To fill a void in my life.
Okay, no actually, I like anime because the character designs are just all over the place. Yeah, Western animation can be like that, too, but there's something about anime just going all-out with character designs and although there's a basic foundation of how anime
looks, it's so diverse that unless you're paying close attention to the design, you can look at a line-up of characters and know their personalities, the style, if they're from the same series or not, you know how creative the designer can be. There's a certain allure to it that while you
can trace it back to Disney and MGM's animation unit (
Tom & Jerry, mostly), the Japanese understand the general appeal of
beauty. And there's a noticeable evolution of style over decades, and I love it.
Plots are also so diversified that you can pick just
one genre and you will be satisfied for a good long while checking off the listed shows. Imagination is off the charts because the sky's not even the limit, it's something sorely missed in the West because we're too scared to take risks. Japan's more willing to take risks, although after the bubble burst that's definitely been put in a harness, but they still manage to work around it. But nevertheless, you'll find yourself expanding on other genres you might've never thought you'd like because of how interconnected many of them have become over time. It's almost like an endless mine of twisting and converging tunnels where you'll find gems and duds of all kind, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sure I haven't seen the metaphorical light of day for over a decade now even though I can still watch Western animation (especially when it comes to franchises), but it needs to catch my attention or have been a carryover from my childhood. Think the last original one that really caught me in its vice grip was
Gravity Falls, now that I think about it.
Learning about another country's culture (or learning I
have interest in learning another country's culture, so having to do personal research on my own time has been fun) is a big appeal, but ever since I was a kid, I latched on to anything that was animated at the time, and anime was just different to me before I even knew it was
called anime. The eyes I think were what attracted me, they're so big and sparkly and beautiful and come in all shapes and colors and
oh my God I love eyes. But that's too simple and silly an answer even though I would say that was my stepping stone.
