I was at the bookstore the other night looking for something new to read when I heard a pack of teenagers talking about the anime shows they watch and the fact that they watch them on YouTube.  Huh?  My first thought was why are they doing this.  YouTube is very low quality and you can’t archive the episodes.  My husband who looks down upon on everyone under the age of 24, theorizes that it’s what they know — in other words, “Net Effects.”  He said because they use YouTube, all of their friends use YouTube and they don’t venture to find another solution.  I wonder if this is true.  Anyhow, they were complaining about how difficult it is to find episodes because they are removed very quickly due to copyright enforcement.  I thought this was the generation that was all into the internet and trying new things out.  Wouldn’t some of them have done a search and found other sources than YouTube as well as a bunch of shows other than “Naruto” and “Eureka Seven.”  Personally, I think it has something to do with the transient mindset of the younger set (I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this concept) in that they want instant gratification and once satisfied they throw it away and then move onto the next thing.  They are always in “the now” and they do their best stay in the now with all of their associates.  I remember being very much this way in high school and college.  At one point I decided to discard my teenage years entirely and burned all my letters and photographs.  Now that I’m older, I wish I hadn’t done that, but at the time, “now” seemed very important and the past was holding me back.  Perhaps it’s the same mentality.  You know, teenagers remaking themselves daily or maybe even by the minute, leaving no record until they settle on a “self.”  It’s very 15-mins-of-fame and in that respect very “YouTube.”

I’m not sold into the idea, yet, that vast majority of millenials are very net-savvy.  My brother, who is 23, was blown away by the vast treasure trove of anime I had carefully archived and when he comes over to my house he basically raids my collection and binges on anime for the entirety of his vacations.  I was surprised that he had seen less anime than I had … Sigh … Anyhow, I’m constantly on the prowl for new anime and manga and I will consume the media in any media I can be it analog, digital, electronic, or printed.  I wonder whether it is age or depth of interest that makes the difference with regard to this.