Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Day 02

[komadori]

Day 2

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This... is hard! To be honest, there are so many creative works that have changed my life in some positive way. I could list so many! In fact, that is what draws me to storytelling in the first place. I am an English major because I believe in the power of stories and creativity to change minds and hearts. It may sound silly, but I'm going to talk about Digimon now.

Digimon was my second anime ever. While Pokemon was my beloved first anime, my love for Digimon eventually eclipsed it. I watched the first episode of Digimon Adventure sometime in early fall 1999. At first, I watched the show because I wanted to make fun of it since I was one of those kids going around calling it a Pokemon rip-off. Eventually, I became engrossed in the characters and the fight between good versus evil. I remember being so excited when I heard about the 8th child, and I wondered how she would join the DigiDestined. I was delighted to find out that there were people online who shared my enthusiasm. Suddenly, it didn't matter that I only had one real life friend to talk to about these fantastic worlds. When the first season finale rolled around, I felt a pang of sadness as the kids had to say goodbye to their Digimon. Like the Chronicles of Narnia, this story told of ordinary children going on adventures in another world, so it helped cement my interest in fantasy. Unlike Pokemon, the battles were about saving the world rather than defeating Team Rocket or collecting gym badges. I still have a fond love for both Digimon and Pokemon, but when I think of happiness in my childhood, Digimon sticks out in my memory just a little bit more. I think it's because I was more involved in the Digimon online fandom.

Digimon was the first series where I really felt like I could relate to the characters and watch their growth. I know that the first fanfic I ever read *had* to be Pokemon, but I remember the Digimon fics a little more strongly. The first fic I ever posted on FF.Net was for Digimon, and you can still find that sadly abandoned story today if you know where to look. Digimon 02 rolled around, and as the season progressed, I fell completely in love with Ichijouji Ken. I loved his journey from villain to hero because it was the first time I had ever really appreciated a character's motivations and backstory. Before the season was done, I had joined Digimon Lab and started posting on my very first forum. I also loved to frequent LELOLA and Megchan's Digimon Sekai for the latest news from Japan. This obsession led me deeper into the world of anime and fandom, and it is part of the reason that I always want to return to fandom.

I watched (and loved) Digimon religiously until the end of Tamers. I started watching Frontier with hope, but the schedule changes (ie. the demise of Fox Kids) and the new season itself helped to quash my interest. I've seen the beginning and end of Frontier, but there are parts in the middle that I have never seen. I've watched only a handful of episodes from the later seasons. I grew up on the first three seasons, though. Thus, sixteen years later (thank God this has nothing to do with the Digimon Adventure 02 25 years later epilogue that so annoyed me as a child), I got out of my upper division English class, went to Downtown Disney, and watched the dub premiere of Digimon Adventure Tri. I was thrilled about the reunion of the dub cast, too. ;)

I don't know when I'll plan a full re-watch of the first three seasons of Digimon or how I would react to them so many years later, but the nostalgia is strong with this fandom. It will always have a special place in my heart, and I will always turn to the Japanese opening themes when I want to feel pumped up and motivated like a child again.