From the outside looking in…

Hi, everyone! I don’t think I’ve ever felt nervous while writing something before. I think what makes this different is I’m introducing myself to a crowd – something that has always terrified me. Not because I’m scared of crowds or stage fright, but it’s more on the fear of not being interesting enough. Am I capturing their attention? They’re staring at me… probably judging me. Oh, God. They all probably want me to go leave the room now. I’m such a bore to listen to. Now is one of those times but I hope you’d think it’s worth it staying for this entire post.

What makes this doubly scary is that I’m introducing myself to an entirely new crowd that I’m not familiar with. Anime fans. Though I have dabbled in anime on and off throughout my life, I’ve never been well-versed in it. Thinking about that paralyzes me! But something I know I can deliver to some extent is writing about stuff. That’s why I’m thankful to Irina and the Drunken Anime Blog for the opportunity to contribute to the site. I hope that my anime-related musings and ramblings could find a home here and would be interesting enough for all of you. Better than to toil around in my actual blog that barely gets any hits.

Anime had always been one of the most interesting things in the world to me from the outside looking in. When I was a kid, I’d always seen it as a “cousin” to the things I was more into at the time, namely cartoons and video games. During my teenage years, I fell in love with superheroes and comic books, and this was the time where anime felt like a cousin interest – in an East and West kind of thing, if you will.

However, now being an adult, an aspiring author and aspiring anime expert, I realize that it’s so much more than “Japanese cartoons”. Anime comes in all types of flavors, genres, and episode lengths. It can be bombastic and action-packed. It can be dark and brooding. It can be light-hearted and wholesome. Now being someone who’s on the outside trying to get in and having exhausted most avenues of storytelling, anime is something that excites me because it simply looks like a lot of fun. I can’t wait to dive in!

I hope that in this little space I have as a contributor, I can provide a fresh perspective to some of your favorite anime or maybe even the ones you’ve never seen before. Maybe in due time, I’ll end up being just as confident about my knowledge and love for it the same way I am with my other interests. Am I capturing their attention? They’re staring at the article… probably judging me. Hopefully, none of that doubt throughout and instead my entries end up being something worthwhile for you all to read! I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I will enjoy writing them.

If you would like to read my blog, it’s at www.firebrandwriter.wordpress.com
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