Short Story-My thank you letter to Anime

by Setsuna

After all this time, when i come back and look at where i am today, I’m in debt to Anime and so I think it’s appropriate to say my thanks to you.

Anime, I want to thank you for introducing me to two of my best friends, back when I was friendless because I had nothing to connect with others, you were the medium that finally broke the social barrier for me. When I was in 4^th grade, I still remember mindlessly sketching an anime character when a voice came to me and said: “is that Naruto” … at first, I froze as the anxiety took over, but as soon as my brain could process the word “Naruto” everything just fell into the right place. My first friendship, a time I can look back fondly. However, that was short-lived as in 10^th grade, I made a decision to go to a different school so basically, I had to start making friends all over again, and it was still a nightmare for me. However, anime, you came through for me again, thanked to you, I met another good friend. Things started off on the wrong foot however as we fought whenever we met, but we started to talk to each other more over our mutual love for anime. Through you, we were able to build a lasting friendship, it is one of the few things I truly love about high school. We hung out together, studied together and even got into trouble together. All of that could not be possible without you.

Anime, my 2^nd thank to you is that you taught me how to live, not only did you gave me a way to make friends but you also taught me some valuable life lessons, some I still take to heart to this day. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt from you was getting up after falling down. There were many times in my life that I was so close to giving up, but you pulled me back. Some people may think it’s weird to have fictional characters as role models, but it was those characters that taught me more lesson than anyone could. You’ve played a large part in shaping me into the way I am now and for that I’m grateful. That leads me to my 3^rd thank to you is that you’ve always been there for me. Through all the ups and downs in my life, you have always stay by my side. I still remember watching anime when I was upset or bored, you were there to cheer my up and give me energy to move on. Or when I feel so exhausted and worn out, you once again there, just a silly joke from an anime scene that I’ve re-watched for the 12 times was enough to temporarily lift the weight of my responsibilities and give me motivation continues with the tasks.

In my closing thoughts, I’d like to once again express my gratitude to you, without you I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. Even through everything, if I could choose to do it again, I wouldn’t have changed anything.