My short blurb on anime

Today I would like to talk to you about anime.

I was very adamant back home about disliking anime. I am still not the biggest fan, but it has grown on me a tad since I have been here. By a tad, I mean movies by one director that is. Before I go into that, I will explain why I hated it/still don't like a lot of it here. I found anime back home to be obnoxious and the animation style was less than desirable to watch...not to mention it is a notorious hobby for geek-dom/Japanophiles. In fact I remember I had this other version of The Little Mermaid when I was little, and watched it so much the tape broke, and then was a little saddened to later be told it was anime. I also don't care for much of it here, because it is very pornographic in many cases. Lots of bondagey things. Just gross (and this is coming from like afternoon cartoons kids watch). On the other side of that, you also can't go into a convenience store without walking by a display of pornographic anime magazines (how anyone could be aroused by a cartoon beats me...oh wait I probably pass by a foreigner or two every day who is-was that mean?). So that is why I dislike it a lot.

Now what I DO like, and I have really started to explore are Hayao Miyazaki movies. Whenever the topic of favorite movies/cartoons/whatever gets brought up in class, students are always raving about them and ask me if I've seen them. Finally I looked them up on IMDB and felt kind of dumb. Miyazaki is like Japanese Disney-except better I think. In fact Disney has retranslated a lot of his movies and released them in the states. Why I felt dumb-because it turns out I have seen quite a few. Chances are you have too. Some of his movies have been nominated for Oscars in the past, like Spirited Away, etc. So lately when I am laying low, I have been watching some of them, rewatching the few I've seen(I remember my mom actually rented one of his most famous ones-My Neighbor Totoro (English title)- for me and my sister when I was little-the fact I have barely ever watched anime in my life gifts me with the ability to remember every single one I have seen), and I am kind of blown away. His movies are so much better than Disney movies! Even if you don't care about the story that much-although some are so touching they've made me cry a little, the animation is just INCREDIBLE. It's art! And that says a lot coming from someone who dislikes anime and also doesn't have much to say about animation, period. I highly recommend watching them, though. Look at the link to see the list of his movies-but like I said, chances are you have seen one or two in the past somehow. A lot of famous people do the voices for the English versions as well. Ok, that was my short blurb on anime. I needed to talk about it sooner or later. =)