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When I tell people I am a huge anime and manga fan they always look at me like I just grew another head out of my neck. I get that I don't fir the stereotype maybe, but I think my love for that world is genetic. My dad used to be an artist and he also was an avid comic book reader. Manga is a little bit different of course but same creative principles. I decided to start this segment based on the things like manga and anime that are always put in the nerd category of living. Frankly, what a lot of people don't know or understand is that the nerd world is filled with some of the most prosperous and influential entertainment of all time. Today I want to talk about my experience with manga and anime and how that shaped me to be the awesome adult you see before you.
I will be honest I started watching anime at a severely young age. Most likely too young to understand most of it. Either way I was captivated by it. My childhood was covered in everything HBO, Disney, and anime. So yes I was a different kind of kid. The first two anime I was really exposed to were Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. I want to say I was about five years old and had no concept of what the content meant. All I saw were pretty colors and voices. Granted, I should not have been watching Dragon Ball Z at that age probably. My dad though had a very YOLO type of attitude though when it came to my TV time. He was even the first one to show me the movie Princess Mononoke, which I personally found beautifully terrifying. Looking back he was the one who really introduced me to the work of Hayao Miyazaki. After that I started drawing and putting things I envisioned on paper. My first hand-drawn manga was called FinTails, which I guess is a bit redundant now that I think about it. It was about a group of teenagers that went to school as human but if they got wet became merfolk. Oh the mind of a child. Now I was no where near Miyazaki level of artwork and I am still no where close to it, but I did grow to have a deep understanding and appreciation for it. I even went to see Ponyo with my best friend Kelly at the movies when it first came out. Take a minute to think about that...Two high school students in a theatre with a bunch of children watching the artistic wonder of Miyazaki portrayed through a little goldfish girl who screams the word 'ham' the entire film. That's what I call living on the edge.
I didn't start reading manga until middle school. I didn't really belong to a group and got picked on a lot for being tall and mixed. It pretty much sucked for lack of a better term. In 6th grade I met a girl in my science class named Andrea. Andrea was an oddball. To this day I still don't get what she had going on upstairs but she was my best friend at the time. She introduced me to the first manga I ever read, Vampire Doll. We would meet by our lockers everyday and discuss the latest issue and the art. When one of us started to read a new series we would trade books so we knew what the other was reading. Unfortunately, we ended up going to different High Schools and drifted apart. Then I met Kelly who was a huge Howl's Moving Castle fan. This sparked numerous debates between her and I since we were pretty much the same person. We used to try to convince our other friends about the benefits of manga and how it opens a reader up to tons of new characters and worlds. My favorite manga themes dealt with gender-bending, romance, comedy, and fantasy. To this day my number one start to finish favorite was Hana-Kimi. I still own most of the issues.
Now that I'm 23 and in college I don't have as much time to partake in manga and anime, but I am an excellent binge watcher and reader. I can't tell you how many series' I have read in the span of a day or two. Also if I really like a series I'll sometimes go back and read/watch it. I've probably seen the Wolf's Rain series three times and only understood it the last time finally. Just don't ask me to explain to you because it gets complicated. I think for creative kids who when reading automatically visualize images in their heads of what is going on in the pages will love manga. Anime is just fun to watch because most of it is skillfully produced and written. I think both are severely undervalued in America. Right now I am currently in love with the second season of Kamisama Hajimemashita. I know guys like the more edgy stuff. Yeah don't get me wrong I've seen Death Note twice and I love the eeriness of it. I tried to get through all of Naruto and Bleach but wow I'm so behind. Also i think as an artist both of these things helped me with my art and my writing. A lot of these deal with serious real life situations. My mom even thanks manga for being the key to my creativity. Comment on your favorite manga/anime. ALso if you have any questions about a specific manga or anime feel free to ask me. I've seen too many to count and always have an opinion.
M.
I will be honest I started watching anime at a severely young age. Most likely too young to understand most of it. Either way I was captivated by it. My childhood was covered in everything HBO, Disney, and anime. So yes I was a different kind of kid. The first two anime I was really exposed to were Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. I want to say I was about five years old and had no concept of what the content meant. All I saw were pretty colors and voices. Granted, I should not have been watching Dragon Ball Z at that age probably. My dad though had a very YOLO type of attitude though when it came to my TV time. He was even the first one to show me the movie Princess Mononoke, which I personally found beautifully terrifying. Looking back he was the one who really introduced me to the work of Hayao Miyazaki. After that I started drawing and putting things I envisioned on paper. My first hand-drawn manga was called FinTails, which I guess is a bit redundant now that I think about it. It was about a group of teenagers that went to school as human but if they got wet became merfolk. Oh the mind of a child. Now I was no where near Miyazaki level of artwork and I am still no where close to it, but I did grow to have a deep understanding and appreciation for it. I even went to see Ponyo with my best friend Kelly at the movies when it first came out. Take a minute to think about that...Two high school students in a theatre with a bunch of children watching the artistic wonder of Miyazaki portrayed through a little goldfish girl who screams the word 'ham' the entire film. That's what I call living on the edge.
I didn't start reading manga until middle school. I didn't really belong to a group and got picked on a lot for being tall and mixed. It pretty much sucked for lack of a better term. In 6th grade I met a girl in my science class named Andrea. Andrea was an oddball. To this day I still don't get what she had going on upstairs but she was my best friend at the time. She introduced me to the first manga I ever read, Vampire Doll. We would meet by our lockers everyday and discuss the latest issue and the art. When one of us started to read a new series we would trade books so we knew what the other was reading. Unfortunately, we ended up going to different High Schools and drifted apart. Then I met Kelly who was a huge Howl's Moving Castle fan. This sparked numerous debates between her and I since we were pretty much the same person. We used to try to convince our other friends about the benefits of manga and how it opens a reader up to tons of new characters and worlds. My favorite manga themes dealt with gender-bending, romance, comedy, and fantasy. To this day my number one start to finish favorite was Hana-Kimi. I still own most of the issues.
Now that I'm 23 and in college I don't have as much time to partake in manga and anime, but I am an excellent binge watcher and reader. I can't tell you how many series' I have read in the span of a day or two. Also if I really like a series I'll sometimes go back and read/watch it. I've probably seen the Wolf's Rain series three times and only understood it the last time finally. Just don't ask me to explain to you because it gets complicated. I think for creative kids who when reading automatically visualize images in their heads of what is going on in the pages will love manga. Anime is just fun to watch because most of it is skillfully produced and written. I think both are severely undervalued in America. Right now I am currently in love with the second season of Kamisama Hajimemashita. I know guys like the more edgy stuff. Yeah don't get me wrong I've seen Death Note twice and I love the eeriness of it. I tried to get through all of Naruto and Bleach but wow I'm so behind. Also i think as an artist both of these things helped me with my art and my writing. A lot of these deal with serious real life situations. My mom even thanks manga for being the key to my creativity. Comment on your favorite manga/anime. ALso if you have any questions about a specific manga or anime feel free to ask me. I've seen too many to count and always have an opinion.
M.