I guess this is more of a situational phrase, honestly. Sometimes, as shown by the author, violent media, or any type of "strong" media can truly help in emotional development (inspire confidence, self-growth, socially understanding, etc.). I think what people focus on the most is when violent media actually leads to violent acts rather than a change in mentality (For example, the anime Death Note, a show about a notebook that brings death to anybody whose name is written on it, inspired a few incidents of unprecedented murder. The anime/manga Berserk, with its focus on detailed gore and horror, influenced many manga readers at the time to act and roleplay a bit more... "extreme").
Personally, my actions are very hard to influence, so all the violent anime and video games I play just change my perception on a few things rather than make me go crazy. Honestly, I'm a person who has low self-esteem; I don't think of myself too highly even when given phrase. I think I'm humble, but people say I take it to the extreme. A commonality with most "violent" media is that there always seems to be a leader within every group of characters, someone who is strong yet not necessarily brags about their abilities. They fight with a cool air about them and never dash in without thinking. The reason they fight is almost always for a greater cause, not for some selfish desire of theirs. My personal favorite type of fighting show is the anime called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. The action is nonstop, and almost every episode at least three people are getting their face pounded in a hilarious way. But more than the combat being shown, we see the characters develop through battle. Some overcome personal struggles, while others overcome the death of a loved one. For example, Muhammad Avdol, one of the main characters (SPOILER) dies in the latter episodes, which inspires Jean-Pierre Polnareff to finally start thinking less arrogant and selfishly about battle and to approach it in a more calm fashion. Until that point, he was a brash swordsman who always boasted about his swordplay- It is this type of development that I watch these types of shows for. Violent media may show feats of superhuman strength 90% of the time, but I watch for the remaining 10%, the type of emotional strength that can overcome the most horrible of experiences.
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