Watching anime with my parents, by JAPANAMERICA reader and assistant, Fintan Mooney, 17

I was thrilled by the feedback on my first post so I hope you enjoy my second entry. Here, I talk about how my Mom and Dad have different reactions to the anime we watch together.

I’ve re-watched a decent amount of anime with my parents. Together we’ve watched Attack on Titan (3x), Jujutsu Kaisen (4x), Hunter x Hunter (3x), Death Note (2x) and The Promised Neverland (2x). For my dad, the jokes don’t land. He has strong opinions about jokes because he himself is a comedian. He thinks anime can be overwritten: Too much internal dialogue during fights (“if I do this, then that will happen”); too much internal analysis of the opponent. He gets taken aback when there are inappropriate moments. In HxH, Hisoka is always looking for a fight to entertain himself. His desire for a worthy opponent is so strong that he gets aroused when he comes across someone of similar strength. 

Dad’s enjoyed Attack on Titan the most so far, interestingly enough. He’s a huge Star Wars fan, and AoT and Star Wars both play with the concept of time jumps. 

My mom, on the other hand, is drawn to the heart of the characters. We’ve cried together multiple times: Gon and Killua’s farewell in the final episode; Komugi and Meruem’s final moments together (HxH). She likes the goofy, slapstick humor, and was so invested in Death Note and Light Yagami getting caught that she almost stopped watching when he kept succeeding. 

I tell them both that when we watch something, I’m paying more attention to them than to the show. Keeping their attention can be difficult, especially my Dad’s, who seems more prone to sleeping during even the most exciting moments. We’ve made it to the penultimate arc of Hunter x Hunter, and he still hasn’t fully grasped what makes it impactful. When I watched it with my Mom, we had already cried at multiple moments, while my Dad was still falling asleep during almost every episode. Hopefully he pulls through to the end, but it’s not entirely about making sure a parent is always engaged. As long as we get to share these moments, that’s what’s most important to me.