It's hard being an anime fan. For starters, English dubs of the latest episodes are only available when they aren't the latest episodes anymore and reading the subtitles is as good as reading the instructions on a Chinese lantern. Your references are returned with blank stares and your hand remains un-high-fived. Then you have the clarifications.
"Dude, you're 21 and still watch cartoons?"
"It's anime...."
Soon you either realize you sound like Sheldon Cooper only with half the IQ, or convenience overtakes dignity and you let the people believe what they want.
You are soon mentally herded into a small esoteric group by the general public, often dangerously close to those categorized as "geeks". That is not to say geeks are bad, usually that's code for, "guy who knows how to use electronic stuff that makes me look like a gorilla in RadioShack."(You're welcome, geeks and RadioShack).
In spite of these ramifications, I do tell people that I enjoy watching anime. Blank stares greet me once more. Then I say the buzzword.
Pokemon!
"Ah yes! The Chinese cartoons!"
I open my mouth to tell them it's Japanese, but it might just cost me a friend.
One of the reasons that I enjoy watching anime is that it does have some profound opinions on the sort of things that I like to think about. And trust me, once you do start thinking, you forget about the insanely voluptuous anime women who give Barbie a run for her money in setting unrealistic beauty standards for girls.
My hypothesis is that anime resonates oriental culture. They don't have cheeseburgers, bacon, cowboy boots or machine guns. They have onigiri, ramen, kimonos and katanas. And they've stuck to them. Parallelly, they also resonate the core values of the Eastern culture.
One of them is the bond between Student and Sensei.
The word "sensei" literally means "a person born before another" or to give it more depth, a person who teaches based on experience and wisdom acquired by age. Now, I have always been of the opinion that just because someone is older than you doesn't mean that they know better. This emotion usually reaches it's peak when an old man breaks the signal and crashes into me, and I'm the one being reprimanded because I'm younger and have a faster bike, which is apparently criminal.(If you're reading this old man, I'm coming for you.)
So the degree of strictness with which students follow and obey their
sensei has never really made sense to me. It always struck me as pretty puzzling because in the Western world of bombs and bikinis, teachers have always been portrayed as beings who can do no wrong. Their morals and intellectual understandings are unquestionable and there isn't a crooked bone in their body. Yet, students find the compulsive need to try and find faults in the method if not the person. In anime, in comparison, you have senseis who are drunkards, perverts, have anger management issues, or aren't even interested in teaching the student at all. And yet the student follows his master through whatever life throws at them.
The answer to my quandary was found in a Reader's Digest magazine I was reading the other day. Well known comedian C.K.Louis is famous for touching on rather uncomfortable subjects such as masturbation or the "N-word". There was a little quote by him which explained things quite well.
It read " If you're older, you're cleverer. I just believe that. If you're in an argument with someone older than you, you should listen. Even if they're wrong, their wrongness is rooted in more experience than you have."
I realized that my confusion had arisen because I had only considered the student and the teacher to be the possible causes. What I hadn't considered, was the attitude towards learning.
You can learn new things in whatever environment you are thrown in. And if you want to learn something in particular from someone in particular, it doesn't matter what the character of the teacher might be, he is teaching you something and that is always something to be grateful for. Students aren't grateful to their teachers for what they are, but for the knowledge that they have imparted to them consciously or unconsciously.
As Mr. Miyagi's words famously say; "There is never a bad student. Only a bad teacher."
A true sensei only gives. And gives whatever he has to his student. He understands without being told. He listens without anything being said and he speaks without uttering a word. He entrusts his life's meaning to his student without hesitation, because his student is his only pride. He believes in his student when all the world is against him because he knows that is all he needs to fight back. A good student is a source of joy and happiness for a sensei, because he receives whatever he has to give fully.
A true sensei teaches the student about life. Not just history or geography or martial arts. A true sensei is a guide. Someone who has his hand on the student's shoulder, not to push him in the right direction, or to pick him up when he falls, but to be there when he is needed.
A shining example of the same is Rock Lee and Might Guy from Naruto.
For the non-animaniac readers, a bit of background. Rock Lee is a ninja with absolutely no talent at anything. He is sub par at best in hand to hand combat. In spite of relentless training and taking his body to the limit, he is never able to ever reach the others.Constantly mocked in class, for his lack of talent and bushy eyebrows, Might Guy finds himself alone practicing on a tree stump, doubting his abilities and empathizes with him. He convinces Lee that he is better than the rest because he is a genius at something that others will never be. He is a genius at hard work. And that doubting your abilities is the worst thing one can do. Believing in yourself, your abilities and sticking to your decision, no matter what is the road to success. These simple words are what made Rock Lee from one of the underdogs into one of the best ninjas there ever was.
Unfortunately, such senseis, albeit with their own eccentricities, exist in a utopian world. The times we live in aren't privileged enough to have many of those. True senseis are a rarity.
So, if you find someone whom you think can be your sensei. Hold on to that person and never stop believing in them. Because The bond between a student and a sensei is only as strong as the will to learn between them.
"Dude, you're 21 and still watch cartoons?"
"It's anime...."
Soon you either realize you sound like Sheldon Cooper only with half the IQ, or convenience overtakes dignity and you let the people believe what they want.
You are soon mentally herded into a small esoteric group by the general public, often dangerously close to those categorized as "geeks". That is not to say geeks are bad, usually that's code for, "guy who knows how to use electronic stuff that makes me look like a gorilla in RadioShack."(You're welcome, geeks and RadioShack).
In spite of these ramifications, I do tell people that I enjoy watching anime. Blank stares greet me once more. Then I say the buzzword.
Pokemon!
"Ah yes! The Chinese cartoons!"
I open my mouth to tell them it's Japanese, but it might just cost me a friend.
 |
| So many memories... |
 |
| Ramen : Not the Top Ramen we get here |
My hypothesis is that anime resonates oriental culture. They don't have cheeseburgers, bacon, cowboy boots or machine guns. They have onigiri, ramen, kimonos and katanas. And they've stuck to them. Parallelly, they also resonate the core values of the Eastern culture.
 |
| Onigiri or Rice Balls |
One of them is the bond between Student and Sensei.
The word "sensei" literally means "a person born before another" or to give it more depth, a person who teaches based on experience and wisdom acquired by age. Now, I have always been of the opinion that just because someone is older than you doesn't mean that they know better. This emotion usually reaches it's peak when an old man breaks the signal and crashes into me, and I'm the one being reprimanded because I'm younger and have a faster bike, which is apparently criminal.(If you're reading this old man, I'm coming for you.)
So the degree of strictness with which students follow and obey their
 |
| Katana : Something I must have in my life |
 |
| C.K Louis - Comedian, philosopher, masturbator |
The answer to my quandary was found in a Reader's Digest magazine I was reading the other day. Well known comedian C.K.Louis is famous for touching on rather uncomfortable subjects such as masturbation or the "N-word". There was a little quote by him which explained things quite well.
It read " If you're older, you're cleverer. I just believe that. If you're in an argument with someone older than you, you should listen. Even if they're wrong, their wrongness is rooted in more experience than you have."
I realized that my confusion had arisen because I had only considered the student and the teacher to be the possible causes. What I hadn't considered, was the attitude towards learning.
You can learn new things in whatever environment you are thrown in. And if you want to learn something in particular from someone in particular, it doesn't matter what the character of the teacher might be, he is teaching you something and that is always something to be grateful for. Students aren't grateful to their teachers for what they are, but for the knowledge that they have imparted to them consciously or unconsciously.
As Mr. Miyagi's words famously say; "There is never a bad student. Only a bad teacher."
A true sensei only gives. And gives whatever he has to his student. He understands without being told. He listens without anything being said and he speaks without uttering a word. He entrusts his life's meaning to his student without hesitation, because his student is his only pride. He believes in his student when all the world is against him because he knows that is all he needs to fight back. A good student is a source of joy and happiness for a sensei, because he receives whatever he has to give fully.
A true sensei teaches the student about life. Not just history or geography or martial arts. A true sensei is a guide. Someone who has his hand on the student's shoulder, not to push him in the right direction, or to pick him up when he falls, but to be there when he is needed.
A shining example of the same is Rock Lee and Might Guy from Naruto.
 |
For the non-animaniac readers, a bit of background. Rock Lee is a ninja with absolutely no talent at anything. He is sub par at best in hand to hand combat. In spite of relentless training and taking his body to the limit, he is never able to ever reach the others.Constantly mocked in class, for his lack of talent and bushy eyebrows, Might Guy finds himself alone practicing on a tree stump, doubting his abilities and empathizes with him. He convinces Lee that he is better than the rest because he is a genius at something that others will never be. He is a genius at hard work. And that doubting your abilities is the worst thing one can do. Believing in yourself, your abilities and sticking to your decision, no matter what is the road to success. These simple words are what made Rock Lee from one of the underdogs into one of the best ninjas there ever was.
Unfortunately, such senseis, albeit with their own eccentricities, exist in a utopian world. The times we live in aren't privileged enough to have many of those. True senseis are a rarity.
So, if you find someone whom you think can be your sensei. Hold on to that person and never stop believing in them. Because The bond between a student and a sensei is only as strong as the will to learn between them.
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