But would it be also bad to draw anime? I mean like i don’t treat my drawings as if they are real humans, i just like drawing them.

Yeah, people can be just as obsessed with certain mainstream TV shows, actors or singers, movies, etc., but it’s usually the fantasy things that are considered nerdy to be obsessed with. But I feel like society is getting more open so perhaps in future years this will change.

Wolf’s Rain is a more direct example, as is any TV show or movie with animals acting very human-like. Disney movies obviously come to mind, but the animism in Wolf’s Rain is more extreme because the wolves have human forms, though they act more like animals than Disney animals do.

One thing I would like to point out, Wolf’s Rain is a perfect example of this as well. Wolves taking human forms and the concept of rakuen in general is animism, and Kiba and Toboe’s opposite attitudes towards humans (at least in the beginning for Kiba) match your first points. =)

Ah, that’s a good point. I guess people who are not passionate about stuff like this themselves assume that, for fictional stories revolving around detailed, complex fantasy, like so many anime stories, the people who like these stories take them too seriously and are childish for being enamored by that stuff instead of something realistic, and that’s what turns them off. I’ve noticed that there’s a fine line between those who like fantasy and those who prefer realistic settings, like sitcoms for example, at least in America. In most cases, the latter can’t understand the passion of the former and vice versa. What’s weird is that those who indulge in fantasy, whether it’s anime, Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc., are thought of as nerds while those who indulge in realistic things like sports, reality TV, etc., are not. I guess it’s because, in the eyes of general society, reality > fiction.

Giving a human form to characters who are animals or objects has been very popular in anime for quite a while, whether by fans only or in the actual canon story. Japan’s fascination with anthropomorphic robots, both in anime and in real life Japan, is yet another example. There’s actually a fan word for the human forms of animals called “gijinka,” derived from the Japanese word for “personification.” All I can say is that it just goes back to the animism in Shintoism and the appeal of giving human traits and souls to all manner of things.

@ Canne

Yeah, Shintoist beliefs – many gods/spirits in nature and human beings living in harmony with nature – are present in almost all the major Ghibli films. I actually think their appeal in the West is because they are so different than anything made in the West, thus (open-minded) Westerners are fascinated by and appreciate them.

Yeah, anyone who knows otaku culture knows how some fans love certain characters as if they were real. This can also be attributed to certain stories/franchises in general, such as Star Wars and the others you mentioned. Most of these are so complex, they’re practically their own universe and it seems reasonable to indulge in them as if they were real.

@ Taka

Maybe it might be different for a non-religious Western person, but Christianity and other Western ideals are so much a part of Western culture in general, it’s hard for people to not have their opinions influenced by them, even if they’re not a religious person. But I think people who like fantasy and sci-fi (whether they’re religious or not) would be more open to the animism in anime. But if you tell the average American, who prefers simple sitcoms and reality TV shows, about the complexity and fantastical aspects of anime stories, they probably won’t get it.