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Is anime just a form of escapism?

Do you agree that anime is a form of escapism?

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Hawker

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Escapism= escape from the real world.

In anime people are usually perfect, with perfect bodies and personalities. It's the ultimate fantasy world where fiction is performed by cartoon characters. Now if one were to hate the world we live in, what better way would there be to escape from it than watching entertainment which is not connected to the real world and offers you the perfect world instead? A world which offers great ideas, moral teachings which you can relate with but also the perfect/beautiful people to relate to. I'm not saying ofcourse that f.e. the world of Naruto is perfect, with it's wars and all that. But I'm sayng that the consept of an anime world is perfect.

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How wikipedia describes escapism:

"Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" or dissociation from the perceived unpleasant, boring, arduous, scary, or banal aspects of daily life."

One could argue that most entertainment is just a form of escapism, but let's not get into that here. What I'm saying is that anime is different and it offers you an entertainment option which doesn't remind you of the real world as people who don't feel like they can relate to the real world usually don't find any problems relating to fictional characters.

In my experience people who watch anime are usually the people who are secluded from the mainstream population. I mean "nerds", overly insecure people, cynical misanthropes, overweight and depressed people. People who somehow feel that they are not wanted and so they on the other hand feel that they don't need the world.

Now I'm not saying that all who are watching Naruto are secluded people. I've watched Naruto and I like it and I know it's pretty popular among people who usually don't watch anime. But I think that if you tend to watch other anime as well on regular basis then you might fit into my description above. I don't mean to offend, but it's just an observation and I've wondered this for a while because all my "nerdy" friends are the ones who watch alot of anime.

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Do you feel that you watch anime because you want to escape the reality?​
 
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Ricardo

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I watch it because it's entertaining and shares interesting stories as well as interesting characters. If you want to escape from reality just drink a bottle of whiskey. :coffee:
 
Jack Spicer

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Everything fiction entertainment ever is an escapism to some extent as for however long we read or watch something, we are immersing ourselves into the world of whatever it is we are watching/reading. That is what entertainment in general is. I'm not saying I live in that world or want to, but to me, entertainment is just losing ourselves into an experience. That is how people get attached to characters and want their story to go a certain way. I think my view of escapism is a more positive one, maybe-probably even a misguided one as I believe you can escape and that does not mean you hate reality at all, but that is my view on it. In fact, I like to think life itself can improve when we learn from fiction. Heroes, fictional and real, inspire people to do good. That is a good thing. Also, it can inspire hope when we feel down. Obviously, real life people can do that as well, more than often they do, but sometimes help can come from losing yourself into a world. If someone ACTUALLY believes they are living in a fictional world and that hinders their life and harms people, that is a whole different story. That is a problem. I'm trying to tackle it as a more positive thing. I'm surely failing miserably.
 
lord seventh

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I watch anime on regular basis but not to cut my bonds with reality or real world.
I think a person can also get inspiration from even an anime if he looks it in positive manners afterall it is not a fundamental rule to inspire from a human only we can get inspiration from anything including animals, humans even animes also we can understand different persons ideology through anime overall i don't think anime is a form of escapism but ultimately it depend on persons point of view
 
YellowFang

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Yep, I agree to an extent...

I find anime more of the form of escapism because most of them first correlate to the real life difficulties and end up in the perfect life...

Anyone with the similar troubles would easily find himself wanting to have the exact kind of transition in life which is not happening 99% of the time...
 
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chopstickchakra

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Hawker said:


Escapism= escape from the real world.

In anime people are usually perfect, with perfect bodies and personalities. It's the ultimate fantasy world where fiction is performed by cartoon characters. Now if one were to hate the world we live in, what better way would there be to escape from it than watching entertainment which is not connected to the real world and offers you the perfect world instead? A world which offers great ideas, moral teachings which you can relate with but also the perfect/beautiful people to relate to. I'm not saying ofcourse that f.e. the world of Naruto is perfect, with it's wars and all that. But I'm sayng that the consept of an anime world is perfect.

~~

How wikipedia describes escapism:

"Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" or dissociation from the perceived unpleasant, boring, arduous, scary, or banal aspects of daily life."

One could argue that most entertainment is just a form of escapism, but let's not get into that here. What I'm saying is that anime is different and it offers you an entertainment option which doesn't remind you of the real world as people who don't feel like they can relate to the real world usually don't find any problems relating to fictional characters.

In my experience people who watch anime are usually the people who are secluded from the mainstream population. I mean "nerds", overly insecure people, cynical misanthropes, overweight and depressed people. People who somehow feel that they are not wanted and so they on the other hand feel that they don't need the world.

Now I'm not saying that all who are watching Naruto are secluded people. I've watched Naruto and I like it and I know it's pretty popular among people who usually don't watch anime. But I think that if you tend to watch other anime as well on regular basis then you might fit into my description above. I don't mean to offend, but it's just an observation and I've wondered this for a while because all my "nerdy" friends are the ones who watch alot of anime.

~~

Do you feel that you watch anime because you want to escape the reality?​
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All entertainment is escapism to a degree, the connotation to the word is negative so people are afraid to associate with the concept but yes, anything that you use for entertainment purposes that stimulates the center of the brain that reacts to fiction and imagination is in a form escapism.
 
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