May 23 2008
Am I Too Old For Anime?
The theater got pretty full at the “Death Note” live-action movie, since it was limited-release and only had two showings. I was surprised at how friendly and talkative everyone in the audience was. I had a nice conversation concerning Japanese horror cinema with the couple in front of me. They were 15. The entire audience was mostly teens, but some had brought their parents with them. The parents that weren’t in attendance were all waiting outside in their cars. I noticed a lot of cars running in the parking lot, with older faces scanning the crowd coming out of the theater.
So the question becomes: Am I too old to be there? I’ve always loved 80’s cartoons, especially Transformers, because that’s what I watched when I was 12. I discovered anime in college, and I’ve seen a lot of Japanese animation and J-Horror videos since then. I dig giant robots. But I’ve never interacted with the fan base, as I do with Transformers. I really like anime, but I didn’t know that the core audience is too young to drive yet. Technically, I’m old enough to be their father. It makes me think twice about attending an anime convention, but maybe I’m just being silly?
I don’t get this impression when I go to Botcon, since it’s full of other adult enthusiasts. I suppose that I shouldn’t let it bother me. I’ve currently got the last five episodes of “Blood Plus“, four episodes of “Death Note”, and three episodes of “Witchblade” on my DVR, waiting for my spare time. Netflix is shipping me “Appleseed: Ex Machina” today, and there are several other sets in my queue. I guess that if I’m not too old to play with my toys, then it’s OK if I watch Japanese cartoons every now and then.
Meta-Tags:
anime, Death Note, movies, Transformers
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My interest in Anime over the years has been very schizophrenic and love/hate.
On one hand I enjoy it… some of it… I hate most “mainstream” anime, not because “it’s mainstream and the Americans bastardized it” but because “it’s stupid”.
I also hate most anime fans and previously made an active hobby out of “trolling” them on usenet (mostly).m I did this almost as much as I trolled Linux fanboys.
Lately I more or less ignore it, mostly because I just don’t have the time or money for it. Hell I haven’t watched Transformers in years even though I love it and still collect the toys. At the same time though, I havn’t watched Transformers in years because Amr/Eng/Cyb all fall into the “Stupid anime” pile.
On the good size, Cowboy Bebop fucking rules and FLCL rocks my socks to no end.
In general I find I tend to be a fan of older anime. Like Gunsmith Cats and Iria and Dominion.
Anyway I’m ranting a bit. Mostly I tend to agree with your assertion that I sort of like Anime but I feel “too old for it”.
Yes. You are waaaaay to old for cartoons.