A question I am often asked by other anime fans, is how I started watching anime in the first place. Now, I don't identify as an anime purist or even a 'mediumcore' fan, since I've watched a fairly small number of shows which may or may not include some of the most popular ones out there. However, I do believe I watched a bare minimum to be able to have a somewhat informed opinion about the anime world. With that being said, my first meaningful foray into the world of anime was three years ago (2013) in college, when my roommate Jon (hey Jon if you're reading this, which I know you're not, loser) asked me to watch a show with me on one fine spring morning.The anime in question, was Sword Art Online (SAO).
Yes, my first anime experience was with SAO, and I know there are a good number of folks out there who would say the same. Yes, I know, there are tons of you out there who bash SAO on anime forums and believe it is Satan's gift to anime purists. I'm not really interested in talking about this debate. Instead, I'll be talking about my first experience with anime, what got me hooked, what shows it led me to henceforth, and finally, where I stand now as an anime fan.
I've always loved animated content (and that's partly why I'm a graphic designer with an interest in animation), so liking anime wasn't an option, it was an eventuality. To be quite honest, the reasons I distanced myself from anime at first was my experience with 'otaku culture'. I'm a fairly active internet forum follower, and I've seen references to anime almost everywhere. It seemed to be this community that just talked about 'waifus' and 'best girls' and body pillows and almost-naked figurines of said female characters. I'm just trying to be upfront and honest about this - it weirded me out. I didn't exactly have the best of first impressions, and this lead me to believe that anime watching folk are people with tastes and interests starkingly different from mine. Add to this the fact that shows like One Piece and Naruto are wildly popular, and I pretty much got tired of hearing about them time and time again.
Another common misconception (now debunked, for myself) is that anime is simply japanese cartoons. Well, that depends on what you consider a cartoon - I consider cartoons to be animated shows with simple plots, (sometimes) educational content, tame subject matter, directed primarily at kids and young adults. For instance, Tom & Jerry, or Kim Possible. I'm not going to go into details about this, but you get the idea. The widely accepted societal consensus is that cartoons are for kids and grownups like myself (ugh, why am I so old) shouldn't be wasting our time watching them. And of course, being swayed by that opinion I stayed away... until I realized what I was missing out on.
So we're back again to SAO. Here I am, eating a brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon, potato wedges and french toast, wondering what on earth Jon is trying to get me into. He tells me the plot - a bunch of gamers wearing Virtual Reality (VR) headsets get pulled into this game and can't log out, and if you die in the game, you die in real life. "Holy ****, that sounds amazing!" I think to myself, since I'm quite the gamer and I always like a good story. He forces me to watch in Japanese audio (I appreciate this move now) so I'm just about getting used to reading the subtitles when I realize, hey, this isn't that bad, right? It's definitely more serious than a cartoon, the animations are pretty sweet. and the music is pretty badass. Let's keep going! I want mooooore. I get plenty, as the setting is explained and viewers are clear about what to expect from this show. Was that 25 minutes already? Wtf. Next episode, Jon.
He grins knowingly, and I can picture myself back then, sitting on the edge of the world in all my ignorance, with no idea what I was getting into. Oh well, he puts on episode 2, I jump of the edge screaming incomprehensible japanese, and my life in this new world begins with a rush. My brunch has been wolfed down and I'm really yearning to go back and get some more food, but eh, it can wait. It can wait.
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