The Many Faces of a Fan

So. Saturday. My first post was pretty clear on how excited I was about the meet. So why haven't I come back and posted all those stories aplenty? Possibly, because it was a humbling experience in one way and an enlightening one in another.

I've watched a few Ghibli movies, caught a series here and there, and I thought I enjoyed it enough to call myself a fan. Saturday was a reality check. The people there were fans. I'm just someone enjoying the ride.

And yet. I liked the whole feel of being amongst people discovering each other, starting conversations that held the promise of outlasting the meet, getting excited at finding that all elusive episode or series. People sharing a common interest. It was energetic and pleasingly self-absorbed. Like we'd created a space in a pocket of time to which we all belonged. I say 'we' because despite my "newbie-ness", I didn't feel entirely alienated.

People were cool. I got recommendations on what to watch, and someone even gave me a sorta, verbal pat-on-the-back for being brave enough to venture into anime :)

Do I see myself starting to avidly follow plots, memorising characters and watch the latest series? Not really. But that's probably because I've done that a lot with non-anime stuff and I'm looking for a new experience from this medium.

I'd love to attend another meet, but perhaps stay on for the actual discussion part (which I missed this time) and see how that goes. I'd probably sit and listen more than I usually do, simply because there's so so much to learn. And because I really don't do that well in crowds unless I know the people.

But there is promising news! I got goodies! And I gave away too - which felt surprisingly nice.

Verdict: Saturday was a pretty good idea for different reasons all around :)

(( And I don't think 'Gatherum' is a true word. ))