Our 041Animation columnist Faziela Harris-Davids shares her personal journey of falling in love with Anime and shares the shows and movies that captured her heart.
WHEN I was about 9 years old, I remember running home so fast from my extracurricular activities just so I could make it in time for my show, Digimon. The story of digital monsters and their friendship with their human friends. As a kid, I was often found with either my nose in a book or glued in front of the TV (my grandmother told me I would have square eyes… my terrible eyesight seems to be a testament to that truth) because I was always so captivated by how different these kinds of shows were to other cartoons in the 90’s.
Little did I know, this would be the start of my anime journey.
With the release of the current anime streaming service, Crunchyroll and Netflix streaming anime as well, back then it was really hard to come across these shows here in South Africa. This meant if you missed out on the slot it was showing on SABC 2, you needed to wait a whole week to watch an episode or wake up super early on a Saturday morning for the rerun.
You are probably wondering, so what’s your point? what makes anime so special? Other production houses create animation films too.
That may be true, however, I find that anime has a depth that goes a little bit beyond what we see in most films from houses like Pixar or Disney.
Let’s take Pokémon for example, a lovable story about Ash Ketchum, a Pokémon trainer on his way to becoming a Pokémon Master in the original series, Pokémon:Indigo League. Here we have manga inspired by the anime with multiple spin-offs, but what is the real lesson here in this show? In order to chase your dreams, you need to go for it with all your heart. You will fail along the way, make some friends, and lose some friends, but you should never give up if you want to succeed. Like Ash, with perseverance and determination, he finally became the Pokémon World Champion! (after 25 years)
Another valuable lesson in Pokemon is winning means nothing if you don’t work together as a team, even in your failure. It teaches that failing may hurt a little, but it’s an opportunity to grow.
Or Tanjiro from Demon Slayer, who after losing his family to a vicious attack by a demon, goes through tough training and pushes himself in order to find a cure for his sister Nezuko. One would think this would make him bitter and vengeful to the demons he encounters, but instead, he shows them nothing but mercy and kindness, something they have never experienced from other Demon Slayers.
Coming back to Digimon, we see the characters really grow and face trauma that we can actually relate to. It’s not a dreamscape where the kids automatically figure everything out, they show their fear, how they struggle, and sometimes have to sit back and rethink how to face obstacles, even if it means curling up for a good cry before attempting to do what they need to do.
Lastly, let’s not be surprised that we have Studio Ghibli on the list, my ultimate favorite, Howl’s Moving Castle. Sophie is cursed by the Wicked Witch of the Waste, and turned into an old woman, as she always doubted her looks compared to her sisters, She sees this as an opportunity to do things she normally wouldn’t, as she no longer needs to cower behind her low self-esteem. In turn, by standing up for herself and doing more, her curse lifts as she builds up confidence in who she is. Another huge theme is how war is decided by those who are not affected by it. We see Howl moving between spaces, angry that innocent lives are lost because of the cruelty of those meant to protect them.
Anime teaches real life lessons in a way that is not only relatable, but truthful. Through colorful characters and a confidence in showing the truth, no matter how ugly.
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