I invited a bunch of work folks over to watch some anime.  I sent out a mass email invitation complete with offers of deluxe home-made ramen, their choice of mochi ice cream flavor, and about a dozen synopses of some movies and TV series the anime first-timers might enjoy.

I got one response.  Thank god it was yes.  I’m a little sad.

why is it wrapped up? wtf?!

I understand why people are hesitant to watch anime.  I get it.  Really.  They picture the giant eyes, and the impossible hair, the enormous swords, the subtitles (how dare they make us read for entertainment!).  As an avid anime fan, I’ll be the first to say it: anime can be weird and off-putting, just like any other genre.

But it also allows us to think outside the box like no other medium.  It’s a cartoon!  Anything can happen!  Who wouldn’t love that?  The cost of an anime movie is a lot cheaper than a live-action movie, so technically we’re getting more fantastic stories that look amazing from anime per dollar.  That’s five amazing animes for the price of one live-action film!  I’m totally making these number up, btw.  I’ll have to do some research.

totally, completely accurate

RESEARCH COMPLETE

Ok, so it looks like the budget for Spirited Away was ¥1.9 billion, which converts to roughly $23 million.  Scratch together two times that amount, and you could almost afford to hire Eddie Murphy to ruin your film (and that doesn’t even cover the cost of a fat suit).  Inception had a budget of $200 million.  Paprika, an anime movie on the same topic (dream-based science fiction-action-thriller-mystery!) was supposedly made for around $3 million.  And Paprika was part of the inspiration behind Inception!

In case you’re still not convinced that anime is worth your while, AMERICA, here’s a screenshot I took of how Naruto hoped he would look once he was transformed into a cat:

initiate heart melting

P.S. Like how I blamed my coworkers’ lack of interest in anime night at my place entirely on anime?  I’m sorry, my friend, but it’s you or me!  lol