Is anime a "lonely" hobby?

[MidnightViper88]

Anime is only an emo hobby if you let yourself be an emo and not go out and try to socialize with people...

I've worked with at least 4 people who I had no idea they were into anime until eventually it was brought up in conversation in some direct or indirect way, and all 4 of them, even I, are far from the anti-social type or else we wouldn't have bothered talking to each other in the first place...

Anime enthusiasts aren't Bigfoot that don't interact with the rest of society, but just as with any other hobby, you won't know what a person's interested in until you ask them about it, especially since most people don't typically care to advertise their hobbies on a neon-lit billboard...

[kyousukey]

It was for me when i first got into it, I didn't know any offline friends that liked anime until i got one of them to watch a few episode of naruto now he likes it to so i have someone to talk about it with =]

[Shadow Kira01]

First of all, anime isn't really a hobby. Secondly, how is anime "lonely" when the anime community is pretty huge. Look at the numbers of Comiket!

[AceD]

know one person who likes anime, but i dont tell people i watch it, guilty pleasure i guess

[Claude]

I think that anime is actually a pretty social thing for me since I discuss and share it with my personal friends as well as strangers on boards like this one. It is true, however, that I usually watch anime when I'm alone. That's probably because no one in my house watches it other than my brother and he is now in college.

[emotionless_teenage]

well,i don't think so(even my roommates are anime freaks)

although there are some genre i would prefer not to talk to(it is embarassing to start talking about it to begin with)

i prefer talking about anime online though(since nobody knows me online.thus i feel much more free telling my own opinion without being labelled as 'freak')

[Telmah]

My friends will get together and blaze their an anime from time to time--recently one of my friends is pushing for a weekly or bi-weekly event. I was really amazed going to conventions, there's a huge amount of people out there interested in it, especially if you are younger. Its like anything else, if you know people interested in it, it isn't lonely, if you don't, of course it will be.

[Liddo-kun]

Not a lonely hobby at all for me.
Got a family member, 2 cousins and a coworker who are also anime fans.

And I have at least one or two anime in common with each of those people.

[aohige]

Lonely Lonely Lonely Loli～♪
Lonely Lonely Loli Loli～♪
Abunai～ Lolita～♪

[FateAnomaly]

I have different groups of friends for different hobbies. But anime is something which 90% of my friends does. However, it is also something that we don't really talk about. Its like it is something so mundane that there is not much point to talk about it. Just like we don't have lengthy conversation on yesterday dinner.

[TinyRedLeaf]

They say reading is good for you, but no one seems to notice that it's probably one of the most anti-social habits around!

Think about it: You'd lock yourself in your room — that's probably badly-lit and poorly ventilated — and spend hours-on-end pouring over a dusty manuscript, hardly talking to anyone in the meantime and very probably eating stale food to boot.

If you ask me, being a bookworm is ronrier than being an anime otaku.

[bhl88]

lol

I don't care if I'm lonely. I'll probably wait for a soulmate.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Of course not! I watch anime with my friend all the time. She just introduced me to Eyeshield 21, and I'm loving it. I watch an episode or two with her every week. Though we have almost radically different tastes in anime (she's into yaoi stuff which I can't stand, and she hate ecchi stuff [which is also understandable]), we still take the time to watch some anime that lies in the middle ground. Though, I like mainstream stuff while she likes stuff that tends to be so obscure that I've never heard of it.

It's only lonely if you don't make the effort to find other anime or manga lovers.

[-Kh-]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

First of all, anime isn't really a hobby. Secondly, how is anime "lonely" when the anime community is pretty huge. Look at the numbers of Comiket!

First of all, of course it is. Any entertainment activity is called hobby. Watching anime, watching movies, watching american series, reading books, listening to music, playing games, building ship models inside a bottle, playing sports, etc, etc, etc. All of these are hobbies.

Secondly, how is gaming "lonely" when the gaming community is pretty huge. Look at the numbers of WoW!

[Grif]

I am fairly open about liking it, and i have a good few friends who also like it, but perhaps not as much as me.

Aslong as i talk about ones they have heard of, no problem. Its not any less lonely than many other respected hobbies.

[Tiran86]

Not in the slightest. First of all, the internet suits my desire to talk about anime just fine. Second, I have friends who are into anime. Third, I'm not a very social person and I rarely feel lonely.

[TubZzz]

it's not really lonely thanks to the internet and thanks to forums like AnimeSuki... i've a couple of friends who are into anime but i never really talk about it with them due to conflicting interests... but on forums and such there's always people who share your sense in anime ^_^

[Micchi]

I don't believe it's a lonely hobby. Even if you don't watch with others or go to conventions, I think you can still have nice conversations with others about the latest episodes or debating themes or pondering what will come next.

Besides, anime is not a rare hobby. I find it's a lot harder to find someone who likes the same genre of eroge/VNs as I do. I've only know enough to count with my fingers, but we have lengthy discussions and debates about them. I don't find it lonely at all even with that few, so anime is by no means lonely.

[Pixelation]

I usually watch by myself, but don't feel 'lonely' doing it.

My older sister has watched an impressive number of series for a casual viewer. She doesn't seek out series herself, instead she'll either show up when she's bored and say: 'Got any funny anime?' or I'll let her know when I find something I'm sure she'd like. Love Comedy for the win.

The rest of my family isn't as receptive, so I only suggest they watch something when I know it will suit their tastes. I've found at least one series for each person in my family that they've enjoyed, except for my dad... He'd probably enjoy Monster or Higurashi, but I don't think he'd sit down and give it an honest go.

I don't know of any fans in the area but, as others have said: The internet has plenty of fans to talk to, some of which are on the same wavelength.

[Eva_127]

Not really for me. Most of the time when I'm watching an anime on my own its just to catch a new episode from a show. When I want to watch a collection or a movie I usually get together with a friend.