Late last night, Cubesy managed to catch up with our ‘good forum friend’ (GFF), iindigo.
For those of you who may not know, he is currently preparing to head off to university in Japan! Let’s see what he had to say.
Cubesy: First off, Welcome! Where are you right now, and what is the vibe like?
iindigo: I’m sitting in my house, which is located in southern West Virginia. It’s pretty quiet/calm since most people are already in bed.
Cubesy: Can you tell us a bit about your history with boxtorrents? How you found it? How long you’ve been a member?
iindigo: I don’t remember exactly how I found BoxTorrents, actually. I think it might have been when I was hunting down a copy of Cowboy Bebop. At any rate, I joined in June of 2005. I wasn’t terribly active to begin with, and to be honest actually forgot about it for a few months. Then, when I had the impulse to watch more anime, I knew where to come 😛
Cubesy: Of course! But why do you enjoy Boxtorrents and it’s community so much?
iindigo: I’d say I enjoy it because it’s a bit more nicely rounded than other communities. There’s a nice mix of all different types, with no real clustering of certain types of personalities. BxT seems to lack a toleration for noobs, too (note I said noobs, not newbs – there’s a difference), which I certainly appreciate – when visiting other anime communities, I often find myself bombarded by immature leetspeaking narutards and shounen nuts (no offense to naruto fans, but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about).
It also has a number of members who are quite sure (and often knowledgeable) of their opinions on things, which makes for some interesting discussions. All in all, while a few silly spats and dumb threads rear their heads on occasion, the BxT forums are usually a pretty cool place to hang out.
Cubesy: Indeed they are. Buckets of laughs and good times to be had!
So, rumor has it that you’re planning on attending university in Japan later this year. What on earth made you decide to do that?
iindigo: Well, it was a combination of things, really. Ever since I got a little deeper into anime and learned about its parent culture, I had wanted to visit Japan at some point in my life. I also knew that I needed to push myself through college pretty soon to get my life rolling. I forget exactly what triggered it, but one day I thought to myself, “What if I were to combine the two experiences into one?” If this was possible, I thought, it would allow me to hit two birds with one stone – I could experience Japan first-hand to a level that would be impossible in the duration of a normal vacation visit and earn the education that I needed in order to find a decent job at the same time.
BoxTorrents actually played a part in the decision. Curious if my crazy idea would work, I posted a thread about it on the BxT forums. Several members replied, all with helpful insight and opinions on the matter. In particular, Proin Drakenzol was helpful – without his suggestion of attending Temple University Japan, I would probably be enrolled in a local college instead now.
Cubesy: What are some of your biggest concerns with living in Japan? What have you been doing to prepare yourself for the change in lifestyle?
iindigo: I would say probably learning to live not only by myself (I’ve lived with my family up until now), but also living in a world where everything to viewpoints to food to economics is totally different. College life will also be different after being out of high school for two years. For preparation, I’m making efforts to learn the Japanese language.
It’s all a self-taught effort (and is actually similar to what’s being featured on the BxT blog), but even if I don’t manage to learn that much, I’ll be better off than I was when I started. On a more minor note, I’m sometimes eating meals with chopsticks in order to learn how to use them. Not really that difficult, but definitely a nice little skill to have when visiting any East-Asian country.
Cubesy: We wish you the best of luck as you prepare to embark on your voyage! Care to name a few of your favorite animes, and what you love about them?
iindigo: Hmm, let’s see… Ai Yori Aoshi, Cowboy Bebop, Eureka Seven, Full Metal Panic (all three), GiTS: SAC 1st and 2nd gigs, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Vision of Escaflowne, and the Key-Kyoani series (Air, Kanon, Clannad). For the most part, anime featuring clean lines, smooth animation, and interesting characters are the ones that catch my eye.
Cubesy: If an anime genie granted you 3 anime-related wishes, what would they be?
iindigo: The first one would be for Kyoani to produce more seasons for the remaining unadapted Full Metal Panic novels. Why? Because the first three were awesome and I want more. Second would be for anime producers to never again go “hollywood style” on a manga story and rewrite it for the show, partially or totally ignoring the source content. And third would be for a neverending anime series that never got boring and always had everyone eager to watch the next episode. Not the most exciting wishes in the world, but I think they’d be nice anyway.
Cubesy: Heh, I think everyone is still waiting for that “perfect” never-ending series. (Although it seems the “leetspeaking narutards“ have already found theirs… ;)) Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts with us iindigo. Any final words for the readers?
iindigo: Thanks! It was fun. Don’t youtube anime. It causes eye cancer. Srsly.
Cubesy: Words to live by. Thanks again, and take care!
iindigo: You too…