| How Anime Changed My Life By Charlotte I wish I could write about how my sister and I bonded over some hardship that had befallen our lives or how we pulled together in an emotional situation and our sisterly relationship strengthened. But, truth be told, our real bonding moment occurred in front of the television screen. Absurb as it may sound, my sister and I bonded over Japanese animation. My sister, Christine, discovered anime by accident (which is probably pretty common). Fox Kids aired episodes of The Vision of Escaflowne series briefly before cancelling the show due to what they must have believed to be inappropriate material. After ripping the show to shreds in their editing room, pulling the show from their network really wasn't a huge loss because the audience was getting cheated anyway. But, what Christine did see sparked an interest. After telling me about it, I too was curious about this show that was strangely and refreshingly different from typical American fare. Now, four years and several hundred dollars later, my anime DVD collection includes not only the entire Escaflowne series, but fabulous series such as Cowboy BeBop, Fruits Basket, Gundam Wing, Spirited Away, the X TV series, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. I used to buy two DVDs a week when we first became fans and we'd watch them over and over until the next week when I'd purchase some more. Trust me, anime is addictive. For some inexplicable reason, my sister and I just clicked when it came to anime. We connected on an intellectual and emotional level, spending hours discussing the themes and character development of a specific anime and relating them to our own lives. Sound corny? Maybe. But, if you Google around the Internet, you'll find thousands of fan sites dedicated to anything and everything anime, many of which are run by raving fan girls (but that's another essay). My sister and I are two and a half years apart, differing like night and day in the personality department. But, when it comes to anime, something ignites and suddenly we're talking about anime, making jokes, spouting favorite character lines - basically interacting like never before. We'll get so excited and loud when we're talking that our father will get annoyed and tell us to keep the roar to a minimum in another room. (I secretly think he's jealous because he hasn't a clue as to what we're yakking about). And yet, despite all this, once anime disppears, so does our relationship for the most part. Once the television clicks off, we separate. Ah, such is life. |