Ever since kindergarten, when I fatefully began to watch Sailor Moon, I knew that anime and I were star-crossed lovers and destined for each other.
Alright, maybe that's the most dramatic way I could have put it, but it's true... More or less... Stay tuned as I weave you the tale of how I stumbled upon a little obsession of mine I like to call anime!
When we were young, many of us watched things like Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Yugioh, and all that good stuff. Of course it was in English, and of course it was kinda stupid, looking back now. But we loved it all the same. Back in kindergarten, I used to be addicted to Sailor Moon. I'd go to Block Buster and rent the Sailor Moon DVDs, and then my friends and I would watch it together. We'd play pretend and I'd be Sailor Moon and all my friends would be the Sailor Senshi. One would think from there I'd continue watching, but after that my attraction to SM just faded away. I didn't think of it again until my friend, who had moved in third grade across town, came back to the junior high school I was attending.
"Watch Bleach!" she says, excited and bouncing up and down. She'd often talk of this Japanese show called Bleach, but my friends and I would just ignore her. Honestly, if someone told you in middle school to watch a Japanese show, would that not be your response too?
I roll my eyes, ignoring her urges for the thousandth time that month, and change the subject. Music, movies, and gossip were the only things my friends and I ever talked about. My friend and her anime was but a hindrance in my eyes.
"Watch Bleach!" she yells. "It's the best thing ever!"
"What the heck is Bleach?!" I snap.
"It's an anime!" she replies, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, I knew Sailor Moon was an anime, so I had a fair idea of what it was.
It wasn't until that December, on winter break, that I finally decided to watch the first episode of Bleach. It wasn't like I was going to actually like the show, so what was watching the first episode going to do?
Other than turn me into an anime-obsessed freak, of course. xD
Anyways, I got onto hulu.com and found Bleach, the first episode. Let me say, it was really weird watching a show with Japanese people talking, and having to read the subtitles. But I'm an avid reader, so I could keep up fairly easily and still get the full effect of the images and everything.
Long story short, I fell in love with Bleach after the first episode. I was so incredibly amazed, that I watched all 200 something episode in 1 and a half months. That's at least 10 episodes a day. I watched all the arcs, fillers, regular episodes, everything.
And it never ceased to amaze me.
After that, I kept watching. I was pretty sure I'd never find a better anime than the one I had just finished, but anime after anime continued to amaze me.
And I have to thank my friend for all of that! ^^
I doubt anyone just randomly decided to watch anime. My belief is that if you were meant to watch anime, then you would. No one can force you to do so, and you'll stumble upon it when the time is right. Any earlier or later, you just won't be as interested. That time in seventh grade just happened to be my time to watch anime, and I can't picture my life without it now!
HB32
