Intro, intro! (original) (raw)

A number of other members here encouraged me to join... so, hi! ^^ I'm Mia, and I thought I had rehabilitated from otakudom, but realize now that I've only changed it from otaku to 'pop culture geek'. I tend to ramble and write in grammatically-incorrect long sentences. Never mind the fact that I am in an english-related college course. ^.^

My fall into otakudom started with watching Japanese

brainwash propaganda

travelouges on the greatness of Japan. I always wanted to go to Japan one day to get those nifty gadgets, ride trains, and eat all the tempura I wanted. As I grew older, I got into manga and anime through Sailormoon and Yu Yu Hakusho/Ghostfighter. From there I started looking into the more factual, pop and non-pop facets of Japanese culture. I was intrigued.

I really am interested in Japan for what it was. My interest in it has grown from more than just the anime and travelogues, enough for me to sit down and persue a minor in Japanese Studies and consider further studies about Asia in general.

Top 10 Manga/Anime/Games

  1. Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon manga
    I admit I've only been able to follow the story through summaries, but I have always adored Naoko Takeuchi's art. I love the flowy, flowery lines and watercolors. Aside from that, I gather that the mangais able to flesh out the characters, relationships and storylines more than the anime. That and I'm a sucker for the astral and mythological allusions. ^^

  2. Xenogears
    The reason I begged my Mom for a playstation, and the only game I actually finished. Never mind the pixie graphics, it had an absorbing story, bizarre theology, cool mechs, Bart and Citan. Woohoo!

  3. Yu Yu Hakusho anime
    This is my benchmark for tournament anime. It was slow at the start, but from the Togoru tournament to the end - a great, fun watch.

  4. Nadia and the secret of blue water anime
    I regret oversleeping through half these series. :p It was a saner version of Evangelion. Which is why I will always have a soft spot for it.

  5. Card Captor Sakura
    Again, more for art's sake, the clow cards and quirky characters.

  6. Romeo's Blue Skies/Mga Munting Pangarap ni Romeo
    This series made me laugh hard and cry hard. If that isn't a good enough reason to like the series, foo you. ;p

  7. Perfect Blue
    I never really realized how dark anime could get until I saw this series. I think animejump.com put it best when they described it as "if Hitchcock decided to write for Disney".

  8. Gundam Wing
    While my participation in this fandom is rather...embarassing, I cannot deny the fact that I was thoroughly entertained by the series. At the time, it was the best animated series I've seen, and very thought-provoking. Then a few years passed without watching the series and I forget what the hell they were fighting over. ^^

  9. Little Princess Sara/Sara ang Munting Princessa
    At the tender age of eight years old, I was able to follow the dramatics of Sarah Crewe and Miss Minchin. This cartoon gave me something to look forward to after school. It made me read the book, which I adored, and look into other adaptations of 'A Little Princess'. I am pleasantly surprised to find that the anime is the most loyal to, and made improvements to the original story.

  10. Magic Knight Rayearth
    My introduction to the twistedness of CLAMP. The first cartoon that did not give me a happy ending.

When and who was your first time and how was it like?

... *realizes* Oh! *^.^*

'Princess Sara' just got me. The first episode I saw was of her getting a pony, and everyone else fussing over her and the new horse. I just sat and stared, and it became a nasty habit ever since. :D