Recently, a popular anime called Attack On Titan became the most in-demand show in the United States, taking over television programs like Cobra Kai, Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things. This statistic indicates that anime could play a much larger role in the future for the entertainment industry in America. When it comes to the topic of prevalent forms of entertainment in the United States, many of us will readily agree that American live-action TV shows are the best. Where this agreement occasionally ends, however, is on the question of anime. If you don’t know what anime is, it is Japanese television animation. While some are convinced that American live-action TV shows are the best form of entertainment, others believe that anime is superior.

Before you say, “Why would people ever want to watch something that is in a completely different language?” you should know that there are English dubbed versions of most anime, which is what I watch myself. Admittedly, it is valid for a person to say that they prefer watching real people; however, these same people probably have never tried out anime because their conception of it is similar to American cartoons. The notable difference is that Japanese animation has overarching plots, whereas most American cartoons do not. People may feel that it’s more realistic to watch actual humans, but when everything is already fake and taking place in a virtual world of animation, it feels more natural to watch. My personal view is that anime outclasses live-action American television shows due to their higher quality storylines and their ability to reach the audience further emotionally.

Watch an anime like Death Note or Erased, and you’ll realize how well anime plots are written compared to regular live-action shows. The originality and uniqueness of Japanimation storylines are what set it apart from your average American TV show. An anime storyline can be so wide-ranged and creative because it’s an animation. Anything is possible! Whatever the writer wants to occur can happen because all it takes is a team of animators. On the other hand, live-action shows are limited to what they can present in the real world; it would be highly challenging for live-action shows to replicate some anime scenes, such as the fight sequences. Another component that Japanimation executes exceptionally well is its demonstration of character development. Anime characters are dynamic and tend to grow with each episode, making the story much more compelling to the audience; besides, the character development can be very complex to ensure that everything is not just staying the same throughout the show. Take Erased as an example, which is a story that follows a 29-year-old man who has an ability that randomly places him back in time in order to save someone or something. After the death of a loved one, he gets put back in time further than ever before, and he is a young boy for the majority of the show. Repeating his experiences as a young boy rapidly helps develop his character because he is reliving his younger life with the mind of his 29-year-old self. Erased consists of only 12 episodes and typical Japanimation episodes are only 20-25 minutes long. I highly recommend this anime to try out because the amount of well-done character/story development that is loaded into such a short amount of time is impressive and worth the watch. Finally, I believe that anime does a better job of consistently delivering a message to the audience than live-action shows.

After I finish some anime, I’ve noticed that I’m left thinking about it for days to come (I’m not exaggerating at all) because of how effectively the deep messages are relayed. For example, the anime Your Lie in April taught me the importance of self-sustainability because of the protagonist’s journey of struggling to live as his own person. With most regular television shows, however, I tend not to care about them after I complete them because I usually don’t take anything more than the story itself away from it. Outer Banks, although popular and entertaining, left me with nothing to think about afterward other than the first season's cliffhanger finale. Anime storylines are far more complex compared to live-action TV shows, making them more engaging to watch.

In addition to its admirably well-written storylines, anime presents its viewers with far greater emotion than regular TV shows, making the audience feel more connected to the characters and story. The reason why emotions in anime feel so real is because it's easier to display emotion to its maximum when it is animated. Having real people screaming their heart out about something they’re so ardent about would be very awkward and strange to watch, especially if the performance is poor. How often do you see real people on their knees crying and ranting about something so excessively? We, as humans, simply don’t do that because that is just weird. Additionally, when watching live-action shows, sometimes the fact that the characters are played by actors can take away from the realness of the show; whenever I catch a mistake or sense bad acting, I’m immediately pulled out of the story. The same occurs when I see actors appear in multiple shows/movies because I think of all the different characters they have played; for example, it felt unnatural to watch Jake Gyllenhaal play the role of a detective in the movie Prisoners and then later watch him play the role of the supervillain Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far from Home. This situation would never occur with anime because, to put it simply, it's an animation. Unlike human characters, Japanimation characters only exist in that one series, so it feels more impactful to watch than an actor simply playing one of their many personas, causing audiences to identify more with anime characters. Here many people would probably disagree that an animated character can sell a viewer more emotion than a real person because animated characters give off childish vibes. However, these people are mistaken because they overlook the fact that real people can only manifest emotions to a limit. On the other hand, anime characters are more relatable and easier to connect with because they display emotions that we tend to suppress as humans; which is why anime is so much more emotionally packed than regular American TV shows. Overall, anime reaches its viewers further than American live-action TV shows because of how effectively Japanimation characters can express themselves and their emotions compared to humans playing a persona.

Ultimately, I prefer anime over regular American TV shows due to their extraordinary, ingeniously written storylines and the emotional weight they carry. To the people who have never watched anime, you are truly missing out. I highly recommend dropping your pride and watching it because it is a huge misconception that anime is for nerds. In fact, some of your favorite influencers like Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, and Megan Fox are huge anime fans. In time, you would hopefully appreciate the impact of anime and realize why so many people favor it, even if, for some odd reason, you don’t enjoy it yourself. Entertainment plays a major role in self-care as it can subdue other negative emotions you are feeling and transfer your mind to an imaginative place, and anime calls for the best experience. Anime also depicts many parts of Japanese culture, such as food, tradition, and everyday life, allowing the audience to get an insight into their culture. Even if it’s not a lot, learning about other cultures is vital to connect with all types of people, and anime can help accomplish precisely that.