Nakama Britannica

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

Lately, I’ve been reading a flood of essays tackling anime and escapism. Meditating on the latter, it’s clear that this subject is essentially very personal, if just because the word ‘escapism’ implies that the viewer has something to escape from. Of course, there is nothing new about that idea, as everyone slips into dreams every and now then, be it occasionally dragging ourselves to the local cinema, sitting for a few hours reading a book or spending an entire evening in-front of the TV. All of that is escapism too, and it’s exactly the same as enjoying hours of Japanese cartoons, just not as eccentric. But, after all, that’s an important distinction to make, as, in the deepest depths of our hearts, I think most of us yearn to be a part of the collective, to be (seen as) normal, but fact is, anime isn’t normal; it’s niche, foreign and strange.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

This sense of insecurity, of anime not being normal, flows through out the community, affecting me so much so that one often feels like he’s missing something important by spending lots of his time, sunny days and snowy nights, watching obscure pictures move across the screen. That’s not to say that experiencing anime isn’t fun, exciting and life affirming, it’s just that mixed-in with this enjoyment is an apathetic feeling of restlessness too, as if there is this enlightening, wonderful dream I’m still to embark upon.

Ever drifting down the stream –
Lingering in the golden gleam –
Life, what is it but a dream?

That ‘dream’ is important, but a dream isn’t real, and just as one might escape into anime, one can easily depress themselves in navel-gazing ambitions of an impossibly perfect life. Obviously, such a life doesn’t exist. To that end, watching anime and simply enjoying yourself should be enough, but (if just to prevent yourself from falling down that rabbit hole) that restlessness is healthy too.

Through-out this post I’ve quoted “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky” by Lewis Carroll. It’s an interesting poem for comparison because Carroll’s enthusiastic children can be easily substituted as anime fans. Though it depicts his warm memories of a lazy summer afternoon and the almost pure happiness he felt during those days, the use of lines like “Dreaming as the days go by,” suggests that Carroll, having escaped into his wonderland, is well aware that reality continues to pass him by. That is often how it feels to be an anime fan too, as the time spent watching so much of this stuff can be enlightening, yet for every episode inside, outside the sun sets and the street-lights burn into action.