“How can you possibly be attracted to a cartoon?†I have long since lost track of how many times I have had someone make such an oration towards me, and quite honestly, the ridicule has lost its effect. Whether or not it is “right†to be attracted to anime is hardly a concern. The question at hand is why it happens. Some guys like feet, some girls prefer shorter men. It is impossible, however, for anime to fall under the same tier of categorization because such preferences exist as sub-genres within anime, itself. The idea of being attracted to illustrations is something grander.
Is this conditioned, or is it human nature? Perhaps everybody shares the same sense of attraction, but those who continue to deny it have long since cognitively dismissed the thought of attraction towards an illustrated representation. After all, such a thing is not exactly accepted as “norm†in our society (there is a reason why that malodorous statement concerning “cartoons†continues to surface). Perhaps those who disagree with anime simply associate cartoons with juvenility. In other words, perhaps people are conditioned to become un-attracted to anime. Or perhaps yet, they might simply lack a certain imaginative capacity required to truly appreciate it.
Those who defend the idea of attraction towards anime often compare the feeling of looking at an anime character to that of looking at a celebrity on television. Neither is “real†per-se; they are both nothing but organized patterns of various colored pixels, or in the case of hand drawn art, lines and vectors (it should be noted, actually, that everything we perceive boils down to being nothing but organized patterns of light projected onto our retina). The argument in question does not quite hold, unfortunately, as these two things are indeed drastically different. Looking at a photograph of your significant other undeniably gives off a different feeling than looking at an anime representation of the same individual (though keep in mind, both are perfectly valid mediums to be considered attractive).
Where a photograph of a significant other is a precise representation of the person in question, an anime illustration would be an estimated representation. In other words, a better way to explain this would be with a metaphor. Have you ever read a book (or seen a movie, et cetera) where the plot was laid out in such a fashion that it’s many details and intricacies were left open for you to interpret and figure out? Such stories are often considered much more sophisticated and enjoyable than stories with the same details presented in an obvious fashion. Such a story would be equivalent to an anime illustration, whereas a less sophisticated story would be equivalent to a photograph.
I dare say that people who are not attracted to anime have poor imaginations. The entire concept behind anime is that the majority of detail is left open to the audience’s interpretation. Character illustrations are vague representations of real-life equivalents, and it’s the job of the audience to fill in the missing detail. With this in mind, there is no reason why anime characters should not only be attractive, but more attractive than real-life people. When an audience fills in the ‘blanks’ to an anime illustration, they subconsciously do so with nothing but attractive details; that is, the gaps are filled in such a way that what they perceive in their mind is an ideal real-world representation. This is not to say that anime characters are flawless; after all, beauty lies in the flaws of a human, and as such, these flaws are accounted for when the illustration is being processed by the imagination. In essence, the amount of attraction that one has towards anime is directly proportional to the strength and ability of his or her imagination.
Of course, this case strictly speaks in terms of visual appeal. There are many, many different factors of human nature that contribute to the attraction towards an individual. I’m not going to stop and deny that the same things can happen towards anime characters, however, that is an entirely different topic all together (since, after all, one could theoretically fall in love with a character from a book).
I have extremely artistically talented friends who deny having any sense of attraction towards anime characters. They are clearly not lacking any imaginative capacity required for agreeing with such a thing, so the reason for their preference must lie in either cognitive associations or societal conditioning. Since the effect of conditioning removed this sense of attraction, it is needless to say that those who are not attracted to anime are indeed the weird ones. Or perhaps they just didn’t watch Sailor Moon when they were younger.
Edit: Minor grammar.
Is this conditioned, or is it human nature? Perhaps everybody shares the same sense of attraction, but those who continue to deny it have long since cognitively dismissed the thought of attraction towards an illustrated representation. After all, such a thing is not exactly accepted as “norm†in our society (there is a reason why that malodorous statement concerning “cartoons†continues to surface). Perhaps those who disagree with anime simply associate cartoons with juvenility. In other words, perhaps people are conditioned to become un-attracted to anime. Or perhaps yet, they might simply lack a certain imaginative capacity required to truly appreciate it.
Those who defend the idea of attraction towards anime often compare the feeling of looking at an anime character to that of looking at a celebrity on television. Neither is “real†per-se; they are both nothing but organized patterns of various colored pixels, or in the case of hand drawn art, lines and vectors (it should be noted, actually, that everything we perceive boils down to being nothing but organized patterns of light projected onto our retina). The argument in question does not quite hold, unfortunately, as these two things are indeed drastically different. Looking at a photograph of your significant other undeniably gives off a different feeling than looking at an anime representation of the same individual (though keep in mind, both are perfectly valid mediums to be considered attractive).
Where a photograph of a significant other is a precise representation of the person in question, an anime illustration would be an estimated representation. In other words, a better way to explain this would be with a metaphor. Have you ever read a book (or seen a movie, et cetera) where the plot was laid out in such a fashion that it’s many details and intricacies were left open for you to interpret and figure out? Such stories are often considered much more sophisticated and enjoyable than stories with the same details presented in an obvious fashion. Such a story would be equivalent to an anime illustration, whereas a less sophisticated story would be equivalent to a photograph.
I dare say that people who are not attracted to anime have poor imaginations. The entire concept behind anime is that the majority of detail is left open to the audience’s interpretation. Character illustrations are vague representations of real-life equivalents, and it’s the job of the audience to fill in the missing detail. With this in mind, there is no reason why anime characters should not only be attractive, but more attractive than real-life people. When an audience fills in the ‘blanks’ to an anime illustration, they subconsciously do so with nothing but attractive details; that is, the gaps are filled in such a way that what they perceive in their mind is an ideal real-world representation. This is not to say that anime characters are flawless; after all, beauty lies in the flaws of a human, and as such, these flaws are accounted for when the illustration is being processed by the imagination. In essence, the amount of attraction that one has towards anime is directly proportional to the strength and ability of his or her imagination.
Of course, this case strictly speaks in terms of visual appeal. There are many, many different factors of human nature that contribute to the attraction towards an individual. I’m not going to stop and deny that the same things can happen towards anime characters, however, that is an entirely different topic all together (since, after all, one could theoretically fall in love with a character from a book).
I have extremely artistically talented friends who deny having any sense of attraction towards anime characters. They are clearly not lacking any imaginative capacity required for agreeing with such a thing, so the reason for their preference must lie in either cognitive associations or societal conditioning. Since the effect of conditioning removed this sense of attraction, it is needless to say that those who are not attracted to anime are indeed the weird ones. Or perhaps they just didn’t watch Sailor Moon when they were younger.
Edit: Minor grammar.
. I can most certainly see anime being easy to draw relative to the other styles, but I don't think anyone can just pick up a pencil and start drawing an attractive anime illustration without tons of practice. I would consider myself more of a musician...