Anime: A Part of My Life

Have you ever considered an anime as an important part of your life? Me, yes. When I was little, I saw anime TV commercials where my interest in anime first started. I remember the times when I was not allowed by my mom to watch episodes in TV (laugh). "Homework first," she said. That was around six to seven years old. Eventually, as I grew up, I was finally able to watch some anime like Cardcaptor Sakura, Beyblade, Crush Gear and others. I also did my best to go home in the afternoon early just to watch them. Sometimes, I felt disappointed when I miss episodes, especially when my dad changed to another channel to watch his favorite show. In my free time, I daydreamed myself as the main character, my childish meditation. Funny, but true. I was a child then anyway (laugh).

In my high school years, I was able to grow my interest more as I met a lot of classmates who had the same interest of me. Called otaku, they shared to me what anime they already watched, about their collections, etc. I'm an introverted person, but when it comes to anime, I become rather noisy. I also memorized songs and sing them joyfully with my classmates. I easily get happy with little things, so considering myself an otaku made me so happy.

I wanted to be a full time otaku (laugh), so I bought Japanese books and started studying basic Japanese words like konnichiwa (good day), ohayou (good morning) and one of my favorite words kawaii (cute). In my elementary years, I was so very bad at drawing. But because of anime I was finally able to draw. For me, it was so stunning! My favorite anime characters like Tohru ( Fruits Basket) and Kira (Gundam Seed) were the ones I usually drew. Because of anime, I also learned to be thrifty. I was able to save money from my allowance to buy customized cards, badges, and magazines, which I still have until now. I even bought a manga too, a Japanese graphic novel where most anime started from. The first manga I bought was Slam Dunk. What's funny was at first, I read it from left to right. I noticed that the words didn't make sense to me (laugh), so I found out that they are read from right to left. Things changed when I finally got an Internet connection. I read them online instead of buying. When I missed an episode on TV, I just watched an episode online then I'm updated again. Even the ones which were not shown on TV are already available in the Net!

Sometimes, I can relate to what happens in an anime. When I watched Kimi ni Todoke, there were some scenes that made me cry a lot because I can relate personally. It's like the feeling of hitting your heart, yet very refreshing. Some make me laugh like Mitsudomoe, while others give some good morals like Fruits Basket and Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden.

After years of watching anime and reading manga, it slowly became a part of my life as something I enjoy and look forward to. When I grow old someday, I'll still watch anime! So if you are an avid fan of anime, you may be able to share your story as well.