CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN: A Japanese girl once chastised me for being, in her own words, "changeable." The first thing that popped into my head after hearing that was underwear so I couldn't help but chuckle. Needless to say, she didn't exactly appreciate my reaction. Then one day, I was looking through a Japanese-English dictionary she gave me as a present and noticed that the word kimagure had a check mark on it. One of the English translations was the word "changeable." All this time, she meant to tell me that I was capricious. (I guess this means I'm at an orange crossroad, get it? Kimagure? Orange road? As in ... um, just forget it.)
Like the ebb and flow of the tides, the phases in which I view anime in my life seem to come and go. Growing up in a country where '70s robot shows enjoy popularity to this day, my first jaunt into the world of anime spanned such classics as Mazinger Z, Voltes V, Daimos and Tetsuwan Atom, ending with the final episode of Macross.
Then came several anime-free years until I rediscovered the genre again in the '90s after coming across localized videos for such shows as Ranma 1/2, Patlabor, Dominion Tank Police and The Guyver. That was followed yet again by another sabbatical that would go for some time until I ended up with a Japanese roommate with a stash that included Slayers, Dunbine, L-Gaim and Dancougar.
After what I can only describe as anime burnout, however, I lost interest in anime for several years yet again. It wasn't until I started self-studying Japanese once more that I started watching anime again last year. That's because anime tends to boost my confidence with my Japanese comprehension a lot more than, say, Japanese news on TV Those shows tend to use highfalutin' words that make me feel like an idiot. An accidental run-in with Nagasarete Airantou kick-started my anime return, followed by shows like Hayate the Combat Butler, Claymore, Shakugan no Shana and Moyashimon.
Anywho, I don't know how long this latest anime phase is going to last. Until then, I though it might be neat to do a blog with video links to some of the shows I've seen and post some random thoughts about them. Of course, just like my interests, the features shows shall be "changeable." Because once things gets stale, then they just aren't fun anymore. Variety, after all, is the spice of life, and anime is no exception.
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