Anime

Anime.

Love it or hate it, it's hard to deny that it's become very popular over the last couple of decades, and most people - whether they're die hard fans or not - seem to know a little about what anime is.

Last night, for the 47950849347594039th time, I started watching PGSM or... Live Action Sailor Moon (sad, I know):



Yes, I was your typical Sailor Moon fan as a kid. And watching the below opening is just so nostaligic (I think my parents know this opening off by heart just as much as I do):


^_^

Last year, I actually went through and watched every Sailor Moon series, including the very strange and random final series, Sailor Stars:


(That is seriously the best opening. I <3 that song!

Yes, I was your typical Sailor Moon fan. I watched all the episodes that were on TV over and over again, I drew fanart (*shock horror*! (I hate fanart)), and I read summaries of the Japanese series not shown on TV here on the internet. I also developed an interest in Japan and the Japanese language... Yes, I was becoming your typical anime fan. *Hangs head in shame*

But what the heck has this got to do with anything Korean?

Growing up, Korea never played a huge role in my life. In fact, Korea - despite not wanting to know anything about it - was always some... mystical, unknown place to me. I knew nothing about it, it had nothing to do with Australian life and/or my family, but it was always with me. And despite it being totally foreign, it was also very very familiar and... homely. Whenever I looked in the mirror, there was Korea - staring straight back at me - something I could not deny, no matter how hard I tried.

I actually, ultimately, have anime to thank for leading me to my interest in Korea and my heritage, and for taking away the shame I felt growing up.

As I got older and made my way through high school, my friend from school and I joined the university anime club. And this was where things changed. I was suddenly surrounded and inundated with... Asia-philes - people obsessed with Japanese culture, anime and... everything else Japanese. At first, I thought it was great. And, without adding in all the details, I soon came to realise that many people interested in Japan also had some interest in Korea.

This was so shocking to say the least. Here I was, feeling ashamed of where I was born, but right in front of me were these caucasian people, wishing they were Korean and/or Japanese! It was the strangest feeling ever - to see people actually wanting to know about the place/thing I'd been so afraid of my whole life! Suddenly, I was feeling a small surge of pride about my heritage... that my own heritage was something other people wanted for themselves! I was so used to things being the other way round, yet here were all these people saying how cool it was that I was Korean!

I have since left the anime clubs/groups. The fandom became too much for me in the end, and a lot of it, I thought, was a bit creepy...

However, I have since come away from it with a newfound pride in my heritage, along with my own interest in it. (I also walked away with my amazing husband, since we met through the clubs.) My interest in anime has since... mostly disappeared. However, I do watch the odd series here and there. But I still believe that anime and Japanese things opened the door for me to Korean stuff. And it helped me feel not so ashamed of... myself. The shame still comes and goes (depending on the various contexts I'm in, and the people I'm with), but I don't know where I'd be, in terms of my identity, had I not experienced the whole anime thing. Although I walked away disliking a lot of what the anime culture had to offer, I still think it benefited me in ways other things hadn't.

...it's funny, the experiences you have in life, isn't it?^^