2011: The Year My Interest in Anime (Pretty Much) Died.

Taking on a new hobby is easy, but leaving another is harder than you can possibly imagine. This has become a long film to watch as my interest in anime has died over the course of the last three to four months. Every day for the last few months, I have begun to question and contemplate what type of future I will have with anime and the answer has been clear. It did not hit me until earlier this past week that I simply do not care for anime anymore. There are still a few select series and films I will buy, but otherwise my interest no longer exists in the bigger picture.

This has begun to show in my monetary budgets for the month. I find that my monthly anime DVD/Blu-ray budget is slowly withering away bit by bit. That is coupled by the fact that nothing I really want is coming out on DVD or Blu-ray. My tastes have become so, for the lack of a better term, sophisticated. I am not seeing much for the next several months that are "gotta have'ems" and that in and of itself is troubling to see. It appears that will be an average of one to two anime releases a month I will be buying. That is down radically from five to six last year. That is a considerable and problematic drop in percentage.

It has also begun to show as lack of interest of watching newer shows and supporting them legally or watching them through not as legal means. I find myself simply not caring to watch shows I was once excited and ecstatic for, such as Fractale, Hourou Musuko/Wandering Son and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It has gotten to the point that I do not care. Troubling but nothing particularly new actually as I have always been partial to waiting for DVD or now Blu-ray releases of anime. I am going to experiment with the Spring season by not trying any shows and just wait to see what gets good reviews or press and all that jazz. In retrospect, I do not really need legal streaming or fansubs and fully intend to implement this experiment for the coming season ahead.

My interest in anime has been declining for the last year for another reason too. That reason is, as I hinted at in the second paragraph, lack of anime that appeals to me coming out here domestically and in Japan. I am averaging one to three shows a season which comes to four to 12 shows a year. That is not a good sign at all but I think you get the picture. Perhaps my standards are ridiculously high, but so be it. Japan has once appealed to my tastes before (2000-2003 are good places to look) so why not again? Those years were fantastic with 15-20 shows each I want to own or already own.

My interest in anime is fading and bleeding out without much to help it stop. Will 2011 be the year that my interest in anime dies? People do change as they grow older and perhaps this is a case of that. I just never imagined my time would come so soon. I thought I had a good ten more years. Ah well, I will try my experiment to see how it helps. Sure it means I will not be current with things, but if it can save my interest and fandom, it is worth a shot. I have tried just about everything else.

What say you? Chime in!

Several Notes: Disaster, Reviews and the Future of The Golden Waste...

First Note:
Yes, it is true. I write anime reviews. Although there are no recent ones due to my health problems. I have not moved into manga reviews for the simple fact that it is difficult for me to convey the proper words about certain manga series plus there is the fact I simply do not read much much manga. Anyway, you can find a list of reviews I have done at Anime-Planet under the official/my account. Here is a list. TheGoldenWaste's Anime Reviews via Anime-Planet.

Second Note:
As most of the internet knows by now, there was catastrophic earthquake-tsunami in Japan almost a week ago. Thousands are dead, injured and missing. Donations have not been stellar for the pivotal first four days compared to other natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast of the United States or Haitian earthquake. I urge everyone to donate to Doctor's Without Borders. I have continually donated to them in the past and they are a superb charity through and through. Here is a really good fundraising effort set up by All About Manga's Daniella Orihuela-Gruber (her website is allaboutmanga.net); Anime and Manga Bloggers for Doctor's Without Borders. Please help out Japan, they need it.

Third and Final Note:
Due to uncertain health issues, I may not be blogging much anymore. I will continue to be on Twitter, Anime-Planet (I will be rolling out more reviews soon I hope!) and I will still be open to pod casts (although I am shy as hell) so no worries I will still be around and as active as ever. I simply do not have much time for it anymore with my health in doubt and so many other factors which include my general declining interest in anime and manga. I will keep the blog open and continue to update my purchasing and favorite list pages. Beyond that, no plans for anything complex or complicated.

Thanks for reading!