Discussing artistic taste is always a mine field no matter the subject, and anime and manga are no exception. People can have very different backgrounds, mindsets, and approaches to anime and manga, and when there is a rift separating two people on many levels, misunderstandings occur. When you have a common point of interest such as anime, people may feel united by that common interest only to realize (or not realize) that it is very possible for people to enjoy anime differently.
That is not to say that arguments about such topics are meaningless, even on the internet as some might claim. It is an opportunity to listen to another point of view and to learn from it with an open mind. Now, an open mind doesn’t mean that you accept everything and let your opinion be bent by every little comment by a strong-voiced individual, but what it does mean is that you engage the other person’s opinion and if they’re wrong you show why you feel they’re wrong without having it descend into a shouting match.
I think one of the main reasons internet arguments are so prone to going nowhere is that they are not based on debate, but rather pride. “I am right, you are wrong.” This happens so much that it ended up creating a countermeasure, “We’re all right, so let’s stop arguing.” One is a statement which bolsters pride, the other is a statement that preserves pride. Neither is correct, but neither is wrong, and what I feel to be the real key to enjoying art, enjoying anime and manga, is to never stand at the absolutes. You can stand very close to them, but once you arrive at an absolute, no matter how right it feels, you’ve now cut yourself off from growth and change.
I hope that more and more people will desire internet debate about their hobbies not to assert their sense of righteousness but to learn and to inform. If you liked this post, I would also recommend reading my post on the Geek Logical Fallacy, which warns of the dangers of applying a “logical” mind to everything in life.
OGIUE MANIAX 
There’s, like, all these balancing acts to weigh up when debating anime (it doesn’t help that anime fans are usually intuitive people, for better or worse). Anyway, this is a really succinct way of putting a concept I’ve been grappling with for ages, so kudos for that. The idea of disentangling self pride from argument is a really important one, as is the idea of keeping one’s own opinion from drifting to absolutes.
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My personal solution for this was to create a mental distinction between subjective and objective opinion. It comes in handy even in casual conversations. If someone praises ef – memo for its visual symbolism and Shinbo shenanigans, I’ll think about it, and if I agree, I’ll keep in mind that it makes good use of its visuals. If someone criticizes ef – melo for its repetitiveness and weak story arcs, I’ll think about the arguments that I agree with, and keep in mind that the story is weaker than the first season’s. When it came time to rate both shows on MAL, though, I gave them both a 10, because I know that I loved both of them, regardless of potential flaws. It’s a fairly simple and obvious method, but it helps you maintain your own opinions while being open to others.
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