Fall season kicks off.

I'm organizing this post in a very specific manner because what I actually want to post in regards to one series is sort of long-winded compared to the rest.

The only series I went into this season knowing I wanted to watch was To Aru Majutsu no Index 2 (A Certain Magical Index 2).  Having watched Index on a friend's recommendation and then following up with all of Railgun as it came out, it basically goes without saying that I'm watching this.

The first series I didn't know I'd be watching is Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.  I've described it before, but it's basically Gainax parodying American animation.  It's been pretty funny so far, and I'll continue watching it.

Another series I picked up is Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Invasion! Squid Girl).  I'd heard that it was supposed to be funny, so I watched the first episode, and yeah, now I'm watching it.

If you're paying attention, you'll realize that's three rather short descriptions, and you may be thinking "XT, don't you always say you run into issues with watching more than three series in a season?"  Well, yeah.  I do.  However, I only run into those issues because for whatever reason I put off watching things.  It's the same exact reason why my backlog got so huge and why I never realized, even though I knew the time requirements very well, that I could marathon something in my backlog either overnight or in a couple days depending on its length.

Anyway, the final series is Ore no Imouto.  I don't really feel like typing out the full title, but it's My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!  It's gotten a couple of my friends talking about various issues surrounding being an anime fan in a world that kind of looks down upon us, and while my story isn't as involved or screenshot-supported as theirs, I still feel like posting it.

I got into anime in high school, when my friends and I discovered it.  My friends and I were basically the people that hung out together because nobody else would hang out with us, and we didn't really know of any social stigma at the time, so we didn't even think about it.  We got in pretty much the same way everyone else did in America back then: mainstream shounen anime on Cartoon Network.  Basically, Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, Tenchi, and Outlaw Star.

Going off to college really only furthered our discovery of what was out there.  For a variety of reasons, one of my friends and I both left our respective colleges after one semester and came back to Charlottesville.  He discovered that UVa had a comics and animation club and that they welcomed non-student members, so we went to a meeting, and didn't stop coming back after that.

At this point you may realize that my group of high school friends basically all went their separate ways after graduating.  I kept in contact with a couple of them, but one drifted off.  Hell, I even lost the other for a while.  So for almost the entire past decade, the anime club at UVa has really been my only source of friends.  I do have friends outside the club, but most of my friends are anime club friends.

Funny thing about being a "townie" and having friends at a university: the age gap increases over time.  So basically, whenever I'm in a meeting or at any other activity taking place on grounds, I feel like "that creepy townie".  I'm basically the third oldest member of the club.  I feel especially awkward at the first meeting every fall semester, when we have the same meeting every single other club at UVa has: go around the room and introduce yourselves.  I generally always make sure to not be the first townie to introduce myself.

As far as social stigma goes, that's pretty much all gone for me at this point.  Almost.  There's a certain subsection of the club (who shall remain nameless) that continues to make fun of people's tastes (often behind their back, or unwittingly in their company as is the case with me) when they're not "normal", but for the most part, the majority of the club maintains a very open atmosphere that I'm comfortable with.