My Guilty Pleasures - Anime Edition

​Written by Shae Rufe

Every single one of us have some kind of guilty pleasure that brings us infinite joy and that we simply can't get enough of and I thought today I'd talk about one of my own guilty pleasures, Anime, and share with you all the anime's that have stolen my heart over the years. 

I actually got into Anime when I was a teenager (because, really, who didn't) and it all started with Sailor Moon. I watched every episode that ever aired on TV of Sailor Moon. I even would set my VCR (that's right, I was that cool) to record the later unedited versions on Toonami when they aired late at night on Cartoon Network. I have to say, the whole concept of the show makes no sense at all. Looking at it as an adult, it's weird. Teenage girls who transform into magic wielding warriors in heels and mini skirts? Totally not buying it. But at the time, and even now, it's still a great show. I went as far to hunt down the last season, Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars, on VHS and I watched it in Japanese with subtitles. Sailor Stars was never aired on TV, and after watching it and the entire Sailor Moon series completely un-cut and in its original Japanese form? I see why! Still, that's one of the shows that has always stayed near and dear to my heart. Enough so that I've even cosplayed characters from Sailor Moon. For the record, Venus and Mars were my two absolute favorites. Yes, I've even seen the Live Action show. It's cheesy and fantastic!

There are two other Anime's that were on at the time of Sailor Moon and wow…looking back, I can't believe I actually loved this show as much as I did, but Ronin Warriors (also known as Samurai Troopers) is another one of those fun, mystical, magical, anime's…but with dudes and magical armor! What could possibly be wrong with this anime? Well, it is horrifically cheesy. Especially the English Dub. While they did change some names, they also just…yeah, it's bad. But an old friend and I used to watch this show religiously after school as kids. If anyone's seen the show, they know exactly what I'm talking about. You have the hero, Ryo, and his 4 comrades who have to stop an evil dead emperor; all have special powers and weapons and it's just…so terrible it's awesome. I rewatched this a few years ago and really….you should never do that. It was amazing, and very nostalgic, but also, wow. So bad. So 80's…so awesome!

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And then of course, there was Gundam Wing. Giant Space robots, angsty back stories, and did I mention, Giant Space Robots!? They fight! In Space! Okay, not all the time. Most of it is either on earth, or some space colony. But, come on! Giant Robots! It's like everyone's inner kid is always ready to see Giant Robots fight! Okay, so, technically, they're Mecha, because they have human pilots. But who cares! This show did have a plot, and it was an awesome plot. A lot of it was 'political' and blah, blah blah. Okay, the plot was actually pretty cool. So were the characters. Mostly, Giant Robots of Doom. I used to hunt down the models at cons and random stores. I had all of them at one point (much to my mother's dismay). So, these Models of the Gundams would come with specific instructions and all the pieces are in these plastic things that you had to break them free from. Shae, being Shae, of course, would just take all the pieces out and them put them together hardly ever using the instructions. (As an adult, I now see my parent's frustrations with me!) But, hey, I'd get it done, within a few days/hours and I was quiet for that time! Never did like puzzles, but putting together Gundams is somehow different….

Lastly, on this tour of Anime nostalgia, is one that was not actually on Toonami (if it was, I never saw it) and that is Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show also had Giant Robots! Or Mechas. Or whatever, it was awesome! Futuristic society, in Japan, with random monsters attacking that they called Angels! To this day, I still could not tell you all of what Evangelion was about. I've seen it multiple times and I haven't a single clue as to what goes on after a certain point. It's fantastic, you learn something new every time you watch it! I have seen every version of this Anime, every reboot, every DVD, and every movie. While I may not fully grasp all of what's going on, I still love it. Plus, blood! For some reason that was of huge interest. Before Evangelion, Ronin Warriors, and Gundam Wing had shown a bit of blood, but nothing like Evangelion. There are many other Animes I have seen that totally out do that blood factor. and many more that I want to talk about. So...stay tuned for part two of this segment! I promise, my next 4 picks are slightly more up-to-date. (Yeah, I can't promise that….But I love you guys!)

Speaking of, if you have any Anime recommendations for me, please feel free to Tweet me them! I'm always looking for something new to watch! While I'm not as obsessive as I used to be about Anime, I still do love it. Old or new is up to you! ​​

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