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As a country, Japan has many interesting and unique cultures, making it very popular and well-loved. It is also an exciting place to visit, not just for the culture, but for many other things you would not find elsewhere. Japan is a place where you create unique, beautiful memories. Over the years, Japan has played a key role in the world’s development, with the creation of video games, cars, and fashion growth.
One of Japan’s iconic contributions to the world today has to be the introduction of what is called “anime.” Anime is gotten from the word “animation”. It has had much influence globally such that people that have gotten themselves in love with it. Some people have felt the need to visit Japan and/or even learn Japanese. It is surprising to see that anime is loved worldwide, but the influence that it has had is hardly talked about.
There are different ways in which anime has influenced the world. We will consider the influence it had on the lives of the younger generation for the sake of this article.
Influence of anime on the younger generation
Like every other thing that young people, especially teenagers, watch, anime has influenced many younger generations. This influence, however, has come in both the good and the wrong form. Here’s the breakdown of it.
Positive influence of Anime
1.Relieves Psychological Pressure
One of the most renowned positive effects that anime has on the teenagers is that it helps relieve psychological pressure. We live in a fast-paced society, and it only gets faster. There are different types of pressure that the young people of this generation are now subjected to. While they might not always be able to solve the pressure or deal with it all by themselves, anime provided an avenue for them to let go of the steam. The surreal situations in anime helps to relieve any psychological pressure that they may be facing.
2.Develop A Strong Will
These anime can also develop a strong will in younger people, especially those who are not scared of experiencing setbacks. Many of these Japanese anime contain heroes that suffered numerous setbacks and went through different struggles but didn’t give up. These stories motivate the younger ones to never give up on their dreams, irrespective of their struggles or setbacks.
3.Emphasizes Communication and Cooperation
The awareness that many young people spend their time to watching anime has made the creators emphasize communication and cooperation. Much Japanese anime these days have the protagonist doing a lot of teamwork. By seeing the teamwork results in these anime, young people will learn to cooperate more and have better social relations.
It is also undeniable that many young people’s learning scope has expanded as a result of watching Japanese anime. By watching and understanding these anime, they also imbibe different knowledge and learn about Japanese culture. This has helped to expand the knowledge bank of many young people all over the world.
Negative influence of Anime
As much as Japanese anime has positive influences on younger generations, they also have negative impacts.
1.Over indulgence
One of the less obvious negative impacts is the indulgence that many young people now have. The fact that these anime are created with beautifully-written stories, and rich content has made them appealing to young people. This has caused many teenagers to indulge themselves in watching anime and spending too much time on it.
2.Bad Behaviors
Secondly, so many anime characters have bad behaviors. Sadly, many of these teenagers do not have the cognitive ability to judge right and will end up imitating these characters. Add to this the fact that there are numerous scenes in anime that portray blood spilling, violence, and pornography, which is bound to affect these young ones’ development physically and mentally negatively.
There are also many anime stories with negative themes that include jealousy, hatred, sadness, pain, resentment, nudity, sexual abuse, etc. this is understandable as it cannot all be positive throughout the series. However, it has a negative influence on the younger ones.
3.Individual Heroism
Another thing that needs to be pointed out is individual heroism. Although the creators of these anime are beginning to make efforts to promote teamwork and cooperation, there’s no denying that there is a surplus of individual heroism. The problem with this is that it can create a mindset of individualism in these young ones. In reality, individual heroism of this kind is a subculture. When this younger generation gets affected by it, they will neglect teamwork when dealing with or solving a problem and will choose to go solo instead. When the emphasis is on personal ability, it is impossible to develop an objective and comprehensive understanding when considering a problem.
Japanese anime also has numerous anti-cultural contents in it, which may have a substantial effect on these teenagers’ development. Japanese anime has portrayed radical nationalism, militarism, etc., and this is not conducive for establishing world peace, patriotism, and curbing violent tendencies in these young ones. Also, many of the Japanese anime have their themes as central spirituality and/or horror, which is also not good enough for young people to understand how the world works correctly. This will affect the healthy growth of the younger generation negatively.
Conclusion
The general acceptance of Japanese anime has given the world a different way to use their resources when telling their stories. There is freedom of expression with the animation, and it can be created in any genre for different audiences.
It is not surprising that young people from significant demographics of anime users are more easily influenced. This is not the only way that Japanese anime has been influential, but it needs to be talked about more often.
There are different ways in which these anime can influence young people all over the world. While there is a good and positive influence on it, it also has its negative impacts that need to be curbed.
Author Bio
Jessica Chapman is a writing editor from Chicago, working at best essay writing service. She is into sports and politics, enjoys traveling. Contact Jessica on Facebook.