Why fictional shows like anime can be a source of inspiration in our lives

I’ve always been an anime fan, and I’ve never been too keen on hiding it. That’s not to say I go around wearing metal head covers or writing names in my black journal, but if anyone asks me, I’m never shy. In fact, it hypes me up. I love talking about new anime or what will happen in the next episodes of unfinished shows. However, what I want to talk about today is not which anime I think are worth watching, but how I got into anime, and why you should, too.

To start, an anime is a Japanese cartoon. Anime can be any kind of genre, ranging the gamut of comedy, sci-fi, mystery, action, fantasy, etc. They are usually shown in one of three versions: the original which is unedited and in Japanese, a subbed (short for subtitle) version where the characters’ dialogues are subtitled at the bottom of the video and dubbed, where the voice acting is replaced with English or American voice acting. Personally, I like subbed the best because once you get used to reading subtitles, then the entire show flows much better. I don’t like dubbed because it’s hard to find a good dub, and most of the time you get horrid voice acting – which completely ruins an anime.

Now that you know all of this, you know much more than I did when I first started watching anime. I started at a young age when “Naruto” first started appearing on the late-night Saturday version of Cartoon Network, called Toonami. It was a special late-night treat as occasionally the characters would curse, and you can imagine how excited that made a little kid like I was at the time.

“Naruto” is a story of a young, lonely orphan boy, Naruto, who endures everything to become the greatest ninja in his village, the Hokage. At the time of his birth, Naruto’s parents sacrificed themselves to protect him, but in doing so ended up cursing Naruto, in a way. This curse causes the entire village to outcast Naruto and essentially wish he was dead. Despite his endeavors, Naruto’s “way of ninja,” or life philosophy, is to never go back on his word, that he will become the next and greatest Hokage — an aspiration that was previously achieved by four other ninjas who completely outclass Naruto.

So, how do I connect to this whole story? Well, I’m not a ninja, I’m not an orphan, and I don’t think I aspire to become the strongest person in my village or college town. I share nothing with Naruto, but at certain points in my life, I really looked up to him. When my drug addict of a father and I would fight, when he and my mom would scream at the top of their lungs arguing over bills, when I’d hear of friends who didn’t make it out of the terrible neighborhood we all grew up in and were either in gangs selling or robbing other people or when I’d go through some even worse stuff I just don’t feel like sharing with strangers, I really wished I had Naruto’s poise and mentality. I understand he’s a fictional character and all that, but sometimes we need to look to fiction for inspiration. Naruto went through everything and continues (as the series continues) to experience more hardships, but he sticks to his word. He stays optimistic, determined and constantly pushes towards his goal. He’s respectable, and he got me through some tough times.

Maybe you won’t connect with a character like I did, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. There are a ton of anime out there that I’m sure you’ll connect to somehow. I wouldn’t recommend “Naruto” to a new viewer as it’s around 400 episodes total, but a shorter more timeless anime that almost anyone can get into is “Code Geass.” Look it up, maybe you’ll find something with which you connect.

James Hardison is a UF English sophomore. His column appears on Tuesdays.