Dear younger me (and anyone reading this from Kalyan or beyond),
I need to tell you something that would've seemed absolutely ridiculous to me five years ago: anime has changed how I think about money, ambition, failure, and what actually matters in life.
Not anime in the stereotypical sense — the stuff with oversized eyes and dramatic screaming. I'm talking about stories that stick with you. Stories that make you question whether your 7.5% hike next year is actually something to celebrate, or whether you're running on a treadmill that goes nowhere.
When I was 24, grinding through spreadsheets at Morningstar, comparing mutual fund performance while commuting on the Central Line from Kalyan, I thought self-help books were the answer. Atomic Habits. Think and Grow Rich. The usual suspects. And sure, they're useful. But they felt hollow. They told me what to do, not why I was doing it.
Then I watched stories that actually made me feel something. And that's when things shifted.
I'm going to walk you through six anime that fundamentally changed how I see ambition, failure, relationships, and meaning. Not because I'm trying to be cool or different. But because I genuinely think they deserve to be in the same conversation as the books we pretend to read.
Monster — The Cost of Playing God With Your Choices
This one hits different when you're in your late 20s and starting to understand that your decisions ripple outward.
Monster is about a doctor who saves a criminal's life — and then spends the next 20+ episodes dealing with the consequences. The criminal becomes a serial killer. Innocent people die. And the doctor has to reckon with the fact that trying to do the "right thing" doesn't always lead to right outcomes.
Here's what got me: I used to think about decisions in binary terms. Right or wrong. Invest in this stock or don't. Take this job or don't. But Monster showed me that most meaningful decisions are about probability and uncertainty — and you often can't know the outcome until years later.
Why This Matters For Your Career
Last year, I recommended someone for a role at our firm. They were brilliant on paper. Seemed like the obvious choice. But six months in, they were miserable. The culture wasn't right. They left. I spent weeks feeling like I'd made a wrong call.
Then I realized: I had made the best decision with the information I had. The outcome was disappointing, but my choice was sound. Monster taught me that.
The Real Lesson
Stop obsessing over perfect decisions. You can't see the future. You can only make the most honest choice you can, right now, with what you know. And then you live with it. Own it. Learn from it.
Attack on Titan — Are You Climbing Because You Want To, or Because Everyone Else Is?
This show is about people literally climbing walls. But it's really about something else entirely.
The characters spend their entire lives training to climb a wall and fight monsters they've never seen. They're told it's noble. Heroic. Essential. And most of them go along with it because that's what everyone does. That's the system.
Then a few characters start asking: What if the wall isn't even the real problem? What if we're fighting the wrong enemy? What if we've been lied to about what we're actually trying to achieve?
And honestly? This is exactly what happens in your 20s and early 30s.
You're told: Get good marks → get into a good college → get a good job → buy a house → buy a car → retire. It's the wall. Everyone climbs it. Nobody questions it.
But somewhere around 26 or 27, you start wondering: Am I climbing this because I actually want what's at the top? Or am I climbing because the wall is there and everyone else is climbing?
I realized I'd been climbing the salary wall. My annual increments on PhonePe, tracking my net worth in a spreadsheet, comparing myself to friends who were earning more at bigger companies. I was busy. But I wasn't fulfilled. The wall was just... a wall.
The Uncomfortable Question
What would you do with your career if nobody was watching? If there was no social validation, no Instagram bragging rights, no one to impress at family dinners in Kalyan?
That's the question Attack on Titan forced me to ask. And the honest answer changed what I prioritize.
Your Name — Timing, Chance, and the Things You Can't Control
I watched this movie on a random Tuesday evening after a frustrating day at work. I'd missed out on a promotion because someone else got the role — someone who, frankly, was less qualified. It felt unfair. It was unfair.
Your Name is about two people living in different towns, separated by time and chance. They literally can't meet, even though they're connected in ways they don't fully understand. The entire movie is about how much of life is just... timing. Luck. Variables you can't control.
And there's this moment near the end where you realize: All the effort in the world won't matter if the timing is wrong. But that doesn't mean you should give up. You still show up. You still try. You just have to make peace with the fact that sometimes, despite doing everything right, things won't work out the way you planned.
What This Changed About How I Invest
I used to think market returns were purely about skill and timing — like if I just studied enough, read enough newsletters, I could crack the code. Your Name reminded me that the market is full of variables. Yes, you should be disciplined. Yes, you should have a strategy (mine is boring index funds through Groww). But you also have to accept that some of your returns will be pure luck. Timing. Things outside your control.
That's weirdly liberating. It takes the pressure off.
Neon Genesis Evangelion — Loneliness, Connection, and Your Default Mode
This one is dark. Like, genuinely upsetting in places. But I think it's essential.
Evangelion is about teenagers piloting giant robots to save the world. But it's really about isolation. About how even when you're surrounded by people, you feel completely alone. About how we all build walls around ourselves and convince ourselves they're necessary.
The main character, Shinji, does everything "right." He pilots the robot. He saves people. But he's miserable. And by the end of the series, you realize: His suffering isn't about external circumstances. It's about his inability to connect. His fear of being truly seen by another person.
I watched this at a weird time in my career — I was successful on paper. Good salary. Good title. But I felt hollow. I wasn't talking to anyone about it. I just kept working. Kept achieving. Kept pretending everything was fine.
Then a colleague I barely knew asked me to grab coffee, and I completely fell apart. Started talking about how lost I felt. How I didn't know why I was doing any of this. And something shifted. Just by being honest with another person.
Evangelion teaches you that your default mode — isolation, self-protection, constant achievement — might be slowly killing you. And that connection, vulnerability, being truly seen by someone... that's not weakness. That's the whole point.
March Comes in Like a Lion — Small Moments and Quiet Victories
This anime is about a professional shogi player. It's beautifully paced. Quiet. Sometimes almost nothing happens.
But that's the point.
The protagonist learns that his life isn't defined by winning big matches (though those matter). It's defined by small moments. Eating a meal with someone you care about. Finally understanding a difficult shogi problem. Having someone show up for you when you're struggling.
We're obsessed with big wins, right? The promotion. The ₹50 lakh portfolio. The Instagram-worthy milestone. But March Comes in Like a Lion suggests that the real content of a life is made up of tiny, unglamorous moments.
I started noticing this after watching it. My morning coffee on the Central Line from Kalyan isn't a failure because it's not a promotion. It's just... my morning. And it's okay. It's enough. Some days, just showing up and being decent is the victory.
The Perspective Shift
What if the life you're living right now — with all its ordinariness — is actually the life that matters? Not the life you're "building toward." But the one you're already in?
Steins;Gate — Obsession, Sacrifice, and When to Stop Fighting
The final one. Steins;Gate is about a guy who invents time travel and spends the entire series trying to change the past. He's convinced that if he just keeps trying, he can fix everything. Save everyone. Undo all the mistakes.
But here's the thing: Every attempt costs him something. Sometimes it costs other people. And by the end, he has to make a choice: Keep fighting for a perfect outcome that might never come, or accept the world as it is and find peace.
This hit me hard because I realized I'd been doing this in my own life. Obsessing over "optimizing" everything. My budget. My career trajectory. My relationships. Constantly tweaking, calculating, trying to engineer a better outcome.
But some things can't be optimized. Some losses can't be recovered. And there's a point where fighting becomes more destructive than accepting.
I'm not saying give up. I'm saying: Know the difference between fighting for something meaningful and fighting because you can't accept that things aren't perfect.
| Anime | Core Lesson | Applies To |
|---|---|---|
| Monster | You can't predict outcomes. Make sound decisions and own them. | Career choices, recommendations, investments |
| Attack on Titan | Are you climbing the wall because you want to, or because it's there? | Career ambition, life direction, social expectations |
| Your Name | Timing and luck matter as much as effort. | Investing, job outcomes, relationships |
| Evangelion | Connection is not weakness. Vulnerability is necessary. | Mental health, relationships, career satisfaction |
| March Comes in Like a Lion | Small moments and quiet victories are the real life. | Daily satisfaction, gratitude, success definition |
| Steins;Gate | Know when to stop fighting and accept what is. | Perfectionism, optimization obsession, peace |
My Perspective
Here's what I got wrong: I thought being "serious" about money and career meant shutting out anything that felt unproductive. Anime? That's procrastination. Self-help books? That's the real learning.
But last month, I was talking to a friend from college — Akshay, lives in Powai, works in fintech — and he said something that stuck with me. He said, "I realized I'd optimized my entire life according to metrics that don't actually make me happy. And I didn't even know it until I watched something that made me feel something real."
That's when I realized: Stories — whether in anime, books, or conversations — aren't distractions from "real life." They're the thing that helps you understand what "real life" even means. They give you permission to question your assumptions. To ask if you're doing things because they matter, or because you're supposed to.
What surprised me most is how much these stories normalized loneliness, failure, and uncertainty. Not in a depressing way. But in a way that made me feel less alone in feeling lost. And somehow, that was the permission I needed to actually change direction.
Final Thoughts
I'm not saying watch anime instead of doing the real work. Save your money. Study the markets. Build your skills. That stuff matters.
But also: Give yourself permission to think about why you're doing it. Let yourself feel what a good story makes you feel. Connect with people about the stuff that doesn't fit neatly into career goals or financial targets.
The version of you that's 35 will thank the version that's 25 for asking these questions now. Not for having the answers. Just for asking.
Your younger self probably won't believe that anime could teach you anything real. Mine didn't. But here we are.
Stay curious. Stay honest. And yeah — maybe give one of these a shot.
— Dattatray
P.S. — If you're reading this from Kalyan and thinking "this guy's lost it," I get it. But send me a message once you've watched one of these. I'm curious what hits different for you.
Dattatray Dagale
Data Analyst • Blogger • Mumbai
I'm a data analyst from Kalyan, Maharashtra, working at Morningstar. I write about personal finance, career growth, and everyday life for Indian millennials — the stuff I wish someone had told me earlier.
Written by Dattatray Dagale • 20 June 2026
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