]

Anime and manga is a pretty common gateway for young people. I know I grew up watching cartoons and playing video games, both big exports from Japan. I’m curious in what other ways people get sucked in?