Anime and Beyond
Believe it or not, this is my second time diving into blogging. Over six years ago from the time this post was published, I became a member of the Anime Amino community and started blogging about anime. Just like learning a new skill: I started out awkward and rough, but as I continued to practice and graciously receive constructive feedback from those more experienced than myself, I steadily improved and my efforts eventually bore fruit. What coloured me surprised more than anything was seeing my work featured on the front page and that people enjoyed reading the words I had written down. To be honest: I did not think anyone would. There was a time during my high school years when I previously struggled with writing papers in English class on the various Shakespeare plays and classic novels I had to read and study as per the curriculum. Naturally, my lack of interest in those works, and personal challenges I was facing back then, left me blind to the possibility of possessing any natural talent for writing. At least with anime, I had a genuine interest and passion for the subject and I knew that it would be a terribly missed opportunity if I did not blog about it. Thank goodness I took that opportunity to blog about anime when I did, because deep down I always wanted to share my thoughts, perspectives, and opinions with the rest of the anime community but never had a medium to channel those through until then.
When it came down to choosing what topics to write about, I did not know where to begin. So I looked to the front page for a little bit of inspiration. I started off writing "Top 5 Most Promising Anime of X Season" lists and my first impressions of newly-released English dubs, but my time spent writing them would only remain ephemeral. Yes, it was a beginning and I acknowledge that, but I did not enjoy writing those kind of blog posts. It honestly felt like a chore trying to keep up with the latest releases and writing my surface-level impressions of them, so it was no surprise that they ended up being deprived of passion and soul. I realized that I needed to step up my game if I wanted to stimulate my growth as a blogger and not be left biting the dust. It was not until I watched Shirobako for the first time that I discovered a method of coming up with new ideas for blog posts that would suit my analytical brain. Rather than force-feeding it with hollow ideas and write pretentious nonsense for the sake of quantity-over-quality, I would examine an anime and try to discover all the hidden clues or details and piece them together to fit a complete picture. Whether it was the overarching themes or symbolism that piloted the storytelling, a character's hidden motivations behind their actions, a technical aspect of the production, or anything else that blew my mind or caught my attention. This is where the beauty of re-watching came into play: I could pause at any moment during an episode to write down notes on my notepad. Once I had everything written down, I would begin drafting my next blog post. From my notes on Shirobako: Little did I know that character design would play such a prominent role in the show.
I remember spotting many of the supporting characters wearing designs incarnated from their real-life counterparts inside the anime industry. I was to describe how they visually manifested themselves in males versus females, pull out the hidden messages from underneath them and communicate this newfound knowledge to an entirely different audience - one that is much smaller and more cultured than the masses - in a clear and concise manner. I was nervous, of course. I never written up an analysis of an anime before. I wanted to take my sweet time writing and proofreading until I felt reasonably content before posting it. After pouring in many hours of blood, sweat and tears, I finally pulled the trigger and patiently waited to see what would happen. The next thing you know: An old friend of mine sends me a screenshot of my blog sitting right on top of the front page. I asked myself, "Did I succeed in overcoming this new writing challenge I set for myself?" The only way I could find out the answer was to have a peek inside the comments section, as that was the best place to gauge the level of community engagement and feedback. What I soon discovered blew my expectations away: Heaps of praise from devoted bloggers and regular readers were being showered upon my work. This assured me that I steered my blogging career in the right direction where it needed to go. From then onward, I would write and publish a string of analytical posts on other anime - including 3-gatsu no Lion, Tsuki ga Kirei, Houseki no Kuni, Monster, After the Rain, Paranoia Agent and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.
Over the course of four years, I ended up with a resume of about 15 blog posts - an embarrassingly tiny number, I know. I hoped to post more on a regular basis, but it was during a time when I began to distance myself from anime after learning a painful truth: Very few anime emotionally resonated with me on a personal level and the anime industry never intended on targeting me as a potential customer in the first place because they couldn't profit off my analytical brain. I never felt so much happier in my life when I was not watching anime. It felt like a heavy burden was finally being lifted off my shoulders. I no longer had to endure watching mediocrity. I no longer had to endure the constant barrage of insults being hurled towards my intelligence. I no longer had to endure being falsely treated as a horny teenager. I no longer had to endure looking at the bland art styles that coveted most of the anime aesthetic landscape. I could go on and on, but most notably: I no longer had the motivation to continue blogging about anime and remain a part of the community. So I eventually decided to leave Anime Amino for good. In retrospect: It was fun while it lasted but change is inevitable. Losing interests in hobbies I once held and finding new ones to indulge myself with is part of growing up. There is so much untraveled territory to explore, which begs an important question: If I am no longer writing about anime, will I continue writing in some capacity?
That's what I'm hoping for at least. After all, it has been a while since I stopped writing about anything. I'd like to change that, starting this year on BearBlog. Why BearBlog you might ask? Well, that's a good question. I want to use a different blogging platform that has a tight-knit community, respects privacy, is lightweight, is affordable and, most importantly, allows me to express myself without fear. I look forward to blogging with BearBlog and interacting with my fellow readers in the months to come.
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