| yep, especially I'm having a bad mood. |
  notice the people who are happy for your happiness, and sad for your sadness. They're the ones who deserve special places in your heart. Not all those who wander are lost |
| It's crazy but Welcome to the NHK! is an anime that completed ten years in this year and the show still continues to be relevant to the current years. |
| Sometimes it depends on the situation I'm facing. |
| "There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths." ― Friedrich Nietzsche |
| Yeah. Anime is my way for escaping this world's problems. I watch it because this world has nothing enjoyable else.(But there are also some videogames I enjoy) I feel relaxed with anime. |
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| Yeah.. To a certain extent. But everyone has something that they use to escape the world. I knew a guy who would sleep for 16 hours a day just to avoid people |
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| Yeah, I think so. The fictional world anime offers is apparently safer. |
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| I've been all over cartoons since I was like 4, and I definitely wasn't thinking about escaping reality as an elementary schooler. It was just natural being that young, had nothing to do w anime My reasons for watching anime haven't really changed since I was little, plus I was just as all over the girls at 4 lol |
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| no we watch cartoons constasntely because that is the medium that really helps to understand and improve our reality of course |
| Yes. Because anime grills are better than real grills until they act like anime grills. |
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| Yes. It's the one reason I watch animu. |
| Sometimes, but I usually just watch for entertainment. |
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| I used to, especially in middle school. Socially-awkward and never interested in socializing anyways.\ But now that I've reached adulthood (I just turned 20) I feel forced to face reality and feel the pressures of getting internships, jobs, independence so now i feel like i'm balancing my load. Watching anime is just a privilege or a treat imo. I wouldn't use it as an escapade though. I wouldn't even if I could haha. |
| That's the thing that got me into anime in the first place. My life got messed up really quickly when I turned 18. I just forgot everything, locked myself in my room with a lot of food, that I barely touch, and started using my computer instead of my actual body. My real self only exists so that my online self can. At first I was using multiplayer videogames, and some of them were anime based. I started looking more deeply into that anime thing, and it opened up a border to a brand new land in my online world. Anime land. I don't even need to interact with anyone like this. I can just sit here and watch other people do it. Pretty neat, huh? |
| no i spent my time watching cartoons because that is the best way to reflect and improve my life |
| Yes, every once in a while I can go back to certain shows I'm fond of to get my mind on something else. Other than that I'd say I've used MAL itself to escape reality more. |
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ItsSoPringles said: i play video games to escape reality, i watch anime to get a damn good story though i will admit i lose myself in them somtimes with the really good ones, definitely agree with the anime part of this one, though i sometimes just watch for enjoyment i can get pretty lost in some of the deeper ones, and even find myself looking for deeper animes when i could use a good escape. |
| It is not always about escapism; it can be a catalyst to lighting up our imagination, it can about discovering something new, or as a reminder of some ideas or feelings that got distracted away from us in reality. |
 Tobacco Causes Severe Health Problems, Smoke Moderately While Respecting Others. |
| Yes and no. Actutually it's the reality's fault for being so boring that I don't wanna pay attention to it, it has nothing to do with me, and I don't blame anime for it. |
| No escapism is bad. I'll use to relax or chill out maybe. But I won't use it to run away and ignore my problems. |
| What does it even mean to "escape from reality"? Escapism as defined by thefreedictionary.com: The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment. Since the nature of reality is mostly a philosophical question, it's difficult to understand exactly what they are escaping from by this definition alone. Furthermore, entertainment is a very "real" thing; it's pervasive, it caters to the higher needs on Maslow's hierarchy, it has a strong economic value, and a vast majority of people are capable of being enthralled with an appealing storyline. As a form of art, storytelling is by default a tool that cultivates and expands the exchange of emotions and ideas; as heavily emotion-based creatures, it shouldn't be surprising how easily we are swept away by such expressions. I'd say that the act of consuming entertainment alone does not fit the description of "escaping reality" because there's so many factors that go into entertainment mediums that inherently reflect some sort of reality. Since anime is a combination of several artistic endeavors, it has so much depth in terms of what it can reveal about our world: the art can summon a feeling of mesmerizing beauty due to the biology of our visual nature, the music can bring life to a scene to accustom a show to our emotional expectations, the characters can provoke our empathy as if they were real humans, the thematic elements can be applied to our everyday outlook...the possibilities seem endless. The idea of a whole team working as if they were slaves to make a product for our enjoyment is in itself a fascinating thought. But many consumers don't think about such things; they often despise analyzation and discussion, instead preferring the raw consumption of emotionality under the mindset of "turn you brain off". But why? meriamwebster.com's definition of escapism: an activity or form of entertainment that allows people to forget about the real problems of life Entertainment can also appeal to our innate desire for comfort. Things such as unfamiliar ideas, differing opinions, and unpleasant emotions will trigger us into finding ways to revert to familiarity. It's part of the reason why we're so inclined to fit into a group of similar humans: it's safer to be in a crowd that will certainly provide you resources rather than going off on your own. In anime, such comfort takes the form of favorite genres, demographics, and dramatic plotlines within fantastical realms. We might find the conflicts of the characters more engaging than our own conflicts. Interestingly, this contrasts with our tendency to empathize with characters. The suffering of others is enticing to watch as long as it's not happening to me. Since anime is an inherent product of reality, I don't think escapism is necessarily the act of "escaping reality"; a better descriptor would be "the delusion of escaping reality", or in a slightly catchier form, "the fantasy of indulging in fantasy". Instead of accepting and trying to deal with the actuality of uncomfortable feelings, escapists simply pretend they aren't there by focusing on the emotional stimulation provided by a simulation. Instead of actively attempting to change their situations, they revert to warmth of familiar, unchallenging deeds, also known as the act of doing nothing at all. It's possible that this behavior stems from the way most of us are raised. As children, we were coddled and "protected" from the big and scary real world. We weren't presented with the hardships of depression and inadequacy, but rather a simplistic, happy go lucky world where specialness and the "American dream" were fed to us constantly. We weren't forced to consider the variety of morally grey worldviews, but rather a black and white kingdom where Our Side Is Right. Because we were children that lacked the cognitive abilities to analyze ideas, and because our nature required that children be dependent on caregivers and other authority figures for protection and resources, we easily digested those overly-simplistic concepts. As adults, it's incredibly difficult to break such habitual thinking since our brains have been used to the elementary heuristics taught to us from birth. Sometimes I feel I engage in escapism, and whenever I do, I immediately take action to stop it. Escapism is an unhealthy way to deal with issues because it involves the childish denial of said issues instead of promoting growth. Of course, escapism in small doses isn't too harmful; it's the constant retrogression to ineffectual ways that is. |
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| The Japanese use anime to escape their hard work hours. |
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| it can make u feel better............for a while....but not forever..... |
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| Yes, I use anime and shipping to fill the botomless void in my heart. |
 OTP: KidLaw | IzuKatsu | GureShin | EruRi | AoKi | See more!» My art » My translation » Doujinshi collection » Favorite Kurobas doujinshi  BISHIES X RAP |
| As much time as I spend on anime, I don't rly think that I'm using it as a toll for ecaping reality. I mean I used to but ever since my personality took a 180... for some reason that even I am not completely 100% sure of to this day(Yep, I have some theories but I can't pin point the exact answer) I now don't rly need to. I still enjoy anime, so ofc I still watch it, but honestly, whenever I have a problem that actually forces my mind to think about it, I get too distracted to watch anime properly lol. There are still cases wherein anime helps me calm down but I wouldn't call that escapism as I usually notice the change in my mood and be like "Oh hey, I'm happy again hooray." It's not that I'm watching to remove any sort of pain, but rather for enjoyment, and when you start to enjoy yourself, it's only natural that your negative emotions would settle down as well. There's also the topic of Immersion but would that count as escapism even if you have no intention of forgetting about your problems? Like it's something that just happens when you're enjoying yourself, problems or no problems. |
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| Hmmm...I started watching anime because I kinda lost interest in other TV shows. My brother used to watch anime so I decided I should to. It later became more than that. Im not avoiding my real life problems but I want something I can relax to and look forward to everyday. Especially right I'm experiencing some troubles at home so I do get a little upset so only if it's for a brief moment, I'd like to use anime to lighten my mood and bring some light on my days. |
| Primerose003 |
| With a world as rotten as ours I don't see why not. |
Pyxus said: With a world as rotten as ours I don't see why not. Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? Primerose003 said: Hmmm...I started watching anime because I kinda lost interest in other TV shows. My brother used to watch anime so I decided I should to. It later became more than that. Im not avoiding my real life problems but I want something I can relax to and look forward to everyday. Especially right I'm experiencing some troubles at home so I do get a little upset so only if it's for a brief moment, I'd like to use anime to lighten my mood and bring some light on my days. I keep hearing people needing to relax, but what does it mean to relax? |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| Definitely my escapism from reality... also video games |
TheBrainintheJar said: Pyxus said: With a world as rotten as ours I don't see why not. Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? Primerose003 said: Hmmm...I started watching anime because I kinda lost interest in other TV shows. My brother used to watch anime so I decided I should to. It later became more than that. Im not avoiding my real life problems but I want something I can relax to and look forward to everyday. Especially right I'm experiencing some troubles at home so I do get a little upset so only if it's for a brief moment, I'd like to use anime to lighten my mood and bring some light on my days. I keep hearing people needing to relax, but what does it mean to relax? By relax I mean i want to forget my worries. |
| Primerose003 |
| No. I watch anime to have fun in my free time. |
TheBrainintheJar said: Pyxus said: With a world as rotten as ours I don't see why not. Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? Of course escaping is a solution, though you cant use anime as a means of escaping the world, more like shutting it out. Yes escaping is possible, you just have to erase yourself. |
TheBrainintheJar said: Primerose003 said: Hmmm...I started watching anime because I kinda lost interest in other TV shows. My brother used to watch anime so I decided I should to. It later became more than that. Im not avoiding my real life problems but I want something I can relax to and look forward to everyday. Especially right I'm experiencing some troubles at home so I do get a little upset so only if it's for a brief moment, I'd like to use anime to lighten my mood and bring some light on my days. I keep hearing people needing to relax, but what does it mean to relax? 1) "to relax" means to release tension that usually keeps the person active or ready for action. Just like there are active muscles that keep a human upright (and could use a rest by lying down on a bed or lounging in an armchair), there are active neurons in the brain that remind a person about his or her worries (and could use a rest by focusing entirely on some media that does not have these worries). 2) I have heard (in a literature about hypnosis, in case of terminology problems), that the state of a person immersed in reading a good book or watching some other passive media is called "trance", and it's important to a person's well-being. Any anime that is not too thought-provoking and does not cause rejection can provide this. TheBrainintheJar said: Pyxus said: With a world as rotten as ours I don't see why not. Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? I have a solution. It's called Involuntary Human Extinction. Now would you let me escape before I start making my solution happen, will you?! Seriously, so many people are willing to talk how what I am doing is not solving problems, but they are totally unwilling to accept me actually solving anything. Because any solution that does not involve killing bad guys only shuffles the problem somewhere else. A bad person is a bad person, and he/she will continue to cause harm until he/she is dead. Worse yet, this bad example leads to more bad people. |
| Technically yes if you count video editing. |
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SoundsOfTheWild3 said: The Japanese use anime to escape their hard work hours. Living in Japan must be a continuous nightmare. >Overpopulated >Overworked >No one has sex >Everything is insanely expensive No wonder the suicide rate is so high. |
Primerose003 said: TheBrainintheJar said: Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? I keep hearing people needing to relax, but what does it mean to relax? By relax I mean i want to forget my worries. Okay, so you forget your worries - what's next? --ALEX-- said: SoundsOfTheWild3 said: The Japanese use anime to escape their hard work hours. Living in Japan must be a continuous nightmare. >Overpopulated >Overworked >No one has sex >Everything is insanely expensive No wonder the suicide rate is so high. I heard that's also why a lot of anime deal with high school and not the life after. After school there are no stories, mostly just work. High school is that rare period when you can do stuff. flannan said: 1) "to relax" means to release tension that usually keeps the person active or ready for action. Just like there are active muscles that keep a human upright (and could use a rest by lying down on a bed or lounging in an armchair), there are active neurons in the brain that remind a person about his or her worries (and could use a rest by focusing entirely on some media that does not have these worries). 2) I have heard (in a literature about hypnosis, in case of terminology problems), that the state of a person immersed in reading a good book or watching some other passive media is called "trance", and it's important to a person's well-being. Any anime that is not too thought-provoking and does not cause rejection can provide this. I have a solution. It's called Involuntary Human Extinction. Now would you let me escape before I start making my solution happen, will you?! Seriously, so many people are willing to talk how what I am doing is not solving problems, but they are totally unwilling to accept me actually solving anything. Because any solution that does not involve killing bad guys only shuffles the problem somewhere else. A bad person is a bad person, and he/she will continue to cause harm until he/she is dead. Worse yet, this bad example leads to more bad people. I'm talking more in the scope of personal problems where extinction is just too big a solution. Pyxus said: TheBrainintheJar said: Is escaping a solution? Is it even possible? Of course escaping is a solution, though you cant use anime as a means of escaping the world, more like shutting it out. Yes escaping is possible, you just have to erase yourself. How is it a solution, and what does it mean to 'erase yourself'? Sounds more like what you need are disassociative drugs. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
TheBrainintheJar said: flannan said: 1) "to relax" means to release tension that usually keeps the person active or ready for action. Just like there are active muscles that keep a human upright (and could use a rest by lying down on a bed or lounging in an armchair), there are active neurons in the brain that remind a person about his or her worries (and could use a rest by focusing entirely on some media that does not have these worries). 2) I have heard (in a literature about hypnosis, in case of terminology problems), that the state of a person immersed in reading a good book or watching some other passive media is called "trance", and it's important to a person's well-being. Any anime that is not too thought-provoking and does not cause rejection can provide this. I have a solution. It's called Involuntary Human Extinction. Now would you let me escape before I start making my solution happen, will you?! Seriously, so many people are willing to talk how what I am doing is not solving problems, but they are totally unwilling to accept me actually solving anything. Because any solution that does not involve killing bad guys only shuffles the problem somewhere else. A bad person is a bad person, and he/she will continue to cause harm until he/she is dead. Worse yet, this bad example leads to more bad people. I'm talking more in the scope of personal problems where extinction is just too big a solution. 1) A lot of villains are perfectly willing to use solutions of this scale to solve personal problems. 2) I do not have personal problems - I am pretty happy being myself and watching anime. Only interpersonal problems - other people don't value me enough, heap unreasonable expectations on me, and pass laws meant to oppress me. |
flannan said: TheBrainintheJar said: I'm talking more in the scope of personal problems where extinction is just too big a solution. 1) A lot of villains are perfectly willing to use solutions of this scale to solve personal problems. 2) I do not have personal problems - I am pretty happy being myself and watching anime. Only interpersonal problems - other people don't value me enough, heap unreasonable expectations on me, and pass laws meant to oppress me. Villains? This isn't ficion These are personal problems, as compared to global/local problems. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| I use anything I can. Anime works pretty well. |
| You really shouldn't use anime to escape reality But I guess it's understandable |
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| Actually... kinda but not really. I really like to watch Anime if I'm not feeling well and just want to see something to make me feel better but I don't escape from the real world. |
 I will not believe that everything is controlled by fate. ll X ll |
| when I feel somewhat sad, I watch some SoL or rewatch Barakamon |
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