shardsofblue

Hello, all! As you might expect, I'm a fan of Japanese culture, especially otaku stuff. That said, I've never really been a part of any otaku community. So, I hope I can make a few friends, learn a bit more about the culture, and get some advice on various anime and manga to check out.   I actually recently moved to Japan with my husband on military assignment. I'm living about an hour outside of central Tokyo. I love it here and I've been seeing as much as I can, but I hardly know where to start to really make the most of my stay. I've visited a couple of temples, been to the otaku mecca of Akihabara once, and done a few other touristy type things. I welcome any suggestions.   Let's see... I like a lot of older anime like Trigun, My Neighbor Totoro, Slayers, and Blue Gender. I was surprised to find that I also loved Prince of Tennis (subbed, not dubbed -- really makes a difference with that one). I've read one or two manga but they're just so expensive for the amount of time it takes me to read a volume that I haven't really gotten into them. I'm also a fan of classic Pokemon (they lost me after 101 ;P ), Puzzle and Dragons (silly little monster catching / bejeweled game that's mad popular in Japan), Kirby, Skyrim, Mass Effect, SimCity (5)... Doctor Who, Star Trek, Babylon 5, My Little Pony: FIM...   I'm trying to learn Japanese, as well, written and spoken, but the Japanese language learning forums tend to be a bit, well, boring. So, if ã?なã?は話ã?まã?ã?I could use the practice. :P   That's about it for introductions. Any advice on where I should start around here? :)