It genuinely sucks having no friends who are as passionate about anime. At least the ones im interested in.
I have a few friends that are avid watchers but theyre more of manga readers and the anime we watch arent very similar so that sucks. Besides that, i feel so disappointed that i cant bust out a catchy anime intro song during ktv and we'd all start singing in excitement. And whenever i repost fandom related content i cant help but feel like whats the point? It just feels a bit sad and isolating. 😕 Anyone can relate?
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And now in most groups I've found people still don't really watch the same stuff as me. Or only a small portion of it overlaps.
I just want people who will lose their minds over series like Mononoke, Hoozuki no Reitetsu, and all the various really good SoLs with me 🥲 I just want to see all the drama, historical, weird and obscure series there is.
There's also a bunch of shows I like that seem to be mostly full of fujoshi fans, as well. As a fan of the same series but someone who isn't a fujoshi, that tends to be not so fun, either. (Not to say they can't like what they like, but I don't have much in common with them)
I told one of these friends that my favorite anime was the classic 1998 Trigun. They'd never even heard of it. I said "it's a space western, sort of like Cowboy Bebop." They'd never heard of Cowboy Bebop either. It sucks because I am obsessed with Trigun and want to talk about it with my friends.
It's not so different from level of fans of other hobbies. For example you get people who only watch the latest block buster live action movies, but then you get those that know the names of actors in movies, watch everything including older movies, etc.
I don't know anyone in person that watches anime or if they do they don't state it in public, Although I don't discuss my hobbies with anyone else in person either, so who knows maybe a colleague does watch anime and we simply haven't mentioned it.
Now you load up a single web page and get blasted with a 100 long list of next episodes or new releases that all compete for the 3 hours of free time in the evening.
I have a friend whose been watching anime since elementary school, and yet he mostly just watches Shounen and isekai slop. He probably has a good 10 years on me (I started in HS) but I'm the one whose bringing up the strange obscure anime that nobody's ever heard of.
I not even like bebop nor trigun genre, yet I ever heard it at least
You have to actively search for it now while previously it would land on your lap.
Not bashing or anything at all, just that some consider themselves experts whilst not having delved too much into the medium at all. I myself have only seen maybe 150-175 shows yet I know I've seen much of anything
Most anime are rehashes of the same plot points with the same character tropes in some minor variation of setting, power system and plot structures.
So at some point only the really high quality anime are worth watching (as their something genuinely new and refreshing, which is why their the hot show of the season) and then watch the couple few shows that really fill whatever niche style of anime your a sucker for, regardless of quality. Everyone has their own flavor of dumpster fire that warms them in the right way.
I'm going to try again, though. The local anime Meetup group is having a get-together for All I Need Is Kill nearby, so I'm going to go for that.
Are people just lying about what they watch?
Rule 1. People change
But good friends will appreciate the differences, happily discuss things because they're interested that you are interested and vice versa.
My best mate of over 30 years (I'm 39) and my anime interests have diverged. But we still give ground and try things we aren't 100% on and enjoy watching stuff together. We have different views on a lot of stuff (including outside anime) but we respect each other and happily have in-depth discussions on just about any topic (including anime).
I'm so lucky to have a friend like him, and I know it's rare, but mutual respect means respecting the other person's likes/dislikes.
These days, he's an uncle to my son, by nature of being awesome and is besties with my missus too...
Also back then in the early 2000s, we weren't nearly as spoiled for choice as we are now. I definitely watched some shows back then I wouldn't now just because it was the only thing that looked interesting at the time. Nowadays I'm lucky if I can watch all the seasonals I want to for any given season, while being pretty picky about what I actually want to watch.
just as I talk about theatre, movies, TV series, radio, etc, as a medium for story-telling.
And any time I talk about something, I make sure it is something (genre, topic, themes) that they are likely to be interested in.
… and subsequently, my friends respect any recommendations that I give them, just as I respect any recommendations they give me.
And if there are no friends who would be interested in a particular title, then that’s fine as well. Because I’m comfortable with my solitude.
Recommendations pile up like the books you said you’ll read 5-years ago.
People watch things, just as when they read books, … when the right time comes.
That is where the internet comes in, its where i have room to debate and talk on my tastes with people as the same.
I can see the Anime internet ecossistem changed since late 00s/early 10s though.
She has no problem with anything I watch (mostly CGDCT) and I have no problem with anything she shows to me but we aren't thrilled as the other.
We might watch a season of garupan and I would be on the edge of my seat or clapping at the screen and she would be "I guess it's nice, 7/10". And when she shows me a season of Free it would be the same identical thing in reverse.
Not a problem tho. But yeah, sometimes I wish I had a buddy I could gush over come CGDCT. My problem is that I _fucking suck_ at socializing over the internet so...
Before everyone knew what each other was watching, and when, and how. Now you are lucky if your real life friends are watching the same anime and the same watch schedule.
It's why I LOVED Odd Taxi. Everyone watched every week. We had almost concurrent reactions. And because it was anime original we were all theory crafting. Online and offline.
To their case, they could say the same. I barely watch any IRL shows. I have watched the first season of stranger things and only the first 2 of Dexter. Only recently finished Sevarance too.
But my main point is, anime is more mainstream now. If you want to get along with shows you want to them watch, why not do the same for the shows they watch?
I have put a couple of my friends on anime but they are really casual and only like shounen or sports stuff. I have tried to make them watch something with a little more depth but they aren’t interested and I don’t want to overdo it. The one friend that DID watch good anime just stopped watching completely so my anime socialization for some time has been lurking in episode discussion reddit threads
Making new friends would be an option but I don’t really get how that works :D I have joined some discord servers of my favourite shows but I’m too shy to take part in conversations so I just lurk
It's not often that you find people in their late twenties just hanging around, talking about anime, let alone in their thirties now. I've accepted my loneliness for a very long time.
It's hard making new friends especially being an adult. Try doing some forums, join anime club, attend local come, or start up your own thing!
Welcome to people that grew up in the 80-90s. It wasnt until I was in high school that I could talk to anyone about an anime and they understood. I met an absolutely amazing friend named Dan, who talked video games and anime with me and it was the best thing ever(he introduced me to Nadeisco, and games like Chrono Cross). Im sadden that he moved and I lost contact with him.
It was really awkward explaining to people that would see me running home from after school that sailor moon(it was the first in the line up back in the toonami days) was going to start among the rest of the animes afterward.
When I was younger my friend group was exclusively anime nerds, but we all moved and grew apart for various reasons so... now I have my husband and reddit for that, which works. Still feel bummed sometimes though.
At work there is one colleague that watches, but in very limited fashion. Has seen like 50ish shows in 10 years according to his MAL.
I kinda just got used to it being something I do on my own.
Anime, manga, music, games, comics, YouTube, etc
It feels awful.
Yes
"who are as passionate about anime"
Oh...
Hold on to your friends OP. Making new friends in your 30s is fucking impossible.
Once I got to my new job over 1,5 year ago, on this huge company with 100s of employees, I found out how most people, a vast majority actually, watched anime.
I get along with many of them, even having a closer group, though I'm very reluctant to call anyone an actual friend, but this is beyond the point. Anyway, these people watch anime, but don't enjoy talking about it, discussing it, having fun coming up with theories, etc.
They just say "I've watched X, it was good", I can push for more, ask them, try make conversation, but nothing comes out of it.
A few months ago I've recommend Clannad to the one kf them who had a more similar taste to mine. He thought it was amazing and cried a lot during the After Story arc, but still was unable to talk about it, discuss it in any meaningful capacity.
There are exceptions for everything, of course, but I think this might be a generational thing. I'm older both in age and in terms of the amount of time I've been into anime.
I'm from the time of the fansubs and forum discussions online, where every week I'd read a new manga chapter and discuss it with hundreds of other people in different platforms online. A time where anime was a niche hobby. I'm someone who would discuss Naruto powerscaling in 2010, or read Death Note and watch Code Geass and feel like an elitist genius watching masterpieces in 2013.
I've realized, after getting into this new job, that anime is mainstream now, and this new generation of fans are way more casual in the sense of getting "deep" into animes. Some of them watch way more anime than me, certainly all of them watch more anime than I do currently, but yet they have little interest to talk about it in depth, to argue, discuss and theorize.
They may be interested in saying "have you watched that? No? It's cool", or "so you're watching that, right? Have you seen how dope it is?" but not actually get into any "deep" conversation about the story, plot or characters.
They also favor dubs to an incredible degree, which was a bit of a shock to me, since I'm from a time where dubs were rare and always either disliked or at least not favored. Many would shit on dubs. It was pretty normal, but now the fans only watch sub if there's no dub, or only watch dub and avoid animes without it.
It's totally different from the anime fans I've always knew and interacted with online. I feel disconnected to them in regards to anime, and so don't even try to come up with any anime-related discussions anymore. At best I try to recommend stuff but already knowing that no discussion will come out of it.