Last week, Marow of Anime Viking answered an interesting question in his post on whether or not someone will continue to enjoy a hobby such as Anime as time goes on. Here is my take on the question. (Image Source)
During my childhood, my parents allowed us to learn how to play the piano along with video games. While I didn’t really get into Anime until the late 90s, I still have fond memories of playing piano, doing music auditions and eventually playing the Clarinet from the 4th grade until the end of High School in the school’s concert band. I admit, I enjoy playing music although it takes a good amount of practice to become good. When I got into college, I stopped playing music since I knew that it wouldn’t be something you can do for a living unless you are really talented. But in general, the time factor will always be a problem for everyone as some hobbies requires more time than others.
Coming back to Anime, it always holds a special place in my mind just like video games because of the entertainment and art value. As explained when I shared my reason why I still watch Anime, it’s special for the fact that it can cover a range of serious topics along with eye-catching animation. While video games can have great art-direction, enjoyable gameplay and a deep and/or enjoyable story, it takes time to enjoy the experience. With Anime, it’s more flexible as each episode is usually 24 minutes long. Since I’m not allowed to play with the main consoles when college is in session because of college, Anime allows me to experience some escapism from real life without taking a lot of time.
Looking at the issue at heart, will I enjoy Anime less as I get older? For me, I don’t think this is the case as my tastes only started to develop when I got into it again during my freshman year of college. Before that, I used to watch Anime that air on television since we didn’t have cable TV until the mid 2000s. Eventually, I gave up on it since I lost interest in the Pokémon Anime without realizing that there are other shows out there. When I start watching again, it’s only when I realized that there is something that makes this medium so special. While I watch a lot of shows with cute girls, it also shows little things in life we take for granted such as friendship and creating ever-lasting memories. Because of this, I doubt I will lose interest in it anytime soon as the passion for a hobby will evolve over time though experience.
In conclusion, I think people can enjoy Anime regardless of age. While Marow mentions that Anime has a negative perception that cartoons are for children compared to other hobbies, I think people need to have an open mind and view anime from a different angle. Sure, there is a culture difference such as the cuteness culture in Japan while the west prefers violence exists, just don’t let perception bother you and just enjoy what you love. ¶
I think I will continue enjoying anime for many more years. If you consider questions like these and find yourself WANTING to continue with anime no matter what, then I think you would be fine. I think what would stop me is time commitments – but even if you did less time to watch it as you get older, that wouldn’t mean you dislike anime altogether. I know plenty of older fans who have liked anime for a long, long time.
So to me it’s a matter of what you put into the hobby that determines whether you’ll stick with it in future 🙂
I think time is an obvious issue as not everyone has free time. Since I was in college, I had plenty of time although I have to spend some on college work, projects and stuff. However, working on graduate degrees or working at a full time job takes most of the free time away along with raising a family, so I can understand why older people will have less time. However, I don’t think this means that they will lose interest and manage to fit it in their own schedule.
Still here, I think I’ve even outlasted some of you n00bs. Yes, I’ve been watching some for of anime since the 80’s.
I really hope to continue watching anime as I grow older! I can’t imagine not… But you never really know, I already had a phase in my life where I lost interest in it for a long time, however I got back into it again. I think it’s more about our taste in genres that will change rather than the interest in anime in general.
I fell out of interest in Anime when I was in high school as mentioned before, but it only lasted a year. But still, I agree that tastes changes as we gain new experiences that influences what we like.