Report Retro8bit's Profile

Hey everyone! Welcome to my little corner of MAL. Guess this is the section where I talk about my Otaku journey. Hmmm let me see...where to begin. Think I'll touch on key nostalgic moments for me.

My Otaku Story:
Well to start off I am a long time old school anime fan. I'd estimate that I first started watching roughly around 1985, with the children's anime programs Superbook and Flying House being my entryway into the genre. They would air on a basic local TV channel here in my area. Gosh I must have only been around 3 years old at the time. Although being so young I didn't even know I was watching anime, let alone that it was made in Japan. My next exposure to it happened when my parents got cable in 1987. On Nickelodeon they would air random anime series like Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, The Noozles, Mysterious Cities of Gold and Maya the Bee - in the morning and noon hours. Yes as surprising as it may sound there was a time when Nickelodeon was bringing over anime. Making them one of the earliest cable channels to do so. It wasn't long after that when I would discover my very first anime movie - Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, via my cousin who owned the movie on VHS and the game on NES. It actually got a theatrical release too, which was a big deal at the time.

Then once 1993 hit I had fond memories of getting up Saturday mornings on my days off from school to catch anime movies on the Sci-fi channel. Back then they called it Saturday Anime. Project A-KO and Galaxy Express 999 were quite the treat on there. It was around this time that I finally was starting to realize that what I had been watching all this time wasn't made in America. As my love for the hobby grew I started searching out local rental stores such as Midtown Rentals, and even big chains like Blockbuster Video. You can bet whenever I found them I was all over those VHS tapes. Battle Arena Toshinden and Outlanders being some of my standout favorite rentals. Which thankfully some years later I was actually able to buy directly from Blockbuster Video when they were getting rid of their anime VHS tapes. Which I still have to this day. It's a really nice time capsule to look back on for me.



A few years later (1995) I ended up discovering a little niche title called Dragonball which would air on Fox Sunday mornings at 6am. Why did I call it niche? Because back then nobody had any idea what a Dragon Ball was here in America. I loved the series so much that I would make trips to Suncoast at the mall just to see if they had any VHS tapes of it. Tracking them down was tough due to its obscurity back then. However I was able to eventually acquire all of the 13 episode VHS tapes that were dubbed. Then later on in that decade I would wake up very early to record Samurai Pizza Cats (also on Fox), along with Sailor Moon on the USA Action Extreme Team morning block. Happened to stumble across these two gems by accident one night due to my insomnia. Couldn't sleep and was channel surfing when I saw them on. I knew of Sailor Moon before then, as I remember seeing the commercials for it in the early 90s, along with the toy line at my local Kmart. However until the USA Network started airing it around 1997 I never actually got around to watching it.

Couple years after that anime finally went mainstream when Cartoon Network debuted many series on Toonami, of which I would watch from time to time. Outlaw Star being one of the best in my opinion. During my college years around 2005 I would then catch anime late nights on a digital cable channel called Encore Action. Would stay up past midnight to catch series such as Vandread and Street Fighter ll the TV series. Even if it meant I would be sleepy for my classes the next day. It was worth it!

Top Anime Genres:
You could very well say my taste in anime has changed over the years. Because I grew up watching adventure and sci-fi action titles (since that's what was mostly on TV), those were my preferred genres by default. However as time has gone on and I've discovered other forms of anime content, currently my favorite genres are slice of life, sci-fi, comedy, shoujo and romance. Major brownie points to anime series that have all of these elements in them. As far as my least favorite genres go? I would say that would probably have to go to war themed series. I just was never able to get into them, the only exception being Valkyrie Chronicles. Maybe it was because it was based off a video game I had played, but I really enjoyed the story in that one with its anime version.


At Present:
After reading all of the above I guess you could say the rest is history. As an adult I sadly don't have the time to watch anime as I once used to. When I do though, I tend to prefer more obscure anime from the 70s - 90s, as I'm not much of a fan of the modern stuff. When watching anime now, like as with many, I do it via streaming services these days. I will buy DVDs and Blu-rays of the series that I really like of course. And even though anime is now more popular and easier than ever to watch with everything practically being at our fingertips thanks to the internet, I still look back fondly at those early days in my childhood of watching and hunting for anime. It was a simpler time and I loved every minute of it.

Now when it comes to what I watch currently, lately I have enjoyed going back to a lot of old school classic anime that I missed out on back in the day, as well as finishing up some of my favorite series that I never got to complete. Not just that, but ever since I made my account here on MAL and have since gone through it's database, I have discovered other forms of anime. For example, I've become a huge fan of shorts - whether it be official AMVs, black and white series from the past, commercials, stop motion and even 10 minute artistic animated stories. Some of which don't even resemble traditional anime, but are still 100% animation from Japan. So expect to see many of my updates including content like that. I don't keep up much with any of the currently airing stuff.

When watching anime I prefer to take my time, usually watching only one episode of a certain series per day. I'm not much of a binge watcher, since I will usually tend to forget story plots and what not if I rush through a series. I would rather let the story marinate.


Regarding Manga:
I should mention real quick that I'm also really into reading manga. However my list on here is incomplete since I don't keep it updated very much. Reason being is because most of the manga I read are in physical volumes via my collection, and since I prefer to buy my manga second hand via thrift stores and pawn shops, many of them are missing volumes and incomplete. So it's kind of pointless (and confusing) for me to keep track of them on here. True you can always access just about any manga easily online for free, but I just don't like reading books on a screen, it's why I hate Kindles. One Piece is the only exception to this rule as there are just too many volumes to fit in my house at this point. Hahaha! So it's literally one of the only manga titles I keep updated on here. Now of course if the manga in question doesn't have any translated physical volumes over on my side of the pond, or even worse, is only available via fan translations online. Then of course I will have no choice but to access them on the internet as such. I'll always prefer physical volumes when available though. Often times I hunt for manga at my local library and thrift stores. You never know what treasures you might stumble across! Even though I don't keep my manga list updated on here, I do have my favorites listed below and am always up to give (or get) recommendations.


Other Hobbies:
Along with being a big fan of anime and manga I am also a lifelong gamer. Been playing since the late 80's when I received my first console (the NES) for Christmas. My favorite systems are the PC-Engine, Game Boy, WonderSwan and Dreamcast. Top game of all time for me is Castlevania 64. I know a lot of people hate that game, but personally I can't get enough of it. I'm always in the mood to play it. It's funny because the Nintendo 64 is probably one of my least favorite systems, yet my all-time favorite game is on it. Go fig! I prefer to play obscure Japanese import titles that never left Japan. There are truly some hidden gems out there just waiting to be discovered. The only problem is I struggle with the language barrier. My other hobbies include fishing, drawing and cooking. With the latter being my present job profession. Cooking has always been a passion of mine so I decided to go get my education in Culinary Arts, and have since graduated with my Associates Degree in 2009. I currently work for a catering company. We prepare the lunches for one of the local schools in my area, plus we also do regular catering jobs and feed the homeless shelters everyday.



Me on MAL:
I often get asked just how I found out about MAL, but honestly? I have no idea. As it's been so long at this point. Hahaha! I made my account back in 2008, and around that time I was really big into Myspace. So if I had to guess I would assume I probably heard about this website on there somewhere via a friend or whatnot. Obviously I made this account to keep track of all the anime and manga I have seen over the years, but I am also really big into the social aspects of it too. I absolutely love chatting with others and posting in the forums. Whether it be via comments, direct messages, clubs or forum replies. I pretty much accept all friend requests, and once I receive one I immediately go to that user's profile and try to start a conversation with them. So if you've ever been looking for another user out there who will actually stay in contact with you, well you have found them! More often than not I won't stop replying until you do. Comments are generally my preferred method of talking with other users, because they stack and I don't have to worry as much about a cluttery inbox to deal with. Though I will reply to anything really. Also, I'm not picky about conversation topics, we can talk about whatever you want. Anime, video games, the weather....anything! Now as far as when I am actually on MAL, that's usually around the evening and night times (US timezone). I am very rarely online during the day due to my busy schedule. As mentioned earlier, I don't binge watch anime, so because of this expect any list updates on my profile to be more on the slower side.

By The Way: My favorite anime, manga, characters (etc.) listed on my profile are in no particular order.



Random Useless Facts About Me:
Favorite Food: Crab Rangoons
Favorite Drink: Strawberry Milk
Favorite Color: Neon Orange
Favorite Music: 60's Rock
Favorite Band: Huey Luis & The News
Favorite TV Show: Married with Children
Favorite Cartoon: Talespin
Favorite Movie: Fathead
Favorite Animal: Rabbit
Favorite Sport: Kickball
Favorite Subject: Astrology
Favorite Season: Winter