The longevity of your hobby...

[Anthropic Melon]

Is it difficult to imagine yourself being an anime fan thirty years from now? Assuming that anime and manga will, in some form, still exist and that both haven't quite taken over the world yet (though they might have risen quite a bit in popularity in the future, lol), is it possible for any of you to remain attached to the fandom at such an age?

It's hard to really see myself still holding on to a few of my DVDs and manga past mid-life. I'm sure that I'll probably remain a fan for at least a decade or so, seeing as I still have ample room for the stuff in my life. But to see myself retire in forty more years and watch anime with the same zeal I have now is really tough to do.

For right now though, I'll just enjoy the ride and continue to enjoy anime and manga. It may be surprising to see how long I might last with the hobby!

[grylsyjaeger]

I'll probably retain all my manga/anime/figures but store them away somewhere. Then in my twilight years I'll bust them out and try and relive the great times I had when I was younger.

[Ichihara Asako]

I am retired and still watch anime. Retirement means I can watch more of it, too. Not that I really do, as of late I've actually been watching very little.

However, I have no intention to ever stop watching. I've been watching it for over three decades and hope to continue watching it for another three or more to come.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Anthropic Melon

is it possible for any of you to remain attached to the fandom at such an age?

Not everybody is a 15 year old fellow around here, you know.

I am hardly the oldest one here, but I can easily see myself enjoying anime 20 or so years from now.

Plus, I wanna know how the Claymore manga is gonna end, and will probably have to stick around until my 50's to see that.

[Anthropic Melon]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Not everybody is a 15 year old fellow around here, you know.

Ah, sorry about that! I guess a better way of saying that would be if you're 30+ the age you are now.

[KongZilla]

I have meet people online who are in the thirties and fourties who are still watching anime and reading manga. I have meet people online who are already married and already have children and are still watching anime. But the ultimate question is, for how long? Personally, I have my anime/manga collections with me and I shall be keeping them with me for the rest of my life. But I believe I will still be watching anime after getting married with children. Perhaps, I can get my children to like anime too.

[RailHeaven]

I'll definitely retain my favorite series. I have plenty of book series that I really like and I generally end up reading them every few years or so. I suspect that I'll be the same way with my favorite anime and manga series. Once I let a story fad away for a while, then rewatching/rereading it is almost as good as discovering it for the first time.

[Slice of Life]

I think there are three main reasons to stop watching anime.

1. You lose interest is anime.
People simply change their hobbies over time. As a rule of thumb I would say that people who have considered themselves anime fans for X years will on average remain fans for another X years. Might be significantly less if you start or end puberty during those years.

So if your otaku career began only 12 months ago and you'll still be around 5 years from now you'll probably be an exception. If you remain a fan for even longer, reason 2 becomes important:

2. Anime loses interest in you.
OK, that's a nonsensical title but I like it. When X approaches 10 years we have to take into account that anime itself changes, and significantly so over a timespan of about a decade. So at some point people will (correctly) feel that anime isn't anymore what it was when they started watching anime. And it might have transformed into something that doesn't cater their interests, never did, and wouldn't have made them become a fan in the first place.

Not to be confused with people who quit because of 1. but see the older anime through the rose-tinted glasses of their earlier enthusiasm.

3. External circumstances.
Your interest in anime remains more or less the same and anime remains more or less the same. Still you quit. Reasons might be less free time (change to a more stressful job, becoming a parent), a worse internet connection and/or less money to buy DVDs, a crackdown on bittorrent, a changing peer group that loathes anime, you die, EVERYBODY DIES, etc.


I wouldn't bet money on me waching anime in 10 years from now, mainly due to reason 2. Could also be 3., since I'm no prophet.

[MidnightViper88]

What has it been, 7 years now and I still don't feel like losing any interest yet?

I've got a good feeling on this; I have a better time retaining interest in things these days as an adult anyway, and there have been plenty of other things I've held devotions to longer than 7 years now...

[klowny]

Its been 8 years for me and i'm starting to lose interest of anime and i'll probably sell my Models when i become older

although i do like watching 90's anime better than the now

[-Sho-]

Some 50 years old people still watch anime too and play games .

Me i'm not very intersted for the figures or models , just the anime , manga and goodies .
When i'll really stop watching anime , it'll be when the longest anime like Naruto , Bleach etc ... will end . But over this times , i'm watching shorter animes who interest me .

[RailHeaven]

In addition to what I said above, I would also add that while I may stop being obsessed with anime, it's unlikely that I will completely dump it (can you imagine completely dumping reading or watching movies? Well, maybe some people on the reading but you get my point :P).

[Theowne]

To be honest, I don't know.

I started watching anime when I was 13 or 14, back in 2002 or so. When I revisit series that I really liked back then, I don't hate them per se, but I don't find them as compelling as I did when I was younger. I also watch far less anime and can only think of a few that I think are absolute masterpieces. So my tastes have changed, but there are still anime which fit my tastes. What I'm wondering is, people change a lot in their mentality between being 13 and being 20. How about between 20 and 30? Will the change be so great there that I'll look back at series I like now and be disinterested in them? I hope not, but I won't know until I'm there.....

[oompa loompa]

I can't really say, but meh, I don't think its something you should think about. Honestly I did fall into that trap once, and it wasn't pleasant to watch anime for a long while. I didn't watch for a while, and what I realized is I enjoyed anime more when I didn't think about it. When and if I eventually let go of anime, I sure as hell hope I have something as good to replace it.

So, I don't think about it much. For the short term, I hope I continue watching anime until I graduate from college atleast.

Originally Posted by -Sho-

When i'll really stop watching anime , it'll be when the longest anime like Naruto , Bleach etc ... will end . But over this times , i'm watching shorter animes who interest me .

I hardly watch either anymore, but I'm inclined to agree. I've watched them since I started watching anime, and while I don't think I'll stop watching anime altogether after theyre over, itll definetly mark a new phase in my anime viewing

[chikorita157]

I don't know... but it depends if there is nothing to watch that I will give it up for awhile and then come back to it years later... This is what happened in 2007-2008 when I lacked interest in watching all those Pokemon episodes and gave up on the series and I was too busy with video games, high school and the internet plus I didn't know much about good anime series until I got into college and got alot more free time...

[Eater of All]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

2. Anime loses interest in you.
OK, that's a nonsensical title but I like it. When X approaches 10 years we have to take into account that anime itself changes, and significantly so over a timespan of about a decade. So at some point people will (correctly) feel that anime isn't anymore what it was when they started watching anime. And it might have transformed into something that doesn't cater their interests, never did, and wouldn't have made them become a fan in the first place.

This. I have faith in myself to not lose interest in anime even if it's 20+ years into the future, but on the other hand, I'm much more worried about whether or not anime can still be what it is today. If I have a firm interest in anime, no matter how many obstacles there are in the path (aka. "external circumstances"), I'm sure I'll find a way around it. If instead, it's that anime is walking a different path from mines, I'll probably lose the motivation to continue following it. Really, all I can say regarding the thread topic is that it all depends on the direction anime will be taking from now on.

For the moment though, I'm sure this hobby of mine can last another few years at the least.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

I'll never get sick of watching anime. As long as there is a good anime out there that catches my interest I'll watch it. The only concern I have is one that has already been mentioned, "anime changes over time". I know this first hand as I find myself watching less anime nowadays compared to a few or so years ago. Fewer and fewer shows interest me and it's not just anime I find myself finding fewer shows I like, but just TV in general. The only American Television programs I watch are LOST, House, Ghost Adventures, Bizarre Foods, The Colbort Report, The Tonight Show, and I also have been watching "Being Human" on BBC america lately. Now this isn't much compared to the quantity of shows I used to watch back in the day.

With that said even if there is fewer animes out there that interest me, I always find myself going back and watching old shows I like. My friends always comment on how I love to collect DVDs of every show I like. It certainly puts a nice hole in my wallet, but it's good to know I always have the option of revisiting an old show.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

2. Anime loses interest in you.
OK, that's a nonsensical title but I like it. When X approaches 10 years we have to take into account that anime itself changes, and significantly so over a timespan of about a decade. So at some point people will (correctly) feel that anime isn't anymore what it was when they started watching anime. And it might have transformed into something that doesn't cater their interests, never did, and wouldn't have made them become a fan in the first place.

Not to be confused with people who quit because of 1. but see the older anime through the rose-tinted glasses of their earlier enthusiasm.

.

I just don't think number 2 will happen, there will always be a fan of different genres and types of anime. So the studios will always try to target those demographics. So while there is a possibility of that anime you like will be released less but it will still be there. If people wants it then it will be there.

[Megidolaon]

In 30 years I'd be 56. I most definitely don't want to think about that time, regardless in what context.
I'm already now closer to 30 than to 20 and it scares me.

But as long as there are anime/manga I like, I'll continue reading/watching. I mean Miyazaki (Hayao, not his retarded son) is 68 and still making anime, I don't see a reason to stop just because of age.

[npcomplete]

Originally Posted by Ichihara Asako

I am retired and still watch anime. Retirement means I can watch more of it, too. Not that I really do, as of late I've actually been watching very little.

However, I have no intention to ever stop watching. I've been watching it for over three decades and hope to continue watching it for another three or more to come.

^ I will probably be like this fella here when I get there so no, I don't see myself losing interest.

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

2. In Russia, Anime loses interest in you.
OK, that's a nonsensical title but I like it.

There, now it makes sense. I also don't foresee this happening to me either since my interests and tastes do expand over time it seems.

But point #3 External circumstances. can probably happen as it's happened before. Even so, it would not preclude me from picking anime back up. Basically it's just a short or long hiatus for me.