Talk:Ken Kaneki/@comment-26940038-20151126012643/@comment-26967758-20151126192027

I actually understand where you are coming from. Personally, if I had to read someone's else life story then see their reasoning for why they feel they can relate to something, at first thought, it appears that it has nothing to do with me whatever the other person has gone through. But doesn't that negate the fact that sometimes, what we think or feel about the story and what it's trying to portray is important as well? Reading a story is in a sense, a form of escape of reality.

Some people like escaping into a reality that has absolutely no context to which they can relate their lives to, but some people (like myself) enjoy reading stories that I can somewhat understand from a personal view. It gives people like us something like an answer to our problems, and sometimes, we feel better to know some characters are suffering much more than we are, and isn't that wonderful that it helps motivates us in a sense in our own life?

I really disagree with the trying to gain sympathy, especially since what good does sympathy get you if it's from strangers? When I talk to people I don't know that are a part of fandom of a series I enjoy, isn't it somewhat more appropriate if you come to understand the other person first instead of arguing head on with them on and off without seeing why their reasoning could be biased to their lives?

As Harostar said, Ishida uses real life experiences (somewhat) of people who suffer from mental illness to inspire his work. In psychology, there's these things called Case Studies, where you study the individual and how the impact of an event can affect their ability to perform everyday task in real life. In a sense, reading about a character is like studying a case study, and also, to relate their personal experiences to the story is also a way or form of understanding one's self better.

I think showing sympathy to people is fine, as long as they don't abuse it for their own gain somewhat. There are plenty of people who make up stories online to draw sympathy to themselves, and somehow they do gain it. That isn't right, but saying that this isn't social media doesn't mean that we, as a fandom can't talk about anything else besides the story (in fact, if it relates to the story, all the better. I understand you can't take the words of a complete stranger as 100% truth or proof of an example to compare it to characters, but I think it just helps broaden our perspective as a whole). A fandom shouldn't be just focused on discussions on the story basis only, but it should also allow it's members to understand each other. In that sense, won't you come to understand what type of people would be drawn to a certain series, so you could possibly recommend it to others in the future as well? Also, I'm sure there are artist/writers amongst the fandom, so sharing personal experiences might actually benefit them in their work, so they can kind of understand certain aspects of the story better if they know someone actually went through something similar to a character.

Saying that fans should only discuss in-story only topics is somewhat one sided. That's where you start to create a division between fans such as a person being a "Kaneki-fanboy" or a "Ayato-fanboy", and obviously, such fans dispute amongst themselves without ever knowing why the other prefers such character over another. Doesn't that ruin your mood in a way when there's a story you like, and you like two characters equally, but part of the fandom can't agree with you nor the other side because they simply won't open up and share things? I mean, in a sense, that's limitting and really self-barricating.

No one is forcing you to share your personal experiences per say, but please don't belittle their problems by saying it has no place here. I understand that reading manga is a hobby, but as I stated before, you can't exactly dictate how much of a hobby something is, because there are writers/artists who talk about these things with us as well. To them, it's more than a hobby. Myself included, I actually spend time reading people's opinions about things because I gain the understanding and perspective of others. It helps me sort out my writing, because it allows me to know my audience and know what kind of people are reading the same things I like which benefits me when I create stories, and in my free time, I try to re-draw certain scenes I like from manga or anime as well to improve my skills.

Sorry if this is exactly the type of post you want to avoid. I just felt like I had something I wanted to say and I put it out. I don't mean to start an argument or anything as well, I just want you understand certain reasonings as well. I hope you have a good day (and I hope you don't get upset after reading this as well). Andy out!