Once more I am sitting in my writing desk where I’ve reviewed tons of anime for the past few months, and I’m thinking to myself, why do people get addicted to anime?
So I did a bit of research, and I found that people get addicted to anime for a lot more reason then I imagined. Simply put its something like this.
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Anime has fun settings, diverse characters who have intriguing personality traits, and bizarre but entertaining plots. It is also easy to access, since you can watch it from your bed. Compound these two points with mental unhealthy practices that social seclusion induces, such as anxiety and depression, and you have yourself an anime addict.
However, even if these criteria are met, it does not automatically mean a person is an anime addict. Read on to learn what effects point to an anime addiction, whether it is something to worry about, and how to help yourself or a loved one overcome anime addiction.
Let’s get into it:
What are the signs of Anime Addiction?
While the first mentioned points are a worthy indication of anime addiction, the best indication to look for is anime consumption.
Anime is not like a drug, or alcohol; it can’t be quantified with physical measurements. However, there is still a way of checking excessive consumption of anime by comparing it to TV. Anime and TV are similar, and most research I’ve found says that the healthy amount of TV to be watched is somewhere between 2-3 and a half hours.
So exactly, how much anime is that? Luckily, I’ve done some research.
| Anime | Seasons length | Episode number | 1 Episode length | Total minute duration | Episode number |
| Fullmetal Alchemist | 2 | 51 | 23,04 | 1175,04 | 19,6 |
| Death Note | 2 | 37 | 22,57 | 835,09 | 13,9 |
| Cowboy Bebop | 1 | 26 | 24,17 | 628,42 | 10,5 |
| Bleach | 17 | 366 | 24,04 | 8799 | 146,6 |
| Naruto | 5 | 220 | 22,40 | 4928 | 82,1 |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | 1 | 26 | 23,23 | 603,98 | 10,1 |
| Elfen Lied | 1 | 13 | 25,12 | 326,56 | 5,4 |
| Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya | 1 | 14 | 24,42 | 341,88 | 5,7 |
| Spirited Away | 1 | 1 | 125,00 | 125 | 2,1 |
| Princess Mononoke | 1 | 1 | 133,00 | 133 | 2,2 |
| Average | 3 seasons | 94 episodes | 24 minutes | 1790 minutes | 30 hours |
We’ve gathered a number of anime from ANN Anime Top 50 most viewed anime. By aggravating the data, this is what we found.
The average anime episode is 23 minutes, and the movies are 2 hours long. So that would be about 9 episodes.
That is how much anime a person is supposed. So if you’d like to know whether you, or a loved one, are suffering from anime addiction, then you just need to ask them; have they finished an anime season in a day recently?
If the answer is yes, then that is a possible sign of addiction. However, it is worth mentioning that finishing over 9 episodes of anime a day does not necessarily make the person an addict. If a person has a free day, they can finish a season of anime. The problem begins when they do that over multiple days.
If they were to do that, it could lead to a number of consequences.
What are the consequences of Anime Addiction?
1. Constantly Tired
Due to a constant lack of sleep, it would only be natural that you would find yourself having less energy if you spend hours watching anime.
In a lot of cases, anime addicts would watch anime all the way into the night, then again the whole morning. Anime addiction leads people to have less sleep, and less exercise, thus they end up feeling weaker.
2. Loss of Interest in Socializing
Another downside is that people who are addicted to anime may only have a desire to spend their time watching anime.
This means they end up having no desire to socialize, and that leads to other problems. Firstly, you never learn how to properly socialize yourself. This makes social interactions harder for you, and thus, you end up not wanting to engage in social interactions.
This leads to loneliness, and can lead to you relieving that loneliness with anime, which is the thing that put you in this situation in the first place.
3. Grades Failing
Spending too much time on anime means that you would not have enough time to spend on your studies, and so anime addicts can also see their marks falling.
4. Behaving Like Anime is Real
Also, there is the problem that people who spend to much time focused on anime may end up learning their social skills from anime. What this means is that you will have anime addicts who talk like anime characters, and behave like anime characters.
Now while this can be silly, it can lead to more serious problems.
5. Anxiety
The first serious problem is anxiety.
Due to the exhaustion, the failure in grades/career, and the crippling social skills, you will end up feeling inadequate. As a result this negative experience will lead to you having higher anxiety. Anxiety is really serious by the way.
6. Eyes Are Harmed
Though you do not need them now, if you continue watching a lot of anime, meaning sitting in the dark with a screen pouring light directly into your eyes, you will be needing glasses in the future.
7. Weakened immune system
Finally, and most heinously, anime addiction can lead to you experiencing a weakened immune system.
The best video made on this topic is found on YouTube. it is called “Know the signs of a weak immune system | Truweight”.
Is Anime Addiction something to Worry About?
Yes, Anime Addiction is something to worry about.
There is nothing to worry about enjoying anime, and being a fan of anime, but if you spend to much time on anime- basically, if you become an anime addict- then you will start having a massive problem.
Apart from the physical problems you may suffer, you will suffer even financial issues, such as spending too much money on merchandise and the likes. Anime addiction can derail your life, and even waste it.
Anime is very colorful, and entertaining. It has led many people to waste their lives, but the true purpose of anime is to be an enrichment in your life. You enjoy it, and it should not enjoy you.
How to Overcome an Anime Addiction?
It is possible to break an anime addiction, though it will take you a couple of weeks. You can’t stop by waking up tomorrow, and deciding you won’t watch anime. You will fail, and end up feeling worse about yourself. Here are a number of steps you could take.
Step 1. Choose a day
Though the first step is the easiest to do, I suggest you do it last.
But the point of this is to reinforce your resolve, and affect your motivation. Choosing a specific day to stop watching anime builds anticipation, and motivation. So, after you have read all these points, choose a day where you will start them on. So let’s go to step 2.
Step 2. Set up the environment
Though I mentioned motivation, you should know that motivation is a fleeting feeling that eventually runs out.
What helps is to create an environment that requires you to have less motivation, and willpower, but still achieve your goals. So if your goal is watching less anime, then that would mean you have to do something like putting your laptop in the car for the whole day, and only taking it at night.
Step 3. Avoid the ritual
Then, what you want to do is look for what you usually do before you watch anime.
Maybe you make yourself food, and then sit on the bed, or maybe you make yourself coffee before watching anime. or maybe there is a song you like to listen too. Or maybe you listen to ASMR. whatever it is, there is something you do before you watch anime.
Look for that thing, and when you see yourself doing it, stop yourself from completing the thing.
Step 4. Distance it from you
Put app blocks in and block the anime. Secure the files you keep your anime in with long tedious passwords. Finally, you could delete the anime, and only watch anime that you stream.
The first app block that I used was this one, https://blocksite.co/, which allowed me to block any website that I found distracting so I could focus. I liked this one a lot because of how hard it is of. But if you watch your anime from the app, then the best one for you is this one https://www.appblock.app/.
Again, I am not sponsored by these but I absolutely would accept a sponsor from these guys because their work is amazing. Appblock has easily 100 folded my self-control, and has allowed me to avoid watching things I do not want to. it allows you to block not only websites, but apps too.
Also, it tells you how well you did in resisting the apps or not. However, it can be easy to turn of, but still I never have because of the desire to see my abstinence numbers go higher.
Step 5. Tell someone about it
This is the best advice. Get some help, and tell the person to guard how much anime you watch.
Step 6. Reward yourself with anime
Choose a day where you can watch anime as much as you want.
Either a Sunday, or Saturday. This will make you feel proud of yourself. And hopefully, you will soon be able to watch anime without feeling any compulsion to watch it excessively. And that’s how you can make anime enrich your life.
Once you have broken your anime addiction, you will take a massive step towards mastering mastery.