New and Exciting: i-Rix does ANIME!

I have, for some time now, turned a contemptible eye towards the broad spectrum of animation that falls under the identification of "anime". I can't even truly pinpoint the source of the hatred; as a youngster I would revel in following series like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball Z, and Monster Rancher and as an adult I love the craziness of video games developed under Japanese developers like Capcom, Konami, and of course Nintendo. This would seem like I'd have a hell of a foundation and propensity towards enjoying anime, but I've been a longtime subscriber to the Jeff Gerstmann school of "Anime is for Jerks, yo".

That is until... well... only a few weeks ago, now. I finally was able to step back and look at my general interests and ask myself, "Why is anime not among these?" Okay, I didn't really ask myself that, since I don't really speak that way in real life, but the point remains the same. Why NOT anime?

So in the spirit of trying something new and exciting (and because it's my birthday and I do what I want), because the title says so, I have cast away (most) prejudice and have embraced the world of anime. Perhaps embraced is a bit of a strong word, as I've only entered what one might consider the shallow end of the ocean that is anime, but nevertheless I am fully prepared to "do this thing".

So what am I watching, you may indeed be asking yourself my nonexistent readership. Well, because I have admired it from afar for so long due to its ridiculous depiction of exploding body parts, I've dove head first into Fist of the North Star aka Hokuto no Ken. A rough undertaking to be sure, as the core series has over 100 episodes, but after speeding through the Shin saga, I cannot get enough of Kenshiro and his continuing journey through the wastelands of 199X.

Anime fans know the series is a classic, and I have taken it as my first big step into fandom to watch every bit of the series that I can. Luckily for me, the series is subtitled in English and can be watched free and legally on Funimation.com. I'll probably be doing some sorta... review thing for Part 1 of the series in the weeks to come.

But that is not all, no. Because she more or less is the boss of me, a good buddy of mine suggested I give the insanity of one of her favorite series a try. That series just happened to be the sublimely psychotic FLCL (or Fooly Cooly to me and you).

OH GEEZ. That is pretty much all I could say after the first episode. This had to be one of the craziest, randomest, and utterly insane things I've ever seen, but with only 6 episodes comprising the series, there was something infectious about it. The characters were likeable, the animation was fantastic, and it just had an intangible quality that made it impossible to dislike the series. I can now say with some certainty that FLCL is one of my most favorite THINGS ever ever. I am pretty much indebted to my dear friend for her forcing this onto me. Like Hokuto no Ken, I'll be doing something with FLCL down the road.

And I suppose that's how the future of my anime-watching will go. I will seek out the classics that intrigue me, and those in the know will suggest more obscure titles that I wouldn't ever think to bother with. I am not saying I'm going to become some super otaku or anything, but I believe I have embraced a new medium that will lead to much more enjoyment down the road.

Most importantly, this new and exciting change has shown me that, just like everything else, anime has many facets and should not be classified as a single entity to be hated.

If you have any comments, or just like what I wrote, or would like to point out how WRONG I am, feel free to type it up in the comments section. I greatly appreciate feedback.

Until next time.