The first manga I ever read was Fruits Basket. Sure, I'd flipped channels late at night and stopped to look at the odd Bleach or Naruto episode, but never for more than a few seconds. I watched Pokemon and Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z with my brother. I watched Yu-Gi-Oh and loved Digimon. I watched because they were on. I didn't relate them to anime, I didn't consider myself a fan, and these were NOT how I became a fan of the genre. I was just following a fad. How I REALLY got started was another story. The oddest thing about how I got started was who got me started. It was my English teacher.
At the end of grade six, she gave us an assignment: read one book of each genre. I read a chapter book, a few short stories in the text book to pass off as other genres, and then came comic books. I didn't know where to get MARVEL comics, and Archie would have worked, but I decided that I'd try the manga in the back of the room. I'd seen my friend reading them, so of course I asked her about the series first. She said it was weird. Alright, a little more detail? Unfortunately, she laughed and told me to read it. So I did.
I was hooked. All throughout the summer I was trying to find more of Fruits Basket on the internet. I watched innumerable youtube videos, which hardly let me know anything more than I already knew, and tried drawing the characters a little bit. But I wasn't getting anywhere.
Entering into grade seven, (and finding a few new faces, but mostly the same ones, lucky me,) I was doodling Tohru and Yuki on my notes all the time, and even a few annoyed Kyos. A new girl leaned over and said "hey, that looks like a character from a manga I'm reading."
I thought maybe she'd have the books and I could finally read them, so I said "which one?"
"Fruits Basket," she replied. "I just got the second book. Would you like to borrow it?"
"Yes, please."
This girl and I became fast friends, usually talking about manga and anime. She got me Fruits Basket, Chobits and Inuyasha from the library. One day, she came to school with a grocery bag full of books. They were done in two days. She lent me the first Naruto, and the first FMA. She told me the best site for anime watching, and I started watching Naruto, Bleach and FMA. I tried to get my brother hooked, but after he went to the anime club at his school and got bored with it, he gave up. I stopped borrowing from my friend and started reading online, after I finished watching. I don't really watch anymore, really.
This friend still suggests the odd manga or anime, and now I've read enough to suggest some back. I've got a lot more to learn, (I really can't draw,) but I'm glad that I decided to read Fruits Basket instead of Archie. Really, really glad.
Dedicated to ChibiSasuke, the friend in question.
