Reaction content is one of the most divisive topics on the Internet right next to politics, reviews, and weird fetishes. In case you somehow navigated your content perusal without ever encountering one, it’s basically when someone sits down and watches another piece of content for the first time, giving their reaction (duh). After it’s over this is often followed by a review or summary where they discuss their complete thoughts, theory craft on the message of the content or other aspects, and have some closing remarks. On one hand it’s basically someone sitting there watching something they had no hand in making and getting views off of it. Pretty lazy. On the other hand, it’s basically someone giving their own take on a piece of content which may expose you to perspectives you hadn’t considered, or allow you to relive special moments in a piece of content. Pretty useful.
Let me tell you, back in high school I LOVED some anime reaction content. Hell I’ve lost track of how many times I watched people react to the RWBY fight scenes. Seeing new people lose their minds over the fight choreography and music got my little heart pumping all over again and saved me from trying to beg my friends to watch it. I also enjoyed watching some reactions to favorites like Death Note, although since typical anime were much longer I didn’t do it often. Nowadays I don’t really watch reactions to anything anime related, unless it’s a groundbreaking moment that everyone is talking about. For example when that Demon Slayer episode aired with animation that broke the Internet. I did see a few reactions to key moments of Cyberpunk Edgerunners too earlier this year when it was all the rage. Outside of those monumental releases, I don’t find myself having the time or desire to watch anime reactions in these times though.
I'll say it. The Fine Bros gave reaction videos a bad reputation.
I did say anime reactions to keep the door open. Over time I’ve found myself utilizing music reactions way more often. Since songs are way shorter, you can watch like 5 reactions in the time it would take to watch one full episode reaction of an anime. And since music is so subjective, people generally tend to notice and analyze different things depending on what speaks to them. It fits right into my schedule and can help me relisten to a song before deciding to playlist it or not, without having my thoughts on it be in a vacuum. Hell at the end of the day if I like it or not will come down to my own personal decision, but it’s nice to hear input from someone else that can sometimes make me appreciate a track in a new light. Or make me realize “holy shit I don’t care if other people are vibing or not, this one isn’t for me.”
Damn girl, you better have just finished reacting to Rent A Girlfriend.
Considering that I expect most people here to be young adults with college, jobs, and relationships (family and friends of course) to worry about, I don’t expect many of you to be consuming much anime reaction content. Still, I wanted to dive into this topic a bit since it’s so controversial yet still fairly popular. Reactions videos do decent to amazing on YouTube considering the amount of work required, and despite their ease of production I and many others can’t help but see their value. Have you watched anyone react to an anime? Was it one you liked, or something you hated and wanted to see others hate? Is reaction content a lazy style that should be exterminated, or a fun way to hear others’ opinions without having to rely on friends with similar interests? Grab your keyboard, file a copyright for the word “React”, and react to this article in the comments below!
