Blossay #2: Anime and Me

Anime and Me: Alli Hemp's anime adventure

The start of my experiences with anime...
 

My involvement in anime began young. As a child in elementary school, I was exposed to Pokémon, Sailor Moon, and some Dragon Ball as I watched morning cartoons with my brother and cousins before school. I very much enjoyed Sailor Moon the most along with my female cousin and remembered getting little Sailor Moon and Mars figurines to play with together. My brother and male cousin had a great time with Pokémon and traded cards and played some video games revolving around the Pokémon stories and characters. As much as I enjoyed anime then, by no means was it super important to me in any way—I had as much interest in it as I did any other cartoon on television because I treated Sailor Moon, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball as normal cartoons. The term ‘anime’ was something that didn’t exist for me. When I got to middle school and stopped watching cartoons and television, I had closed the book of anime and moved on with my life until high school.

Flash forward to ninth grade. When my circle of friends had started discussing anime and manga in front of me (Vampire Knight and Kuroshitsuji to be exact), naturally I was interested in this new thing that seemed so fun. It sounded like any other story or comic to me, but when I came to realize that Sailor Moon was also an anime it took me no time at all to re-visit Sailor Moon as well as check out anime and manga my friends recommended to me. I had always loved books, but I also loved art and drawing. I had never been a fan of normal American comics, but I absolutely loved the artwork that Japanese anime offered as well as the amazing stories that went with them. I had found the best of both worlds.

My first anime and a world of others:

Black Cat, the first anime I watched since discovering the term.

The first anime I watched since finding this new world of cartton was Black Cat, a series I took interest in because of the main character’s unusual name (Train). Episodes were shown weekly on the Funimation Channel and I was joined by my best friend each week religiously to indulge in the newest episode of our favorite story. We were in love--there was so much action and suspense with the perfect amount of comedy to keep us entertained. Although Black Cat was my favorite anime to watch, the Funimation Channel had a few other anime to offer including Kiddy Grade, Slayers, Mushishi, Galaxy Railways, Slayers, and Aquarion to name just a handful. My favorite shows however were Revolutionary Girl Utena, Hunter x Hunter, Peach Girl, and xxxHolic.

As I began to expand the library of shows I had watched or previewd and manga I took interest in, I realized that I was attracted to a great variety of shows. I did not find myself limited to a single genre--I was interested in anything from magical girl to mecha, romance to horror. Still to this day, I do not rule out any genre because it does not immediately appeal to me. I'd much rather sit through a few uninteresting episodes or chapters than miss out on a really great story.

Involvement of friends, family, and strangers

My parents handled my interest in anime very well (as compared to the grief my friends get from their parents, or so they say) as did my grandparents and the rest of my family, although they didn't really know much about it nor did they care. I'd never really questioned my interest in this field or considered it something to be 'weird' by any means. For me, anime was just another thing I liked, just the same as music, swimming, and drawing. At times my family did make fun of me for it, but it was all in good humor. My brother actually took some interest in Black Cat and watched a good deal of it with my friend and I. He never got into the anime scene though and quickly returned to his world of Magic cards, Nintendo games, and chess. I'm sure if I asked him to watch with me he'd entertain the thought, but in the end he's definitely not interested in it as much as myself.

Most of my friends were really the ones who introduced me to manga and anime, so I never got any negative feedback form them at all. The only trouble I ran into was misunderstanding from my teammates on the swim team. The age old tentacle porn question/comment popped up from time to time and dove me insane, but like my family most of the time it was all in good fun or genuine interest/lack of knowledge. People never judged me for my interests or thought less of me for being into something so foreign to them, however there are some individuals who don't miss the opportunity to give me shit about it just to tease me.

This is a thing, why is this a thing?

More times than not, there are some fans of anime and manga who outwardly display their love of the genre with buttons, shirts, and key chains. This makes it very easy to spot potential friends--whether its taking the train to NYC or waiting in line in a store, the possibilities of meeting new people and making friends through mutual interest are indeed great. I have met a lot of people, some of whom have become great friends of mine, through mutual interest in an anime or manga series. It's a really great community to be a part of because there's so many different people from all walks of life as well as many, MANY different kinds of anime and manga to take interest in and explore. Anime and manga has brought me more friends than grief from relatives or teammates.

But...am I an otaku?

I do not consider myself an otaku or anything of that nature.Though I do have a great interest in anime and manga, by no means is it my only interest. I was never completely 'hardcore' about it (dressing up in cosplay, owning much merchandise, taking courses about it in college, shit...) and don't really have much of an opinion or know what people are talking about when they get into those 'which show/series/fandom is the best' arguments discussions, but I do genuinely care about anime as a genre open to my interest. 

Since Black Cat was really my gateway back into anime and my love for Japanese culture, it holds a special place in my heart. I admit it's not the best anime (or manga) out there by any means, but I suppose everyone has that one series that takes hold of them above all others. As a result of this, I ended up investing in the series of twenty volumes to support the author, Kentaro Yabuki. Though it comes out to a good deal of money, it is the only series I have purchased (and plan to have purchased) in full. I own no other merchandise involving Black Cat or any other anime/manga save for the Sailor Moon figurine floating around somewhere in the black hole I consider my bedroom. 

This is not what any part of my house looks like. I cannot begin to fathom the cost of this.

 It is, however, glorious. Props.

I have considered cosplaying many times, but never really got the chance or had the ambition to do so. I had wanted to dress up as Sailor Saturn at one point, Princess Zelda, Lucy from Elfen Lied, and a few others, but I never moved forward with any of my plans. My friends (the same ones who got me back into anime) go to cons all the time in cosplay and still do today. If I'm being honest, I really do envy them. There's nothing I love more than to dress up for any reason, go out with my friends, and have a great time. Hell, I've never even been to a con without a costume! However, I've never indulged in such endeavors and therefore have to lose some points on my 'otaku card' if I were to have such a thing. 

In the end...

I really think anime and manga has had a positive effect on my life. I've followed a lot of really great stories, learned some lessons in life, made friends, and overall had a really great time so far with everything I've encountered. Anime has opened up the doors to my current major, East Asian Studies, and showed me at times a totally inaccurate depiction of Japanese culture, but enough to make me want to find out the truth, move away from animation, and into the real world with language and culture galore. I do not want anime or manga to become my entire life, but it has indeed shaped who I am and what I stand for today. I don't plan to stop reading or watching--I'm always looking for another great story to indulge and lose myself in for a bit of time.