Forum - View topicWhat Was Your First Anime Obsession?
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Zhou-BR
Posts: 1422 |
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I believe most Brazillians who got into anime in the mid-'90s would tell you the same, but my first anime obsession was Saint Seiya. In 1994, I was a twelve-year-old who lived and breathed one-on-one fighting games like Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury and Mortal Kombat, and I was desperate for a work of fiction that could replicate that feel.
Then I accidentally caught the second half of Saint Seiya's fifth episode, and it gave me exactly what I was looking for: flashy special moves and a sense of fighting strategy. The way Seiya figured out the weakness of Shiryu's Rozan Shoryu-ha and used it against him blew me away, and the way he saved his life afterwards by hitting him with the same technique that stopped his heart is the kind of thing that an adult will find incredibly dumb, but for an impressionable kid, it's life-changing. I ended up missing the next two episodes with the conclusion to the Galaxian Wars tournament, but starting with the Black Saints arc, I watched the show religiously and caught re-runs of everything I missed. The show's plot was so simple that even a toddler could follow it, and yet somehow it felt incredibly epic, and it built up expectations in a way I found very clever. For instance, when the Gold Saints were introduced, you couldn't help getting excited to see which of the main characters would fight each of them, and what their fighting techniques were like. My obsession was such that there wasn't a single character name, signature move or episode title I didn't know by heart. Once the show ended, I could only fill the void it left inside of me by watching other anime like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Shurato, Rayearth, Ronin Warriors, Street Fighter II V, Yu Yu Hakusho and Captain Tsubasa, all of which were brought over to Brazil in an attempt to find the next Saint Seiya-sized hit. Although I have to admit Saint Seiya didn't age remotely well and it gets a little bit worse every time I rewatch it, my residual affection for it is so strong that I still make a point of reading every manga spin-off, watching every new animated installment and buying every new video game, even though I'm not 10% as into gaming as I used to be. And if you ever say anything bad about Seiji Yokoyama's amazing score, which beautifully conveys the show's themes of friendship, sacrifice and lost youth, I will fight you. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5823 Location: Virginia, United States |
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There is nothing to apologize for and no one has the right to say otherwise. Also, you are not the only 'over 50' here. |
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