By Chelsea Cruz
Anime is, first and foremost, entertainment, but it can also be a source of knowledge. Yes, those awesome action sequences and compelling plots can teach us something.
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What if I told you that you could learn essential life skills just from watching anime? Sounds pretty solid, right?
From how to make the perfect cup of tea to pushing to achieve your goals, there are several valuable lessons we can learn from shows like Gurren Lagann and Ben-To.
So get your notes ready, and let’s dive in!
Self-Care – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and The Helpful Fox Senko-san
When it comes to learning the basics, it all starts with taking care of yourself and the space you live in! Nothing is better than bringing order to some chaos, be it clearing your room of clutter or finding the best way to organize your new apartment.
Not all of us can employ a dragon or be sent a cute fox spirit that’ll take care of us, but we can learn plenty from watching Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and The Helpful Fox Senko-san. The guides in these shows spend their time teaching lessons in self-care and how to keep your space clean, but also how to help yourself to some much needed relaxation!
Although, I don’t exactly recommend feeding a dragon your delicates, but you can treat yourself to a bath every once in a while as a reminder of how important it is to take care of yourself!
Exercise – How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? and Dragon Ball
Getting a gym membership is easy enough, but you aren’t going to see improvement by just running on the treadmill. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? can help with the rest, since it teaches proper form and technique for exercising, as well as general fitness!
Not only do these lovely ladies and one absurdly buff trainer teach you how to do the perfect squat, amongst many other exercises, but they also teach the fundamentals in macro intake and which protein is actually good for you.
Additionally, and most helpfully, they also teach you how to use household objects as your own personal home gym! But if this isn’t quite your style, you could always wear a turtle shell until you get stronger, a la Dragon Ball. OK, a really big turtle shell.
Cooking and Baking – Yakitate!! Japan and Ben-To
It might not always feel like it, but baking and cooking are some of the most essential skills there are! For survival!
Now, I’m not saying you’ll be a master baker from just one episode of Yakitate!! Japan, but you can get the gist on some key steps to creating the perfect bread. There’s a certain standard to anime food that’s just awe-inspiring, so just go ahead and admit the food looks so delicious that you at least have to try to make it.
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And even if you learn to make just one thing? Own it! Now, if it comes down to buying at the grocery store, you can also learn a thing or two about half-price bentos and how to fight your way through with Ben-To.
Problem Solving – Dr. STONE and My Hero Academia
Whether you’re figuring out how to stop a villain from terrorizing and innocent bystander or trying to advance technology in a stone world, there’s no doubt that critical thinking and problem solving will come into play. Well, anime can help with that too.
Maybe you want to learn how to utilize a certain talent or work together as a team? Those are great ways to build a better future. In My Hero Academia, Deku uses calculated problem solving and movement to take on every challenge.
And in Dr. STONE, Senku does his research, providing fans with just enough insight into how to accomplish a personal goal. And what comes after achieving a goal? Success!
Emotional Well-Being – Gurren Lagann and Welcome to the N-H-K
It’s totally normal for us to feel uncertain about our emotional state every once in a while. And it’s certainly helpful to have overly confident shounen characters and strong independent women in anime to help us grasp our true selves!
Whether we like it or not, anime helps us confront our emotions. In Gurren Lagann, main character Simon goes through hell to cope with loss. Like Simon, we can pull from our past experiences and learn what makes us whole. That sounds to me like a step in the right direction.
And if feelings of loneliness tend to creep up, Welcome to the N-H-K is helpful in tackling and taming those inner demons. It’s an unexpectedly insightful look into depression and emotional well-being. And hey, even if you don’t consider yourself a NEET, you can learn about taking the first steps toward a new direction!
The lessons you can learn from these anime aren’t all it takes to have a full set of life skills, but they can help lay down the groundwork!
Whether you work through efficiency or you’re preparing to jump into a new adventure in life, anime can teach you some of the fundamentals; you just didn’t notice that the lessons were right in front of you.
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