Anime, a Love Story

My first taste of anime came from a manga series called Ultra Maniac, a story of a magical girl who came to Japan and went to an ordinary school and made new friends. It what they call a shoujo manga, which is meant for young girls. I loved this manga, but I only got as far as volume three. This was back in 2007 and wasn't aware that these so called manga could be animated. And then I found out Pokemon was anime. Now before you go on and roast eight-year-old me for not knowing, I knew Pokemon from the numerous games I played, okay? Most people's gateway into this culture is through Pokemon, Dragon Ball, and Sailor Moon. I took me a long time to finally see Sailor Moon and I've yet to fully engulf myself in Dragon Ball. I was more of a fan of Studio Ghibli films and continue to be a fan. I will truly devastated when they stop making those films.

So moving on, I watched all the Pokemon that I could get my hands on. At my age, Netflix wasn't a thing, and the library's access to DVDs was. I was fascinated and engulfed in what would be an on and off relationship with this wonderful gift Japan has bestowed upon the world. I went from watching Pokemon, to reading mangas again in high school. Which is where I found Black Butler, Black Bird, Vampire Kisses the manga (I had read the actual book series prior), and many others that involved magic and romance. I had a type of mangas I loved to read. Who doesn't have a type?

When graduated and I was making my own money, you better believe as the years went by, I borrowed and bought as much manga and anime DVDs I wanted. My all time favorite manga series is the Watamote series, a story about an unpopular high schooler trying to he popular. Huge chunks of dollars went into mangas mostly. I've read an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, an odd depiction of someone's battle with depression through her lesbianism, and Pop Team Epic.

I've also downloaded a large amount of manga reading apps throughout the years, finding some interesting stories.

I support Hentai as well, but that is a different story.

Recently now, I've been really into action-based anime such as Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann, Fairy Tail, and RWBY. But I always find myself reaching for my slice of life or the shoujo anime and mangas that got me into debt in the first place. There was another anime that I watched recently, and should get to finishing, that I also liked and it was literally all about ramen. As a fan of ramen, you can imagine how I felt about it.

Another genre of anime/manga that I really enjoy is what they call harem. Which is typically one male character with multiple females love interest. One particular anime that comes to mind that I really enjoyed is one called the comic book artist's assistant? I don't remember the exact title. It was about this manga artist and he had to hire multiple assistants to work on different parts of his story and art board. What always fascinates me though is that there is always one that the male character always appreciates one of the woman more than the others. So there's potential for a love story, but it never happens.

This love for Japanese animation has also turned into a physical collection of figures. I carry a collection of many Sailor Moon figures and most recently, my partner was able to get his hands on a figure from Re:Zero and also a cute Hatsune Miko figure. I was always once to collect dolls, but these were truly beautiful. I always believed it took a special kind of person to find peace in these types of collections, as you will find ridicule everywhere around you. As I always say, you should never feel or have to justify your interests. Be proud of who you are and be a proud weeaboo.

Anime is such a great community because there's something for everyone. Whether it's love, horror, comedy, we've got it, and I'm so hurt when someone says they could never be into anime because I just don't think that's true! Trust me, give it a try, and I promise you will love at least two! If you need recommendations, feel free to ask, or ask someone you know who loves watching and believe them when they say that anime is good or not.

P.S. Watamote is an ongoing series and I highly recommend it.