8 Life Lessons from Anime

Anime is a Japanese animation style targeted at children and adults. A perfect anime is a blend of a strong plot, intriguing characters, intense action and deeply ingrained human values from the very beginning. Though many consider anime as a source of entertainment only, there is a lot to learn from anime. Below is the list of life lessons one can learn from some of the best anime ever.

1. Law of equivalent exchange (Fullmetal Alchemist aka Hagane no Renkinjutsushi)

Fullmetal Alchemist is a story of two brothers, Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, living in a world where alchemy is what can be called science in our world. Just like scientists, we have alchemists in this anime series, and on the same lines there are a few things forbidden for all alchemists. The series teaches a simple but profound fact of life – Equivalent Exchange is the principle that limits alchemy’s infinite potential. It’s a simple concept: something cannot be created from nothing, and so in order to obtain something, something else of equal value must be lost.

Giving up something to gain something else is a notion that one must understand in day-to-day life. The very concept of value is subjective. People value things differently. People think of money but money alone doesn’t bring happiness. Money doesn’t have equal value to every individual. For some people fun is important, for some career, for some words of appreciation. Be wise to understand this life lesson.

2. Hard-work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard enough (Naruto)

Naruto is a story where ninjas are real. Naruto Uzumaki is the protagonist and pursuing to become the top leader of his ninja village. The story is a journey in which he starts off as an outcast in class with low rank, no family to live with, and many other adversities. In the story he faces a number of opponents who are talented and have a head start over him. However with determination and hardwork, Naruto painfully but gradually keeps getting better and better. This show takes viewers through the journey of Naruto’s hard-work till he makes it.

This is something one must learn as soon as possible in life. Complacency is the biggest enemy of talent. It is common to see many talented kids but very few successful talented people around. It is important to acknowledge that hard-work polishes the golden ball of talent. Everyone is gifted with talent. Talent comes in all shapes and sizes. Just like natural diamond needs a lot of polishing to become perfect. People need to do a lot of hard work to polish their talent and beat even the talented people in the long run.

3. Life is not fair, people struggle (Attack on Titan aka Shingeki no Kyojin)

If you feel life should be fair and everyone should have equal opportunity then you are absolutely right. However the real world is nowhere close to that. It is a fact. Attack on Titan is one of its kind anime in which the very existence of the human kind is under threat due to the arrival of Titans on earth. Our protagonist, Eren Yeager, goes through a series of events without any reason or clue. No matter how nice, good or rich he is, his life is unfair. There will be circumstances beyond control. Loss of someone close, losing an opportunity without any reason, dealing with irrational illogical situations/people is his real life. It is not fair and it is not right but that’s how it is.

Attack on Titan will give you chills that only a top quality anime can. The plot seems rough but it opens up like layers of onions. Choosing between right or wrong, good or evil is not as easy as we learn in books. This show is a beautiful gory series with ways one’s life can unfold. Understanding life is unfair is something that will help you to be at peace and stay humble. 

4. Pain & fear is normal but action decides what you become (Dragon Slayer aka Kimetsu no yaiba)

Demon slayer is a highly rated anime in which demons exist and create havoc in human life. The story begins with the mentioned lesson itself. Our protagonist is a young boy, Tanjiro Kamado, fighting over his pain and fear to stand tall against all the odds to get his sister converted back as a human being. The anime boasts some of the highest rated action sequences. All the main characters showcase overcoming pain & fear as a path to transcend personal limitations.

It is natural to look out for a path of minimum resistance. A path where we face no pain, no fear. But in real life, everyone has to go through a series of pain and fear. It is important for us to act even when we are under pain and/or fear. It is our actions in the adverse situations that make us.

5. No one becomes great without a team (One-Piece)

One-piece is a world of pirates, pirates and pirates. It is a world of super-human who have gained remarkable abilities through consumption of devil fruits, hardwork and perseverance. Our protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is a pirate king in making. He alone can do nothing. Being aware of this fact, One-piece is a journey of Luffy from being a solo devil-fruit-power bearer to becoming one of the strongest pirates of the generation while building a team of extraordinary people with a range of skills and abilities. One-piece is one of the longest running anime with more than 1000 episodes till date.

When we think of things we wish to achieve in life, we usually think of achieving it alone. However having a team of people whose goals are aligned to yours can increase your chances by magnitude within a short period of time. Your friends, family, mentors, colleagues etc can be part of the team. You do not start with a team but as you live, you tag along people into a team who will help you to achieve your goals. The sooner you start thinking in terms of team, the better your chances of becoming successful.

6. The real fight is finding your own strength (My Hero Academia aka Boku no Hiro Akademia)

Everyone of us must have thought of becoming a superhero at least once in our lifetime. My Hero Academia is a world full of superheroes. Humankind has gone through a natural mass-mutation leading to development of super-human abilities called quirk. Each quirk is different and it is upto the person to make the most out of it. Our protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is a young boy who receives the most powerful quirk by number 1 superhero of the world but he is unable to harness the true potential of the quirk. He tries to imitate the superhero but fails. He is on a journey to explore full capacity of the gifted power and use it as per his own strength. The show is full of action sequences and background music.

The show is a true adaptation of everyone’s journey. You may have wealth, knowledge, education, connections but you will not be able to progress in true sense till you understand yourself. Understanding yourself requires one to figure out your existing capabilities, your true potential and journey between the two points. It is a daunting task but equally rewarding. Hence, the fight you need to do is to find your strength and pursue it till you make it.

7. There is always room for improvement (Assasination Classroom aka Ansatsu Kyōshitsu)

When we are young, our mind is open to learning. We are curious and as we grow-up over the years, our learning slows down due to a number of factors. Assasination Classroom is a perfect anime which shows the never ending ability of humans to keep learning. Irrespective of situation, there is always room for learning. The best way to become a better self of yourself is to keep learning and unlearning. The anime is a story around assasination of classroom teacher, Koro-Sensei, who is a unknown lifeform with superhuman abilities with movement speed of 20 mach. The class is full of lowest rank students of a prestigious middle school who are considered unworthy and are left in a separate classroom with next to no facilities to help in learning. The sole target of the classroom is to assassinate the teacher before he destroys earth by the end of the academic year while the teacher aims to teach them to become best. The anime shows how everyone has room to progress. It teaches that to progress one requires right mentoring, effort, patience and perseverance.

There may be times when you think everything you have done is enough and can’t go further but in reality learning never stops. There is always room for improvement. We learn from the best around us, we learn by teaching others, we learn by making mistakes, we learn by learning from others mistakes, we learn by being exposed to different situations. We can keep improving as long as we keep ourselves open to learning.

8. Life is a journey with ups and downs better learn to make friends (Pokemon)

Pokemon has left its mark on generations now. Pokemon is a world full of animal kingdom where species possess different abilities. Humans have learnt to tame them and are living in harmony to make this world a better place. The story of Pokemon revolves around our protagonist, Ash Ketchum, a young boy who is on his journey to become the best of pokemon trainers, aka a Pokemon Master. The series goes for years and years with Ash winning and losing every now and then. He makes friends throughout the journey and the story keeps on going. This anime shows how he makes friends throughout the journey and it helps him to stay motivated towards his goal. This anime is one of the most popular and has a huge fan following ever since it aired. 

Life is a long journey and it would be not possible to go through this journey without friends. Friends stick together in times of need. This show teaches how we make and let go friends in our journey of life as we progress towards our goal becoming stronger, better. Though we may be focused on reaching our destination, life is a journey and we must not forget this. This journey is long so better learn to make friends.

Conclusion

Hope you enjoyed the list of lessons from anime. If you have not seen these anime then do try them. Each one is among the highest rated anime of all time. Though the article mentions 8 life lessons, you will definitely pick many more lessons from the anime. Thanks for reading. Do let us know what you think in the comments section.