This post at Ogiue Maniax kind of threw me for a loop. Despite the fact I’m so deeply engrossed in Japanese animation, I have little interest in animation in general. I couldn’t even tell you what’s going on in the world of animation outside Japan today. Nor do I care to know.

Honestly, it’s not my style to so elitist about such things. My taste in music, for example, is pretty diverse. But, for some reason, I came to appreciate Japanese animation in a way I never appreciated, or even considered appreciating, Western animation. My standard explanation is that, having been interested in Japanese culture prior to truly discovering anime, and anime being one of Japan’s most visible cultural exports, it’s only natural that things turned out the way they did. And this explanation seems all the more plausible when you take my love for slice of life anime into consideration, seeing as it’s some of the most “Japanese” anime that anime has to offer.

Except, I could have just as well gotten hooked on Japanese film, or Japanese television, or Japanese literature, or Japanese video games, or whatever. And, while I have some level of interest in all of these things, none excite me quite so much as anime.

So, why anime, over all other things Japanese? And, why anime, over all other forms of animation? I don’t know. However, it’s worth noting that, growing up watching cartoons as a child, it was the localizations of Japanese anime that I loved most. Perhaps there’s just something about anime that appeals to me on a very basic level.