I feel like I don't fit in with the anime community anymore :(

[LockonStratos2.0]

I have been into anime ever since I watched a few episodes of Slayers in the late 1990's. But as of late, I have begun to feel "out of place" or "distanced" if you will. For instance, it seems that there are less and less older folk in my town that like anime (I am 23 in case anyone is wondering). It seems to be more geared toward the younger crowd here. That is fine by me but it makes me feel alienated. I like both old animes such as the afformentioned Slayers, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Lupin the 3rd, Record of Lodoss War, etc to more recent ones such as Fairy Tail, Tsubasa, Tales of the Abyss (Guy and his gynophobia combined with adorable/spoiled brat Luke made that one fun for me), etc. I tend to keep an open mind. Oh, my favorite anime of all time is .Hack // Sign. The story line is great and in my humble opinion, Tsukasa is someone I can relate to as far as feeling very distanced from the real world. I lost my father when I was in middle school at the time I first saw the anime. He is my more "personal character" and is earning a spot on my right arm (i.e. tattoo).

Lately, I have begun to see too much "bitching" in the community. Alot of it revolves around the "who is true and who is not" garbage and "your anime sucks and mine is better" tripe. It is all subjective. The problem arises when people try to take things that are simply ones own opinion and try to morph it into a so-called "fact". I am tired of this. I don't care for stuff like Naruto but if others like it and it make them happy then who am I to deprive them of it? To subsitute a ban on something simply based on taste is morally wrong in my veiw. I like talking to anime fans of all ages but I just feel sadened by the utter ammounts of hostiltiy within the community. I know this behavior all too well. For about ten years plus, I have also been apart of the metal scene. We have similar bs issues over in that culture as you guys do here. The "the stuff you like sucks" or "I am more true than you" stuff. I left the scene due to the bs and being stabbed in the back by so-called friends. I still like the music though. Just as I consider myself a metal fan and not a thrasher there, I consider myself an anime fan and not an Otaku here. The term feels very limiting to me. I don't want to feel distanced from this community any more than I already have.

When it comes to other aspects of Japanese culture that are heavily endorsed by the anime community, I don't always hit the mark. For instance, Jpop (or pop in general) is not my thing. Sure I like some Japanese classical music, metal (Sabbat, Metalucifer) and some grindcore stuff like S.O.B. but that is about it. I also find that I am heavily drawn to Japan's dark history (the story of Nanking is not for the faint of heart and might work really well in a manga), not just the good stuff. One of my many dreams is still to have my private pilot license in the future and get a chance to fly a fully restored Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero. I love studying imperial Japan's military might in WWII. I have had an obsession with Japanese aviation ever since I was a little boy and have seen countless films from the region entailing the subject (1984's ZERO is one of my favorites).

Ugh, it seems like I don't fit in anywhere anymore. Perhaps I must walk my path alone. Maybe there is someone else out there who feels the way I do. Oh well. At least you guys seem pretty chill. Yaoiai is by far one of the most chill places I have been on the net in a while. Cheers!