Attn: Otaku Christmas

Well it's that time of year again. The time when everyone asks "what do you want for Christmas " Well I've been an anime fan (otaku) for most of my life and I've seriously hated answering this question for all of that time. The reason, because every time I tell someone I want this anime, or that manga, or this anime related toy/plushie/figure, I get "no I'm not buying that or what are you talking about." With the exception of my boyfriend and best friend Cat, no one ever listens and I never get what I want for Christmas.

It's not a big deal, usually I'll end up getting what I asked for myself later on. But just once, ONCE, I'd like to be asked that annoying question and actually have someone (besides the two people who listen) to actually get me something I want. I mean why ask if your just going to turn around and not listen anyway.

I know this sounds like a spoiled child ranting, but all in all, I would just like people to listen for once.

Not that I have any idea as of yet which anime stuff I want for this year. But I'm sure in the coming weeks I'll figure it out.

So please to those of you that are going to ask me, or any other otaku out there, what they want for Christmas this year. LISTEN! And if they say something about anime, at least try to get them something they want. Take it from someone now knows the disappointment of not getting that one present you asked for, and imagine how much joy you'll bring that person by getting them something they'll really enjoy this season.

Impractical Packing - Not Bring Anime!?

So one of my best friends and fellow anime addicts is coming home for the summer, and I had to convince her that she couldn't pack all her anime or manga to bring with her. It was hard to do, she's as bad as I am. Had to remind her that I have just as much as she does and most of her favorites are my favorites and that we have roughly the same ones, give or take a few. It's not the same as having her own copy easily accessible but at least it cut her list down. Also there was reminding her that she did need to bring clothes and hygiene things with her as well. Because where I might find it funny that she was naked for a month and a half with only her books and manga, most others may not have gotten the humor.

Still I had to think about if I were in her shoes. Visiting somewhere for a month and a half without my collection. It's absolutely horrible to think about. Not being about to put on my favorite anime, or that random one that just popped into my head for no reason, or maybe just one specific episode because it would make me feel better. And how about not being able to walk over to the bookshelf and pick up that one manga I've already read seven times, but for some reason I decided I wanted to read it once more.

The thought nearly killed me.

How on earth would I do it? Even if I was visiting someone that had them too?

It just wouldn't be the same as having mine sitting there just waiting for that moment I decide I want it. There's the hassle of getting a hold of the other person, then hoping they trust me enough to let me borrow it (not that when it comes to anime or manga that's a worry anyone needs to have with me), then having to give it back again within that time before I go back.

Still logic dictates that taking my entire collection anywhere with me unless I'm moving isn't practical. I just hope that when it's me taking a vacation she's there for me to remind me of this as I have a feeling I may forget it just as she did and need some convincing help to not pack that bag full of books and remember some clothes. At least one days worth. Haha.

Birthday and the Pink Cow

A few days ago I celebrated my birthday. Nothing big and not much happened. I didn't really get anything except the one thing I asked for specifically. My boyfriend is such a sweetheart. He's the only one that actually listened to me when I said what I wanted.

My very own Sebastian (From Black Butler) Cow Plushie. He's so adorable and in the last week he's gone everywhere with me. The only thing I don't like is that he's in a pink cow suit, I hate the color pink, but if it's Sebastian I can live with it.

When my mother took me out to eat a few days after my birthday and I brought him along, she scolded me. Said I was an adult and shouldn't be carrying around a stuffed animal. My only response was 'But he SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO kawaii!.' In which case I had to explain that kawaii meant cute and she still didn't find the humor in it all. Then she had me put him under the table. I felt so bad. IF only Cat had been there with me, she would have understood the importance of the Sebastian Cow.

My two sisters also thought it a little weird when I kept having Sebastian tell them thing, like to stop poking each other and waving this pink cow in their faces. But they know I'm crazy already so it really doesn't matter.

But all in all, I'm happy to have my cow and will continue to take him everywhere with me for the time being. I've gotten use to all the she's crazy looks anyway.

Two Cent Anime Advice

Okay, so I have a little advice for those just getting into anime.... actually a few points of advice, and of course these are just my thoughts and are by no means something you have to do, but I'm throwing my two cents out there anyway.

So number one, don't be afraid to step away from you comfort zone and watch something new. I watch a lot of reverse harems, shoujo or josei, dramas, and ones with bishounen, but it's by no means all I watch. These and yaoi are my comfort zone animes. But I can't just watch those. I mean, I'd get bored with just that selection even if there are tons to chose from. And there's no guarantee that I'd like all of them. So I do tend to watch some regular harem, and even the occasional shonen, just because it somehow caught my attention. So just to say again don't be afraid to try something new. Maybe you watched an anime that had a tag you never watched before, if you liked it, branch out from that first category and try some more in the new one.

Second, and this kind of related to the point I made above. Shonen, or shoujo are directed towards boys and girls respectively, but that doesn't mean a girl can't enjoy shonen or a guy can't watch shoujo. It's just not the target audience, but there's nothing saying that you can't watch either or. And your boyfriend, or girlfriend might enjoy watching them, so that's always a thought for watching something new. Mine is a Cowboy Bebop fan, yet he still sat and watched and enjoyed (at least seemed to) Ouran High School Host Club with me. So just because it's an anime aimed and one gender or the other, doesn't mean you can't watch it.

Next, is to not be afraid to admit what you like. If you say got into anime because of a sister, and your a guy, and she had you watching things like Fruits Basket and Chobits, but you enjoyed them and started watching more anime similar to these, that's perfectly fine and there's nothing wrong with it. And don't let anyone else tell you differently! You're your own person and are allowed to like whatever you want.

Fourth, there's no such thing as being too young or too old for anime. There's stuff out there for any age just like everything else. Like I've said, I'm nearing thirty and still find anime to watch and enjoy. And I know there are plenty of people out there that are older than I am, and still watch it. It's okay, no matter your age.

The next thing I'm going to say is, that when starting a new anime to remember that usually the 'meat' of the story doesn't happen until at least the fifth to seventh episode, so try not to drop something until you've given it a chance. Now sometimes it just may not appeal to you after the first episode, but keep in mind that you haven't really seen what's coming yet. And we've all heard the phrase you can't judge a book by the cover, well don't try to judge an anime just on the opening credits, you're not going to have much of an idea of what actually happens just from the opening. Now there are always exceptions to this, and if something really doesn't sit well with you after one episode don't force yourself to keep going on it. There have been plenty that I won't watch or have dropped for one reason or another.But do try to give things a chance before you outright drop them.

I think the last piece of advice I have for today is this, just because an anime is old, doesn't mean it's not good. There are plenty of newer anime out there, but it all started somewhere. And even if something it more than five years old, doesn't mean it's bad. And remember, it may have been really popular when it came out. It may not be as fancy as the stuff coming out today, but that doesn't make it inferior. I still enjoy Ranma 1/2, and Fushigi Yuugi and Gundam Wing are still two of my favorite animes despite them coming out in the nineties. So don't be afraid to try out those 'old school' animes.

I'll end my two cents here for now. Until next time.

HotD... Anime Love, Zombie Fear

Well the other night I finally decided to watch High School of the Dead. It may not seem like anything to most people, but this was important for me. I'm terrified of zombies, irrational I know, but it's true. And while I've tried to watch everything with zombies in it to help reduce this paralyzing  fear of the irrational, which has worked to some extent, I was still hesitant to watch this particular anime.

It was nothing against the anime itself, which turned out to be very good. The animation style was one that I found pleasing. And the story was alright to me, but then I've watched some bad zombie movies so this was better than those. My boyfriend absolutely loved the fan service and panty shots through the whole season.

The only thing that had held me back on watching it for so long was that it mixed what I love, which is anime, and what I fear the most, zombies, together. It took me awhile to be able to wrap my head around this concept and actually sit down and watch it.

But I'm glad I did. If I can handle seeing zombies in my favorite thing (anime) then I can handle them in anything... well maybe not real life...

Anime... Where?

So, we talk about picking your first anime, how my anime life started and I even shared a story of introducing my own sister into it. But now I'm going to tell you some places to get your anime.

Firstly, try you're local library, with the grown interest in anime, they started carrying some as well, so this would be the place to start just to get a feel for what you're looking at. The library is a great place to start getting familiar with titles as all you need is a library card. Though, some down falls could be their selection or what you're looking for may already be out by someone else and you'll have to wait for it.

Second, you can find them in some of your local retail stores. Usually stores like Best Buy carry a limited selection of anime titles. You can also get them right here. That's right, right from this page. It has it's very own store, Majo Anime, just for all things anime. And it's just waiting for you to pick your next title.

There's also streaming sites for anime. Crunchyroll, is an example of this. Stream your favorite titles right from your computer.

If you have a Netflix account, this is another way to see your new interest as they too have anime. Just click on "Browse DVD" tab and then selection "Anime and Animation" and you can start watching instantly. A note though, not all anime titles on Netflix may show up this way, so if you're looking for a specific series, you might have to do some searching or manually type in the title to see if it's there.

There's also The Anime Network. Check your local listings to see if this is available to you.

And there's always ebay. This is a good place to go if you're looking for something hard to find, or out of stock somewhere. With this option, always remember to check the seller's credentials to make sure they've completed transactions in the past. A good portion of my own collection has come from ebay and has always been in great condition. Even the slightly used complete manga collection of Sailor Moon I bought a few years ago for nostalgia reasons was still in good condition. It arrived before I'd even made room for it on the shelf!

And I feel I should say, since you'll probably find them anyway, there are places to get your anime from illegal downloading. But you won't find me telling you how to find them.

My sister and Princess Tutu

The other day I was watching my nine year old sister and three year old brother. My sister was bored and playing games on the computer. Well I'd watched Princess Tutu a while ago and had thought of her since she recently started taking dance classes. So I looked it up on NetFlix and just put it on in the background as something to listen to while I took care of the toddler. I wanted something appropriate for kids to watch while it still being something I liked as well. I'd kind of done it intentionally just to see if she would like it, but for the most part I just wanted something I was familiar with and could enjoy again while I played with my brother.

Well by the time the second episode came on, my sister was off the computer and glued to the couch, her eyes wide in interest. Made me think of how I must have looked to my mom when she introduced me to my first anime, Sailor Moon. She was commenting on what was going on, excited to see what would happen next.

When the pizza I'd ordered arrived, she was still watching and kept trying to turn around in her chair at the dinning room table to be able to watch more. And I knew she was enjoying it, since normally nothing holds her attention for long. My little brother actually settled down a few times as well to sit and watch, pointing out the duck every time Ahiru turned into it.

Whenever an episode ended and I asked if she wanted to watch more, she kept saying yes. So we watched about five episodes before I decided it was time to stop. She actually whined a little bit at me. In which case I told her we'd watch more in a couple weeks when she's staying with me while our parents are on vacation.

I, instead, asked her what she liked about it. I like it because the story was cute and I think the animation is very well done, but I wanted her opinion of it. She said she liked that it was funny and how Ahiru kept turning into a duck and various other characters being animals. And she liked that it had ballet in it.

As soon as out parents got there, she started telling them about what I'd been watching. Which of course got a raised eye-brow from my dad when I told him the title was Princess Tutu. He repeated Princess Tutu at me and I told him it was an anime I'd thought she might like, then had her tell them what it was about instead of me.

Before I left to come home, she asked again if we could watch more when I have her in a couple week, to which again I told her yes.

It was so neat to get to share my hobby with someone I love and see that awed look that must have been there for me all those years ago and probably still is when I watch some new anime I absolutely love.

The Start of Obsession

Well last time I gave advice on how to pick your first anime. This time I'm going to tell you a bit about my first animes, and what has continued my obsession.


Like several people out there, my first animes included Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Now I was more into Sailor Moon, being a young girl at the time, but my brother watched DBZ, and so I was exposed to it even if I barely paid it any attention at the time. I'm not a morning person, but I'll be damned if I wasn't up every morning to watch Sailor Moon after the first time my mom woke me up to show it to me. She'd been up getting ready for work and happened to see this, and probably thought it was something I might like. And she was right! I was up an hour earlier than needed just to see it every day, and that started everything.


My next few animes included anything that was shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami, and Adult Swim at the time. These included Gundam Wing, and Tenchi Muyo, Cowboy Bebop, Inu Yasha, and Outlaw Star. 


Now while Sailor Moon got me started, Gundam Wing is where my obsession really took off. And to this day, it still holds a special place in my heart. I loved the animation style and adored the characters. It's also because of this series that I got into yaoi - although Sailor Moon may have had a hand in that since in the Japanese version Zoicite is male, but I didn't know that at the time. Now I'm not going to start a war that yaoi is or isn't in Gundam Wing, all I'm say is that this is where MY obsession started, just because of how I saw things and that's all I'm going to say on the matter.


After this, Cartoon Network, slowly began removing anime from there line up. So I was forced elsewhere for my fixes. Luckily I had a friend who was also into anime and she got me watching Weiss Kruez Knight Hunters, and Gravitation. She also turned me from watching in dubs to watching with subs. Again not starting any wars, I still watch dubbed anime, just mostly prefer subbed when I can sit and watch it.


From there, I got recommendations from the small group of friends I made in the anime community. When I went to visit a few of them in Australia, they introduced me to so much I couldn't wait to get the chance to finish all of them. These included, Fushigi Yuugi - which is still one of my favorites to this day - Initial D, Love Hina, Ranma 1/2, Kurogani Communication, Sorcerer Hunters, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Yami no Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind  and probably a few more that I can't think of. 


Things just kind of took off from there to anything I could get my hands on. A few times I would drop something or just from seeing a little bit decide it wasn't for me. There have been times when I bought a series without knowing anything about it, other that I thought it was 'pretty.' And there have been times when I couldn't get anything, whether from not having money, or not having internet, but still my obsession stayed with me until this day. And being that I'm almost thirty and still watching anime whenever I get the chance, it's unlikely now that I'll ever stop.


And that is pretty much how one morning of being woken up incredibly early by my mom turned into a life long obsession, probably something she never saw coming and may have even regretted a few times over the years.


Until Next Time

Real Anime Lovers.

Picking your First Anime

Everyone I know says I'm a walking encyclopedia to anime. Well, of course they're wrong. I just happen to know more than them, since most of them aren't the fans that I am, so when they ask I seem more knowledgeable than I really am. Compared to others with the same interest, I probably know about the same, or perhaps less. But I do know what I like, and have learned a few simple terms to help me along, as well as point others in the right direction.


The first thing I'd suggest is to ask your friends, after all you are friends because you have similar  interests, so maybe they can get you started. But let's say, you ask them and they look at you like you're an alien, maybe they even ask 'what is anime?' Or perhaps you're too shy or don't want them to think you're a 'geek.' What do you do now?


First, the easiest way to get started in right direction to picking your first anime, is to think of movies, television series you already like. Maybe you're into sci fi? Or maybe comedies are more your style? Or maybe dramas are more your thing? Well I assure you, whatever interest you already have there's an abundance of anime just waiting for you.


So now we have our genre, and looked for anime under it. But now we have hundreds of titles showing, how in the world do we pick from here?


Easy.


For me I usually go by what I find aesthetically pleasing. But not always. Sometimes the plot draws me in. So what to do now is read up on some of these titles, find summaries, a few screenshots, maybe a review or two just to see what others with the same interest thought of one particular title. The internet it the a great place to find all these things quickly and easily. I use anime-planet.com to find what I'm looking for, but some other popular places are, animenewsnetwork.com, anidb.net, and MyAnimeList.net. Try them, and see which one you like best.


After we've done all this and picked an anime to watch, we're almost done. Almost you ask? Well I'm sure you noticed when you picked your title that there's a bunch of tags labeling it as well. And maybe they're not quite what you're looking for, or maybe you have no idea what some of them are. Well, whatever site you used to find this anime, will most likely have a glossary of their tags.


To help you out a bit with the Japanese terms you may not be familiar with, I'll list a few of the more popular ones, and you can also use these to narrow down your search.


shoujo- It means girl. Basically it's anime that is aimed towards girls such as romance and usually have good looking boys. An example would be Fruits Basket or Ouran High School Host Club, Shugo Chara!


maho shoujo- Magical Girl. Like shoujo but with girls with magical powers. Examples: Sailor Moon, Fresh Pretty Cure!


shounen- Anime under this genre is aimed towards boys. It includes anime that are more action and adventure like Naruto or Bleach


josei- Basically its like shoujo for women, it mostly focuses on women's lives in Japan and realism. Examples: Saiunkoku Monogatari


seinen- This is like shounen but with stronger adult themes and more realism. Examples: Gankutsuou or True Tears


bishoujo- This is an anime with a lot of pretty female characters. Basically eye candy for heterosexual males. Examples: No examples


bishounen- This is an anime loaded with very pretty male characters. Basically eye candy to the heterosexual female. Examples: Uta no Prince-sama


Slice of Life- This genre focuses on normal characters dealing with everyday problems. Examples: Usagi Drop, Polar Bear Cafe


Sudden Girlfriend Appearance- A sudden girlfriend appears, usually having do to with a engagement that was not previously known. Examples: DearS, Bakemonogatari


Harem- A harem is one boy with a bunch of girls trying to gain his attention. Examples: Clannad, Shuffle


Reverse Harem- This is the reverse of a harem, rather than one boy and a bunch of girls it's one girl surrounded by a bunch of boys. An example is Ouran High School Host Club, La Corda d'Oro, and Uta no Prince-sama


shoujo-ai- This translates to 'girl love' it's like yuri but its more limited focusing more on the relationship with little more than kissing and hugging. Examples: Aoi Hana 


shounen-ai-  Translates to 'boy love' (BL) Similar to shoujo-ai this is yaoi but more limited focusing on relationship over sex. Actually it usually has no sex just hugging and kissing if even that. Examples: Loveless, Princess Princess, Kyo Kara Maoh!, Gakuen Heaven, and Maginal Prince


ecchi- This is lighter than hentai it might contain some breast shots but very few to know full nudity scenes and it's more censored. An example would be Mayo Chiki or Shuffle


hentai- This is basically animated porn. It has sex and nudity scenes. (Important to know if you don't like that kind of thing.) Examples: The Immorals


yuri- This is like hentai but with two girls.  Examples: Mnemosyne


yaoi- This is basically like hentai only with two boys instead of a girl and a boy. An example is Junjou Romantica or Sekaichi Hatsukoi


There are hundreds more, most of which are self-explanatory but hopefully this list will help get you started with ones you may not be familiar with.


Now all you need to go is get you anime and enjoy!


Get your Anime HERE!


Lastly, you're not going to like everything out there. So if you don't like the first one you see, try again. There's definitively something out there you will like.