Status Of Anime In Nepal
Anime Fanbase in Nepal has significantly grown over the past decade. However, still today in Nepal, many people don’t know about Anime. The majority of them aren’t familiar with the term “Anime”, although most of them have seen Dragon Ball and Pokemon in their childhood.
Most of the Nepalese, especially the Millennials and Generation Z have watched Anime since their early days. Some of them became fond of it and are still following their favorite Anime|Manga today, while others just generalized it as a Cartoon.
Anime Misconception In Nepal
Still today, there is a misconception in the mind of many Nepalese people that Anime, in general, are only for children. But only those who have watched dozens of Anime and read multiple Mangas know that this concept of labeling “Anime for Children’s Only” is nothing but foolish. The Anime Universe is very vast and in fact, you can find Anime|Manga fitting for different age groups. There are different genres like Shounen, Romance, Sci-fi, Horror, Ecchi, Harem and soon.
And yes, Anime, in General, are Cartoons, the term Anime is just a Japanese version for their Animations. However, the difference in the story between the American and Japanese Animations is out of this world.
The US has created Animation shows like Tom and Jerry, Phineas and Ferb, Scooby-Doo, Micky Mouse, and Soon. These shows are good in their own rights but Japanese Animations which we refer to as Anime are totally different when compared.
Anime mostly focus on real-life issues or things tied closer to human emotion and has more violent as well as sexual themes. Cartoons are generally made to make people laugh. Anime has a whole different theme. Anime stories are also progressed and connected from one episode to the other. While Cartoons, don’t have a story in general, they are mainly for comical purposes.
So, this is the main reason why many Nepalese people forbid themselves from watching Anime. They think that Anime are just like Cartoons and think it’s a waste of time to watch these incredible Japanese shows. Some fans who finally commit to watching Anime get laughed at by their peers “for watching Cartoons”, but little do they know the Legendary Stories they are missing.
Lessons Learnt From Anime
People don’t know that other than fighting and violence, Anime also teaches Real-life skills like Hardships in Life, Friendship, Courage and Determination to Pursue your dream, Time Management in life, and Teamwork. Anime also focuses on Real Life Issues like Racism, Poverty, Extremism, Genocide, Women Empowerment, Science, and Fiction.
Not to mention, there is an entire genre called Slice of Life Anime, where you can relate yourself to Anime Characters.” Slice of Life “, as exactly what it sounds, is a slice of the lives of everyday Japanese people. And in Anime particularly, it focuses on the Main Character or whatever community the Slice of Life Anime is meant to portray.
Anime is surely growing as many new fans have realized the above-mentioned points and now know that, Anime is so much more than a Cartoon. And if the Anime community in Nepal is to reach even greater heights in the future (which I’m for sure, it will), the lame stereotyping addressing Anime as Cartoons needs to stop.
