Anime, like all other media, has the power to make us laugh, cry and feel every emotion in between. But unlike other media, anime has a tendency to focus on niche interests. In all my years of professional weebery, many different shows have inspired me to pick up hobbies I’d never even considered before.
Here’s Kotaku Australia’s list of anime that will make you want to try a new pastime.
Haikyuu!!
Most sports anime are feel-good enough to get people moving, but Haikyuu!! in particular, is a series that makes you want to play volleyball. I had never wanted to play volleyball in my life until I watched Haikyuu!!. This anime is so good it had me thinking seriously about volleyball as a hobby.
This volleyball anime makes the sport look cool. They never get sore forearms, meaning that volleyball is no longer a painful sport. They wear little knee and elbow pads that make you think to yourself: “I would look really good in knee and elbow pads.” There are no downsides to playing volleyball after you’ve watched Haikyuu!!.
Let’s Make a Mug Cup Too
This anime is about a girl who joins the pottery club at her school. I’ve always loved pottery, but this series made me look up classes and different styles of pottery and clay.
The show itself isn’t anything special, with mediocre characters and plot, but each episode deepens your curiosity about mud. I want to make a teacup without a handle that is big enough for my morning coffee but not too big. I must make this cup. I cannot buy it.
Do It Yourself!
Finally, an anime made just for the patriarchy and Tim Allen. The formula is the same as other ‘cute girls doing cute things’ shows – a girl joins her school’s DIY club. The catch here is that her name is ‘Yua Serufu’. Get it? Do it Yua Serufu.
The art style for this series has a pastel aesthetic that juxtaposes the themes of DIY. It makes the hobby more approachable for people who identify as more feminine, as it’s a traditionally masculine pastime. Watching this series made me want to go to Bunnings and buy some wood. I don’t know what I’d do with the wood, but I would at least feel a sense of accomplishment if I had a plank of wood in my house.
Super Cub
Super Cub has a whole vibe. It’s aesthetically pleasing, has fantastic music, and the plot has high stakes and is full of emotion. This is why I suddenly like the Honda Super Cub motorcycle with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine.
Editor’s note: I will not pick up a new hobby from Courtney’s anime list. I will NOT pick up a new hobby from Courtney’s anime list. — David.
Our main character, Koguma, has no friends, hobbies or parents. On her way home from school one day, she buys a second-hand Honda Super Cub bike for $100. From here, she gets into riding and mechanics as she makes friends with another Super Cub rider at her school.
Yuru Camp
I used to hate camping because the one time I went camping with my family, my little sister wet the bed. Because we were all in a tent, we all got covered in piss. Traumatic. Anyway, Yuru Camp is all the fun of camping but without someone else’s wee creeping into your sleeping bag.
I’m not really an outdoors gamer, so this series had less of an effect on my desire to pick up a new hobby, but I know plenty of others who’ve gotten really into camping as a result of the show. Also, it’s just full of cute girls being cozy.
K-On!
The quintessential music anime. K-On! follows Yui as she joins the light music club at her school despite being unable to play an instrument. The series follows her growth as she becomes a great musician and an even better friend.
This anime holds a special place in my heart because when I watched it, I had just quit playing the guitar after playing it for almost ten years. I picked the guitar back up after watching K-On! and it felt really good. Tsumugi was also my first cosplay back in 2012.
Bocchi the Rock!
K-On! is good, but Bocchi the Rock! is absolutely fantastic. It’s another music anime about a girl that joins a band, but instead of not knowing how to play, she is already a genius at the instrument (after years of learning and practice).
Bocchi the Rock! is gritty, hilarious and original. The anime has made me want to play music as a hobby. It made me want to start playing the bass guitar, so much so that I went and tried some out at my local music store. The dream of being a cool rocker chick is alive once again.
Insomniacs After School
There have been a few stargazing and astronomy anime, but none as charming as Insomniacs After School. The series follows two insomniacs that coincidentally go to the same school. They start up the stargazing club as an excuse to get some sleep in the school’s planetarium.
Both students get into astronomy and photography and somehow make it look insanely fun and not at all boring. Also, because they’re insomniacs, they can go to school during the day and take photos of stars at night. As much as I’d like to make fun of this inaccurate representation of insomnia, this anime genuinely made me want to go and buy a telescope from Kmart.
New Game!
Most gamers dream of making games, but it’s not just about coming up with cool game ideas and then seeing them magically turn into games. New Game! shows us the actual process of making a game in a corporate setting. A team of developers and artists come together to make the next big game for their company.
Watching the actual process of game-making is really interesting, and seeing each of the moving parts made me want to be a part of a team that’s doing something big. The fact that they’re in an office is also really cool because you can see yourself replacing your current office job with being a game developer. Also, the characters are all very cute and likable.
Sabage-bu!
The Survival Game Club at this school takes airsoft way too seriously. They spend their time playing airsoft games and roleplaying as cool girls with fake guns. When they’re not aiming down sights, the girls spend their time relaxing and laughing with each other.
Airsoft is illegal in Australia, and I’ve never been a fan of paintball, but this series had me fiending for some laser tag with my mates. When I finally did go to laser tag with friends, I embarrassed myself by trying to look cool and sneak around the arena only to come last after 20 minutes of having terrible aim.
While watching anime is (to me) still the best hobby out there, it’s important to have multiple hobbies and interests to flesh out your character and upgrade your skills. Being able to learn about new pastimes from anime is just one of the benefits of watching your favourite shows. From playing sports and instruments to making art with clay or a computer, anime series love to take a deep dive into interests that are both common and niche. This is exactly why it’s so fantastic. You can learn about and become interested in something you might not even know existed.
I am once again thanking anime for my life.
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