Otaku Obsessions by Year
Sat, Oct. 3rd, 2020 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lovelyangel |
Because anime and manga are my primary hobby, I watch and read a lot of series. I drop series I don’t like, and I finish series I do like. There are plenty of series that I enjoy, and every year, every season I get opportunities to discover gems.
When I find a series that I really, really like, I kinda go nuts over it. The obsessive fangirl takes over. I’ll reread or rewatch the series – or the best parts of the series – over and over. And I’ll hunt for collectibles. The collectibles make me smile. I’m not really different than other otaku – except that I’m older and have a solid financial footing. So I do go a little crazy on the collectibles.
I’ve been an anime fanatic for 30 years now, and it feels like a good time for me to look back at the series that I’ve gone head over heels for. The years in bold are the years of my obsession. (The years of manga or anime releases are in parentheses.) This is the chronology of my otaku obsessions.
1990
Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster (1988-89) My favorite anime series for the first 20 years. Incredible direction by Hideaki Anno at Gainax. Collectibles: Complete anime series on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, and Blu-ray. Animation cels. Mikimoto sketch. Soundtrack CDs. Manga in Japanese. Art books. Figurines/toys. Pencil board (shitajiki).
1991
Bubblegum Crisis (1987-91) I still play BGC music in my car during commutes. Collectibles: Complete anime series on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, and Blu-ray. Animation cels. Soundtrack CDs. Art books. Figurines/toys. Pencil boards.
1991
Kimagure Orange Road (1984-91) Madoka! Collectibles: Complete anime series on VHS (fansubs), Laserdisc, and DVD. Complete manga series in Japanese and English. Animation cels. Signed, limited edition lithograph. Soundtrack CDs. Art books. Pencil boards.
1993
Dirty Pair (1985-90) The Lovely Angels! Collectibles: Complete anime series on VHS (fansubs), Laserdisc, DVD, and (coming soon) Blu-ray. Animation cels. Art books. Light novel. Pencil boards.
1994
Ah! My Goddess (Aa! Megamisama)(1988-2014) Belldandy! Collectibles: OAV anime series on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. Partial manga series in English and Japanese. Soundtrack CDs. Animation cels. Pencil boards.
1995
Marmalade Boy (1992-95) The classic shōjo romance. Collectibles: Complete anime series on VHS (fansubs), DVD, Blu-ray (SD->BD). 1 of 3 Laserdisc box sets. Complete manga series in Japanese and English. Soundtrack CDs. Animation cels. Pencil boards.
1998
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangelion)(1995-96) Hideaki Anno’s magnum opus at Gainax. Collectibles: Complete TV anime series on VHS. Soundtrack CDs. Art books. Figurines. Coffee mug. Pencil boards.
2006
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu)(2006) A classic from Kyoto Animation. Collectibles: Complete TV anime series on DVD. CDs. Art books. Figurines. Pencil boards.
2009
Aria (2001-21) Junichi Sato’s best iyashikei series. Collectibles: Complete TV anime series on DVD, Blu-ray. Complete manga series in English. Soundtrack CDs. Art books. Figurines. Coffee mug. Pencil boards.
2011
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011-2014) My favorite anime series. Collectibles: Complete TV anime series and films on DVD, Blu-ray. Soundtrack CDs. Art books. Figurines. Coffee mugs. T-shirts. Pencil boards. Shikishi boards from movie premieres.
2012
Bakemonogatari (2009) Wordplay and Tsundere-chan and Shaft are unbeatable. Collectibles: Complete anime series on Blu-ray. Soundtrack CDs. Artbooks. Figurines. Coffee mug.
2015
The Fruit of Grisaia (Grisaia no Kajitsu)(2014-15) Anime series based on a visual novel. Collectibles: Complete TV anime series on Blu-ray. Art books.
2016
Claymore (2001-14) Darkest series in the list. Collectibles: Complete manga series in English. Extra manga volumes in English and Japanese. Anime series on Blu-ray.
2020
Bloom Into You (Yagate Kimi ni Naru)(2017-20) My newest obsession. Collectibles: Complete manga series in English and Japanese. Extra manga volume in English. Light novels. Anime series on Blu-ray. Art book.
Collectibles are harder to come by for more recent series. That’s probably good for my budget.
Also, many of my technical (network addressable) devices (computers, peripherals, cell phones) are named after characters in these series.
UPDATE 2021.09: Added Blu-ray to Marmalade Boy
UPDATE 2023.08: Manga completed update for Aria, Blu-ray soon for Dirty Pair
no subject
Date: 2020-10-03 10:54 pm (UTC)Anyway, in looking at your list here I can suppose I've taken in everything but Marmalade Boy, Fruit of Grisaia, and Claymore, and going on my current casual impressions I'd seem most likely to try Grisaia first (even as I wonder if that says something about me I have the slightest concern about articulating)... However, I do have to admit Haruhi Suzumiya and Bakemonogatari left me aware I wasn't as caught up by them as many other people make a point of (although I am reading the recent Bakemonogatari manga).
If you'll forgive me doing the math, your mentioning having gone in deep on anime "thirty years" ago has me thinking you'd have been older then than when a lot of people make their own first dives. I'm curious as to just how that happened and what possible previous experiences might have been cast in a sudden "now I get it" light.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-06 12:00 am (UTC)As noted at my website, I was Exposed to Anime Early Enough. But going full otaku was relatively quick in the 90s. U.S. Renditions released Gunbuster on VHS in 1990. AnimEigo released Bubblegum Crisis on VHS between August 1991 and April 1992. And I attended the first Anime Expo in July 1992. Done! Anime Expo was amazing to a neophyte. It wasn’t possible to experience the convention and not become fanatical.