The UKA Blog:

There is just something about a lolcat that always brings a smile to my face and it is this ability which I find psychologically fascinating. It is this ability to spontaneously affect one’s personal state of mind is something which I have decided to investigate.

In my previous blog post I whined about having the usual lack of time, a poor work/life balance, stress, and all those usual mumbo jumbo excuses which are used to gain sympathy from the masses. If I am depressed, I am the one who has the power to change that and no one else. A simple philosophy which I personally think more people should try. </soapbox>

The hypothesis was this: if something as innocent and as easily accessible as a lolcat can spread a few seconds of happy by providing a cute picture and a caption, then something which has a more varied structure and a better intensity of emotion will be able to project a superior effect on the psyche (look at me using complicated words!). Would an anime be able to positively (or negatively) affect my mood over the course of a normal work-day if I watched it in the time which I usually spend watching the drivel on BBC1 before I go to work? Would any series do the trick or would it have to be something more specific, something specifically direct to spread happiness and positive feelings to the viewer?

So, to test this I chose three series to watch an episode of before I went to work (or to watch as soon as I returned home):

• Macross Frontier – One of my all time favourite anime, dramatic, endlessly addictive and full of feel good attitude. 
• Ah My Goddess: Flights of Fancy – A new series for my collection and one which is purely based on feel good vibes with comedic undertones.
• Code Geass – Again, another one of my favourite series but this time I have a series which is based around vengeance, loss, conquest and guile. 

(Saikano is specifically neglected at this point because I already feel like I want to off myself, I do not need any help thankyouverymuch)

A varied selection of series which should provide some interesting outlooks on my psyche. 
The testing regime was amusing. I created a diary with which I monitored my state of mind and cross referenced that with the stress at work, amount of sleep and my general state of being and monitored myself over a period of a month, using a rating system of 1 – 7 to measure my happiness. In general I am a 3 to 4, which suggests I am a bit down, but not majorly depressed on average.

 Using this as a base for comparison, I have since spent various mornings watching a single episode of these series in sequential order, making note of how I feel because of them and how I feel at the end of the day and, long story short, the results are interesting, if a little predictable.  
1. Feel good anime actually does make you feel good, even if it is a little cringe worthy. The effect of a series such as Ah My Goddess, whose characters are based on the happiness of others, was that I felt less introverted and less like the “Mr Grumpy” personality which I usually portray. More dramatic series (Frontier and Code Geass) heightened my paranoia and in fact helped me deal with the stress.

2. Not watching the news actually helps. I get enough news, a little less won’t hurt me and focussing before work on something other than current events helps in providing the essential distraction a healthy mind needs during the day. I guarantee that has helped.

3. I like anime, enough said. Just watching a well produced, well thought out, well written series makes me happy. I can get absorbed, and the only issue I have is that I cannot stop at one episode which gives into “Pringles Syndrome” (Once you pop...).

4. Not having time to enjoy 20 minutes