People say that anime isn’t a trend, it’s a lifestyle. I can’t help but agree. While the medium may have negative connotations due to interesting fanbases and cringy online content, there’s truly something for everyone—in whatever mood you might be in.
The allure to anime doesn’t come down to stunning visuals or life-changing soundtracks. It boils down to the inherent differences between Japanese and foreign ideologies. It’s known that there’s an individualist culture in the United States, but you may not know that Japan follows a more collectivist culture, where general harmony and success of the society are valued above most. Individual actions then relate more to their overall impact rather than deriving personal enjoyment. As such, Japanese stories are often character driven, but they explore moral binaries and difficult choices that American cartoons don’t dare discuss. These discrepancies lend to different viewership experiences, and it’s why I often come back to this wonderful medium no matter if I’m in for a laugh or a cry.
SAD:
Now, there’s no shortage of anime that will absolutely destroy you. Shows like Your Lie in April and Assassination Classroom have runs that are equally funny as happy, but the endings require five boxes of tissue paper and a whole month of pondering why you watched them. So, while I absolutely recommend them, I would go to Ride Your Wave for a short, sweet anime film that will give you those melancholic, sorrowful feelings with a slight tinge of happiness. In it, surfers Minato and Hinaka are deeply in love, but Minato passes away in a tragic accident. Hinako, distraught, finds that when she sings their favorite song, Minato appears as a ghost in the nearest body of water. Hinako soon comes to depend on this new trick to spend time with her recently deceased boyfriend, but they can’t keep doing this forever. Hinako needs to heal and Minato’s soul needs to rest.
FUNNY:
Laughter is one hundred percent the best medicine, but it’s trickier than most people think. Humor is so dependent on the individual that recommending a funny anime is honestly hard. If we were talking about my personal preference, I’d immediately go to The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. The satirical and deadpan humor is my cup of tea. Now, I would need to be more impartial and go with the equally-as-good Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War. The story revolves around Kaguya and Shirogane, two academic rivals (and student council president and vice-president) that could not be more distinct if they tried. Their shared secret? They’re both in love with the other. Using their sharp wits, they employ mental battles to get the other one to admit their love first. It’s a race to see who will confess and who gets to keep their pride.
WEIRD:
Curious, peculiar, weird— call it what you may. Sometimes, your mood calls for something different. That’s why I’m recommending Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s a multi-generational story (every season is a new family member) wherein everyone’s nickname is *spoiler* Jojo. This anime is adventure at its finest except that you don’t know where it will lead— be it a gothic mansion, a Tibetan temple, or the Colosseum. And, expect the unexpected, like an antagonistic clan of blood-thirsty vampires. This is only the start though. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is an agglomeration of pop culture all in a splendid visual feast. This show is everything all at once.
SUSPENSE:
Whether it’s waiting on the next scene with bated breath or gasping at a shocking plot twist, thriller tv-shows keep us on our toes. The show Attack on Titan has often been revered to be the greatest tv-shows of our day and age. I cannot help but agree on its brilliance. In a world ruled by men-eating giants called titans, a young boy joins the Survey Corps, a branch of the military meant to fight these forces. Everything that unfurls is nothing short of shocking and unexpected, with your heart pumping all throughout. Isayama, the writer, places puzzle pieces that will become relevant forty episodes from where they were originally placed. It really is a puzzle, one where you get a single piece each episode. At the end, you have a final result of something you may have never imagined.
HAPPY:
Is it unconventional for me to recommend an anime that has 1,140 episodes? Perhaps. That’s why I won’t gush too much about how utterly life-changing One Piece is. The joy that the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, brings viewers is unparalleled. His carefree and determined personality is unlike anything I’ve read, seen, or heard in all of fiction. While One Piece has a plethora of story arcs in its epic run, the themes of love, friendship, and joy prevail no matter what. Whether you like to admit it or not, it’s the ultimate feel-good anime. Joining this eclectic group of pirates with powers that can’t swim is assured to be one thing: unforgettable.
“One Piece Wanted Posters” by ~Ahmed~ is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.