Animé is safe

The happenings over the past week have once again reinforced to me that Animé is safe.

In Japan animé refers to all animation, elsewhere it refers to a subset of animation originating in Japan. A lot of animé is based on manga. Manga is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons.

What I mean by animé being safe is that the characters never let you down, they will never disappoint you or make human mistakes. It's safe to look up to the main protagonist in a comic book, or an animation. It's safe to treat these heroes as heroes.

Real life heroes turn out to be human. They make mistakes, they disappoint, they let you down.

For as long as I live Goku (The main protagonist in the DragonBall series) will never do something untoward. I will never question the way I think of him. I will never feel disappointment, nor sadness, nor fear from his actions. Humans frequently mess up, they are human after all.

It is safe for children to look up to cartoon heroes. They are less likely to be hurt or do hurtful things to others copying a cartoon hero. Yet real life heroes (especially bad ones) can really badly affect children, even later on in their lives.

Hero worship is a need that most humans seem to have. A need to believe in something greater than ourselves. A need to draw inspiration and faith from someone who's already achieved. A need to compare ourselves, and lives to others.
Yet at least if your hero is an animé hero it is much safer.

Watching Dragonball Online

Daz just found me the coolest link. I had to share it with any other Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, fans out there:
DragonBall Stream

All of the Dragonball television series are awesome. I love animé in general. Yet there is something particularly special about Dragonball. It really draws me into the story, the characters are so real, and alive.

I don't ever have to suspend belief that Goku is really Goku the Super Saiyan. These characters are real. They are not actors that will go and play another role. I am never going to see Goku acting in another television show. He doesn't exist outside of the Dragonball shows. He IS Goku.

In animé this is the case with all of the characters. They only exist in the world of animation. I like real characters I find acting very hard to watch. I can read what the actors are really saying, it's just not real. Yet animé is real, and it always be.