Birth of an Obsession
This is probably of no interest to anyone but myself, although that could be said about my blog in general no doubt; nevertheless, I feel the urge to ramble about how I became interested in this strange world that is Japanese animation. If you’re looking for something to alleviate your boredom, rest assured, this post can be safely ignored; nothing of interest lies herein.
I assume I’m something of a rarity when it comes to the age at which the anime obsession struck. No doubt most people start watching anime as children or teenagers; maybe some start watching in their twenties; but there can’t be many who start watching in their thirties, and even fewer who begin blogging about it on the interwebs. At my age, does watching cartoons aimed at teenagers indicate emotional retardation? Or is it a symptom of impending mid-life crisis? Will I attach a spoiler to my car, spike my hair (not that there’s much left to spike), and start trying to chat up teenage girls? Good grief! Oh well - no use worrying about it. Let’s just put it down to nostalgia for years long-since gone and the paucity of anything interesting to be found on British television these days. That’s a much less embarrassing way of looking at it.
So, how does a thirty-something-year-old person discover anime? For me it happened when coming across a link to some hentai on one of the less reputable sites out there; not that I make a habit of visiting such sites. It was during a moment of ennui and I was just surfing around randomly to kill time - okay? So I watched a few of them (because I was bored!), and while the “erotic” content didn’t particularly interest me, I did find myself somewhat enjoying a couple of the stories, silly though they were. Then inspiration struck: if bad pornographic cartoons could be mildly entertaining, imagine how entertaining anime without the pr0n might be! So I went looking for it.
I can’t remember which anime was the first non-pr0n I watched (actually, strictly speaking Akira was the first, but as that was back in my twenties and was a one off it doesn’t really count); it might have been Chrno Crusade or Mezzo DSA; but it wasn’t until Maria-sama ga Miteru that a time-killing interest shifted into obsession territory. I guess a guy in his thirties who adores an anime about teenage girls attending a Catholic girls school that’s laden with sapphic subtext would probably seem quite creepy to most people. Ah well - moving on…
Yumi and Sachiko have an emotional moment *sniff*
With the vast amount of anime out there and little knowledge to help me decide what might be worth watching, I started reading information and reviews, and before long discovered the blogging community. After dithering for a while over whether to start my own blog or not - knowing that there are plenty of people out there blogging already who are more intelligent, witty, insightful, and just plain more interesting - I decided to give in to self-indulgence. And so here I am, a thirty-something-year-old man watching cartoons and waffling on about them on the internet.
Well, everyone’s got to have a hobby.
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December 12th, 2006 @ 1:52 am
welcome!
P.S. marimite is awesome. Have you watched the OVA?
December 12th, 2006 @ 2:19 am
Thanks! :)
Haven’t watched it yet. Was going to wait for the subs, seeing as my Japanese doesn’t include much beyond “hai”, but I might grab a few screencaps for a post.
December 12th, 2006 @ 4:41 pm
Actually your story _is_ interesting. ^^ Not many people indeed. You might have a different approach compared to us, no less creepy “old timers”. ;)
December 13th, 2006 @ 1:25 am
Thanks shinigami. Glad you found it interesting. :)
December 15th, 2006 @ 7:48 pm
It is interesting to see that Akira is the anime that introduced us (”older” fans) to the concept that anime can be more than just Speed Racer, Starblazers (Battleship Yamato), G-force (yeah, I know), etc. Now I feel better knowing that I’m not the only thirty-something-guy out there.
December 15th, 2006 @ 10:01 pm
“Now I feel better knowing that I’m not the only thirty-something-guy out there.”
Yeah, there are a few of us around. While I have a tendency to exaggerate for the sake of humour, I did start to feel a bit weird surrounded by teenagers on forums - like a school teacher who crashes his students’ parties with dubious intentions (or did that only happen at my school?) - so yeah, it was a genuine relief to discover there were others around that aren’t half my age.
There are probably more of us over thirty fans involved in the community than is apparent at first glance.
December 18th, 2006 @ 3:18 pm
Just wantged to let you know that there are others
even older than you who are anime fans…this coming
from a forty-something (not for much longer either).
I have been a lurker amongst these blogs for a while
now and have considered starting one myself…but
decided I did not have the time to spare…I salute you
for your efforts. There is someone around my age
who did start one and he can be found here:
burndvdburn.blogspot.com
He comments on “dorama” and manga as well.
My introduction to anime was Prince Planet followed
shortly by Speed Racer. I would be interested to meet
the person who made the programming decisions at
this TV station since they also aired Skippy the Bush
Kangaroo. Then came a long gap…about 30 years.
My re-introduction was through Cartoon Network
and it was Blue Submarine No. 6 followed by Tenchi
Muyo followed by Outlaw Star etc. My interest really
took off after CN aired FLCL. It was at this time I
started to actively search for anime not available on
TV…it was also at this time my wife had mentioned
to me seeing this cartoon when she was growing up
in Japan about Earth fighting an alien invasion and
using a sunken Japanese WWII battleship as its main
weapon…of course this was Space Battlship Yamato.
I mention this last bit as my wife is not a fan of
anime. She refers to anime and manga as “manga”…
anything drawn in a cartoon-like fashion…her friends
think the same way. Assuming they are
representative of the general non-fan base in Japan,
then most people there consider anime as manga.
Just a point of interest…
Anyway, to wind up this rambling comment, I think
the reason why I continue to watch anime even
though it is aimed at an audience far younger than
me is that I find it easier to suspend my disbelief.
I work as a non-linear editor in TV and when I
watch anything “real life” whether it be a drama,
documentary, game show, whatever…I tend to get
distracted by looking at the lighting, edits, camera
angles, etc. With anime, most of these concerns
are not applicable and I can sit back and enjoy
without these involuntary distractions.
Sorry for the long ramble. I will now return to
lurking.
Thanks for the thought provoking post.
December 18th, 2006 @ 7:05 pm
Thanks mochi, that was interesting! It seems older fans are more common than I’d assumed. Guess most people simply don’t have the time or inclination to ramble about it on the internet so much after the bloom of youth has faded. If I’d realised how time consuming blogging would be I don’t think I’d have started myself.
Might write a follow-up post at a later date when, or rather if, the blog gets a bit more traffic; see if other older fans want to share their stories.
December 19th, 2006 @ 5:09 am
“Might write a follow-up post at a later date when…”
That would be an interesting post to read.
I’ve been blogging a for a few months about anime, but only episode summaries. But I stopped for a little while. Right now its just to get me back in the habit of writing. I’m hoping to get away from summaries sometime soon.
December 19th, 2006 @ 9:41 am
Ooh, what’s your URL?
Avoiding domination by episode summary can be a bit of a thorny problem. Frankly I don’t think I have enough to say to sustain the blog without them but good luck to anyone who can.
April 8th, 2007 @ 6:06 pm
brap
April 28th, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
OMG THEY R SO CUTE AND THE LIL GIRL AND HER MOM
August 23rd, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
Hentai Girls Sex…
Sorry, it just sounds like a crazy idea for me :)…
September 8th, 2007 @ 1:41 am
50 year old lurker/fan here. Goes back to Astro Boy and Speed Racer in the early 60’s.
Started watching in earnest again about 7 years ago, under similar circumstances to those of mochi. Have torrented about 500GB down of unlicensed stuff, and have bought over twenty box sets after seeing the fansubs. I’m always lurking at ANN, Anime Academy, AnimeDB, variuos imageboards, blogs, and wallpaper sites (they have great Photoshop ideas), while my coworkers check their stock prices.
What I love about anime are the myriad methods of storytelling used. It’s a visual medium, of course, but anime makes great use of voice acting and music as well. The elements can be so well combined as to mesh perfectly, one brings to mind another. Who can listen to a Pillows CD without thinking of Haruko? I see a wallpaper with Osaka on it, and think of the astounding vocal work done on Azumanga, both in Japanese and English.
Well, I’ve talked long enough, I need to check Ayu to see if they’re ever going to release the next episode of HiguKai. Nipaa!