Hello everyone, it’s time for another tag post and a fun one at that! The title is pretty self explanatory if you ask me, but as always there are some rules that explain this one in more detail so let’s first get into those:

6B49DAF6-3437-479D-8B1E-D0982683D2A9
Some day, someone has to invent a tag post without any rules

The rules:

  • Write a post about why you love anime. It could be your favourite thing about it or one of your favourite things about it, it doesn’t matter which, but just pick one!
  • You can get as personal or as impersonal as you like. You might want to write about how anime helped you through a tough time or something that it has taught you or you might want to write about just how much fun you’ve had watching it over the years. Your choice.
  • Nominate three bloggers to do the same.
  • Link back to this post. I would love to see what you’ve written and I may compile a list of my favourite entries further down the line.

See, pretty straightforward huh? First off I want to thank the amazing Kimchisama who tagged me for this one. She has always been very supportive to me and my blog, but let’s not forget that her own blog is truly wonderful and well worth checking out for the many heartwarming posts that she has written.

Secondly thanks are also in order for the creator of this post Ty-chama. According to Kimchisama she is new to the world of ani-blogging but well worth checking out. So, don’t forget to visit her blog as well and see the original post that started this, as well as her other content.

The Beginning

7933C63E-9891-46B4-A3E8-F723934E93AD
Ahhhh…nostalgia!

To dive into the reason why I still love anime I have to go back to when my love for anime first started. And that was way back in the 80’s, a time when cartoons such as Transformers and He-man were dominating the airwaves. As a young child I loved these (and honestly I still do) but one day I came across a series called Robotech. It’s an American version of three totally unrelated animeshows, that were combined into one series with a new storyline. The heart of it though is still anime. When I first saw it I hated it. I was about nine, and could not really understand what was going on. The style of it was totally not what I was used to from all the other cartoons that I was watching at the time. That all changed when an alien armada of 4 million battle ready warships surrounded the Earth and pretty much all but destroyed it. To give you an idea here is a clip of that moment, so check that out first:

Okay seen it? Despite this being a truly horrific scene (the part where the soldier was talking to the young child just before impact, will always stick with me), it was also one that totally changed my view of everything that I had previously thought I knew about cartoons. My young mind was blown away (pun intended) and needless to say after that I became a fan of the series. Now almost 35 years I am still a fan of Robotech, and will always be thankful for what it did, namely introduce me to an artform that I did know even existed had it not been for this show.

The present

48F59F4F-ECD1-4BE3-AFD6-CFB9A3D47FE1
Yep, if I can find an excuse to put in a picture of Violet Evergarden I do it.

So, I am now 42 years old, and I am still in love with anime and even more than I did in the past. So why is that? (And yes I do know that is the question that I have to answer with this tag). Living in Holland anime was never very big here in the first place. The only anime that we used to get where very violent, shocking and almost pornographic animemovies suchs as Wicked City, and Urotsukidoji Legend of the Overfiend. And that gave anime a very bad reputation in my country in the early days. Luckily times have changed and with streaming services such as Crunchyroll and many series available to buy on dvd there is now more anime that I have access to than ever before. But my love for anime was truly rekindled when I started blogging. I came across a blog called 100WordAnime run by the wonderful Karandi. I had not really been watching anime for quite a few years (I know, shocking right?) but here was this blog that talked about series that I had not even heard of, ever.

6F84F1D3-57E7-446D-9006-616C245B2A3A
Finally will be getting back to this gem of an anime in the upcoming days.

And so it is that for the past two or so years I have seen more anime than at any other time in my life. And it has done something for me as well. I have always been a very shy person (yeah I know, I hide it well) but because of anime I have really gained some very good friends here in this wonderful community. Even though we might all never meet in real life (though my invite to next year’s Animecon is still open), I am still thankful every day for the friendships that I have made here. It has also given me more confidence in real life, which I assure you is a big thing for me. Another thing that I love about anime is the way it is able to create worlds and emotions that are sometimes impossible to create in live action shows and movies. A more recent example for this was Violet Evergarden a true gem of an anime series, and where I think I used more boxes of tissues from drying my eyes than ever before in my life. Anime is more than simple animation. More often than not it are true works of art, that allow me to escape from everyday life for a few hours. So in other words: these reason are why I still love anime, and I will continue to do so, until the day I die.

Nominations

C56E9D49-73FB-4E40-8304-4AB117D1A96D
Yay, it’s time for nominations!!

As with all nominations, you are under no obligation to write a post for this one. We are all very busy, so really there is no rush or pressure for this at all. Anyways without further ado here are the three people that I nominate for this tag:

Karandi

Ayano

Scott

Thank you all for reading! Have fun watching more anime, and for those who have yet to experience their first anime: try it, you might end up liking it!