I am addicted to anime. I have spent over 5000 total hours watching anime (I track this on MAL aka MyAnimeList).

I can't stop watching it, especially the "harem" genre anime, which is where there is a male main character who is surrounded by multiple female characters for the duration of the anime.

I have also seen the anime named "かしまし ～ガール・ミーツ・ガール～" (Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl) around 20 times.
This anime is about a male who is turned into a female when an alien space ship crashes onto him. The story and the ending is very good.

I have collected over 200 anime figures, over 1000 anime DVDs/BluRays, and many eroge games.

I think anime is taking over my life. I spend a lot of my day watching anime, and I've spent a lot of money on the figures, DVDs, and eroge.

Is there any way I can help stop my addiction?
I think the reason I am addicted is because I want to be female like the anime characters, where they are perfect and have perfect lives.

  Lol that reminds me of that Japanese kid who was so addicted to anime that he burnt down his mom's house because she threw away his limited edition gundam action figures. 

  I dunno maybe try getting another hobby besides anime for starters. 

I would suggest... going outside?

It sounds like you have a fantasy of wanting to be a woman who lives a perfect life.  I'm sorry, but that will never happen. 
What I mean is that nobody's life is perfect no matter what they say.

If you identify as being female gender, than you are already a woman.  Like me, you just need to do something about it (if you want to transition-if not than I apologize for offering advice).  I have always dreamed of living as a woman, but dreaming doesn't get you anywhere.  Action, hard work and determination will get you there.

There's nothing wrong with anime and being a big fan of it.  It sounds like your spending too much time watching it though.

Life is short and whatever you put into it, is what you will get out of it.

I wish you the best and hope that your dreams come true.   

There is nothing wrong with enjoying some anime. I've personally viewed well over 2000 hours myself. Enjoy it, have fun with it!

Well, if you consider it's taking over your life, I'd suggest trying to force yourself to do something else. You could use an application such as SelfRestraint to block access to your favourite anime websites (doesn't work if you download them in advance, though).

All I can say is, try to have more social activity in your life. It naturally drains unhealthy addictions to anime and games, in many cases. If it's too hard, well, you could try to find yourself something else to do; something productive. A job online, drawing, making a journal... Anything that makes you feel helpful and/or express yourself creatively is probably good.

Start small and cut back on the amount of anime you watch daily.  Also you could sell your collectibles, DVDS, games, blu-rays etc to make some of that money back while helping to break the addiction.

I think that it's great you recognize it's a taking over your life.
I remember in my high school art class there was a group of kids who were literally obsessed with it but they didn't seem to realize it was kind of unhealthy...they were never outside or anything haha. Of course it's not only anime but some people do it with video games or TV or whatever. I would really suggest hanging out more with friends, going for walks or runs, taking a class (yoga, painting, dance, etc.). I mean you only live once, it would be sad to spend too much of that time in front of a screen. There are lots of other things you could do, it's just up to you to find what you like (:

Oh, if you really have a lot of otaku merchandise, you could sell it all to another collector. That would be a motivator towards transition by paying a little of it, no?

Quote from: A on March 19, 2012, 04:17:50 PM
Oh, if you really have a lot of otaku merchandise, you could sell it all to another collector. That would be a motivator towards transition by paying a little of it, no?

This

why ?? i love anime and manga personally have red 600 manga series most of which have well over 40 chapters and own 2 tera bites of anime lol even then got in contact with the authors and even pop idols they were based on XD i find nothing wrong with loving anime:)

obviously, going to a forum to ask for medical advice on addiction wont give you the best or most serious responses you might be searching for.
Seek therapy if you really need help, preferably someone who is familiar with addiction.
I myself, am a big fan and believe I have developed with some anime women characters somehow from my youth. To understand how they are connected to your trans status is a pretty awesome realization on your part in my opinion!
Good luck.

The only cure is...... MOAR COWBELL!!

Sorry, I don't know where that came from... Happens to me sometimes...

Anyway, I recommend watching something else. Or, watching anime in Japanese without subtitles, which will do one of two things: Either, make you an amazing speaker of Japanese (and it's always good to have more languages! *thumbs up*), or it will make you lose interest quicker. Or pick up an outdoor hobby. Or a hobby that someone in your favorite anime does. For example, if one of your favorite characters is a surfer, learn to surf! Hmm... maybe that's a bad example, unless you live on the coast... Ok, better one, knitting! Knitting's an anime thing, right?! Er... no, maybe not >.< How about mahjong! There's an entire anime dedicated to competition mahjong. Anyway, you get the point. And if you want to start slow and have to bring your anime with you, go to the gym and watch it while you run on the rat wheel (aka treadmill). At least it gets you out of the house and doing something mildly productive. Well, healthier, at least. Good luck!