Do you think some animes hit harder when watching as a kid compared to as an adult?

I’m going through and rewatching old anime I used to love as a kid and i noticed I don’t have the same feelings/emotions as I did as when I watched as a kid.

for example, Naruto, an anime I used to love as a kid, i used to be emotionally attached to the characters as a kid and would even cry during episodes lol but now watching it as an adult those same feelings are not there.

also I don’t think an adult watching Naruto for the first time would have the same feelings I did when I was a kid. Do you think some animes are better when you were a child compared to when you are an adult?

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SirRHellsing2026-01-15 06:13

I rewatched Naruto a couple years ago and Onepiece last summer, still as good as my memories. So for me no, the good stuff are still the good stuff

Dixenz2026-01-15 06:13

The other way around also applied.

I don't think I would watch Journal with Witch as a kid.

steven48692026-01-15 06:15

I'd have definitely shrugged it off as boring anime in the past, but here I am waiting for another episode to air.

steven48692026-01-15 06:14

Yeah, if you have shown me Solo Levelling or Hell's Paradise like 6 years back I'd have loved it to hell but now I am more invested in anime like currently airing Journal with witch or Shiboyugi.

Hyvex_2026-01-15 06:20

When I first finished Code Geass as a kid, it was the first time that I just sat there. I just sat there and to reflect the story I just finished. If I saw it today, it would still hit, but it wouldn't hit as hard since I would've seen some other anime that went with a similar concept, without spoiling too much.

Now Gurren Lagann on the other hand, if I ever need to pick myself up, I know what I'll be watching. The quote "Believe in you who believes in yourself" has always stuck with me because more often than not what stops a person is not that they can't but that they won't.

Affectionate-Can-2312026-01-15 06:22

I don’t think anything will ever hit exactly the same way It did when you first watched it. These days when I rewatch something I’m just appreciative of the art or looking for small things about the characters. I don’t really rewatch to get the same feelings I had before. I will say for some reason when I rewatched world trigger I was super emotional maybe because I was really paying attention to how the characters care about each other I guess I missed that the first time.

Strawberry28282026-01-15 07:12

This is such an interesting post. I rewatch something to precisely feel the same way I did as I watched it the first as well as gain a new perspective.

VoidEmbracedWitch2026-01-15 09:47

I don't think you can ever really feel the exact same again, but opposed to the comment above, I'd say that first experience is far less valuable than most people assume. Rewatches add new layers to your connection with an anime that are never quite the same. I watched *Liz and the Blue Bird* a double digit amount of times now and every rewatch still makes me find new angles to love it from while coming away with a changed perspective on the leads. And every rewatch emotionally affected me more than the first time.

mariamuttergottes2026-01-15 06:24

Yes, definitely. As a child, you were exposed to far fewer other media and ideas.

As a teenager, you may have seen a surprising plot twist for the first time. By the age of 25, you've seen the same twist more than ten times in different series.

As a teenager, you might think that a certain character is profound. Once your prefrontal cortex is fully developed, you realize that many characters are actually very superficial and that their character development was predictable.

Culture also evolves. Take Seinfeld, for example. Back then, it was the funniest series on television. Today, many people no longer understand what is so funny about this series. Simply because it was so influential that you have seen the jokes and plots 100 times before, and the same plots have been developed further several times and even influenced everyday life.

Today, the series seems rather boring. Back then, most of the series was groundbreaking.

PotatoMoist19712026-01-15 10:48

Seinfeld is a classic. To suggest its boring is WILD

mariamuttergottes2026-01-15 12:47

Definitely a classic but you wouldn't give it a 10/10 these days without context. If you watch it today many episodes feel like nothing is happening. All the tiny jokes would make you at least giggle back then. Now it goes straight past you.

The heavy hitters also hit way more extreme back then. The concept of the Soup Nazi for example was so influential that everybody made that joke in the every single office in town. Then the joke followed you into the pub and if you were lucky your kid was shouting it at home as well. Simply couldn't happen today. There is too much content at a similar level or higher. At best it would be another random meme.

PotatoMoist19712026-01-15 18:08

Hard disagree. An episode like soup nazi perfectly encapsulates the comedic depth that Seinfeld achieved. Not every episode had the same depth, but the show as a whole was punching above its weight class for its time. The primary factor that pulls it out of relevance is that technology has changed over time so the comedic relevance becomes a lost generational aspect. You’re welcome to not think it’s 10/10 but if you pull any show from the past you start running into the wall fast with technological relevance. And I find you don’t run into it nearly as fast with Seinfeld despite its age.

mariamuttergottes2026-01-15 21:42

>The primary factor that pulls it out of relevance is that technology has changed over time so the comedic relevance becomes a lost generational aspect

what do you mean by that? and how does it contradict what i was saying?

PotatoMoist19712026-01-16 08:40

After reviewing your initial comment, I admit I misinterpreted what you wrote. We’re practically saying the same thing. I still think much of the comedy is relevant but I also suspect there is generational bias at play with my decision.

PeaceAlien2026-01-15 06:25

Of course you’re a different person than you were as a kid

dyollnai07012026-01-15 06:39

yeah,. when i was younger, hype is the king. loud music, big fights, pure spectacle. i'll inhale it. now i'm old and tired… i just want to relax. give me vibes and give me atmosphere

SliderGamer552026-01-15 06:44

Absolutely. Which is fine and predictable. It would be weird and potentially sad if I had zero different emotions or thoughts on the shows I watched when I was younger.

Though it is nice when they do hold up. Pokemon season 1 is way better than I would've thought it would be when I went back to it, and Medabots and G Gundam are still peak (if in a cheesy semi-ironic way for the latter). And while I watched it when I was slightly older, One Piece still holds up, despite all its limitations as a long runner.

raflov162026-01-15 07:08

Of course. There’s a reason shows are aimed at different demographics, because people can relate to them. Shows with a high school setting are more popular with kids in high school because they can relate to those shows

Familiar_Pattern97012026-01-15 07:40

I only watched Naruto as an adult and it didnt exactly "hut hard" but I was super invested in the characters and felt those strong emotions. Many still do hit hard though, like when Paul dies in moshoku tensi and even little things like when you hear the tolling of the hero bells in danmachi. It doesnt hit hard because the concept is deep or original, but because we relate to their experiences on a fundamental level and resonate with the feelings of human existence in moments of realization and presence.

copperfield422026-01-15 08:17

It depend, if the show try to be smarter than it really is you can spot the deception more easily as an adult than when you were a kid when you otherwise might had think it was the coolest shit ever.

In contrast, show that you wouldn't even fathom watching as a kid can even end as your favorite now precisely because it doesn't relay is shallow spectacle, cheap emotional manipulation, chicken out on something or whatever else that no longer works on you the same way as before for all your added experience in media and life in general.

Few_Highlight11142026-01-15 08:40

Only because of your lack of media exposure.

As you get older you've seen more stuff and you've also seen it done very well, so the reason you go back and dont get the same feeling as before (besides it not being the first time) is that you've probably experienced better.

VoidEmbracedWitch2026-01-15 08:49

I don't think growing older makes it harder for anime to hit me like a truck. I'm a grown woman and a show for 6 year-old girls like Hugtto Precure can very much tear out my heart, stomp on it, and forcefully insert it back into my chest while telling me to face whatever uncertain future awaits me with a bright smile. But then, this might be because Hugtto is... really fucking good, as Satojuns tend to be.

The only thing really lost compared to my childhood was actually how TV works. It feels different to choose to watch Kiki's Delivery Service compared to just randomly stumbling into it on a Sunday afternoon timeslot and have it be the best thing you've seen all week. Most Ghibli movies are every bit as great as I vaguely remember, but the purposeful decision to pick one up and watch it does make a difference.

E: though I guess I am not the best person to respond to this post. After all, I only really got into anime as an adult through the moeblob side entrance rather than any of the common gateway anime, with the odd shows I watched before then like Yuri on Ice or parts of Attack on Titan not having been that important to me.