Coming of Age
April 6, 2008 | Otaku | No Tags
To fill the time during the recent lull between anime seasons in Japan, I went on a bit of a Studio Ghibli binge. Good theatrical anime is a convenient thing to have around when you’re itching for something worthwhile to watch but don’t have the time or energy to devote to rewatching a television series in full. I just wish there was more to choose from.
Anyway, while stuffing myself silly on Ghibli, I made a lot of visits here in search of answers to some of the little questions I’ve always had about the studio’s many films, and those visits often resulted in visits elsewhere, links followed by links, one fan site to the next, until, next thing I knew, I was reading the Wikipedia article on center pivot irrigation. You know how it goes. All roads lead to center pivot irrigation.
Along the way, however, I encountered the writing of a lot of devoted anime fans from all walks of life, and it got me to thinking: just how many anime fans are there in the world? And how many of them live in virtual silence, despite the fact their love for anime is just as strong, if not stronger, than many of those who spend their every waking minute sharing their love for anime with anyone and everyone willing to listen? And what happened to all of those anime fans from decades ago who have grown up, married, had kids, and built a life that no longer revolves solely around watching Japanese cartoons?
I like to think those people are out there. In my travels within the fan community, I’ve encountered quite a few. But with anime fandom nowadays so focused like a laser on the here and now, I wonder if we’re forgetting a lot of those fans who got their start trading fansubs on video tapes, collecting laser discs, and making yearly pilgrimages to Akihabara before it got overrun by maid cafes? A lot of those fans have moved on to other things, no doubt, but many more are still with us, I’m sure. It’s something worth remembering when the regular inanity of modern anime fandom gets you down.
And it might be something worth looking forward to.
I go on Ghibli binges all the time - have re-watched some shows for the nth time now…
Still remember every scene of the Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka); gosh, that movie was profound
Your thoughts mirror that of mine, Jeff.
I won’t comment on the new/ongoing/upcoming shows that are being shown in Japan, because not all shows are suspects in terms of quality. But, lately, I’m also finding myself wondering why I’ve not enjoyed animé the same way back 4 years ago: when my first non-Shounen-Jump show, and my first foray into animé fandom immersion, was ironically about a busty girl that reloads bullets from her boobs (a reflection of my weird taste, perhaps).
Now and then, I find a rare gem from animé movies, Ghibli or otherwise, in a video store, and I often wonder myself about the show-in-question: “Is it good?” “Is it worth my buying?” “I must have heard this show before, so…?”
Such exercises in question have made me realized that there’s more to animé fandom than just typically downloading a random series on the Internet. There are probably more gems worth buying out there than it is worth it to continue downloading shows with breakneck Internet speeds*, and the ever increasing call for restrictive actions from various lobbying groups to curb P2P downloading is making the general, non-Internet-informative public preceive “downloaders”** as a pirate, evil entities that supports Al-Qaeda***.
And so, I have decided to go on a quest to find a rare nugget, or gems worth buying.
*Speeds dependent on where you live, and how much level of trust the ISP you’re subscribing to, trust you.
**The act of downloading can also mean “download of free and legal software,” which the previously-mentioned public may not discern as such, and is more willing to paint the whole picture as “illegal.”
***I swear that somebody must have make that connection, that the idea of piracy fuelling support to terrorist activities.
I think I’m already transitioning…I’m certainly not as rabid a fan as I used to be. And honestly, I like it. Less pressure to keep up with everyone else. More time to sit back and enjoy the things you actually like, including outside of anime.
>>I wonder if we’re forgetting a lot of those fans who got their start trading fansubs on video tapes, collecting laser discs, and making yearly pilgrimages to Akihabara before it got overrun by maid cafes?
All you need to do is listen to Anime World Order, read old Anime Jump reviews and follow Dave Merrill’s Let’s Anime and you’ll remember them in no time! :V
I don’t think we forgot them WAH. At least if we did it was on purpose XD
Or at least for me, to speak just for myself. I know people who have children and have wives and careers and still watch anime seriously. It’s those kinds of fans that makes the biggest impression on me because they are truly passionate, dedicated, and on the whole charitable about their passions to want to share with another.
But that’s more about knowing how to love something than anything about that actual something. Which is to say old school or new school, jerks are jerks, crazy fans are crazy fans, good people are good people.
I don’t know where they are but at least I can testify about my own experience.
When I discovered animes, things were sure exciting. That was 5 years ago. But after a moment, the novelty wears off. Animes are (mostly) all the sames. There’s nothing more like an anime series than another anime series.
Currently, I’m studying motion pictures making at university. I can now pinpoint exactly and precisely was is broken in each episode and each movies of everything that I see. After seeing a large amount of strange and very original movies, going back to the boring-ness of the animes is, well, very boring.
You ask were anime fans are? They probably just found something better to do. At least that’s what I think.
(Now, what the hell am I doing on anime websites, writting my own anime blog in which I rant and rant like crazy about how anime are all the sames, watching all sort of crappy stuff that keep going down the pipe? Why, I ask!)