I have watched a lot of anime from my childhood and continue to watch them even now. I read a lot of manga as well. If you don’t know what a manga is, this can help you. I clearly remember dragon ballz being my first anime immediately followed by naruto and a bunch of others. Now, I have watched so many, I have lost count.

But every time I started watching an anime my mom and dad used to start to say one of the following statements

  1. They are such a waste of time
  2. Are you still a kid to watch cartoons?
  3. If you stop watching them you might do better at exams
  4. If you watch anymore the world will stop spinning
  5. MY feet hurt because YOU are watching anime etc etc

Every time they said that I would always feel guilty and wonder, am I really wasting my time? Will I screw up my exams? What is the mystical connection between earth’s core and me watching anime? I always want to learn and keep learning from everything I do. So there was one important question I asked myself, what am I learning from all this?

I did not get an answer immediately, but later I was glad I watched it. There are important life lessons to learn from anime apart from the entertainment factor. Anime has better life lessons.

One Piece - You have to rely on your ‘nakama’ ( team) you can’t do everything alone

One Piece

One piece is about a group of ‘nakama’ sailing the seas in search of their own dreams. Luffy (protoganist) puts them together and they have awesome adventures. Luffy being the strongest has not a lot to worry about, but he can’t do everything on his own and always takes the help of his ‘nakama’ and they have great adventures.

What I learnt?

  1. It is very important to have a team who have great dreams and ambitions.
  2. Everybody should work together to achieve each other’s dream.
  3. No matter what, you never, “NEVER” give up your ‘nakama’
  4. You take every blow to your chest and never show your back to anything
  5. Finally, one should not worry too much, trust instincts and always make time to dance with friends.

Naruto - you never go back on your words

Naruto

Naruto is about a young Ninja who was condemned by the society. But instead of hating them back, he chooses to train hard and become the best in the world. He believes that if he is the best then everybody would recognise him. If you determine yourself to do something, you should never go back on it. The determination he has, man, his eyes says it all.

What I learnt?

  1. Convert everybody’s oppression into the power of achieving something
  2. Never go back on your words. Whether its something you promised someone else or yourself.
  3. There is great power in everybody that only has to be channelled out to achieve what you need.

Death Note - Too much power is bad and there is no shortcut to solving problems

Death Note

Death Note is one hell of an anime. Kira (protoganist) finds a mystical note book which kills anyone whose name is written in it. He uses this book to clean the world of all criminals by killing every criminal in all prisons across the world. Initially this decreases crime rates but eventually everything falls into chaos. Kira eventually falls in a lot of trouble and finds out that it was all for nothing.

What I learnt?

  1. There is no shortcuts to success.
  2. There is always someone more intelligent than you, and one should not be too proud.
  3. Sometimes its better to work with your competition to achieve something.
  4. Too much power only corrupts you.

Fullmetal Alchemist - Never practice taboo and handicap doesn’t matter

Fullmetal Alchemist

This anime is about a young alchemist who performs the ultimate taboo of alchemy.

What I learnt?

  1. Law exist for a reason, bend them, but never break them. Anarchy is the only thing that will follow if you break them.
  2. Sometimes the answer to your problems lies within you, it will spark if you keep trying and never give up.
  3. Always take care of your family and support each other no matter what.
  4. Finally, sometimes the greatest problems have the simplest solutions.

I have watched a lot more anime and every single one has some life value to provide. I might have learnt, partly adopted most of my life values from anime, than any self-help, do-this-to-achieve-success books I have read (apart from what my Dad taught me, of course). The only takeaway I wanted to share from this article was that as long you are learning and improving yourself in some way, there is nothing stopping you from doing what you love. Anything can be the spark that morally and spiritually drives you to do something. I wish to achieve something great one day, hope these life lessons will come handy.