These shows had a subconscious effect on my queer identity, whether positive or not, and continue to mean a lot to LGBT viewers because of their non-representational forms of storytelling. Sometimes these protagonists hurt themselves. Often, emotions were solely communicated through surreal flourishes of rose petals, darkening, grotesque facial expressions, and acts of affirming violence. Growing up during the advent of streaming, I found myself in these anime I couldn’t understand, in the feelings of these protagonists whose emotions swirled and shifted. These fansub legacies still follow them to this day. Though unintentional, it only serves to heighten the mystique of shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Revolutionary Girl Utena.

It was a thankless undertaking, but many-like myself-were mystified by the inaccessible nature many of these shows took on. Later, these versions would be uploaded online-given the amount of times these versions would be ripped and pasted from tapes, much of the original fidelity was lost, and fansubbers were often amateur diehards who wanted to share something they were passionate about. While, to a degree, the anime craze had caught on outside of Japan, only a select few shows aired on Western networks and even fewer were available on VHS.Īround the time of the internet’s inception, groups known as fansubbers began making and distributing bootleg tapes with their own translations. Many of these series were inaccessible outside of importing and dedicated fan communities up until the early 2000s. Directors such as Masaaki Yuasa, Kunihiko Ikuhara and Satoshi Kon are well-known for their experimentations with the medium with keen interests in portraying human experience through conceptual means. A friend of mine affectionately refers to this phenomenon as “Jojo Time” in reference to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, which famously portrayed a final battle that took place over just a few minutes in a 4-part finale.Īs you stray further into the world of anime, you’ll find more short-form, experimental series that are not meant for a wide audience. Even in popular anime, like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, time contorts around long power-up sequences and dramatic, fast-talking banter in the heat of battle. Animation, unlike traditional forms of film or TV, allows for complete abstraction.

Serial experiments lain subbed