Otaku no Blossay: My Interest in Anime over the Years.
Introduction
Ever since I was a child, I have had a complicated and
ever-changing relationship with anime. My personal relationship with anime has
gone through many phases over the years. Select elements of anime have appealed
to me at different ages. My involvement in anime culture has also changed over
time. Thus, my blossay will chronologically describe my relationship with anime
over time and how it has appealed to me.
Elementary school
years
I was first introduced to anime culture when I was in
elementary school. This is the time when I started watching anime on television
on Saturday mornings. At this time, I was particularly interested in Pokémon. I
would watch Pokémon on television stations and via video cassettes that my mom
would buy for me and my siblings. I clearly recall receiving my Pokémon Game
Boy Color and Pokémon Red Version from my parents for my eighth birthday.
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| 1. My original Game Boy Color |
I
also started collecting the cards at this time. I religiously played my Pokémon
game. I would wake up early and play my game every morning before school.
I can’t clearly remember everything from my elementary
school years, but I do remember what drew me so strongly to Pokémon. I loved
the show because it was so entertaining. As a boy, I simply loved to smash things.
I loved to see action. So, naturally I loved watching Pokémon battle in the
television show (which they did often). The show was filled with humor, and
that kept me entertained. I was obsessed with the game because it (partially)
fulfilled my desire to exceed at something, or be a winner. I would overly
train my Pokémon just so that I could win battles without having the chance of
losing. Adventure and exploration were also key elements of the show and games
that appealed to me at this particular age. In essence, the games and show fulfilled in me
my childhood desires. It’s important to note that, I didn’t love Pokémon
because it was an anime, but that I loved it and it happened to be an anime.
Middle School Years
When I got into middle school, my interest in anime
developed further for a few reasons. My friends and I started getting really
serious about playing the Pokémon games together in a competitive way. In
middle school, I started watching anime such Digimon and Naruto. I became so
invested in Pokémon that I collected the cards, played the games, watched the
show and even owned a real Pokédex. At this age, I was interested in anime such
as Digimon, Pokémon, and Naruto because they helped fulfill desires in me than
only a developing, middle school age person would have.
As a middle-schooler, I desired companionship and
friendship. For this reason, Digimon appealed to me. The protagonists of this
series had Digimon, which were like talking pets that were always with them. These
Digimon were always with their humans, and they went through everything
together. In essence, I empathized with the humans in the show and that helped
fulfill my desire to have a companion.
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| 2. Tai and his Digimon, Agumon. |
I became so heavily involved with the Pokémon franchise
because it was a means to an end. That end was socialization. I was socially awkward,
so socialization wasn’t easy for me. But, I found others who were invested in
the Pokémon franchise, and we founded friendships on that common ground. Aspects
of the Pokémon games (trading and battling with Pokémon) and trading card game
(trading cards) facilitated interpersonal interactions. Pokémon also helped fulfill
my middle-schooler desire to be accepted by and belong to a group of people. I
became a part of a social group that was interested in Pokémon (among other
things) in the same way that I was.
When I was in middle school, I watched Naruto, and valued
that show more than any other television show that I watched at the time. This is
because Naruto appealed to me so strongly for a few reasons. What appealed to
me the most was the connection I felt with the protagonist of the series
(Naruto). He was about the same I age as I was when I stared watching the show.
He wasn't accepted by his peers and practically had no friends. Because of this
he struggled with feeling lonely. When I was in middle school, I didn't have
many friends (before I befriended Pokémon fans) and struggled with loneliness
as well.
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| 3. Naruto feeling lonely. |
Naruto was also jealous of people that excelled more than he did in
many areas, just as I was. Naruto also pursued a girl that he liked, to no
avail. I like a few girls, but couldn't pursue a relationship with them because
I was so shy and introverted. Yet, this show appealed to me for one reason. Naruto
inspired me by meeting adversity with resilience. He became outgoing, and began
making friends. He overcame his jealousy by working hard and beating his competition
(those he was jealous of). A girl admired his courage and became interested in
him. Naruto gave me hope that I too could overcome my struggles somehow.
High School and College
Years
My high school years were far different from my elementary
school and middle school years. I became far more immersed into anime culture. This
is the time when I made the transition from being a Naruto/Pokémon/general
television show fan to an anime fan. My friends showed me many popular anime
such as Bleach, One Piece, Death Note and Dragon Ball Z. I would watch these on
my television whenever I could. I also became interested in AMV’s, which are
compilations of clips from anime shown with a song. I continued purchasing Pokémon
related video games, and started buying Naruto related video games when I was
in high school. I joined an anime club at my high school. I even cosplayed as
Goku to an anime convention in my freshman year of college.
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| 4. Cosplaying as Goku at Zenkaicon. |
I admired many anime in high school, because of how
different many of them were from other animated television shows that were
popular among people my age. Most other animated shows would simply present
protagonists who were always good or right and antagonists who were always bad
or wrong. I was more interested in
watching anime that were thought provoking. The anime I was interested in didn't present their protagonists as always being right and the antagonists as always
being wrong. The protagonists would have their values challenged by antagonists
with different values. In many anime, this would lead to general discussions
about values. Of course, this provoked me to thought by making me evaluate my
own values.
I appreciated Naruto
on a different level while in high school because it involved conflicts of
values. Naruto desired to bring about world peace by uniting everyone, while
Madara (an antagonist) desired to bring about world peace through global sedation.
This leads to a debate between the characters about the inherent nature of man.
They have different views on the nature of man because they have different
values. Of course, this debate involving
values highly appealed to me when I was in high school.
In general, I enjoyed the action scenes in many anime, and
was fascinated by how plot driven many anime were. When in high school, I loved
the artistic style of many anime artists, which starkly contrasted with the artistic
style of non-anime artists. Of course, I discussed anime with all of my
friends. I had to keep up with anime to do so.
Conclusion
My relationship with anime has gone through many stages as
my personal needs and wants have changed over the years. I would not consider
myself an otaku or a weeaboo, because I am not as devoted to anime as I am to
other interests. Yet, I cannot deny it. I love anime, and it has meant a lot to
me over the years.
Works Cited
3.http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naruto_swing_8181.jpg
4. A photo I took.
