then: i was ugly with fake friends and i didn't watch anime :(

now: i am still ugly but with 1 real friend and a fruits basket t-shirt

edit (real answer!!):

then: i cared too much what people said about me and my parents were unhappy with their marriage which showed up in everything i did. i drowned myself in studying and became more obsessed with getting good grades, rather than retaining knowledge.

now: my parents are divorced and my dad got engaged to some random woman he found on tinder (°_°)
and my grades are shit

i love to see the change

Then: good grades, straight posture, slept, cared, obnoxious, constantly high on attention

Now: formless blob, tragically pretentious, moody, biologically fucked, academically fucked, spends all day sending cursed pictures to people I used to know in hopes of empty interaction, no more physical abuse from parents, what is green?

Then: Depressed, lonely and bored 24/7

Now: slightly depressed, manga buying addiction, stressed, uses anime as comfort

Then: non-eventful life where I mostly stay home watching anime and playing games
Now: non-eventful life where I mostly stay home watching anime and playing games

Before Covid: Regularly out with friends doing dumb shit and having fun. I also went to the gym.

After Covid: Spend literally hours starring at a computer screen for online learning, which sucks. Didn't do much and got bored to the point of being sad.
I also lost my muscle gains which made me feel like shit cause I stopped working out and because all that work got wasted

Before covid:
Bored.
After Covid:
Bored but with anxiety.

Then: normal life, liking anime, not reading manga a lot, on my way to become a teacher

Now: huge fucking Vitamin D deficiency, diagnosed depression, quit school, taking my anime ratings and this account way to seriously, gained weight, bought all of the one piece manga, BUT loving my friends even more, for supporting me with all this. Oh and i got an evangelion t-shirt for christmas from my little brother.

then: I think i was a cringy kid who is so full of himself and waiting for appreciation. I was not trying the understand other peoples feelings and everything in this world was joke to me.

now: i think i am matured now :D I am no longer an egoist and i'm not waiting other peoples appreciation. Instead i appreciate them, just to spread love. If you do not get angry at people and try to solve your problems in a chill way, people will do the same as well. I'm now trying to do empathy, for each person i encountered. I'm trying the help people as hard as i can. I think this is the best way to live on earth. We're not immortals and in our limited time, instead of fighting each other, we must help and care each other. That's all i can say :)

Sorry for my English btw i'm practicing it :D

Before covid:
Enjoyed school, hung out with friends, had good grades, actually took care of myself.

Now:
Hate school, dont have friends other than 1 person whomst ive known for years, barely hanging on with my grades, rarely takes care of myself, uses anime, manga, and games to cope

Hopefully i can get my lifestyle back this summer...

Edit: Only thing thats probably improved though is my maturity level and my view of the world and others feelings. I dont judge people anymore and try my best to understand peoples feelings more.

Then: had 'friends', introvert, only going outside for university
Now: don't have friends, introvert, staying in my room 24/7

Then: I was a lonely loser that simped for Mash Kyrielight

Now: A bigger loser that simps for Makima

then: i was just a fucker just screwin around

now: still that just a lil different in height and looks

Lately, I've been trying to worry less about what others think about me.

I'm glad you asked, anime had changed me so much

then-
I cared about what people think about me
I used to have better grades
I wanted to become friends with people who hated me
I used to cry in front of others
I had many friends but wanted more
I trusted easily
thought doraemon wa "cartoon"

now-
I'm not dumb enough to trust anyone who talks to me
My grade have dropped
I don't give a fuck about what people think, let the haters hate
I treasure the friends have
I never cry in friend of others, not even my parents
I watch anime, and know doraemon i an anime

I feel like I'm more mature now..
I might have said too much but whatever

Then: Happy and content.
Now: I guess now I'm more sadder than before once I became aware of my insecurities and started taking it seriously but it made me more self aware of myself and others. Asking myself why I do the things I do helped me understand myself and where my flaws come from. It helped me understand why others are the way they are, why they do those things and more. I guess now, I've also learnt a lot of life lessons and became more mature. I also became more open minded on things. I believe that right and wrong is subjective as well as other things.

Then: I was a happy shut-in, kuma.

Now: I'm a happier shut-in, kuma!

Then (Before watching Kimi no Na wa.): Was a disgusting normie who used Instagram on a daily basis, simmered down on the amount of anime I used to watch, surrounded by boring and fake friends who are as trustworthy as Mufasa from Lion King, in short a complete loser.

Then: I was a "freeloader" who didn't do anything for other people, and only took. I'm lucky I had such good friends though, they were always funny and there to help me through things. As soon as I got home from school each day, I would run over to my ps4 and play Fortnite all day (yes, fortnite) and then go to bed. It was the same every day. The pandemic made me realize that I should change something.

Now: I would like to think that I'm a better friend now than I used to be, and I'm much more helpful. Also, I've started running as an exercise and I honestly recommend it because it brings me so much happiness even when I'm feeling sad. Obviously the pandemic was bad for millions of people because of death, financial problems, etc. but for me, it really helped me to improve as a person and have more fun in life.

Then: I used to be 16

Now: I'm 17

then: lazy
now: lazier

Then - I had a toxic mindset, I was casual anime watcher, I had lots of friends, I didn't have the greatest relationship with either of my parents, I payed attention in school (most of the time), I had no idea what I wanted to study in college, I was straight, I had a uninspiring view of life, I wanted to be in a relationship, I had no idea about the future, I was basically an unhappy loser.

Now - I'm in the healthiest state of mind I've ever been in, I'm a heavy anime watcher and I'm into manga as well, I realized most of my friends were just "school friends" so I don't talk to them anymore, I hardly argue with my parents anymore, I lost interest in school because of being virtual, I want to study psychology so bad and possibly philosophy, I'm bisexual, I appreciate life more than ever now and I actually have values to live by, I don't want to be in a relationship any time soon, I'm basically happy, I learned to be understanding, and I'm even mostly set on what I want to do in the future!

Quarantine was a huge positive growth period for me, and I'm proud of myself and everything I've managed to do. I didn't have the greatest relationship with myself at first, but now I can look at my bad parts and realize what I need to do to improve rather than degrading myself.

Before: Anime

After: Manga

That's an interesting story. Glad to hear this change! ^^
I like this thread because isn't the same thread of talking about anime (they're good as well) and I like how people express their emotions. Good one mate!

i regressed
Before - had good grades
Now i'm extremely lazy and an awful procrastinator TT i have 1 month before semester ends i need to use that time

Then: I was productive every day, I was smart, and I had lots of friends. I felt like I had a promising future. I was HaPpY. I never cried in front of others

Now: I have terrible anxiety and depression. I feel dumber. I have 1 friend.(tho they are a "true" friend which makes me happy) I'm terrified of the future and I no longer have a promising future. I realized that I've been wasted my life doing dumb things when I could have been improving myself. I cry all the time

Before covid: I suffer from ASD (Autism spectrum disorder) so socializing doesn't come easy. I suffered from extreme social anxiety then and was so obsessed with perfecting social rules. Being the perfect person the, the person that would never get social situations wrong, I was also wayyyyyy to obsessed with how people viewed me.

Now: I still suffer from ASD and socializing still doesn't come easy. However, after some therapy my social anxiety has lessened considerably, I can talk to people without freaking out and I can get by day by day. I no longer care abt how people viewed me. But most importantly I'm happy, yes a bit of me still dreads the social interaction that may come up during the day but that will never go away.

Then: 1-1 press start to play

Now: 8-4 the final battle is upon us

Then : I partied every week or at least met my friends outside of school on a daily basis.

Now : I found my inner introvert and enjoy it way too much right now, to the extent of not hanging out with my friends for a year

well, a lot of people seem to have some personality changes, in my case I'm the same as I was. the one huge difference I've observed tho is that, I'm more educated about the world now. At first, I was kind of ignorant and didn't care a lot. However, when quarantine started back in 2020, I had nothing to do. I realized how I'm all by myself. So I started thinking AND working my brain a bit, asking myself the "whys" and "hows" of the world. I didn't do anything in particular one would call productive, but I gained more perspectives, started to think of various issues with a fairly neutral and multi-angled perspective. Got knowledgeable about various matters and subjects, like philosophy, psychology, politics etc. And gained an interest in debating and analysis.
There was a bit of self-reflection as well.