I started watching anime seasonally during my first semester of (liberal arts) college in fall 2014. I had stopped watching cable TV in high school, and Netflix lacked the massive selection then that it has today, so I stuck to YouTube as my primary resource for visual entertainment media.

Thinking back on why I started watching so much anime, I guess I was lonely and it seemed like an interest I could easily build upon with new people in my college's anime club. I didn't consistently attend the weekly meetings but I started keeping up-to-date on what was airing and what was always on my peers' minds.

There were some anime I really loved before college. I distinctly remember having friends when I was 10 years old who watched the Naruto anime and read the manga. By the time I was 13 I owned the first 20 volumes. I was so excited when Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was finishing the end of its run in 2010 that I went and spoiled the ending for myself by reading scanlations online. The summer before starting college I marathoned all of Inuyasha and Dragon Ball (Z) because I was just nostalgic enough to remember seeing the occasional episode on Toonami but far enough removed to have never watched more than two episodes in a row.

I suppose, then, that I shouldn't be so surprised by my current reliance on Japanese cartoons as the only entertainment which consistently grabs my attention, but I had no idea before starting college that there's just so much anime out there. With my exposure to only the most popular TV anime in the shounen genre and a couple of Ghibli films, I was not knowledgeable enough to know what was available. But for a hobby like this, finding out what's available is part of the joy of pursuing it.

I have over 700 entries on my list of anime I'm planning to watch and I have no intention of ever completing it. I've kept up with anime discussions seasonally on Reddit and then Twitter since summer 2016, and at the time of writing have only just graduated from college a few months ago.

Since leaving the place where I became so involved in my biggest hobby, I've thought a lot about the way entertainment media surprises me with how and when it leaves its impact. There were anime shows I watched years ago which have apparently helped me through some of my most formative moments, and with more confidence and emotional honesty, I can reflect now on who I was then and who I've become.

Anime doesn't have to be taken so seriously, but I've decided to do my best to really enjoy my hobbies. I definitely spent long enough convinced I didn't deserve to take joy in them. I think I'll treat them with seriousness and care while sharing my thoughts about anime.