Lone Otaku

Yeah, I think that title works for me. Probably not everyone is addicted as I and I would venture to say I am positive there are those that are even more addicted that I can afford to be. When I really started watching anime with increased interest, I came accross the term NEET. In my daily addiction, I try my best to not get so wrapped up I become a NEET. I can see where it would be easy to do so. Some anime is so well written, one could confuse them with real life. Or at the very least wish your life was like that of the characters in the anime. MOE is fine example of anime type that people get drawn in by.

So where did my addiction begin… Well, I did start watching some of the late night programming on Cartoon Network. There were a few there that caught my attention (Ghost in the Shell, Witch Hunter Robin, Full Metal Alchemist, Big O) just to name a few. My interest waned after a while and several dozen repeats later. Cartoon Network does not seem to stay very current and from what I hear, are moving more towards inhouse produced shows. Luckily, other ventures are starting to fill the gaps. Anime Network, Funimation Network, IFC to name a few. But I digress…

During my initial venture I was also big into WoW (World of Warcraft). Many a late night was spent playing, only to be occasionally interrupted by an anime break. Well, 2008 came along and with that my freedom from an opressive job. (Being let go helped me as after 9 years, I was getting tired of the BS) I, like many others started looking for a job. After a couple of months of looking, I decided to go back to night class with the thoughts of a career change. In my class I met a fellow anime fan that turned me on to streaming anime. I didn’t watch much at first but was happy to have a new source.

Well, in my previous job I had met a contractor big into anime and he gave me a collection of MP3′s. Some of the music was awesome… I just had to find what shows one song or another came from. Granted, I don’t speak Japanese but you know how some music and be catchy and really does not need translation to feel the emotion. One day I was listening to some of this collection (it was a sizable collection) and one of the file had the source of the music included. It was the closing theme to “Spice and Wolf“. I thought for grins I would check it out. I was not sure what to expect since the singing voice sounded a little childish. So I looked up the series and came across the Wikipedia entry. The series looked interesting so I started watching… I thought it was a well done series with a thought out story. Not like some other series that I had seen in the past.

From there I started viewing more and more different anime series. I came across other blogs of anime fans, following their reviews. I soon discovered ANN (Anime News Network) and through its extensive encylopedia of series, found more series to watch… Well with that said.. I now find myself watching nightly one series or another… My Netflix queue is full of anime… there are days I come home and I want a “fix”… I have taken to purchasing Manga to get the missing details from series or to see a series not available in the US yet. I troll through the anime section at Best Buy occasionally… dvdpricesearch.com has become a friend to my wallet..

Now I want to share… I may not write the most insite filled reviews but hopefully they will be interesting enough for you the reader to want to check them out as well.

Source Links:
ANN
Zomganime
Wikipedia
Netflix
MangaFox
World of Warcraft

Ok, I realize that most anime fans will recognize the movie title that I used as my blog title. For those that are fairly new to anime fandum or just trying to get a grasp one what the buzz is, it is the title of the second movie produced by Gainex in their “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series. So why the title? I chose it as a reminder for other fans like myself who feel like they are the only ones with an addiction to anime. You aren’t the only ones, so chin up.

I started this blog as a way to share my anime experiences with others that I have not met as well as those I have. Around my office I do not know of anyone that is as much of a fan as I. I tend to get the occasional strange look and to one off chuckle once I start rambling on about the latest series I have started watching or the latest figurine. (forgive me if I use the wrong terms now and then, I to am a fairly new anime addict) My family is not really into anime either… ok, let me rephrase that, I can’t share most of the anime I watch with the kids yet… they are to young. My wife has no interest, especially if she has to keep up with the subtitles.

Yeah, I said fairly new… There are some aspects I have only recently started getting into (as of this entry) such as the PVC figurines and Manga. While there is a huge wealth of knowledge about all things anime on the internet, I like to go at my own pace. I hope to share my discoveries / experiences here and hopefully meet others who share the similar interests. I hope get back into attending conferences again and perhaps meet others. Hopefully even meet people that live near me.

Anyways.. on with the blog. Let me know what you think. I appreciate constructive comments as well.

Source Links:
Gainex (jp)
Official Site: Evangelion (jp)
ANN – Evangelion 2.0: “You Are [Not] Alone”