This is something random since there seem to be a lot of weapon enthusiasts on this site.
In anime games like jrpgs a lot of the time when a spear/pole arm user uses their weapon they grip and swing it near the middle or the shaft or even close to the blade like we see here
This seems strange to me as it seems like the main advantage of a pole would be the reach and you would grip closer to the butt end to allow it to reach further
So is the anime way the normal way you're supposed to use it? Does it change depending on situation? Etc
Well, Forte is a dragoon, meaning she's able to drive her spear with the force of her entire body. The extended grip might reflect that. Otherwise it's just like jousting.
This is something random since there seem to be a lot of weapon enthusiasts on this site.
In anime games like jrpgs a lot of the time when a spear/pole arm user uses their weapon they grip and swing it near the middle or the shaft or even close to the blade like we see here
This seems strange to me as it seems like the main advantage of a pole would be the reach and you would grip closer to the butt end to allow it to reach further
So is the anime way the normal way you're supposed to use it? Does it change depending on situation? Etc
Her weapon is similar to a lance. Unlike the ones you said, Forte's weapons is to impale the target until either it dies from sheer impact or taken severe damage.
Her combat animation in GBF, shows she stab the enemy in one spear follow by another in succession. Her ougi is similar to that with an extra attack that is basically a Dragoon Dive (If you know Final Fantasy Dragoon stuff)
This is something random since there seem to be a lot of weapon enthusiasts on this site.
In anime games like jrpgs a lot of the time when a spear/pole arm user uses their weapon they grip and swing it near the middle or the shaft or even close to the blade like we see here
This seems strange to me as it seems like the main advantage of a pole would be the reach and you would grip closer to the butt end to allow it to reach further
So is the anime way the normal way you're supposed to use it? Does it change depending on situation? Etc
One must remember that how you use a spear is dependent on the culture's combat doctrine.
As for what you would call the Eastern style, spears are trained as an extension of the staff fighting doctrine. In it, the fighter uses the entire length of the spear as a fulcrum in fighting off enemies from both long range and short range. Therefore, having control of the spear's center of mass is very important - thus the emphasis on controlling the middle of the shaft.
Then again, holding the spear near the middle of the shaft is less useful if you're just a line infantry tasked with forming a pike square or a tercio. If you're on horseback or as a spearhead in an assault, you wouldn't want to hold too far towards the rear or you risk losing control of the spear while you're rapidly charging forward.
It's also different if you're using a pike. With a pike, you're wrestling with a pole that's easily twice your size and with terrible handling characteristics. A pikeman's job is more to keep horses and other people at more than arm's length than to be whacking people with it. It's not the same as a spear where you need superb handling to be able to swing it around while stabbing people with it at the same time.
tl;dr - Yes, that's how you're supposed to use a spear offensively.
Even more than dual swords, dual-wielding spears is rare to the point of non-existent, because the only thing better than having a weapon so large that it becomes unwieldy unless held with both hands is bogging your other arm down with another one.
When people one-hand spears, it's usually because they have a shield in the other one. At that point, a short spear you grip from about the middle of the haft (AKA the center of mass, where you have the best control/can maneuver the spear most quickly) makes a lot of sense when you get in close for melee (I.E. aren't just keeping up a spear wall). From behind a large shield, you can either underhand or overhand grip the spear and use its reach to stab from around the rim of your shield without ever needing to drop the shield, keeping your defenses up at all times. (Whereas you need to pull your tower shield to the side and lean in if you're using a short sword like the gladius.) The reach of a spear can also be useful if you're taller than your opponent, and just trying to sneak a spear over their shield and jab at their eyeballs.
This is something random since there seem to be a lot of weapon enthusiasts on this site.
In anime games like jrpgs a lot of the time when a spear/pole arm user uses their weapon they grip and swing it near the middle or the shaft or even close to the blade like we see here
This seems strange to me as it seems like the main advantage of a pole would be the reach and you would grip closer to the butt end to allow it to reach further
So is the anime way the normal way you're supposed to use it? Does it change depending on situation? Etc
I think it's more like most animator/artist don't really know or care how actual lances(or most weapons in general) work. But it's anime. Not suppose to really mimic real life(as much). Real life, lances are boring weapons to use for "anime" fights. They're suppose to be one time use thrusting weapons used during horseback charges. Nobody is really that dumb to use actual lances like normal spears and go slashing and swiping people cause that's idiotic. Tv jousting lances aside, even real life ones are just purely for stabbing, then tossed away by the knight so he can use his actual weapon since it's much too ineffective to carry around.
If that weapon really is a Lance and used as such, rather than her using it like the usual anime way of using any and all pole arm weapon like a Naginata or Glaive or like a fucking sword, then whoever her blacksmith/weapon maker is screwed her over because you would never have such a long shaft since that takes away length from the "heavy metal pointy part that's meant to stabby stabby enemy from afar" and holding it so close mean less reach and anyone with a "proper" lance can totally skewer you and holding it too far would mean you're either highly untrained or the stupidest knight in the cavalry(or both) and does not understand how either gravity nor physics work(granted back in medival days both those things weren't invented yet but I digress) that even common sense will tell you heavy metal part is heavy and hard to hold when gripping too far while charging on horseback. With one hand.
But, it's anime so who cares. It's a world where Newton wasn't able to spread his seeds of evil.
While I agree with most of what you're saying, I'll just add that it doesn't take Newton to know you should hold a spear or lance near the center of gravity. If you ever handled a polearm one-handed, the most natural-feeling spot to carry it will invariably be towards the center of gravity by virtue of leverage. Heavy lances usually have a really long shaft to help balance its heavy stabby point so the lancer doesn't have to fight with gravity so much while making a charge. Alternatively, a weight at the rear also helps but those tend to be jousting lances.
Two-handed spears, though, you do hold quite close to the middle of the shaft, albeit with your off-hand. However, you still have your main-hand controlling its tip from a bit more towards the rear. However, most of the weight is on the off-hand which is providing stability. You can move your forward hand (off-hand) a bit towards the rear, but then you have to contend with the pull of gravity pulling down on the tip of the spear. The farther back your forward grip is, the more unwieldy it becomes.
Also true that true lances are one-use weapons. After expending the lance, the knight usually reaches for his most accessible close-quarter weapon. For some, it's the longsword. For others, there's the mace. Then there's the flail, but none of those are what you'd call pointy blades on a stick.