Sick of your prime time sitcoms, game shows and melodramas?

So I have this feeling that anyone that doesn't watched anime thinks that it's really weird. I'm guessing that it's because they're using an anime like these two as their frame of reference.

Let me be the first to tell you that only a small portion of anime is like that. It's not just what is animated, but the animation itself that some people find strange. I personally think Dreamworks and Sid the Science Kid look weird, but people eat that stuff up.

Another reason people think anime is weird is because it's from Japan. Why is that a valid reason to stigmatize anime? It's not, so stop using it every one!

Another big reason people find anime to be odd is by looking at the people that watch it. Sure a lot of the anime audience could be classified as "nerds", "geeks", etc. but by calling them that aren't you also saying they are more intelligent than most of the population and could that mean that they are actually on to something in the choice of media? It's a possibility. Plus there are a lot of people out there that do watch anime and you would never know until they brought it up.

And the last reason people may not give anime a chance is... ummm, have you ever heard someone try to explain the plot of an anime? Well it's really hard to do and not sound like the biggest fantasy junky high on who knows what in some alternate reality. I guess by telling you this I'm admitting it is a bit strange, however if you're willing to look past these minor details you could soon find yourself a new favorite TV(anime) series.

Things Anime has that most American shows don't:

Plot. Aside from the Hallmark mini-series and the occasional summer program not many shows require you to follow the story line. This can be nice, makes it easy to come and go from a series with out missing much, if anything. But when you don't have a strong plot that requires viewers to keep up with every episode character development suffers.

Realism, and not in the same sense as reality shows. The Japanese know how to keep things realistic even though most anime is set in alternate realities. The good guys don't always win, a lot of that sexual tension never gets relieved, and it probably won't end how you expected/wanted it to.

Characters. First off, there'll usually be quite a few interesting main characters. There is also a good chance you'll end up really liking the bad guy. Why? He's super fascinating, not entirely bad, and probably the biggest bad ass you've ever heard of.

Lastly, Theme. American shows are made to entertain and that's about it. An anime will have at least one underlying theme that is present though out the series; they have a moral and meaning.

This isn't an attempt to convince you to give up your American Idol, Two and a Half Men or CSI, just a suggestion to give it a try.