Hot Take: Anime Can Be A Good Role Model
If you ask traditional media critics about anime, they immediately say the same stereotypes: it's either mindless escapism, a childish fantasy for people who don't want to grow up, or something that's a lot more violent and needs to be adjusted.
Although anime does have its hilarious and eye-catching moments, there were also stories and moments anchored in profound moral philosophy.
Western pop culture often focuses on something that is either born talented, flawlessly perfect, or even a physical superhuman, anime teaches us something that is a harder truth: real growth requires tons of grit and perseverance, a hard reality of how the world can be cruel, and overall how you can become a better person in the short-term and in the long term.
In a world full of curated online (and offline) personas, anime might quietly be providing the most authentic role models we have. Here are three reasons as to why anime can be a good model for this generation and the next generation.
Reason #1: Earned Growth Over Overnight Success
Western pop culture and/or social media constantly glorify people that are naturally talented, physically amusing to see, or just overnight viral success out of nowhere. However, with anime, it centers around the concept of relentless effort (or doryoku in Japanese).
The best examples that many anime fans would know and love is Naruto Uzumaki, Izuku Midoriya, and Hinata from Haikyu!! Those characters never started off from the top of the world; they started off at the dirt bottom. Naruto (age 12 Naruto, not the one from Shippuden) being ostracized out of the village because of an event that was never his fault to begin with, Midoriya constantly being underestimated because he was born without any quirk compared to everyone else that was born with one, and Hinata being brushed to the side because he was smaller than the average player in the court.
In the beginning, they were all flawed underdogs who failed repeatedly and often compared to the average character.
Because of that, a lot of people can relate to being ostracized and being underestimated from their peers around them. However, unlike Western pop culture, anime tends to show their hard work and dedication to their craft in a raw form that you rarely seen in the real world.
Imagine you're seeing your favorite actor or singer talking about their time before they become famous. Not a lot of actors nor singers would showcase their failures or their shortcomings, and it just makes you think they blown through the competition. Whereas, in actuality, they might have some moments of second guessing themselves, huge vulnerability, and consecutive losses that mentally and emotionally beaten them down. However, they don't want to showcase it because they want to be strong for their fans (or they don't want to be perceived as weak to show their emotions).
Showing characters forcing to endure grueling training arcs, face embarrassing setbacks that would make a lot of people quit on the spot, and earn every single inch of their progress through blood, sweat, tears, and discipline, anime normalizes the messy reality of personal growth and glory in a way curated online personas never have the balls to do.
The surprising thing about that is those anime characters tend to showcase a lot more human emotions than most online personas.
I can guaranteed you not a lot of celebrities showcase the bloopers side of their craft. Showing the bloopers side of your craft showcase not only the growth of your hard work, but even at least show that you're still a human being as well.
Reason #2: Accountability and The Reality of Failure
In the online world where's it sadly dominated by deflection of accountability and the performative apologies that means nothing in even the next week, anime teaches emotional accountability and the necessity of failure to be better for the future.
When an anime protagonist (or any anime character) makes a mistake (even a small one) or loses a critical battle, the narrative rarely make excuses for themselves.
Instead, they forced themselves to confront the consequences of their choices and/or actions, process their grief or embarrassment, and have their own redemption arc to rebuild themselves as a stronger version.
My best example would be Bakugo Katsuki. In the beginning of My Hero Academia, he was mostly known to being super hotheaded, belligerent, cocky, and not a team player. From the very first loss against Midoriya to the final season of the series, he slowly changed his cocky ways and becomes a team leader and learns his style of saving the day: win to save.
Now, let's be honest for a second. The amount of times that celebrities (mainstream and internet) gotten themselves into backlashes, controversies, and scandals is far too many from even one month let alone several years to a decade. Plus, there's a rare occasion where a celebrity of any kind would have a full-on heartfelt apology and saying "Hey, I messed up and I apologize for my bad reactions." Because they rarely had to fully face the consequences, most of the celebrities don't really change their ways and became worse and worse overtime.
By demonstrating that failure isn't the end of the road nor it's the end of one's life--but rather an essential stepping stone towards mastery or redemption, anime provides a healthier framework for resilience than traditional and modern celebrity culture.
Reason #3: Community and Sacrificial Loyalty
The biggest morale core of anime is its refusal to glorify toxic individualism. What I mean by glorifying toxic individualism is basically those types of people saying they became successful all by themselves and they don't need anyone else.
They're the same people that posts on their social media about being a lone wolf in the group.
The dominant theme across nearly all major anime series is that no one succeeds alone, and the usual joke tons of anime fans would say: "The power of friendship".
Protagonists depend heavily on their mentors, rivals, and friends on their journey to becoming the best. It shows that vulnerability and seeking help are signs of strength rather than weakness.
In the real world, the sad reality of that is rarely anyone would want to ask for help because they don't want to appear weak or stupid to their peers. However, the less you ask for help, the worse your situation would get.
Let me ask you this:
- If it wasn't for Iruka-sensei or Jiraya, would Naruto become a Hokage? NO
- If it wasn't for All Might or Bakugo, would Midoriya become one of the strongest heroes? NO
- If it wasn't for Vegeta or Master Roshi, would Goku become the strongest fighter in the universe? NO
If it wasn't for those mentors, friends, and/or rivals, none of those main characters would become powerhouses.
Anime consistently reinforced that genuine character is built though how you lift up the people around you and stand by the principles when everything is on the line and the odds are against you.
Conclusion
Despite Western society brushing anime to the side, anime is a modern storytelling medium that speaks directly to the universal human experience. It provides a powerful counter-negative to modern shallow online trends that would be hot in one month and disappears in the next month. When we look at the core themes driving these stories, it becomes clear that anime characters aren't just for entertainment--they are some of the most authentic role models available today that you can watch at anytime and anywhere.
Has a specific anime or character genuinely change your perspective or inspired you in your life?
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