Otaku no Blossay: My Interest in Anime over the Years.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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

 1. A photo that I took.

 2. http://dreager1.com/tag/tai/

 3.http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naruto_swing_8181.jpg

 4. A photo I took.