Anime Saved Me From 2020
By Gil Seda
2020 was a challenging year for almost everyone. Many people were losing their jobs, stuck at home, or feeling exhausted by the events in the world in that time frame. I was one of those people described in the previous session. In 2020 I lost the job I loved so much, began working in the Emergency Room at my local hospital, and was tired of the world after being one of the first thousand in the nation that test positive for COVID-19. Yeah, 2020 was a drag (IYKYK).
I would work at my local hospital for long periods and deal with a massive influx of patients, which would tire me out. After every shift, I would be mentally drained, thinking about what would happen the next day. It came to the point that I needed something to help distract myself from what was happening in today’s world, and that something ended up being something we call “Anime.”
One night I was hanging out with some friends on Discord, and I discussed my issues at the time. During the convo, one of my friends said, “You need to watch some Anime.” I took his advice and thus began watching anime. I was given many recommendations from others; these were the two animes that helped me go through 2020.
WARNING!!! There will be some spoilers beyond this point.
I felt my first anime had to be something that was a current trend with others. When I looked through social media, I always saw many references to this anime on the profiles of others I knew who were into anime. That anime was My Hero Academia.
In a world where people had superpowers, also known as “quirks,” Izuku Midoriya was born with no quirk and had a rough childhood, being bullied by others with quirks. Soon he runs into his role model, All Might, after a dangerous, life-threatening situation in which he was involved. After being saved by All Might, Izuku notices a critical injury All Might has hidden from the public eye. All Might teaches Izuku about his quirk, “One for All,” and decides to have Izuku be the successor of his quirk after seeing Izuku’s. After receiving “One for All,” Izuku begins his journey to becoming a hero by attending U.A. High School, the number 1 ranked high school for heroics in Japan.
My Hero Academia’s first season aired in 2016, so I had four seasons to go through before catching up. I enjoyed learning more about the other characters and their quirks, ranging from Ochaco’s “Zero Gravity” to Minoru’s “Pop Off.” I never got confused about the storyline or what was happening in each episode. My Hero Academia is now on its 6th season (which is currently airing, and so far, it’s AMAZING), and the manga is still on its original run with 36 volumes now published. I recommend this anime to any binge-watching enthusiasts beginning their journey into the animeverse.
I’m a huge fan of comedy and decided my second comedy should focus on comedy. When I searched the Comedy section in my FUNimation app, this anime stood out from the rest, and that one was Assassination Classroom.
The summary of this anime will be small; The Japan Government gives a classroom of students special instructions: assassinate their teacher, who is a tentacled creature threatening to destroy the world by a specific date. The creature, named by the students as Koro-Sensei, shows off his powers while teaching his class. The anime is narrated from the third-person perspective of one of the students in the class, Nagisa Shiota.
Assassination Classroom had many unexpected moments, especially since the class tried to assassinate their teacher to save the world. I enjoyed the moments Nagisa would record the weaknesses of Koro-Sensei while learning more about being an assassin. I wish this anime had gone longer than 47 episodes to show the growth and development of the supporting characters in the series.
These two animes helped me go through 2020. The number of episodes from My Hero Academia distracted me from the T.V. playing the news on COVID-19 updates. At the same time, Assassination Classroom made me laugh during the tough days, especially when I was in my room in quarantine. Both animes got me into watching even more anime, such as Soul Eater and Naruto (both original and Shippuden). If anyone is going through a tough time and needs a distraction, I’m giving you the advice my friend gave me; watch anime.