Lately, I’ve had to reeaxamine my blogging priorities a bit. There’s a lot of potential projects I’m looking into and a ton of posts I can’t seem to find the time to sit down and write. Work has been super busy lately and by the time I get home I’m completely beat. This said Ty-chama’s project is worth the effort.
In an effort to bring the community together a bit more Ty proposes a simple yet really lovely exercise. Just share with everyone why you still love anime. I really like this idea. Sharing love is always a good thing and taking the time to think on why you enjoy something makes you appreciate it more. It’s a win win win! Great idea Ty!
So here are the rules for the tag:
- Write a post about why you love anime. It could be your favourite thing about it or one of your favourite things about it, it doesn’t matter which, but just pick one!
- You can get as personal or as impersonal as you like. You might want to write about how anime helped you through a tough time or something that it has taught you or you might want to write about just how much fun you’ve had watching it over the years. Your choice
- Nominate three bloggers to do the same
- Link back to (the original) post. Ty would love to see what you’ve written and may compile a list of favourite entries further down the line
I’m just going to do what I always do…I’m going to make this all about me!
I’ve hinted a bit at my past here and there. Essentially I moved around a whole lot in my childhood. As such, I was always the weird kid, with the weird accent and occasionally the weird skin colour. A perpetual outsider. Having little to know family and knowing next to nothing about my “roots”, I spend a lot of time searching for a place to belong. Before we go to far into poor little me territory, I’m not saying my childhood was particularly bad, it went a long way into forming me into a fairly confident and ridiculously happy adult, but it was occasionally isolated.
When I first discovered anime I was very very young. It was Rose of Versailles. This was a revelation for me. For one the hero was a self assured and very competent women that I could look up to and aspire to become. It’s not that special nowadays but I hadn’t been exposed to so many heroins in my day and I was captivated. Second, I was way too young to understand half of what was happening but there was naughty things going on, and violence, and talking in serious voices. It all seemed very grown up and mature, yet it had all the pretty colours and pictures to keep me interested. I could play “adult” without getting completely bored. It felt special and just for me.
As I grew up and moved around, anime wasn’t always available but when it was, I found it. I soon discovered that not that many other kids shared my interest. And so anime was a bit like me. A little odd, not that popular. It used weird sentence structure. There was a disparate mix of elements. Occasionally disturbingly violent, or blantanly sexual, it played with taboos. It felt edgy yet nerdy at the same time. It felt like home, no matter where I was.
Eventually I would find the big boys of the 90s, Eva, GitS and Bebop. The little SciFi nerd in me lashed on to those less pleasant themes that Star wars and Star Trek were never going to openly explore. The grit of those series brought a dimension to the genre that I hadn’t found elsewhere. The Battle Angel Alita manga and later Serial Experiments Lain also developed on some of those themes. I was glad I still had a place. A place where a show for children dealt with uncompromising honesty with questions of existential trauma and responsibility. Where the nature of sentience was debated and left unanswered for the audience to seek out their own truths. Anime wasn’t talking down to me, but it still gave me the pretty pictures I liked so much.
Life happens, school and careers take up your precious time. Anime was always there but a little muted. I fell out of touch with what was coming out. I was never really a part of the community, but the few connections I did have fell away. And then, for no reason, I decided to watch some weird looking show with a silly Engrish title. It had a Sci Fi feel to it and maybe it would be good for a few laughs. It was on Netflix so easy access and all. That’s how I saw Psycho Pass for the first time.
So I kept going. I saw Soul Eater. Started looking up new shows. In got Crunchyroll and randomly went through their libraries. I discovered Visual Novels and played Steins;Gate then obsessed over Steins;Gate. It was great. I remembered that kid who had escaped endless studying through episodes of Berserk. I was recapturing a little part of me and it felt invigorating. I started a blog so I could share it with others!
Then, I stumbled across a little show about a quiet boy and his protector…mentor…friend yokai cat. Just like that, it wasn’t about memories or recapturing the past. I had a new home. Warm, comfortable and full of friends. I still love anime because it can still make me smile at the end of a long day. Because it will still challenge me to open my mind to new ideas. Because I am still making friends from all around the world thanks to it. Because, as a grown up, I can still audibly gasp in crowded bookstores at the sight of my (soon to be new) favourite manga. Because no matter where I go and who I become, it’s still my home. And you are all welcome to drop by anytime!
Now then, your turn to tell us. I’m not sure who’s been tagged. I actually would love to hear all your stories! Let me start with asking my supremely patient collab partners this season:
- Matt from Anime Q and A
- Crow from Crow’s World of Anime
- Lethargic Ramblings because I have a feeling we’re going to get a great post out of this
- And Takuto – I know it was suppose to be 3 but if we can convince Takuto to do this we all get a Takuto post…Win for everyone!
I’ll stop before I just start nominating everyone. Thank you all for reading. I do hope you all still love anime as well!
