Wild Life was one of the main factors in me wanting to become a Veterinarian.

Also, I mix up shoujo manga and real life sometimes, costing me dearly..

Definitely for me. It even helped me decide my future career o___o
I don't think that may be a good sign though..
Antique Bakery inspired me to learn how to cook deserts and even made me seriously think about becoming a pâtissier at one stage, however I ended up studying law, slightly due to the influence of Phoenix Wright xD
Manga and anime have also affected the way I act and react too. For example if reading about a person who has learned a lot from a situation, I too would learn from it. It's almost like in high school with the talks about drugs and them telling you about their experiences so that you learn from their mistakes. It may be fictional in manga/anime but some are incredibly realistic and others have important life lessons in them too.
I wouldn't recommend living your life by anime/manga though..

definitely >< a lot of my decision making includes whatever i've read.

learning japanese is one thing XD

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Oh wow, you really misunderstood me there. Maybe that's my fault, but when I spoke of influence, part of what I meant was exactly what you said, hairstyle changes, introducing new music, etc. Little things like that. And sometimes it can CONTRIBUTE to making bigger decisions.

As I said before, the decisions we make in life are based on several factors, our environment, how we were raised, our friends, our family, and what we watch, read, and listen to. A sound, logical, balanced mind is influenced by ALL of that and sifts through it deciding which to allow and consider and which to toss out.

Rarely is a manga going to solely influence a large decision. But sometimes it holds a bigger part, like I see people who chose careers because of something in a manga that inspired them. There's nothing wrong with that. Where do you think writers get their inspiration? From other fictional books AND from various other experiences in life. Where do mangakas get their inspiration? They got their career choice, a huge life decision, partly, at the very least, from mangas. And I know many artists who were inspired to create largely because of mangas.

As for me personally, there a few ways mangas have influenced me. For one, it introduced me to an entirely different culture that I had given little thought to before and I became interested and studied it as a result. It broadened my worldview, something that is needed in anyone's life. It inspired me to write again and I rediscovered a lost hobby that was highly enjoyable for me and others. And other small things like a certain outfit would inspire me or I'm having a rough day and perusing a manga in my free time would make me laugh or simply unwind.

Sorry this is so long, but maybe because my last post was so short that it led to misunderstanding. There was no need to try to insult me by questioning my mental state and suggesting I have no life. In no way am I suggesting what you seem to think I was, that one should let mangas solely dictate important decisions. I was merely pointing out that they do have an influence just like anything else in life, sometimes large, sometimes small, and other times they have absolutely none.

wow I'm surprised that not a lot of people seem to think they are affected by anime/manga. I just think that subconciously, everything we read and see especially something that we like and put in a lot of time into (i.e. manga) will definitely affect us in some way or another, be it small or big. O:

Anyways either way I'm definitely affected by manga, probably more so than regular people. I didn't realize just how much until one day, when my sister asked mee for advice and instead I gave her some shounen "never give up!! perseverance never fails!!" spiel and she just snorted at me and said something like, "Do I look like Naruto to you? Jeez..."

Most definitely!
Not so much in my actions but more so in my style.
When I cut my hair I always have pictures of my favorite manga characters near by to inspire me. Also when shopping for clothes, I search out clothing that looks like something certain manga characters would wear. It doesn't always translate well into real life >_< and that's where hardcore personal judgement comes in ;-; I don't want to look crazy...
well...
maybe a lil crazy's okay n_n;

What a nice poll!

Indeed it does influence my "real-life" decisions. I find most of the mangas I read are good, morally correct ones if there were such a thing. It may be shortsighted to say, but I feel that by enjoying manga, I am indeed somewhat of a better person, perhaps more open-minded and less likely to be in disbelief if something absolutely crazy happened (maybe like if a special notebook designed to erase life were found on the ground...).

Of course manga can't take all the credit for my life's moral guidance... but the point is that (as it was mentioned several times before) manga, like any other form of media, influences you whether you choose to immerse yourself into the plot or not. The saying goes: "Every lie has an ounce of truth". Similarly, every story carries some amount of life experience. And from experience, we can learn and grow.

My two cents.

Hasn't everyone here already been influenced to join a manga discussion forum

Manga affects my life in small ways. It sometimes becomes a topic of conversation, or I will spend money on things like plushies of a character. I also make my own clothes, and sometimes find cute outfits in manga which are inspiring.

But it does not influence me more than any other form of entertainment.

No actually, I was very drunk.

No, but I tend to pick up habits. I do it from books too. Creeps me out a little bit. I started raising one eyebrow because of a book.

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Sure, not important decisions obviously, but the best fiction takes on a lofe of it's own and changes the way you see the real world, and that includes manga. Like pointing at vapour trails and going 'look, it's the Galaxy Express'. And yeah, people do think I'm strange..

And manga is great for clothes ideas, (especially if you are in a band or go to clubs where the stranger you look the better), or for shouen-bullshitting yourself into doing something (even if you take no notice). Things like Mushishi made me go and get a book and remember all the stuff I used to know about plants and animals when I was a kid, before I lived in a city. Berserk made me look up medieval torture methods, and suddenly notice that crows are everywhere you look, some days, and every tree has at least one eye in it. Kino's journey and Seirei No Moribito influenced me to walk across Scotland on my own, camping in woods and on the tops of cliffs and in ruined forts. Vinland Saga made me go to Orkney on holiday. Kenshin and Bleach made me start going to Iaido classes with a friend. Ergo Proxy makes me want to learn to sail a boat every time I watch it. Since I finished watching Monster, I really want to find a cheap flight to Prague.

Life is too boring not to take the ideas of what to do with it wherever you can find them.
Yep.
Deep shit people.
Vodka anyone?

Last edited by centzon totochtin at 2:51 pm, Jun 26 2009

Poll's officially over

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A just ruler amongst tyrants