16 July 2011: Viewer mail: Being introduced to anime
Aaron asks:
I always wondered what first introduced you to anime. I have a theory that most anime fans can be divided up by the way they first "discovered" anime, whether they were originally sci-fi/fantasy/RPG nerds who borrowed a friend's fansubbed VHS or more recent kids who started with Adult Swim. If I had to guess, based on your preferences and the shows you talk about on the blog, I'd say you probably were somewhere between those two - maybe you saw Dominion Tank Police on the Sci-Fi channel or picked up Akira or Evangelion at Blockbuster.
I had to think about this one for a while. At first I assumed responsibility (or blame) lay with the first Japanese cartoon I saw and/or enjoyed albeit dubbed and edited for local audiences, but I can't claim any of those shows inspired an interest in anime. There were also later series and movies I identified as anime, distinguishing them from other works as an actual genre rather than a medium, but they did not lead me to seek out more anime.
The line in the sand.
If I had to identify a turning point after which I deliberately sought out more anime for anime's sake, I would have to name the early scene in Princess Mononoke when Kaya rather unexpectedly pulls a machete on an adversary. THAT WAS AWESOME. It was then I realized I was watching a different kind of movie—one that did not follow the normal conventions I expected. From that moment on, I made a conscious effort to explore what else anime had to offer. That's probably what turned it into a hobby instead of something I occasionally watched.
Additionally, the very first anime-related blog post I can remember is about Princess Mononoke. I should dig that out of the archives someday.
