Greetings! I have been tagged in another blogger event. This event is a little bit different from previous ones that I have done. Instead of a series of questions, this event asks one important question. Why do you love anime? A special thanks for the nomination Mel in Anime Land.  Please click the link to check out their blog, it has great content! 

Here are the rules to the event. 

  • Write a post about anime, naming your favorite thing(s) about it. Be as personal or impersonal as you’d like to be; maybe write about how it helped you through a tough time, or taught you something, or just how much fun you’ve had with it.
  • Nominate 3 bloggers for the challenge. For the three bloggers, I nominate: Scott, Crow’s Anime World,  and Keiko.         
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  • Link back to the original post- you will find the link here. 

I have certainly expressed my love of anime a lot on this blog. So writing a post like this is actually really easy for me. Like many of you, part of the way to explain this passion is to start at the beginning with how I got into anime in the first place. Unlike many of you out there, I did not growing up watching anime. The closest thing I got to the medium was watching the original Pokemon series when it aired on Saturday mornings. Admittedly, I had some incorrect preconceptions concerning anime and didn’t think it was worth my time. That changed over 5 years ago when I was introduced to a series by the name of Fairy Tail by a family member. From there I was hooked. I was taken by the cool premise, fun characters, and the way that the story was told. Fairy Tail was the gateway to a medium that has honestly changed my life for the better. On a whim, I had decided to attend my first anime con soon after and there I discovered some amazing series (including the Fate franchise) and I had my first taste as to how amazing the anime fandom was.  

From there anime has become a major obsession for me. I progressively started watching more and more series, found new ways to watch anime, and discovered the wonders of its source material. I really became hooked a little over a year later when I needed something positive and new in my life after my relationship with my girlfriend at the time went south. Anime gave me something to focus on and get excited about at a time when I honestly felt pretty damn low. I dived into anime at that point and never looked back. Sure it could be seen as a poor way to address such issues, but anime has given me nothing but positive things in the seven years since I been introduced to it. 

So why have I had a love affair with anime since then? There are really a lot of reasons. The first one is that anime scratches the itch that I have for a good story. I always have enjoyed  literature, games, movies or television that have amazing stories. There are few things more powerful than a great story. For me this can involve our world, a fantasy world, or another universe. Anime has plenty of amazing stories to offer. The writers and creators have found wonderful ways to tell stories and they do it in a way which can appeal to just about anyone.  These stories may have elements and ideas that we have seen before, but these elements are turned and twisted in creative and exciting ways. You have a series about wizards and magic but you place them in a world full of awesome lore and characters. Or you take take everyone’s fantasy about living in a game world and turn it on it’s head with all of the realistic implications that such a scenario can offer. You take the historic conflict between science and religion and craft a world where the members of both sides have supernatural powers. You can watch comedies, romance, action, science fiction, or just about any other genre you can imagine. These are the type of stories that anime offers and the sheer variety of these stories and their interesting ideas is one of the major reasons that I love anime. Anime refreshes itself every few months with new or returning series which is something really unique in terms of entertainment. I love the fact that four times a year, you have access to a new round of exciting stories.  

I also love anime because of the many amazing characters that I have had the pleasure of watching over the years. Earlier this year, I discussed my love for anime characters in more detail so I won’t dwell an insane amount of time on that topic but I will say that anime has the best characters out there. These characters are relatable, they experience similar things to what we do, and express the same emotions that we do. These characters regardless of setting are incredibly human. To me that is probably the single greatest thing about anime, it’s ability to tell very human stories. A story is only as good as the characters that occupy it and anime has plenty of insanely good characters. 

And of course I absolutely love the fact that anime has connected me with a lot of amazing people. This community has been nothing but friendly and welcoming to me. Because of anime, I have been able to meet a bunch of incredibly awesome people including fellow fans and the people who help with the process of bringing anime to us. The community is full of passionate and dedicated fans who all love to show the world their love of anime. I have been a member of geek communities for most of my life and I will say that there is something special about the anime community. It is honestly my favorite community to be apart of at the moment. Through various means I have been allowed to experience a community like no other.  I travel to around 1/2 a dozen cons a year and each experience is a highlight for me because I can surround myself with like minded people. That is something that I cannot do for the majority of the time. It amazes how easy it is to strike up a conversation with someone in a line as they notice your anime themed phone case (yes, I have one) or the Blu-ray that you have in hand while waiting for an autograph. It doesn’t matter that you are complete strangers, you have the commonality, the thing which connects you. 

It may have taken longer than many of you out there but I can consider myself lucky to have found the wonder that is anime. All of the things I mentioned above lead to one final reason  I have had the pleasure of experiencing new places, met new people, and enjoyed many new stories, and met new fascinating characters because of anime. I guess to sum it up, the main reason that I love anime is that anime has provided me with a lot of new life experiences, experiences which I wouldn’t have otherwise. I feel that anime has certainly made my life richer than it was before (and I certainly don’t mean my wallet).  I owe a lot of great memories to anime and hopefully if you are reading this, you do as well. And if you are not a fan yet and are reading this, I encourage you to give anime a shot. It is certainly a grand experience, one you will not want to miss out on. 

Until next time, this Railgunfan75 signing off! See you soon and stay geeky my friends!