GAH! I think I read most of this post. I am not even sure what the topic is at times. Guess I will just state some general opinions about the different things I read.
First off I am 44, will be 45 in September. That probably puts me in the top 10 for age on these posts.
I mainly got into anime through my daughter. She is still a major fan, and I took her to all of the KumoriCons, including the first one here in Eugene, OR. I attended the TUNAC anime viewings at U of O. Got interested in downloading all of the subbed shows that we were watching, (I couldn't wait a week to watch the next one
) I watched all of FMA and Scrapped Princess. Got into Stellvia, and PeaceMaker Kuragane. Found out about Saber Marionette J and VanDread. Started going to Emerald City Comics, and renting DVD's. Then started buying them myself. I now have over 2 terabytes of downloaded subs, and I keep downloading more all the time.
This is where I put in the plug for my Friday Night Anime. Every Friday night at my home starting at 7:00pm See you there.
I guess I have always been fascinated with animation. My wife is a graphic artist, so I have been watching her doodle cute critters, and characters for years. (That means since the 70's for you young'uns. GET OFF MY LAWN, AND QUIT PLAYING IN THE FOUNTAIN!) When I graduated from High School I wanted to be a multiplane camera operator for Disney. (I can't draw worth beans). I ended up getting an AS in TV Broadcasting & Visual Design, and another in Microcomputer Programming. Still haven't found any courses available locally that would help me be an animator.
cartoons vs anime - Well the word anime is Japanese for animation. I prefer it to Japanimation which is the heading it used to be under in the video stores. As far as I'm concerned cartoons and anime are the same thing. It is just that anime implies Japanese in origin, because you are using the Japanese word for it. If I say, do you want to watch toons at my place? I suppose I don't mean just anime. That statment would usually mean anything animated. Rock & Rule, Cats Don't Dance, Iron Giant, Avatar, etc. are all considered not anime because they didn't originate in Japan. I guess that makes them toons, but they are still all on my list of most watched animated films.
As far as feeling seperated from the younger crowd. I thing getting married has a lot more to do with it than age. No married guy feels comfortable being glomped by a 18 yr old (or younger) girl. In my case my daughter is older than that! Being in a crowd with her and her friends, You definitely feel the role 'chaperone' being placed on you. Watching my daughter being a contestant on the anime dating game. That is very hard to describe. Running around in cosplay as Lt. Cmdr. Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin from FMP (Borscht anyone?). I was dissapointed that not very many knew who I was. Also age doesn't seem to matter when describing current anime either. It is more a matter of access to the most recent torrent files. I get empty stares mentioning Lucky Star, Wolf and Spice, and Moribito (Just aired last night on CN Adult Swim), All these shows are less than a year old! Just not available in the US yet.
McMenamin's @ midnight on Saturday - I may be able to attend. Still trying to get some idea of what the con schedule is. LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY AND THEY STILL DON'T HAVE IT POSTED!!
Did Nintendiehard (sp) even reply to this part of the post? It is his thread after all.