I’m in a null zone right now in regards to anime.
It happened unexpectedly when Boruto suddenly went on hiatus with little notice. Boruto was my Sunday morning habit until it wasn’t, and that absence really made a difference.
Something else occurred in April this year that brought this home to me. I was on a business trip in the Sea-Tac area of Washington State and had planned a few free days in downtown Seattle after the business part of my trip concluded.
After I checked into my hotel, I was startled to discover that Sakura-Con was being held that same weekend. I went to the convention center to register for the con’s last day, only to find that registration had closed an hour before.
Sakura-Con was on my radar for years as an anime fan. I’d always figured I’d go to it sometime. It’s not on the level of Anime Expo or even Otakon, but it’s at least at Fanime level as far as the numbers go. I’ve been so out of the loop on anime news that I didn’t even know that Sakura-Con was going to take place while I was in the Seattle area.
And that brings up another thought. I haven’t watched any new anime series in quite some time. I don’t care for isekai and unless some old favorite miraculously comes back from the dead like Bleach I find I’m not interested enough to try anything new.
It’s not a quality issue... I think. I think it’s a difference in the types of stories being produced these days.
My favorite anime series have been long-running shonen stories like Naruto, Bleach and Gintama, stories that go for hundreds of episodes where you can really get into the characters and the universe that they inhabit.
There isn’t anything that feels like that kind of story now in the anime world. There’s no brilliant Fullmetal Alchemist or cool Gundam 00 to watch anymore, to look forward to every week.
It could be that that particular kind of manga or anime story belonged to a certain era - and that era is now gone.
This young anime fan puts it perfectly.
Title: The DEATH of Long Running Anime
Creator: Blank Thoughts
Warning: Some salty language
I can’t fault art forms for evolving, and nothing in life stays the same. I do miss this kind of story though.
Ironically... I am attending an anime convention this weekend. I made the arrangements months ago. I don’t know what it will feel like to be at a post-pandemic full-on anime convention again. I’ll post my con report here when I return.
