You need hobbies beyond anime. It sounds obvious. However, I’ve encountered many people who are consumed by their interest whether it is anime or, more common to my area, sports. These people have few interests outside their field and those few interests link back to that field.
Growing up, I idolized Leonardo da Vinci and his notebooks. He covered everything from anatomy to flight to water flow to poetry on a single page. Even now I strive to keep my interests wide and my own notebooks eclectic. Anime and Japanese culture have become a large part of how I spend my time. My personal library’s second largest section, beyond fiction, is my Japan section. If you are wondering, religious studies is my largest section. After all, my writing sits on my research, and I find Japan fascinating. But this isn’t all I do and study. Okay, here is a breakdown of how I spend my free time during an average week:
This varies each week, of course. I share this to give you an idea of how you too can be better rounded. I schedule my free time so I can finish reading at least one book every week, write, and still have time to play a video game. Without a schedule, my time slips from me like an sesame-oiled ramen noodle. As you can see, I’m still not very well rounded. I don’t like sports, nor do I make time to be social in a normal week. These general categories hide other activities as well: I fold computer programing into reading and writing, fossil hunting into exercise.
When I read, I read theology and history and psychology. Of course, I also read books about Japan, making notes for when I write a blog article. At work, I teach myself how to wire circuits and program microcontrollers so I can teach workshops on it. I draw and dabble in other forms of computer programming. I dabble in gardening. Again, I want to channel Leonardo da Vinci in my intellectual life. I want to always be curious and learn.
I don’t tell you this to boast. I can only speak from my frame of reference and experiences.
There’s much beyond anime, and expanding your interests helps you appreciate anime more. You can identify with the characters that are doing what you too have done. Likewise, you will see what anime gets wrong.
How to Develop More Interests
What if you don’t know what interests you? History is boring, you may think. “I’m not an intellectual! Anime is my escape, and there is so much to it!”
Well, you are right about that. Anime has a lot of depth to it. It pulls from centuries of Japanese literature. It pulls from the intersection of Japanese and American and Western culture. If anime or manga is your main passion, use them as your starting point. What parts of a story made you curious? Does the violin or piano in Your Lie in April interest you? Learn how violins or pianos are made. Learn to play. Do samurai swords interest you? Learn how they are made. Learn how they compared to Western swords. Read about the greatest swordsmen like Musashi.
While you do this, ask yourself what catches your curiosity as you learn. Perhaps Musashi’s ink paintings strike you as interesting. Look into how sumi-paintings are done. Try to paint one yourself. Look into how washi paper is made. In the process, you may come across calligraphy, which can lead to learning how to write English calligraphy. In turn, this can lead you to an interest in medieval text books and their calligraphy. Next thing you know, you are reading Arthurian Legends and enjoying medieval manuscripts. You really should look into both. The Legends are fun stories and medieval manuscripts are amazing.
Okay, I’m stretching a little here. I’m trying to show you how curiosity, when you are open to it, can lead you far away from the starting point. Anime can take you all the way to Egyptian’s Middle Kingdom if you follow the interconnections with open curiosity. Welcome to an intellectual life! All an intellectual life needs is curiosity and a willingness to pursue it. Any starting point, even American football, can lead you to unknown places. Of course, this assumes you enjoy reading. Here’s the thing, if you are curious, reading becomes painless. You don’t have to read books from first to last page. Just read the parts that interest you.
If you follow your curiosity, you will soon find yourself with interests beyond anime. In my case, I found anime from my other interests, mainly my interest in computer animation and warfare. These interests both moved toward Japan and, well, here I am writing about anime and Japan for over 10 years. And I am still finding more curiosities. I moved from anime to ukiyo-e and from ukiyo-e to Heian period literature (through Edo references to the Heian period). My starting points for warfare were the Roman Empire and Ancient Egypt. Everything interconnects. Chasing these connections is the definition of an intellectual life.
Why Should I Go Beyond Anime?
Because it is fun? No seriously, an intellectual life, a life of learning, is fun. Learning new things that interest you feels good too. It gives life depth and purpose. It also helps protect your brain from aging. It enhances your understanding of the starting point. I understand anime far better now that I’ve read the works of Lady Murasaki, Lady Nijo, Kafu Nagai, and all the folklore I’ve researched. I still don’t understand anime as a native Japanese person would, but that is okay. I understand it better and see more of its subconscious elements than when I first watched Toonami.
If you want to truly be an otaku, you need to be not be an otaku. You need to look beyond anime to understand it at the depth online otaku claim to understand it. This idea applies to anything you value. Another example: if you are a Christian, you have to study the Roman period, Hellenic period, Egypt and Mesopotamia to understand the Bible.
You should to have other hobbies and interests and curiosities. These will route back to anime in surprising ways. As you learn, you will lose the desire to show off what you know about anime. Waifu Wars and similar immaturity will lose their appeal. Instead, you will want to explore anime’s depths further. You will want to teach others what you’ve discovered. Yes, like I do here. I don’t write to show off my knowledge. I write in the hope to point you toward your own path of curiosity. I write in the hope you will point others toward their own intellectual paths.
Do I believe anime can change the world? Yes, if we use it to point people toward curiosity and thoughtfulness. Curiosity and thoughtfulness offer remedies for the problems that plague us in this modern age. Going beyond anime is a way to use anime to improve the world, one thought at a time.
I enjoyed this article very much. People should encourage their children’s sense of curiosity and wonder and expose them to all kinds of experiences besides looking at their cellphone screens. And as adults we can continue to learn using curiosity and mindfulness throughout our daily lives.
Curiosity seems to become harder to protect as we get older, doesn’t it?