I’ll start by saying that I was inspired by the first episode of Space Bros into writing this post. Actually, it was more a case of the opening few minutes in how milestones were marked. The older brother Mutta was born in the aftermath of the Agony of Doha, when the Japan conceded an equalizer to Iraq in the final 1994 World Cup qualifier. Hibito was born as Hideo Nomo was putting the finishing touches on his first no hitter in Major League Baseball. The day their lives changed was on the same date as the 2006 World Cup final.
I was just impressed that milestones in their lives were marked by sporting events. It’s just something people who are really into something do. There was an episode of This American Life in which one of the interviewees uses Penn State football to remember dates and more. In my own experience, those same dates in order I was an annoying 10 year old who was vaguely excited about the World Cup coming to my country the next summer, I was watching a cut-in on the no-hitter and I was in a cramped room live blogging the World Cup final while IMing one of my former college roommates. The temperature in that room was near 40 C, but I shall spare any additional details. Even in that, you can tell that there’s more detail as I was more emotionally involved in what was happening and where I was.
I’ll just continue on with sports fandom a bit. I like to think of the time between games as a non-fiction narrative. Fans talk to each other about their teams, creating a level of expectation for the next game or for an entire season. For generations this has gone on, and it has only been enhanced by the emergence of newer and more interactive sources of media.
I always wonder if people feel the same while watching their favorite shows. As an example, do people remember what they were doing right before the final 2 episodes of Madoka aired? I can’t seem to think of any sort of marker in watching anime, apart from maybe January 3, 2009, though that was more relevant to writing now.
That has had me thinking that perhaps I’m just not enough of a fan. I may have seen many series over the years, but maybe I don’t know enough about what I’m watching. I sometimes feel this blog lacks enthusiasm because I’m not solely dedicated to the media I write about. Then again, I was enough of a fan to actually put my thoughts out in long form so that must count for something.
Actually what I’m really interested in is finding out what other interests people out there have apart from anime and manga. Do you feel as passionate about that and contribute to that community as often as you do in this part of the internet? Am I being too serious about this topic as well?
Lower Mid-Table 