Have you ever been sitting there, watching an anime, and gone: Man, I wish I could get drawn into chaotic adventures just like Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura to help me work through my personal baggage, motivating me to become a better person? What am I saying, of course you've done that. We've all been there. Moving on.
Anyway, turns out there's a future in which something similar could be possible. Earlier this month, Yokohama City University's Minds1020Lab began trialling "anime therapy", as reported by itmedia (thanks, Automaton, for the translation).
And listen, it might be easy to see the words "anime-based therapy" and roll your eyes—and I definitely think we'll need to wait and see the findings of this study, which'll conclude in June 2026, before saying whether it's effective or not. But from where I'm sitting, this kinda rules.
In other words, I don't think the stories we tell each other are just frivolous nonsense, I think they do have a solid impact on our lives—fiction is powerful! And if anime therapy helps someone figure their stuff out, who cares whether it's delivered by a therapist in a mute-grey office or a therapist pretending to be a cool anime character in a visual novel interface: If it works, then it works.
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