I’d been a longtime anime fan, but I caught the wave before it became big. Anime was a place for strange cyberpunk tales and ultra violence. I was introduced to the genre through Akira, Ninja Scroll, Fist of the North Star, Angel Cop, Golgo 13, and a bunch of the Streamline pictures titles. It wasn’t until much later that the whole “fat drooling otaku” stereotype began to prevalece in people’s minds. In fact, it made it seeped into mine as well, and I became somewhat ashamed of my earlier uber-cool underground hobby.

Now, I can say I’m a happy cursory fan. I don’t like everything, but I dig the occasional sci-fi and supernatural adventure, as well as the gonzo comedy. It’s hard to come to terms with enjoying a hobby if it’s widely seen as completely nuts, but I think that can be the case with many other hobbies besides Anime. Obsessives can be offputting, but they’re not indicative of any interest’s overall fanbase. It’s just getting other people, including one’s self, to see that which is the problem.

So, long story short, I no longer really see a reason to give up a hobby if it’s enjoyable for you. Even for love.

@Reika, isn’t it great to not need to explain to your honey why he has no competition unless Vincent Valentine is suddenly a real man? M’yep, good times.

@lain, I think that opposites attract and while I agree there should be some level of dorkage in common, I don’t believe that the dork interests should be totally equal. However will cross-pollination of interests occur if two people like the exact same things? And yes, mundane interests like sports and that blow, but there might be a geek in there somewhere waiting for that special someone to let it out.

@tj han, I personally could never imagine dating someone with any one interest, no matter how awesome that interest is. Having more than one hobby rounds out a person to a healthy degree.

My friend/ platonic soul mate has no clue about anime/ manga/ Japanese culture/food (she’s allergic to seaweed and hates seafood) and isn’t sure if she even likes it, but she accepts wholeheartedly my going ‘nanners over it. So I agree 100% that I couldn’t bear to hang with someone who didn’t accept my past times. That could be a litmus test for a friend/ mate; whether or not they accept your past time even if they don’t like it.

@shinigami, your words are too true. What kind of relationship would exist if one was constantly having to hide or shed pieces of themselves for another? Love IS blind to such trivial matters.

It’s not love if someone dictates your style of dress, who you hang out with, how thin to be, what to listen to, what to watch, etc. Ditch that person/s and run for the hills!

example: in my longest relationship I introduced her to Ranma 1/2 (good gateway anime) and she liked it however she we would still not understand each others life styles and we eventually broke up. Looking back I question if I loved her or I forced myself to love her. but she wanted to go out when their was nothing to do and i wanted to relax until we found something to do.

Right now I’m looking for a girl with an intellectual look at anime but even that is really hard to find and most of the girls like that are taken.

But for now life is good so for now I’ll wait until Ms. Kawaii comes into my life.

It’s not so much “love me, love anime”, I’m just being practical. She doesn’t have to be into anime, she just has to let me do what I want. If she wants me to give up anime she’ll want me to do other things for her as well, so even if I give in, it’s just a matter of time till I get annoyed with her demands. Maybe I am awfully prosaic but love can’t last with one (adult) person trying to mold another.

The beauty of anime is that there are just as many girls who like it as guys, so there can be happy couples. If you look at gaming or other more male-dominated hobbies, there are a lot more single guys lol.

Besides, I think relationships are more fun if both partners have some eccentricities. It also makes it easier to make fun of each other when one goes overboard and starts buying too much boylove doujin… *_*

That being said and done, I wouldn’t call it love — someone who really loves you wouldn’t want you to change for them; rather, they’d accept you for who you are. Probably the degree in which anime permeates your life would be the exception to this rule, but like I said earlier, moderation is key.

Also, substitute “anime” with any other hobby for a moment and think about it. I would never ask a girl I truly love to give up something she was passionate about, unless it was something self-destructive or an obstacle to her living a full life. Is anime self-destructive or an obstacle to the average person living properly? Either way, you’ve got the answer. (: