I used to be so obsessed with Anime - back in the day, back before my kids were born, back when it was hot, when it was still on primetime, when all TV stations had schedules filled with them. That was just before the arrival of full time anime cable channels.
I think the last anime I really followed was Bubblegum Crisis 2040 on free TV. Oddly, after the two anime cable channels appeared, I slowly stopped following anime.
Maybe the reason was that it wasn't as rare as before. Maybe because I wasn't as starved or deprived of anime so that my hunger for it diminished. Perhaps it just wasn't as unique and novel as before. Perhaps it had become too common and readily available.
I began to doubt if my passion for it was ever real. I wondered if anime really interested me at all or if the only reason I watched anime was because of how scarce it used to be. I didn't know if I watched anime because I had to take advantage of the opportunity to watch whatever anime was available, no matter if they were good or bad.
Blood+ got me watching anime again. I was lured in by its kick-ass opening song by Hyde. The problem was that its pacing was too slow and I felt it dragged on too long. I never felt the urge to finish it. Although Blood+ pulled me in briefly, it wasn't able to sustain my interest or reignite my passion for anime.
Later, an older anime, Ranma 1/2, actually kept me watching anime regularly but this didn't mean much to me since I still didn't have the urge to watch the newer anime shows. I love Ranma 1/2 but there didn't seem to be any new anime that interested me.
I even didn't have that urge to follow my favorite romantic anime/manga of all time when it was made first into a movie, then a TV series - Ah! My Goddess. I couldn't even watch the recent sequels of Macross, which is my favorite SF/action anime of all time.
I tried getting my children to watch anime so that I could watch with them but they weren't interested at first, preferring to watch American cartoons like Spongebob and Phineas and Ferb, both of which I love watching as well. Also, how could I show my kids how entertaining anime was when I couldn't even find an anime I could enjoy over Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network cartoons?
The newer popular animes like One Piece, Naruto, Fairy Tail, and Bleach didn't grab hold of my attention much and I really thought that my days of following anime were over. Then I was able to watch an episode of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and I was finally hooked for the first time in years.
At the same time, I was able to watch the first episode of Maid Sama and I was hooked by the character who was pretty but at the same time, strong willed, hard working, smart, and a strong leader, which reminded me a lot of my wife. This was a start.
I was able to follow and finish both Maid Sama and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. Maid Sama seemed to end too soon. There seemed to be a lot of loose ends that weren't tied up, side plots that didn't go anywhere. It didn't feel complete. I hope there is a second season.
Eventually my daughter started watching K-On! as well as other anime like Fairy Tail that her cousin recommended. My son still wasn't interested in anime, even the robot animes, except for the Transformers anime.
Then I was able to catch Beelzebub's first episode and it quickly captivated me. This led me to Baka and Test - Summon the Beast, which was in the succeeding time slot after Beelzebub. This also captured my attention and I was able to finish it although it was a short run of episodes. Black Butler, which came after Baka and Test, was also a cool show and I watched it till the end but the ending I felt was not as good as the rest of the story which let me down a bit.
The good thing with Beelzebub, Baka and Test, and Black Butler, is that my two children finally sat down with me to actively wait for the shows and follow them regularly. Beelzebub and Baka and Test were funny enough to entertain my son. And since we were all watching, he decided to also follow Black Butler. Now, my son is watching anime on his own.
Another positive result after watching Beelzebub, Baka and Test, and Black Butler was that I also found that the anime Nodame Cantabile could hold my attention even though I initially dismissed it because I thought the topic of music wouldn't really interest me that much; but then I saw how interesting Megumi Noda's character was and I wanted to follow her story.
So now I realized the reason why I stopped watching Anime in the first place. It wasn't because I had lost all my passion for it. It was a combination of a lack of time and a lack of locally shown anime that in any way appealed to me.
I don't have much time to myself and I have higher standards now. Where before, I could easily spend hours watching even slightly mediocre anime, because I didn't have anything better to do or watch, now I can't stand to watch anything that doesn't grab hold of me. If I watch an episode and it doesn't make me look forward to the next episode, I probably won't be watching it again.
I realized that about a decade ago, I had more time to watch TV, but with a family right now, I can't just spend all my time sitting in front of the TV and watching something that isn't very entertaining.
For the very little time I have to watch TV I have to make sure that what I watch, I will enjoy. Honestly, I think I spent a lot of my time in my earlier years watching anime that, today, would make me change the channel after a few minutes.
I think right now, I have become a more selective anime fan both because of the pressures of time as well as my higher level of appreciation of entertainment in all its forms. There are just so much variety of entertainment to enjoy and I'd like to spend my time enjoying them with my children and my wife. I'm glad that I get to enjoy watching anime with my kids.
Anime/Manga that I still love today:
Cooking Master Boy
Macross
Ah my Goddess
Maid Sama
Beelzebub
Ranma 1/2
Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure
Tenchi Muyo
Baka and Test: Summon the Beast
You're Under Arrest
Samurai X
Slam Dunk
Saber Marionette J
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