Student wastes time by watching anime online

It’s Monday tutorial, and sophomore A.J. Nguyen is in his Chinese class diligently finishing up the chemistry honors homework that he didn’t get to the night before. Meanwhile, his friends are cheerfully swapping weekend stories, whining about upcoming tests and commenting about how much time they spend online. Nguyen would have loved to join in with the conversations, but the time he spends online is the exact reason why he can’t join the fun.

Nguyen is one of a multitude of students who opt to waste time at home online rather than doing school-related work. However, this behavior may just be a blessing in disguise. In Nguyen’s case, he finds that doing his homework at school helps him work more efficiently and he absorbs the material better, even while surrounded by friends.

“When I’m at home, I can’t do my homework, so I developed a habit to play. It’s a time waster,” said Nguyen. “Even if I don’t have homework, I end up sleeping at the same time as if I did.”

Nguyen spends an average of six hours online every day. Part of Nguyen’s afternoon routine is watching anime online.

“I started watching [anime] in middle school after I saw a few [episodes] on TV, then decided to look it up online,” said Nguyen. “I loved it immediately and have watched ever since.”

The term anime is a reference to Japanese animation. Most of the time, animes are based on Japanese comics, called manga. Although anime found its roots in Japan, it has spread to become a global phenomenon. Anime that have achieved high levels of success are often dubbed, a replacement of voices, with English and shown on TV. Many people across the globe have also taken up the task to add in subtitles, a fan-preferred format which preserves the emotion of foreign languages, and upload the videos online.

“I can’t stand the dubbed versions. The only good dubbed animes are the extremely famous ones that actually have decent voice actors,” said Nguyen. “The ones online–the originals–are always much better because you get to see them in their un-edited forms and there are subtitles so you can understand them.”

Although Nguyen spends a lot of time watching anime online, he is still able to take advanced classes such as the challenging Chemistry Honors.

“Despite spending so much time on my computer, I still stay manage to keep my grades up,” said Nguyen.

Normally, Nguyen watches anime for about an hour before he goes to bed every night. This tradition is often followed by hours of searching for an anime that he finds interesting. Nguyen is currently rewatching his favorite series “Fooly Cooly” for the 18th time. “Fooly Cooly” is a unique anime about Naota, a boy whose life is turned upside down after being hit in the head by an alien with a guitar. Even though Nguyen has watched over hundreds of anime series, he has never gotten tired of them.

“It’s fascinating. I find that I can relate to [the anime]. I love the characters and the hilarious stereotypes, such as obsessed fangirls,” said Nguyen. “Watching anime is just like watching TV, but you can watch it whenever you want and there are so many to choose from.”