Reading Reflections
“What Draws Us to Our Favorite Characters?” by Luna K., 7th grade
You know the characters aren’t real, so why is it that you can feel so much for them? Based on a study done by The University of Florida (UF) in 2022, people can form emotional connections with fictional characters by judging them, and their personality like they would with a real person. In this study, they also found that people are drawn to their favorite characters by relatability.
One of these reasons being relatability, according to Gregory Webster, that’s one of the reasons shows like Game of Thrones are so popular, it’s the fact that “there are no perfect good guys or perfect bad guys”, just characters with complexity, humanity, and the ability to improve themself like everyone else. When characters are like that it makes it easier to like them and see similarities between you and the characters instead of fairy tail characters who were too perfect and unrelatable. People tend to look for people like them, and people they can relate to, typically starting around middle school age.
Another one of these reason is empathy when seeing a character going through a painful/hurtful experience that you might have went through you feel for them you can manage to feel and empathize with some you haven’t even meet,someone how isn’t even real but when experiencing the characters point of view you can’t help but feel what they feel people collect so many experiences through the years so when seeing someone going through something similar experience it makes you connect and might even make the character more likable to some people.
Why do you like your favorite character is it because you feel a connection with them because you relate to them or if you can empathize with their experiences.
Sources
1.https://news. ufl.edu/2022/05/why-you-got-attached-to-your-favorite-character/
2. https://www.motionpictures.org/2013/07/the-psychology-of-character-bonding-why-we-feel-a-real-connection-to-actors/
“How a Single Manga Changed My Life” by Lucas R., 7th grade
A single book series was all it was to change my life. That book or should I say manga, still impacts me day-to-day. This manga is called One Piece.
One Piece is a manga and anime created by Eiichiro Oda, and it is about a boy called Monkey D. Luffy, who wants to become The King Of The Pirates and find the treasure that the previous Pirate King left behind. In fact One Piece has become the most selling Comic of all time. Yes, Comic, not manga, Comic. Meaning that One Piece has surpassed Superman and many other Comic books, although Superman has over 600 million copies in 88 years, One Piece has over 600 million copies and over 1200 episodes that are all 24 minutes in only 29 years and it’s still going. But this isn’t about One Piece, it’s about me and how this simple manga changed everything.
It all started in around 2021, when my brother introduced me to a silly anime called One Piece. I was invested in it, and then my brother gave me the site to watch it, and through the next 3 years I was watching it. When I would come home from school I would immediately get on my computer and start watching One Piece. And that introduced me to the entire world that is called Anime. Anime are cartoons or shows created in the art style and way of people in Japan. But unlike regular cartoons, anime can get serious and One Piece can get serious, fast. But because of One Piece, I have read/watched countless anime and manga. And all these anime have changed how I act and how I think.
One Piece has many themes, some of which being to pursue your dreams and to be free. These simple themes resonate deep within me, although there are some themes that make me revolt in disgust, and Luffy (the main character) agrees with me, like corruption, human trafficking and many more. But Luffy often liberates countries from this corruption like what he did in Wano, where he liberated the entire country from the rule of somebody called Kaido and did many terrible things to the people of Wano. Or when he punched one of the world’s highest people called a celestial dragon because he wanted to own one of Luffy’s friends. These actions are what makes me love One Piece so much.
Along with themes, there are also quotes that feel right and give a giant impact about how many people see the world, not just me. For example Dr. Hiriluk says “When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No. When they drink a soup made from a poisonous mushroom? No. It’s when they are forgotten!” This quote has shown many people, myself included, that as long as people remember who they are and why they are, then they will never truly be forgotten for how great they are. And that includes relatives that may have passed away. In fact my grandfather passed away recently and no matter what I will never forget how great of a man he was, and to me. He will never truly be gone. Aside from that there are also quotes like “You can spill drinks on me, even spit on me. I’ll just laugh about it. But if you dare to hurt my friends… I won’t forgive you!” This basically says that nothing is more important than your friends. These quotes, when I first saw them, opened my eyes to One Piece and made me realize how deep One Piece can actually go, even if some moments are just fun and games, and how much I can apply these quotes to my life.
The world building in One Piece is also exceptional, the way that Oda makes the story fit to something he may have said over 100 chapters ago. It makes me aspire to be in the One Piece world myself, maybe somewhere like Sabaody Archipelago where I could enjoy being next to the world government, and living next to the ocean. Or maybe Egghead Island where I can explore the world’s most advanced technology. But at the beginning of the story, in chapter 1, there was a character named Shanks and he used this power that was only introduced 230 chapters later. I adore this aspect of One Piece because it shows how much thought Oda put into creating the environment and story.
One Piece has changed so much for me that I can’t even describe a small portion of it, but if I didn’t watch One Piece then I would be much, much different. For example: I wouldn’t have watched any anime/manga. And I severely doubt that I would be exactly the same as I am today. But, I can almost guarantee that if you watch One Piece, then your life will change too, one chapter or episode at a time.
Here are some mangas I recommend and love:
- One Piece by Eiichiro Oda: One Piece has great world-building and characters. One Piece is also still going on even after over 20 years; and in march of this year, it has become the most selling comic of all time, even passing superman. One Piece is about a boy named Monkey D. Luffy and his adventure to becoming the King of the Pirates.
- Re:Zero, My Life in Another World by Tappei Nagatsuki: Re:Zero first began as a light novel, but is now getting a manga adaptation. Re:Zero is about a high schooler called Subaru Natsuki and he was transported to another world. But his power is truly terrifying, every time he dies he comes back, with his memories and the pain. This is perfect if you want a dark isekai.
- One Punch Man by One: One Punch man is a comedic manga about a guy that is so strong that he can defeat anyone with a single punch. But then he finds life to be too boring so he tries to find someone who does not get one-shot.
- The Apothecary Diaries by Hyuganatsu: The Apothecary Diaries is about a girl called maomao who was kidnapped then sold off to the royal palace, but she is really into poisons and medicines. With her knowledge she solves many mysteries regarding many different topics.
- Dr. Stone by Riichiro Inagaki: Dr Stone is about a boy called Senku who was considered a genius by his peers, but one day a bright green light showered the world causing every human to turn into stone for 3718 years and 302 days causing the entire world to turn back into the stone age. Using his knowledge he advances the world back to the modern era.
- The Promised Neverland by Kaiu Shirai: The Promised Neverland is about a group of kids who live in an orphanage but one day one of the kid’s friends Conny was finally adopted. But she had forgotten something of hers, so some of her friends went to give it to her when she had left. But when they had found her about to be sent off they found out that she was dead.
- Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami: You have probably heard of Jujutsu Kaisen as it blew up in fall of 2020. Jujutsu Kaisen or also known as JJK is about a boy called Yuji Itadori, who was a regular high school student but one day everything changed.
- Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is about an entire bloodline of the JoJo family and their common enemy, the Brando family. Their journeys are full of twists and turns as they go through centuries of hiding and chasing.
- Shangri-La Frontier by Katarina: Shangri-La Frontier is about a boy named Hizotome who only played really bad VR games, but one day he decides to play a Really good game, and he has a lot of skill transferred from beating really bad games.
- Classroom Of The Elite by Syougo Kinugasa: Classroom Of The Elite is about Ayonokoji who attends a school where you get “points” where you can buy anything, literally anything. But this school has a dangerous truth to it, the students all plan to expel each other. But you can buy back students with the points, specifically 2 million.
“Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover (Don’t Judge Someone ‘Til You Know Them)” by Ava G., 7th grade
Some people don’t enjoy reading as much as others do. Then when people do try to read something, they look at the cover. Probably judging whether the book looks cool to read or not. It’s very common! A book can have such an interesting or amazing cover, but reading the back cover from a book is designed to hook new readers to get interested in the book! Kinda like what you can expect when reading. Some parts from the back cover gets readers more excited to read since a part could be cut off and then you really wanna read it to find out what happened or why it happened. I’ve read many books like that. They can be so detailed and can get people in the zone wanting to finish reading it.
Let’s say you’re trying to find a new book to read. You could be more interested in Graphic Novels, Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Manga. People attend to have trouble finding something they might like to read. Try finding books with dull covers. Read their back cover to get into the book. Not all books may have a good back cover to make a reader wanna read it. Or some may do! The back cover is like a little summary about the book. They can leave crazy parts out. Some parts you might enjoy in the book. Making you want to really find out what’s going to happen next! I know it happens to me a lot when I read. Try reading a couple of pages in the first chapter, novel or anything. Look at pictures/drawings from graphic novels and manga!
For example: You’re in your school library and you would probably need to find a book. Try some books like One of Us is Lying. It’s a mystery book with horror and very surprising twists and turns. Another is The Giver. This book might seem weird since of elderly guy on the cover but it’s about a community after a huge war. Everyone is assigned one job forever on their 12th birthday and no one knows what real love and emotions are! Maybe you like romance! The Summer I Turned Pretty was a huge one I loved. Many others did too. It’s about two families growing up together with the moms being best friends since around high school. Then crazy love and drama happen. For really any books that might not seem so wanting to read, try it.
These can be some other book options: Places We’ve Never Been, You’ve Reached Sam, Hunger Games, Smile, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, Never Have I Ever, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Shatter Me, and so much more!! You have to try something. No matter what! Try something you may not like, then find something else instead! That’s okay.
You probably never knew this but book covers are kinda like people. You might have switched schools before or even met someone new at your school. Most people go straight to their looks rather than asking stuff about them. You never know how someone is till you get to know one another. This is so similar to books. Everyone goes to judging what they see with their own eyes first, rather than reading/meeting them. People in your school might be quiet all the time but you don’t know who they are. People could have brilliant minds, great at drawings, amazing writers, incredibly kind and talented!
Thank you so much to my student voices today and their look at reading within their lives!
