Do You Ever Talk Back to Your Anime?

Here’s an example……a bad example.

Do you ever talk to your anime? One of the things that they used to teach me in media literacy class is that an effective means to combat the passivity most TV watchers have is to talk back to the TV–to say out loud what one really thinks or feels at the moment something happens. Especially if something particularly dumb or cliched happens. It helps keep your brain active and involved, and it’s also a useful reviewer exercise.

I talked back a lot to the episodes of Kimikiss and Myself;Yourself I reviewed tonight. Normally, I do that sort of thing for only two kinds of shows: shows that are really easy to make fun of (Myself; Yourself episode 1, the suddenly ominous parts of episode 3, the really awful bathos of Saikano), and shows that are really, really funny and/or entertaining. I don’t ever do it if I’m genuinely bored. For serious drama or genuine shock, my complete silence is usually a very good sign, though silence is also sometimes a sign of boredom. I especially like shouting things out when harem cliches come along: pigtails on the tsundere, the non-related girl calling the guy “onii-chan,” the moment when it’s revealed that this is a childhood friend. The moment when the guy can’t say his true feelings. Dragonaut brings out the yaoi jokes and the Eva comparisons.

So what do you like to shout out to your TV? Have you ever played drinking games to anime? What inspires your audience participation, either by yourself or at cons and anime club showings?

Author: gendomike

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.

12 thoughts on “Do You Ever Talk Back to Your Anime?

  1. when its painfully obvious someone is about to die… I find my self saying “hurry up and die”

  2. Frequently, though 50% of it is pumping the air with my fist and shouting “YES! YES!”

  3. When the stupid guy or girl refuses to just say it. I would say: “Yeah, right…”

  4. I usually just laugh out loud for the most part. I found myself constantly saying, “what an a–hole,” with regard to Makoto, while watching School Days. I did “YES! YES!!!” when watching Claymore. So, yes, I talk back to anime.

    The really interesting question would be if anime talks back to you.

  5. I have to admit that while watching Schol Days I did find myself shouting at Kotonoha “OH FOR GOD”S SAKE! STOP BEING SUCH A DOORMAT!!!”

  6. I usually don’t, unless I’m with other people. I have a feeling if I started watching shoujo anime, I’d be shouting at my TV a lot more (as in “Die already,” “stop crying,” or “just dump him/her and save the series.”

  7. I’m always talking back when watching anime, most of the times to nomal tv-shows as well. Mostly making snarky comments on cliche’d stuff or something, but also for other shows with action or comedy I tend to get involved a lot. Oh, I also often talk to myself when watching an anime about how they producers/animators/whatever should have handled a scene/episode/series to make it more epic/fun/random/whatever, which is pretty fun. 😀
    “No, you idiots. You should have made the camera come from thát point to there and then have … happen. Damned, now focus on this and that, and then have her do this and he say that. That would have been awesome. XD”, or something along those lines. 😉

  8. All the time. Mostly just snark, but sometimes when I get really pumped up I’ll do the “YES! YES!” thing. Like when Makoto got his just desserts in the last episode of School Days.

  9. Yes it happens, but most of the time it’ll be a physical reaction (ex: hiding my face when X does something stupid which will ruin the relationship with Y or that will put he-she-it in deep sh*t). Sometimes though I actually talk to myself or the anime. A good example was when I watched Mai-Z-HiME and Tomoe pins down and kisses Shizuru, I don’t think I’ve ever blurted out that many insults in only 3 sentences and what more a total mix and slur of Japanese, English and French. After that I couldn’t stop mumbling “how dare she… Shizuru-sama… WHY?”.
    But most of the time it can be a snide remark or snicker at people or clichés or things that are balantly obvious. And as said earlier sometimes it can just be bangnig my head on the table.

  10. I always talk back to my anime, it’s pathetic really. I did an excessive amount of shouting during Neon Genesis Evangelion. >.>

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