You don’t need a sharp tongue when you’ve got sharp ears, plus the power of magical girl Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
It’s said that a man’s home is his castle, and sometimes after a long day of fulfilling his royal duties, the king wants to watch some anime. However, that can present a bit of a problem in Japan.
Japanese apartments are often small and thin-walled, meaning there might not be much space or sound deadening between you and your neighbors. If you’re an adult with a full-time job whose leisure time comes primarily late at night, you could be unintentionally bothering the other people in the building with the noise from your TV. Sure enough, Japanese Twitter user @1837oshionoran recently got a letter from his neighbor asking him to enjoy his anime more quietly, but it also contained a heartwarming otaku surprise.
The letter reads:
“I live next door. I can hear your TV through my wall. If you could turn down the volume a little, I’d really appreciate it.
Also, I’m sorry if I’m mistaken, but last night, you were watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie: Rebellion, weren’t you? I’m also a Madoka fan.
Thank you for your consideration.”
Though it’s a simple, hand-written letter, it’s actually quite brilliant. The neighbor could not only tell that @1837oshionoran was watching anime, but could recognize the specific series and even the exact part of the franchise, which proves that the complaint isn’t nitpicking about some muffled environmental noise. Puella Magi Madoka Magica has 12 TV episodes and three theatrical movies, so if the neighbor can hear clearly enough to pick out specific telltale dialogue and music pieces, it’s definitely louder than it needs to be for @1837oshionoran’s individual viewing.
But aside from serving as evidence, the neighbor’s recognition of, and shared admiration for, the Madoka franchise helps to avoid another possible problem before it starts. That simple little “I’m also a Madoka fan” shows that the neighbor’s problem really is just the volume. It’s not a case of someone getting a bug up their butt because they find anime itself or “gross otaku” to be annoying. By identifying as a fellow fan, the neighbor is essentially saying, “Hey, I get it. Anime is fun, and the sound is an important part of the viewing experience. Just please keep it down a little for those of us who aren’t viewing it with you.”
“How nice, you made a friend!” wrote one commenter, though @1837oshionoran says he’s unsure whether or not he should write back, since he feels like it might be awkward to strike up a pen pal exchange from what’s essentially a letter of complaint. Still, there’s no denying that his anime-loving neighbor’s thoughtful choice of words has made the whole thing much more cordial than most problems between neighbors, since people are a lot happier to accommodate a request from a friend than follow an order from a stranger.
Source: Twitter/@1837oshionoran via Jin
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