What Media Changed You?

[NobodyHere]

(Honestly partly just an excuse to gush about A silent voice) Just finished rereading the ‘A Silent Voice’ manga, when it really hit me how important that story has been throughout my life, well since I saw the movie for the first time.

I think it was the first piece of media that I truly saw myself in, something that I fully felt reflected and showed me my own struggles in a comforting manner. I hadn’t experienced anything like it before so I was obsessed with that movie in middle school, and got gifted the manga box set. Only made me love it even more as I got to experience what didn’t make it into the movie.

I adore the art so much, everything about it instantly embedded its self into my own. I hadn’t read a manga with such a sketchy lose style before, it was another part that made me feel heard since I struggle and dislike doing super clean line work.

Each time I return to it I find it means more and more to me as I grow. And yes I cry every time

Some other media that also made a permit impact me I’ll mention are-

Fire Emblem Birthright: it was my first fire emblem game, I vividly remember getting it at the mall, going out just to buy it. My first real experience buying dlc, and what got me into srpgs.

Fullmetal alchemist 2003 (of course)

Madoka Magica, Lumberjanes and Majora's Mask

I’d love to hear all of yours if any of y’all care to share

 

[Yousef]

As someone with a ton of physical pain, any media outlet that shares physical therapy tips has dramatically increased my quality of life over the course of the past years. Even if my health itself is still dramatically declining to the point of borderline disability.

 

[el_principe]

𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 , 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 "𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐞" 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 , 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 "𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐲" , 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 "𝐛𝐚𝐝" 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

 

[depes]

I've been watching a ton of Gundam lately. The message of empathy and understanding has given me a lot to think about and has led me to rethink how I interact with people. It's been hard lately due to current world events and everything being so polarized, but I try

 

[JackNoir413]

easy answer, girls last tour.
i remember reading it when i was like 17 and it changed my way of seeing the world for the better. after reading the last chapter i cried like a bitch and it had me depressed for about a week before i started to understand what the story was all about. i stopped worrying so much about the things in the world that you cant really help and started enjoying simple things like a good weather and the joy of having food in your stomach.
tsukumizu's message at the end hit me really hard: "Since this world is too large and complex, many things will pass by still unknown. However, no matter the time, Chito and Yuuri believed that the joy of being alive never disappears. I drew this believing the same thing, i think..."

AND THAT SHIT HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK. i remember reading an interview where he said that he hoped some people would enjoy life a little more after reading it, then that'd be enough for him to feel happy about having drawn it. i wish i could thank him for writting GLT, i own him a lot.

 

[χKai]

Uhh... Chrono Cross..

 

[gwardojones]

Berserk was huge for me for about fifteen years. I saw myself in Guts and his struggles to fight through a profoundly hostile world. I felt seen in a way I don't think I ever had before. His refusal to stop fighting, even when things seem completely impossible has been a source of encouragement for me for most of my adult life.

These days, I'd say Tokyo Ghoul and xxxHolic have resonated with me more powerfully than just about anything ever before.

Very grateful to Japan for creating a culture that values sincerity in art. The US is almost completely devoid of sincerity, so I often feel like I'm starving when I try to connect with anything produced here.

Uhh... Chrono Cross..

The music from that game can bring me to tears without a moment's notice. It's such a beautiful game. A horrible sequel to Chrono Trigger with some really questionable RPG mechanics, but the art, characters, and music are like nothing else.

 

[Morgana Veil]

A Silent Voice and Girls Last Tour. I haven't read the manga of either, but I watched the movies/series. Among all the anime I have ever watched, these are the only two that did one simple thing, along with Your Lie in April: they made me cry.

They brought me to absolute tears at the end. When I need a good cry from time to time, because we all do, I'll watch these.

 

[beefbowl]

Reading Les Misérables wasn’t just reading a book, it felt like being cracked open a little. I picked it up expecting something heavy, maybe even slow, but what I found was something deeply human. It didn’t just tell a story; it held up a mirror, and for the first time in a while, I really looked.
Jean Valjean’s journey hit me in a way I didn’t expect. A man labeled a criminal for stealing bread becomes a symbol of compassion, strength, and quiet dignity. Watching him choose kindness, even when the world gave him every reason to be bitter, made me rethink how quick I am to judge, how often I define people by their worst moments.

 

[NobodyHere]

easy answer, girls last tour.
i remember reading it when i was like 17 and it changed my way of seeing the world for the better. after reading the last chapter i cried like a bitch and it had me depressed for about a week before i started to understand what the story was all about. i stopped worrying so much about the things in the world that you cant really help and started enjoying simple things like a good weather and the joy of having food in your stomach.
tsukumizu's message at the end hit me really hard: "Since this world is too large and complex, many things will pass by still unknown. However, no matter the time, Chito and Yuuri believed that the joy of being alive never disappears. I drew this believing the same thing, i think..."

AND THAT SHIT HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK. i remember reading an interview where he said that he hoped some people would enjoy life a little more after reading it, then that'd be enough for him to feel happy about having drawn it. i wish i could thank him for writting GLT, i own him a lot.

View attachment 83742View attachment 83741

Been on my to read list forever, thank you so much for sharing I really need to get to actually reading it.

A Silent Voice and Girls Last Tour. I haven't read the manga of either, but I watched the movies/series. Among all the anime I have ever watched, these are the only two that did one simple thing, along with Your Lie in April: they made me cry.

They brought me to absolute tears at the end. When I need a good cry from time to time, because we all do, I'll watch these.

I heavily recommend the A Silent Voice manga, or even just reading the first and 6th volumes if you’re already aware of the plot.

You get to see a lot more of their childhood, with an entire volume dedicated to it.

In the 6th volume each of the members of the group get a chapter dedicated to them, with Shoko’s being absolutely phenomenal in its presentation.

 

[Hermann]

Videos über Gangstalking

 

[Tonberry]

The book "Moominvalley in November" by Tove Jansson. It kind of shattered me when I first read it, and when I collected all the pieces I felt whole in a new way. It changed the way I perceived fiction in a way, and how it sort of becomes real while in the moment of absorbing it, and how it sticks with you and even has the power to actually alter you as a person.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight]

"On a pale horse" by Piers Anthony

 

[99nereids]

listening to kathleen hanna's album julie ruin

she made this whole album in her bedroom with a soundboard from bestbuy that she returned when she was done with it. learning about her process with this & how she wanted to capture the sound of a girl in her room making music was really cool & inspired me to get into music :)

 

[job32]

All media changes you if you are invested and believe it. Worth considering.

Scratch that, you don't have to believe it. It gets in anyway and changes you.

 

[ZyniakS_-]

(Honestly partly just an excuse to gush about A silent voice) Just finished rereading the ‘A Silent Voice’ manga, when it really hit me how important that story has been throughout my life, well since I saw the movie for the first time.

I think it was the first piece of media that I truly saw myself in, something that I fully felt reflected and showed me my own struggles in a comforting manner. I hadn’t experienced anything like it before so I was obsessed with that movie in middle school, and got gifted the manga box set. Only made me love it even more as I got to experience what didn’t make it into the movie.

I adore the art so much, everything about it instantly embedded its self into my own. I hadn’t read a manga with such a sketchy lose style before, it was another part that made me feel heard since I struggle and dislike doing super clean line work.

Each time I return to it I find it means more and more to me as I grow. And yes I cry every time

Some other media that also made a permit impact me I’ll mention are-

Fire Emblem Birthright: it was my first fire emblem game, I vividly remember getting it at the mall, going out just to buy it. My first real experience buying dlc, and what got me into srpgs.

Fullmetal alchemist 2003 (of course)

Madoka Magica, Lumberjanes and Majora's Mask

I’d love to hear all of yours if any of y’all care to share

Epiphany by The Word Alive;
Neon Genesis Evangelion;
Crash Twinsanity;

A lot more...

 

[Llammissar]

Serial Experiments Lain rewired my brain and made me a lot more conscious of the inherent value of the human connections I was building over the internet (this was a time when remote friends were often treated as lesser or invalid).

 

[NobodyHere]

All media changes you if you are invested and believe it. Worth considering.

Scratch that, you don't have to believe it. It gets in anyway and changes you.

Totally agree, although some always stands out and makes a bigger impact then others.

I see it as every piece of media I consume wides my horizon, if good or enjoyable then I have something to return to, if bad or if I didn’t enjoy it I have something to reflect on. There’s worth in media that I or others consider bad, boring and such since it helps hold up the good stuff even more.

 

[job32]

Serial Experiments Lain rewired my brain and made me a lot more conscious of the inherent value of the human connections I was building over the internet (this was a time when remote friends were often treated as lesser or invalid).

Well, I would say they are. You can't read their facial expressions, body movements or the sound of their voice. You are just trusting in text that they type.

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:08 AM

Totally agree, although some always stands out and makes a bigger impact then others.

I see it as every piece of media I consume wides my horizon, if good or enjoyable then I have something to return to, if bad or if I didn’t enjoy it I have something to reflect on. There’s worth in media that I or others consider bad, boring and such since it helps hold up the good stuff even more.

You should also reflect on the media you find enjoyable.

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:09 AM

Totally agree, although some always stands out and makes a bigger impact then others.

I see it as every piece of media I consume wides my horizon, if good or enjoyable then I have something to return to, if bad or if I didn’t enjoy it I have something to reflect on. There’s worth in media that I or others consider bad, boring and such since it helps hold up the good stuff even more.

You should also reflect on the media you find enjoyable.

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:09 AM

Totally agree, although some always stands out and makes a bigger impact then others.

I see it as every piece of media I consume wides my horizon, if good or enjoyable then I have something to return to, if bad or if I didn’t enjoy it I have something to reflect on. There’s worth in media that I or others consider bad, boring and such since it helps hold up the good stuff even more.

You should also reflect on the media you find enjoyable.

 

[NobodyHere]

You should also reflect on the media you find enjoyable.

Didn’t say one shouldn’t

 

[Sunnyside]

Pokemon introduced me to japanese media, which in turn led to me taking an interest in multiple foreign cultures. I dropped the series long ago but I gotta give it credit for opening my mind up to stuff outside my own country.


Also, I randomly came across this album a little over a decade ago:

It sparked an obsession with unconventional music that's taken over everything I listen to. As a musician I've always been immersed in music but up until that point I pretty much stuck to classic rock and skate punk. I'd listened to a few oddball albums at friends' suggestions but those never stuck with me. Too weird. Too dissonant. Now I've listened to all those groups and more. Turns out I just wasn't mature enough musically to "get" that stuff at the time. All I needed was the right album to hook me in.

 

[Cuestionador]

The mexican edition of the first two issues of the Dark Knight Returns was the first comic-book i ever read, a mind-blowing experience who was a door to a new medium. In literature, The Metamorphosis was the first book it really impacted me in my teens, it was in the library of my therapist and before that book i was finished the first book of Harry Potter. Digimon Adventure/02 was my favourite anime in my childhood and i have fond memories of seeing characters like Joe and Sora caring for her fellow friends. BTAS was my first exposure to Batman and the Art Deco/Noir genre alongside the DK, i watch old black and white noir films and reading authors like James Cain thanks to that series. Cartoons like Daria (more relevant than ever), Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Lab, The Tick and many others hold a special place in my heart. My dad was an artist and he introduced me to the works of artists who i'm looking every day, like Magritte, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and so on. He was a fan of the european cinema, so i watch with him many films of Herzog like Aguirre, and other classics like The Double Life of Veronica and Tiempo de Gitanos by Emir Kusturica. One of his favourite films was Z, who i watched many years later, is a explosive movie who deserves a rewatch.

 

[Onisted]

Ghost trick for the NDS... it's such an unique game. The mystery, the characters, the designs, the entire gameplay... it's all so peak...

 

[Skeetos]

Recently? Metal Gear and Yakuza. Haven't played anything like them before nor since. I played through Metal Gear in order of timeline back in 2020, and started Yakuza in 2021, finished this year with Pirate Yakuza. Both series really go deep in the premises they present, and the depth of the characters are unmatched. I realize it's a bit weird because they are complete different genres, but their presentation and writing styles I'd say are quite similar in scope. Both series really take the time to explore their characters with care and a surprising amount of reality, and when the stories hit you, they hit hard.

Kazuma Kiryu might be one of my all time favorite protagonists. From a basic observation, he's pretty par for the course for the type of stories the games tell, but he's so much more than who he is at a glance. He starts out as the average grunt in his family, but eventually becomes the sole thing that keeps the criminal organization he belongs to alive. He does everything he possibly can to protect the people he cares about, and puts his life on the line consistently, it even really screws him over bad near the end. Even some of the worst antagonists in the series gain his respect in some way, because Kiryu always makes an effort to break through people's walls, and come to them with compassion. He's just a really well written character, and I hope, that this time, he's done being brought back.

Raiden is my favorite Metal Gear character, he's a bit similar to Kiryu in the aspect that they are both the average Action Hero type, that has more to them than their initial appearances. Admittedly, Metal Gear Solid 2 was the first one I finished. I found the game to look cool when seeing it on a shelf at a local game shop and had to get it, and not many games have been able to give me the same reaction.

When Metal Gear Solid 2 came out, people were upset with the twist that you play as someone else, but for me when I played I had no idea who anyone really was outside of Snake being in Brawl, so it never bugged me. Raiden starts out just doing his job. Gets sent out to this random Oil Rig in the middle of the ocean to take down a PMC that's overstepping their boundaries, and eventually figures out that he was dumped into a situation that nobody could truly prepare for. Political Drama, Uncertainty of the Self, Rampant AI, and a shit ton more goes down in that game, and it culminates in Raiden questioning who he even really is, and why things are the way they are. I think that's what makes him special compared to a lot of the other characters. Big Boss is kinda this insane battlefield legend, that goes insane with power, Venom is a guy who barely knows what's going on until he is directly told at the end, and Solid is the Action Hero archetype to a T. Raiden is a man who, up until his first mission, barely even had contact with the outside world. He was bred to become what he represents on the battlefield, and he eventually found out how to leave that expectation behind, and allow himself to become who he is, without his terrible experiences influencing his personality. Not to mention he's a badass cyborg ninja, who doesn't love that?

I highly doubt I'll ever experience anything close to the emotions that Metal Gear and Yakuza have given me. Metal Gear is still something that makes me think about certain unfortunate situations in our real lives, and Yakuza, specifically Kiryu Gaiden, is the only piece of media that made me bawl like a baby. Really amazing series, I recommend them to anyone who likes Action games, and people who enjoy deep character dives, and crazy anime moments.

 

[Sora]

Clannad (The game)

Tomoya's growth through the route literally shaped my mindset, how I think, and how I interact with others for the rest of my life. The game might have aged a little bit, but the emotion I felt playing it for the first time was so raw and deeply relatable to me and still is.