Anime

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. Grimgar is what I would call a dark and gritty fantasy that really pushes how realistic fantasy would be, even the most common mobs feel like boss fights when you begin cause everything wants to "survive" and you have no stats, no equipment and no experience. Being a part of a party is more than just teaming up, it's forming long term bonds and meaningful connections with the people you meet and truly caring about them and their health when out fighting. Injuries to party members aren't as simple as drink a potion or cast a healing spell, if the injury exceeds the capabilities of the spell then the spell won't work. This is especially scary since all types of healers are targeted because the monsters know that healers are super important in parties. I feel like this anime would be for me due to my rather morbid nature and lack of empathy. I'm not stone cold either however and would value the company of a party and try my best to keep them safe (probably as some form of tank class). I believe that the gritty, dark tone of grimgar would bring all my emotions to bare in the most raw form which honestly would remind me that I am still human at the end of the day. I think in terms of anime that best suite me and my form of thinking/preference Grimgar ticks almost every box. Spoiler (click to reveal) Whether I form a long lasting party for survival or watch my comrades and myself die is entirely up to whether or not we take life for granted

Definitely One Piece. I would be running my own pirate crew but knowing my luck I would get stuck with some awful devil fruit power. I would still make the best of it and defy the world government at every turn. But that would be the dream just making every day an adventure and seeing where life takes you while risking life and limb to recover the greatest treasure in the world.

I couldn’t really think of an anime that I’m familiar with that’s fitting for me, but looking inward and doing a search for anime that fit what I feel I would put myself in, I found the closest ones might be Komi Can’t Communicate or perhaps Bocci The Rock! Or, perhaps some slice-of-life that I’m not familiar with. Komi and Bocci might not fit me in the gender sense (which might be upsetting to NYU), but I think I can relate to the characters intense anxieties as I have anxiety that is often debilitating in different forms. Sometimes it manifests as vertigo or consuming stress that tightens my muscles or fear of things I should not even be thinking about. I’ll get headaches over conflicting thoughts or if I’m put in unexpected situations and I have horrible social anxiety. For instance, today I was on my way to work and I came to a road closed sign and had to take a different route and my anxiety heightened immediately. I had to hop on a freeway I normally avoid at all costs and then another road closed sign at my exit. I panicked. I immediately slowed down and could feel myself gripping the steering wheel very tightly and I had a headache by the time I got to the next exit ramp which was less than a mile ahead. I’ve had this as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I avoided public bathrooms, especially if I was going to be in there for more than just a minute or two, all because in the back of my head I had something telling me, “everyone’s going to know you were pooping.” Weird, right? Because of my anxieties and social awkwardness, I often feel like a wallflower, but I’m working on it. So, for me I think I would like to be in an anime where everything is pretty much hunky-dory and my fellow protagonists help me with my daily struggles. Hopefully this fits as an indirect answer to the question. I have anxiety after putting this out there but it’s part of how I cope.