What Anime/Character Has Changed Your Life?

[KaiyaSaysHaiya]

So, I was wondering, has any anime, manga or character ever changed your life? It can be something that's impacted your life greatly, or maybe something that simply made your day.

I'll start

This is gonna kinda personal. So, uh, I was influenced by social media a LOT. Like, to the point where I literally convinced myself to hate my parents and just life in general. So yeah, I became depressed and s U s H i - C i D a L . Only a few things kept me going everyday, and one of those things was Danganronpa. It was something I could look forward too after a long, hard day. I loved pretty much everything about it, and still do. Tbh it wasn't really the series/games that did this. It was mainly one of the characters. Yasuhiro Hagakure! He meant the world to me and really helped me through all of this. Sometimes I'd even cry because I just wanted to see him in real life and give him a hug.

One day I'm just sitting there. Crying, shaking and hardly being able to breathe. I was so close to snapping. I was really considering, y'know, toaster bath. I was minutes away from doing it and nothing was calming me down. Then I remembered Hiro. I almost instantly calmed down a bit so, uh, yay? This happened a few times. Thankfully, I think I'm recovering now. Still not the best tho :'>

And yeah, if it wasn't for Yasuhiro's existence I may not be here right now.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by KaiyaSaysHaiya

[Gonstroph]

The character that really hit me hard was Shinji Ikari. (This is gonna get personal as well)

 

Shinji was fundamentally someone with no identity more than anything else. He hides himself and is generally afraid to get hurt emotionally. He is kind, but also really wants to be praised and not scorned. 

It's pathetic, and it was me. Still is in many ways. And even towards the end he still was afraid of getting hurt. Opening up had no point because it only lead to more pain, and if there's no point in opening up to a world that only scorns you for it, why keep going? You're only gonna mess up again in the future-

And then he has those moments where he is praised, and suddenly the entire world lights up for him and he can keep pushing, just for a little longer if it means getting praised more, if it means being approved of for once. Validating his existence. 

 

For the longest time, I based my entire existence on my worth to the world, and if I wasn't bringing anything to the table, I believed it was fitting I would be pushed to the side. It still didn't stop my desires to be with others and be approved of and recognized however, so I kept pushing, practically against my own values and made things worse for myself by desperately trying to gain approval. 

 

The fact that a character actually represented my situation that goddamn well opened my eyes a lot. 

And the fact that that character was able to actually overcome it simply by saying "Maybe it's not so bad that I'm here after all" was the best possible advice I could have ever gotten.

 

Now, I know at some point I began deciding to relax. To stop trying so hard for approval and just stick to my guns and myself and let the world come to me more naturally, and let myself into the world more. And I really think Shinji helped me realize that's all I had to do. Just accept that my existence isn't so bad that I throw myself away. It's OK for me to be here. 

[Takatofan1986]

I know it's gonna sound dumb but....

Seriously, Takato from Digimon Tamers.

I was on the borderline of getting into anime, but the shows you saw at that point had a protagonist who was really cool and had something extravagant about them. But Takato was... so average. Just a fanboy who nerded out about Digimon (It was set in 'The Real World' where these characters watched the first seasons on TV, had the cards, ect.) and drew fanart (I write fanfiction).  and even when he became a tamer, he still had emotions, still made mistakes, and had to learn how to do things right as time went on. He is very kind, sweet, and caring. But if you hurt someone he cares about (Which only happened once in the show) he gets very angry. But after the fact feels guilty, even if the anger was justified. I really related to him as a character, and still do.

But as much as I relate to him as a character, it's not just the show.

Before that I didn't really have any (close) friends. I had been into Pokemon, which got me a couple more conversations with people in my church teen group at the time, but not much else. I never tried to be part of the fandom online - Didn't know there WAS a fandom online. - and might never have gotten involved.

But watching Tamers and relating to Takato was what got me to search online and find message boards. I joined Pojo.com's message board, back when they had a Digimon section. And I made a lot of great friends there. One friend I made... I have no idea what possessed me to do it but, I started buying phone cards and calling him on the phone. I called him the rest of High School. and part of the first year I graduated. (And we reconnected about 10 years ago and called him again for a year or two.)

But because of THAT friend I found Fanfiction (Which I was already writing for myself, I just didn't know that was really a thing, I thought I was just being weird) and made LOTS of friends that way, including the ex that I keep talking about that I was with for 13 years.

Because of Takato and Digimon, I found other anime - I live in a really small town that didn't even get the WB. I started watching Pokemon when the VHS' started being 2 for $3 at Odd Lots, and wasn't getting me into anything else.

But yeah, If not for Takato and Digimon, I don't think I'd be an anime fan past Pokemon, I wouldn't know about message boards, fanfiction, or have the few friends I still have. My entire online life stemed from Takato.

I honestly think about that a lot. I wonder what kind of person I'd be without Digimon. Maybe better? Maybe worse? I don't know. It feels kind of weird/sad to say that, that my entire online life is because of Digimon, and my ex and my friends ect. But I really dunno what I'd have done without it. (Not in like 'WHAT WOULD I DO?!' but... I just would be someone completely different.)

[MediaConsumesMe]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:26 PM, Takatofan1986 said:

I know it's gonna sound dumb but....

You and me both, but the character that probably had the most impact for me was...

Astolfo

Before I'd watched Apocrypha I had seen less than five anime in like five years. So I wasn't a huge Anime guy. However after I finished Apocrypha I'd watched ten times that in the span of a few months. Why I watched Apocrypha? Because I wanted to know who this character I'd seen all over the internet was. I didn't even know it was Astolfo from the legends of Charlemagne. I didn't even know Astolfo was a guy in the show... 

But what surprised me was this seemingly joke character was actually compelling, his ideals, his charisma. I actually rooted for Astolfo in the show. Also the scene were Astolfo encourages Sieg to live his life was pretty touching and a nice moment,

Plus he taught me another valuable lesson...

Sometimes it takes a real man to be best girl.

[MarathonGuy1337]

21 hours ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

I know it's gonna sound dumb but....

So after finished watching Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, I like all true Gundam fans realised that Haman Karn was best girl

She was Confidant 

She was Mysterious

She was sensual 

She was powerful 

She was dangerous 

And the Qubeley is easily one of the most killer designs of the U.C. 

Don't fight me it's just true thought yeah the Sazabi gets close and maybe the Mark-III Zaku 

Then I watched ZZ Gundam and was introduced to the character of Mashymer Cello

 

Haman Karn's most loyal and sort of goofy Cyber Newtype commander, and he saw Haman Karn like me. Powerful, Sensual and Mysterious. I won't lie I enjoyed his character quite a bit, easy B or A tire U.C. gundam character, fight me and like Mashymer, I also though the world of Haman, easily best girl S tire character. 

But then after his death the true revelation hit

Even in Anime Simp's Don't Win 

Edited July 24, 2022 by MarathonGuy1337