10 Years of Anime

So I was sitting in class today, mind wandering off as usual, when I realized something - 10 years ago this month, I was first getting into what would eventually lead me to the anime fandom I consider myself a part of today. I put it like that because it wasn't watching and enjoying anime that first caught my interest, it was the Dragon Ball Z trading cards my friends showed me back in 6th grade. The artwork on the cards inspired me so much, I began drawing the characters before I even knew they were part of a TV show, one that would eventually consume my entertainment for the next 3+ years.


The earliest drawing I could find uploaded, dated 4/24/99
I'm not going to say that DBZ was the first anime I'd EVER seen, because I'm sure that growing up I was exposed to various Japanese animation, which at the time I associated with other American shows, and didn't think about it more than that. However, DBZ was the first anime I'd ever seen that I knew was from Japan, was this special type of animation from over there, and was freaking awesome. This craze continued into high school when I joined an anime club Freshman year and was exposed to so many more shows from this genre, and eventually I was able to divide my obsession between these other shows (Cowboy Bebop was a middle ground).


The last DBZ drawing I drew, dated 5/12/02
Though I'm not crazy about DBZ anymore, I am planning on checking out the new series, Dragon Ball Kai, that takes all of the old episodes and cuts them down to a manageable 100 or so from the initial 300+. With updated quality and finally watching them in Japanese, perhaps I can enjoy it on the level I currently watch anime when it airs on April 5th. In the meantime, in celebration of this 10 year anniversary, I've decided to really stick with the plan I had at the beginning of the semester to watch at least one episode from an anime every day (if Jasmin lets me). Perhaps I'll finally be able to finish something, ne?

All of my old Dragon Ball Z drawings from middle school and high school can be found here: theOtaku Fanart: Syk3.

BTW, anime got me a girlfriend too, by going to my college anime club. I owe it to DBZ, yo.