Anime depression (A guide)

In this brief blog post, we will cover anime depression.

You may have googled to search for this because you are feeling low, feeling down and you thought you couldn’t possibly be the only one that has gotten to this point after watching a series and felt like your whole world was ending.

Most people will dismiss the feeling as not being important as they may view it as a momentary sentiment which will slowly fade as time passes.

What happens when 3 weeks later you still feel the same way? or what happens when this sentiment begins to physically affect you?

You begin to lose your appetite, you begin to avoid social situations and you become lonely and lost in your own thoughts.

There are so many disorders that can be born out of things we do every day and see no direct issue with.

It is very important to not ignore the signs being sent by your body and speak to someone if you feel you just arent yourself as of late.

What many people don’t recognise is that depression can happen after watching anime and it is a real thing which many people all over the world suffer from each year.

What is Anime depression?

Anime depression occurs due to how the anime series are usually framed.

When an anime series ends most people will find that they enter into post anime depression.

This type of depression occurs because people get obsessed with the anime series, the anime series becomes so captivating that when it eventually ends it feels like a breakup and this leads to depression.

The end of an anime series causes depression as you can’t seem to get over the fact that the anime series is over.

You may try to feel this void by watching other anime series but you find that nothing feels the void.

The fact that you cant have new memories with your anime series causes you to have depression.

When you speak to your family and friends about your post anime depression they may not take you seriously as most people don’t understand what post anime depression is but this type of depression is very real and if you feel like you are suffering from depression after you have finished an anime series then you may want to consider seeking help from a mental health expert.

A post anime depression will be a sensation of emptiness that cannot be filled.

You will feel a big void once the anime series is over but in some cases, you may experience this type of depression more severely at the early stages of your anime watching life.

As you begin to watch more and more anime you may find that your anime depression has reduced and you are now able to cope with an anime series coming to an end without developing post anime depression.

Most fans will try and prevent this type of depression by prolonging when they will watch the final seasons of the anime series.

But of course, this doesn’t work as at some point or the other they will eventually have to watch the end of the anime series and fall into anime depression.

What causes anime depression?

The anime you may have watched may have connect with you in such a deep manner.

You were attached to the anime characters and this made you unable to deal with the loss of not being able to see these characters in action or fulfil their dreams, eventually leading you to anime depression.

Anime depression may be more prevalent if you are much more able to relate to the anime due to it being at the same stage of your life e.g highschool anime whilst you are in high school will likely have a bigger effect on you.

When you suffer from post anime depression you will usually wonder for your life to resemble that of the anime characters even though you know it will never be.

On anime depression, a user on Reddit said “ Every single freakin anime i watch.. I swear i have to start watching something new or else i feel really depressed like they’re my friends and i won’t see them again  “

Another user says this about anime depression “  Yep. For me, it’s like this with anything well-written. The end of the series forces you to acknowledge that what you were just so immersed in is, indeed, fiction. None of the characters you cared about are actual people. Their words, their actions, the feelings they expressed: all not real. Everything that just happened happened because a writer said it would happen, and nothing happens afterward in that universe, because it is, in fact, fiction.

It’s the escapist’s never-ending struggle, to fall in love with a universe and the people within it, time and time again, then have it just stop.

You know, sometimes, I really envy One Piece fans.  “

In some cases, anime fans will actually fall in love with the anime characters and fall into anime depression upon realising that they will never be able to meet or spend the rest of their lives with the anime.

Another reason why anime depression comes about is because anime fans will usually fall into the deep world of anime and believe everything they watch to be real, when the show eventually ends and reality hits them they fall into severe anime depression as they realise that the world they live in isn’t half as good as the anime world.

They try to fill this void by researching the anime series, its characters and even buying anime merchandise.

Top 5 anime series which cause depression?

The anime series below have been known to cause depression:

  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica
  • Grave Of The Fireflies
  • Plastic memories
  • Attack on Titan
  • The Tale Of Princess Kaguya
  • Parasyte: The Maxim
  • Terror In Resonance
  • Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
  • Monster
  • 5 centimetres per second
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • No.6
  • Death parade
  • Psycho pass
  • Welcome To The N.H.K.
  • From The New World

How to get rid of Anime depression?

Anime depression in most cases will come because we see ourselves in the anime characters.

Maybe they have the exact things we want in our lives, the ability to get the girls, intelligence or strength.

Identifying the flaws we have in life and how the anime characters or series was able to fill that void is the first way to get over this type of depression.

We should then look to fix our flaws by trying to be better people and avoid a pattern of escapism where we try to find things such as anime series to fill the voids we have in our lives. 

Try to stop thinking about the anime series and see if this helps you get rid of your anime depression.

If it doesn’t then try rewatching the anime show.


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