Chat with a young fan made me rethink how I watch anime

Last weekend I was at my nephew's birthday party and got talking to one of his friends, a kid maybe 14 years old. He asked what anime I was into and I told him I'd been rewatching Cowboy Bebop for maybe the 5th time. He looked at me funny and asked why I kept watching old stuff instead of new shows. I told him nostalgia and quality and all that, but he pushed back. He said every show is just someone's story from when they made it, so what's the point of living in the past. That hit different coming from a kid who hasn't seen a single episode of anything before 2020. I realized I've been using old anime as comfort food instead of actually engaging with new things. He recommended I try Cyberpunk Edgerunners and I finally watched it last night. It was good, really good, and I wouldn't have given it a shot without his push. Has anyone else had a younger person make you see your own viewing habits differently?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_park1mo ago

Had a similar moment with my cousin. I only watched stuff from the 90s and early 2000s. Told him newer anime was all flash no substance. He made me watch Jujutsu Kaisen and I was dead wrong. It hits just as hard as the old classics. Now I make it a point to check out at least a few new shows every season.

margaret_taylor421mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, they actually killed someone off for real early? That's wild, I gotta see this.

piperb931mo ago

all flash no substance" lol that's literally what i said about Demon Slayer before my buddy forced me to watch it. i thought the animation was just covering up weak writing but honestly the character work in that show is solid. i'm curious though, what was the specific moment in JJK that flipped you? was it a certain fight scene or a character moment? for me it was when they actually killed off a main character early, that never happened in the old stuff i grew up watching. now i keep a list of recs from reddit so i don't miss the good ones.