Into the World of Anime

When people admire something, they tend to search for it wherever they go. When they become fans of an art or a concept, whether it's a song, a trend or a belief, they dress like it, walk like it, speak its language and wear the same expressions in order to feel happy and connected to it.

I was never a true, unrelenting fan for anything or anyone before. So, it was momentous when I realized that I've found a new passion. To be like those people who learn Japanese because they love anime or those who visited Porto Rico when Despacito came out; It's a beautiful and childish commitment.

Now that I've admitted this to myself, let me share what made anime so appealing and popular around the globe. I'll only share my personal experience on how I was introduced to this fictional world.

Firstly, I used to be an English language instructor. Once, I asked my students - who were adults - to prepare presentations about their favourite movie or series. One of them presented a Japanese anime series called "Death Note". I had never seen it before, but I grew fond of it as he - the student - was very excited about it, not to mention devastated when he learned I had never heard of it before then. For me, it was enough to watch movies. I even like to brag that I have good taste, and I'm a Disney fan, so really, what can anime give me that I don't already have?

Over the course of a few weeks and after that memorable presentation, the subject of anime was raised several times in front of me and was argued about on how good it was. So, I finally posted to my friends asking them to tell me why they like anime and to recommend something to watch; I'd decided to judge this stupid thing called anime for myself! I still remember what one friend told me when they tried to explain why they like it. He had said: "It can make you cry and laugh, and it's not shy to talk about topics that other movies are hesitant to talk about, like brothers' love, team love and friendship. You will rarely see love between man and woman in anime. It's about apocalypses and human survival. It handles the topic of superpower from a million different approaches. Most importantly, it can really make you cry because the artist and studio really control everything in the picture." He told me anime is not just for kids. In fact, I figured out later that some anime is not recommended/restricted for kids.

Thus, I downloaded the Death Note series from the links my friends sent. I remember I had just got hired in a new company. It was my first full-time job and I was super not excited about it, so I began watching the series at work, in the fateful fall of November, 2019. I'm not fired yet.

I will leave out the details of how I felt while watching the series out of this blog. What I will not leave out is the impact:

I Began to Write.

Death Note was so freaking good: solid, stunning and complex, that it inspired me to write down ideas and scripts I had been delaying for months!

Perspective.

My outlook on life, friendship, people and goals changed deeply after Death Note. I felt like there are so many things in the world that I was unaware of, and even more that I don't agreee with. I enjoyed the discussion around Death Note so much. It was thrilling and the series stuck with me for much longer than I thought was healthy for me.

A Fan is Born.

Excuse me for the drama, but so is anime!

I used to think the best story I would read is Harry Potter. I was right. I also thought I would never love anything as much. I was wrong, so-ha! I reached a whole new fan-level after Death Note and Attacking Titan (Shingeki No Kyojin) later on. I downloaded apps to learn Japanese because I hated the subtitles; I wanted to know the expressions each character used, not just what they meant. Translations were often inaccurate and I hated that fact so much, especially in tense scenes during which each word has an impact and weight. I am now happy to report that I reached level 3 in Duolingo and am getting much more out of the conversations than "ÿes", "no", "thank you", "please", etc.

Later, a loyal friend created this chat group where we only discuss anime: anime characters, launching dates, anime songs, etc. I really needed a place to discuss anime with other people, and since my siblings were not gracious enough to listen to me ranting about anime and singing along "Shinzuoooo Sasaaageyooo", this group was my life-saver. Thankfully, they are all close friends so I feel better about expressing my opinions there. I might even continue liking anime just for the sake of the positive vibes I get from this group!

Last, but definitely not least, is the music. I rarely listen to soundtracks, unless they're really good (Braveheart, Titanic, How-to-Train-Your-Dragon-good), but with anime my whole bunch of playlists became anime soundtracks, opening and ending OSTs. I would listen to L's theme, knowning it will make me feel sad, but I'd miss it and listen to it anyway. I tried several times to explain even to myself why I felt this way about most anime music. The moment it played on YouTube, I would be transported to the anime mood: tragedy, sadness, thrill, fear, nostalgia, happiness. I am still me, but my mind is in a different place.

Bummer!

I feel like I should warn people not to watch the best anime series first. That's what I did, and now very little appeals to me as much because I'd already watched the best.

It's kind of a sticky situation. I hope I find other good mangas and anime, but first I have to survive the finale of Attacking Titan, due this fall. Wish me luck!