Your significant other & Anime

[Steve_the_Talking_Pie]

Checking out to see how people's significant others feel about anime. For example my last ex-girlfriend thought it was completely stupid but didn't care that I watched it.

My current gf doesn't like to watch it, but was certainly surprised when she found out that I didn't just "like" anime, but had close to 1000 DVDs (she thought they were mostly all b horror movies). I usually catch anime when she's asleep or not around. She was initially worried about when she saw my Kyoko Otonashi poster, but has since realized I am quite normal.

How are your experiences?

[something]

Both my exes were into anime, to varying degrees. The second more than the first, but then I was also into it more during the second relationship than the first as well, as the first time around was in the first few years of me getting into anime. So it was relatively new to both her and me in the first relationship. We watched some older stuff like Miyu OVAs and Crying Freeman and all that.

Second relationship was in college, and while we didn't really meet though anime per se, it was a common interest, and one not shared by most of our peers. At least not by mine, anyway. I was much more into anime by then, as was she. She wasn't as into it as I was and am, but she as a big fan.

So thankfully I never had to deal with the "your hobby is stupid" talk. Well, not in regards to anime, anyway. =P

[njchobitsfan]

Just wait until you get married :sweat: My wife wants nothing to do with anime other then the very, very occasional Miyazaki movie with my 11 yr-old daughter. For me, it's mainly late night viewing or lunch time at work.

[pluvia33]

My girlfriend is almost just as big of an anime fan as I am. In some ways she may be a little more of a fan than me. I have a whole hell of a lot more anime than she does and have seen more, but she has been to more conventions and cosplays often. I've only been to three conventions so far and I haven't cosplayed yet, though it's not from lack of desire. I just haven't had as many opportunities to go (don't have many fellow hardcore anime fans as friends) and don't really know anything about cosplay. I may try cosplay next time we go to a convention since I'll have time to get help from her and her friends. And her having a smaller collection is mostly because I've had a larger disposable income for the past four years (yay military!) and she tends to be more careful with how she spends her money (only 22 year old girl I've met with over $5000 in the bank).

We also have a pretty good understanding between each other as far as our interests within anime goes. She's a major yaoi fan and I like loli. I'm fine with yaoi and actually think it's some of the funniest stuff out there at times, and she thinks loli is cute. The only real fear that I have about our relationship is that we might just be too similar and it might end up getting boring between us. Hopefully that won't happen.

[Glorian]

Just wait until you get married :sweat: My wife wants nothing to do with anime other then the very, very occasional Miyazaki movie with my 11 yr-old daughter. For me, it's mainly late night viewing or lunch time at work.

That isn't universal, though. My wife had never even heard of anime before I met her, but she was willing to try it, and she likes it quite a bit now (shows like Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku are huge favorites of hers). Of course, she liked western animation a great deal even before I met her, so that probably affected her open-mindedness regarding anime.

[Yuriko]

Another happily married fan here. I'm a pretty big anime freak with thousands of DVDs/soundtracks and a lot of manga. My significant other has just as much manga as I do and also collects figures. He was into it all before we met, as was I; in fact we met through friends at an otaku-orientated event. Neither of us cosplay or do anything outgoing, we just consume and enjoy!

I don't think I could be with someone who didn't respect my hobby and feel lucky my partner loves it as well. Some people like differences though, and some like me like more common ground.

~Y

[LKK]

Hubby knew about anime before we were married because he co-chaired a long-running local science fiction convention where anime was a significant portion of the video room programming. However, he always looked down on anime as being nothing more than differently drawn cartoons for kids and not really worth his time.

When I started watching anime again after a long hiatus, he would be in the room reading. After a while the shows started catching his attention. The more he half-watched, the more he realized that anime was more than just differently drawn cartoons for kids.

He's still not as interested in anime as I am, especially the fandom aspects of anime. And I still watch a wider variety of anime than he does. But he's come to accept anime as an entertainment source equal to all the others he enjoys.

Right now, we're working our way through the xxxHolic anime among others. xxxHolic seems to have caught his attention so much that he's Wiki-ed it and is now buying the manga on his own initiative. He wants to know what happens after the anime ends. For someone who held anime in such disdain before we married, I find his change in attitude very amusing.

[Steve_the_Talking_Pie]

I don't think I could be with someone who didn't respect my hobby and feel lucky my partner loves it as well. Some people like differences though, and some like me like more common ground.


I agree. In a weird way, I like that my girlfriend does't like anime. Its kind of my own hobby, and time for me to chill out by myself. Somehow she doesn't mind some of my movie choices that include 80's sex comedies, zombie movies, 80's slashers, various cult movies, and experimental art house. Anyone that can sit down, watch and appreciate David Lynch is someone worth keeping around. She and I tend to watch American TV like How I met your Mother together all the time.

I thinks she was hesitant at first, because she has known extremely eccentric fans. Everyone is a little odd in their own ways, but from my appearances/interactions you would never know I watch anime. I think shes relieved I don't wear cat ears around the subway or make references every two seconds (though if you fall into this category, no judgement. Do what you love. Its just not for me).

[StefanieTN]

I think shes relieved I don't wear cat ears around the subway...
Ah, so just not around the subway? ;)

None of my former S.O.s have been into anime, but then I wasn't into it myself until Cowboy Bebop. It's not a requirement, but I think it would be more fun to be able to share all of those viewing hours with someone else who's into it. The same goes for live-action films and video games.

In my case, I prefer having enough differences with someone so that we complement each other, but enough in common to be compatible with each other. Given a choice, I'd rather anime be in the latter category.

[DazzleKitty]

My boyfriend is just into anime as I am, if not even more. I was a major otaku when I was a few years younger....so much it was having a negative impact on my life. So I kinda made myself get out of my reclusive mode and get out to meet people and work.

I met my boyfriend at work. Funny thing is, I had no clue he was an anime fan when I first saw him. I thought he was attractive and with the help of a coworker, asked him out. On our first date, I found out he is a huge anime fan. We tend to like the same series and same Japanese music. It's really like a match made in heaven. He's been implying marriage heavily so I am hoping that happens someday. And if we combined our collections....holy cow. I have over 700 discs in my anime collection, and he has a lot more series than I do (his is composed of boxsets while mine has a lot of singles).
He has no manga but I have over 1600 volumes. If we combine them....our collection would be amazing, lol.

We always watch anime together. I find watching anime to be more enjoyable with another person. What I like about him is that he's not ashamed to watch 'girly' anime (he owns Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, Gakuen Alice, Wedding Peach, etc).
I'm a yaoi fan and he likes yuri (though not nearly as much as I love my yaoi). He finds my yaoi obssession to be funny. I convinced him to buy Kyo Kara Maoh and we watched it all together. He thoughts parts were creepy but thought my enjoyment of the yaoi moments was amusing.
One funny moment was that on our first date I found out he owned Mirage of Blaze (which is a very yaoi series with lots of very...intimate moments, haha!). He told me he bought the boxset no knowing what it was about. We both laugh about this often. I wish I could have seen the look on his face whenever he found out what it was. He actually kept the series too. I am surprised he didn't sell it.
I convinced him to try some good yuri anime. I got him Kashimashi last Christmas which he loved. I also got him to try Kannazuki and Strawberry Panic which he adored.

I am so glad I met him! It's good to have a boyfriend who shares my interest.