Is anime a "lonely" hobby?

[nprob]

I agree that watching anime is a lonely hobby and i really hate when people disturbed me when i was watching an anime. Moreover, i seldom go online to discuss things with people.....I dont really have anime friends actually.
But seriously, when watching an anime, i feel that im in another world, especially those anime that the settings are other worlds..... Very special feeling.....
But as I am growing up, I think i need to watch less anime, because people think that I am introvert and associate me as I can't do anything just because I watch anime and I like it.I dont want to get to into anime but watching anime is my hobby.....I don't really care about people think actually but I need to find jobs and stuffs, so I decide to hide my hobby from people for a while and then reveal it when i have enough power..... ha ha ha. Do i sound like an anime character now....

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by meko

I find anime to be a pretty lonely hobby, but it is mainly because I don't like the quality of the people I meet who profess they enjoy anime.
I've never felt proud about being friends with another anime fan. Shame is more accurate ...
There's also the problem of most anime fans being relatively talentless (can you draw? can you write? can you compose music? can you animate? are you an expert in something other than anime?) thus difficult to collaborate in doing fun things other than watch/read anime/manga.
Watching anime is nice, but I like to produce things in response too.

I know how you feel... I personally prefer watching anime with someone that I know enjoys anime for it's values, not content.
But also that someone often doesn't like the same anime genres I do, or doesn't have the same schedule I do, so I often end watching by myself. But I would not know, let alone care about anime if I never knew that person, so I don't consider anime a lonely hobby.

Originally Posted by nprob

so I decide to hide my hobby from people for a while and then reveal it when i have enough power..... ha ha ha. Do i sound like an anime character now....

I find that most people initiate anime and henti as one thing. I used to be proud to say I watch anime, and I loved talking about it. That doesn't mean that I'm still not a proud anime watcher, I just learned to keep my interests to myself. There are few people I know who I can relate to in the subject of anime/manga.

[mindovermatter]

Originally Posted by thevil1

I know how you feel... I personally prefer watching anime with someone that I know enjoys anime for it's values, not content.
But also that someone often doesn't like the same anime genres I do, or doesn't have the same schedule I do, so I often end watching by myself. But I would not know, let alone care about anime if I never knew that person, so I don't consider anime a lonely hobby.I find that most people initiate anime and henti as one thing. I used to be proud to say I watch anime, and I loved talking about it. That doesn't mean that I'm still not a proud anime watcher, I just learned to keep my interests to myself. There are few people I know who I can relate to in the subject of anime/manga.

very similar situation for me. More and more people that I talk to understand that there is more to anime than just hentai, but it's still a huge misconception I get a lot. Even when I do meet people that like anime, there are usually only a few very well known titles that we can talk about that we have both seen. Otherwise we've all seen totally different animes

[secretzfan]

Originally Posted by meko

I find anime to be a pretty lonely hobby, but it is mainly because I don't like the quality of the people I meet who profess they enjoy anime.

I've never felt proud about being friends with another anime fan. Shame is more accurate ...

There's also the problem of most anime fans being relatively talentless (can you draw? can you write? can you compose music? can you animate? are you an expert in something other than anime?) thus difficult to collaborate in doing fun things other than watch/read anime/manga.


Watching anime is nice, but I like to produce things in response too.

Talentless I don't get that most of all my anime friends can draw and write.

Anyway you shouldn't feel shame that is just sad. You should try and let yourself out some more and really get to know them

[shtanimerocks]

i dont think thats its a lonely hobby i have some friends that like anime and sometimes talk about but we never watch together.
but there is some anime i think my friends would say what is wrong with me like slice of life, romance stuff like that but i happen to enjoy this kinds of anime mostly because i dont always want to watch fighting anime all the time

[nprob]

Sometimes, talking about the things you loved is so addictive and people around you may thing: " ah, that girl/boy!!!! What is she talking about?" I have yet to meet a lot of anime fans out there, but from my point of view, anime fans are hardly make friends with people who are not interested to anime. Somehow, we are living in our own world of imagination....
It leads people who dont know anything about anime to think that anime fans are weirdos...... I think it's kinda unfair for anime fans. Because you can always talk about fashions, action movies, clubbing......and people are just alright with it, but if we talk too much about anime, many ppl will think we are not good.....
I think in people's mind set, anime are just for kids, and that's really stupid of them......

[zebra]

Originally Posted by nprob

I have yet to meet a lot of anime fans out there, but from my point of view, anime fans are hardly make friends with people who are not interested to anime. Somehow, we are living in our own world of imagination....

That's not true for everyone!
Most of my friends don't watch anime and the ones that do - we would be friends without anime as well and our bond isn't defined by it. It's more like that I have friends that happen to have the same hobby, that's all.

It's nice to have people sharing your interests, but it's not a real must. But in the case of my best friend ... we pretty much watch the same stuff and play the same stuff And we recommend each other a lot and report our impressions. We still have our own tastes, but it overlaps more often than it does not. It's fun to talk about anime and play games together (specially since she has an Xbox and me has a PS3 ), but we have a lot more that sticks us together. The nerdiness is just a bonus

The contrary is true, too ... just because someone is an anime fan doesn't mean I will like them automatically.

It's always nice to talk about things that interest you, but honestly it's rare for someone to be interested in anime only. There are always other things that you can talk about ... it would be pretty dull otherwise anyway

[nogamo]

This may be redundant but...

I believe that the existence of sites such as these--with an accompanying forum--is an adequate counterexample of the notion that anime is a 'lonely' hobby.

Think about it, there are thousands of members on this site alone who joined with the goal of discussing anime with their peers. Many of them may not be regular members due to circumstances beyond our knowledge, but there are several hundred regulars here who post at least once each day, creating a community of anime enthusiasts. OP may not be implying that 'lonely' implies knowing no one in person with the same hobby, but it should be known that although none of us may meet in person we can still have discussions with other hobbyists, thereby eliminating any feeling of 'loneliness' in the people participating.

However I can understand the sentiment that none of my classmates are into anime. I'm lucky to have a few that watch a decent amount of shows, but for a long time I felt like the only guy in my neighborhood who had any idea what Gundam was. Maybe that can create a sense of isolation and depression, but the internet has lessened those feelings dramatically.

You're not alone! :O

[meko]

It would be wonderful, if one day, liking anime would lead to getting a job (or money) or leadership opportunities. Right now it rarely leads to either, so I don't try to spend too much time on it.

[Hooves]

The only anime that people at my school watch are the dubbed ones you see on Adult Swim on a Saturday Night, they say they like it, but they never got interested in any other anime besides those (maybe because the actors are speaking in a different language) but others say that anime is the Japanese version of "Porn" which... I just had to face-palm at this... But what nogamo said is clearly understandable

[Qikz]

Originally Posted by meko

It would be wonderful, if one day, liking anime would lead to getting a job (or money) or leadership opportunities. Right now it rarely leads to either, so I don't try to spend too much time on it.

I guess that's kind of the same with any hobby though. It's just the way hobbies work I think. I mean, you could be a model train enthusiast but it wouldn't lead to getting a job. :P

Lots of people do hobbies to just unwind or forget about things as it allows you to go into your own little world and just have fun watching/doing your hobby. You can get very involved with a Hobby yet still lead an ordinary life outside of your hobby. It's just something that you with friends or personally can enjoy.

It's like people who play D&D and LARP quite a fair bit, they go around as a general office worker or something by day, but by night they can be a knight slaying vampires, monsters and what not.

[Queen darkness]

Well, not for me,Anime is not a ''lonely hobby''.

[NoemiChan]

Will l'm not sure if its a lonely hobby but.... there are kinda few in my place that truely are otakus.... they often tease otakus as old people watching kids stuff.... its sad... huhuhuhu

[The Bloodlust Kid]

I find it a lot more fun to watch with friends.

My problem is, I can't get my friends to agree on what to watch.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by meko

It would be wonderful, if one day, liking anime would lead to getting a job (or money) or leadership opportunities. Right now it rarely leads to either, so I don't try to spend too much time on it.

I hope this doesn't happen. Simply liking anime doesn't give someone any qualification, except maybe as an anime reviewer. Even then, the person would need other skills (writing, objectivity, etc) to actually be worth hiring. I mean it's one thing for people to love anime, but let's not get carried away with it.

Originally Posted by meko

There's also the problem of most anime fans being relatively talentless (can you draw? can you write? can you compose music? can you animate? are you an expert in something other than anime?) thus difficult to collaborate in doing fun things other than watch/read anime/manga.

The difference between an anime fan and an obsessed otaku, if you ask me. For some reason anime just seems to produce more of these obsessive types that focus on the one hobby to the detriment of their other skills.

[meko]

Yes, but it seems to me that, for example, sports fan often use sports to network with other people who happen to be interested in sports but are also useful (productive or upstanding) in other ways.

I know lots of coworkers who use sports to break the ice, even with the boss, to talk about what they need to do for work. o.o I've never seen anyone talk about the last episode of some anime to break the ice or to ease into a conversation.

[Cryonosis]

Originally Posted by meko

Yes, but it seems to me that, for example, sports fan often use sports to network with other people who happen to be interested in sports but are also useful (productive or upstanding) in other ways.

I know lots of coworkers who use sports to break the ice, even with the boss, to talk about what they need to do for work. o.o I've never seen anyone talk about the last episode of some anime to break the ice or to ease into a conversation.

That is so true, it hurts.

What's worse, is that if I were to bring up anime with most of my coworkers, they would relate it to their children whom watch anime on the Disney and Cartoon Network. Not exactly a good thing to be thought of as being into things children are into nowadays.

However, sports can be brought up with anyone anytime. Even people that don't like football usually keep up enough on it to break ice with it.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by meko

Yes, but it seems to me that, for example, sports fan often use sports to network with other people who happen to be interested in sports but are also useful (productive or upstanding) in other ways.

I know lots of coworkers who use sports to break the ice, even with the boss, to talk about what they need to do for work. o.o I've never seen anyone talk about the last episode of some anime to break the ice or to ease into a conversation.

That's more a cultural thing. Even in Japan, you wouldn't use anime as an icebreaker unless you worked in a related industry. So it's hard to expect it to be that way in America (assuming NY refers to New York in your location).

[christinemarie]

In the past, anime is a lonely hobby (since its restricted to your own room). My teacher back then introduces us to anime by letting us watch it for 45mins "2 episodes" of school time once a week in VHS. But with the recent technologies like you can watch them with your friends, co-workers in any area without TV or computer changes everything. Anime is no longer a lonely hobby, unless there are Kirinos out there that don't want their friends to label them as Otaku.

[zebra]

Originally Posted by meko

Yes, but it seems to me that, for example, sports fan often use sports to network with other people who happen to be interested in sports but are also useful (productive or upstanding) in other ways.

I know lots of coworkers who use sports to break the ice, even with the boss, to talk about what they need to do for work. o.o I've never seen anyone talk about the last episode of some anime to break the ice or to ease into a conversation.

Well, I wouldn't try to break the ice with the newest epsiode of the Simpsons, House or Desperate Housewives either ...

Media consumption is a something that is looked at as a thing to pass your time on, not as a real hobby. Gaming - even though widely spread nowadays - isn't regarded as a real hobby either by the majority of the public.
Sports is a hobby that is widely known and with a good reputation so you can bring it up without any risk. But after working with people a while you will know the common interests and use that, e.g.: music, cars, travelling ...