For my first trick back on the blogging wagon, I can think of no more reasonable a goal than to write 100 consecutive posts about a single topic with no planning or prep. I’ve elected an additional challenge to see how long I can go without writing at length about Cowboy Bebop. If everything goes according to my non-existent plan, I’ll hit 100 posts just in time for my fifth Anime Weekend Atlanta in a row.
I’ll be honest, it’s been awhile since I sat down at 9 p.m. with three hours to get something written and absolutely no idea what I was going to say. I haven’t written a paper in a while. The skill set that helped me scrape through all those term papers and last-minute newspaper articles is caked with rust. That’s a big part of the reason I’m here.
So, I’ll say this: anime is what got me to crack this blog back open. I decided back in May that I would watch new anime this year so that when AWA rolled around, I’d recognize costumes and merchandise from this decade. The dosage that followed was nearly lethal for a guy who had been watching a series or two every six months for the past three or four years.
In May I watched three shows from start to finish. I’m current (or close to it) on six shows now, and I’m watching two or three as I have time. I know the hardcore otaku in the audience are scoffing at these numbers, but I’m a dabbler at heart. I want armchair quarterback knowledge of diverse interests, not front-row super-fan knowledge of just one thing.
At this point in our conversation, I am resisting a number of dangerous urges. There are several rhetorical questions I am dying to ask, and there are a number of tangents about the methods and goals of this blog that are clawing for the white space. I think that means I’m rambling.
I’m writing about anime because I enjoy it and because I think it will get my writing engine going again. I’m not writing about anime to prove my expertise or offer a treatise on the medium. If I can crank out 100 posts in 100 days and maybe convince some Facebook friends to give something new a shot, I’ll be pleased.
I won’t condescend to the reader here by trying to encapsulate an entire mode of expression in a few short paragraphs of maxims about art. Anime is Japanese animation. It is a lot of things. It can be a lot of things, any of the things that any medium is capable of being.
I don’t know what your preconception of anime is, and I don’t know what your broader notions about art are. This post isn’t going to be one of those posts where we try to define things, but those may come.
Today, for this post, all I’m going to ask is that you give something a try. I’ll do the heavy lifting. Here is a link to the first episode of Cowboy Bebop. It is in English. The link leads to a free and legal stream. It’s sci-fi film noir.* Give it a shot.
*For the record, this does not count as “at length.”
chasetriesagain.com 