Yesterday while hanging out with friends in a game shop, I overheard someone who was probably 17 or 18 at the oldest say, “I know all the anime!” Then he mentioned Code Geass, and I didn’t really hear the rest.
I don’t know if he was putting on airs or actually believed he knew “all the anime,” but it made me remember an earlier time in my anime fandom, back when I was already familiar with internet forums but they still felt pretty new to me. There was a thread, I don’t remember what it was about, where I decided to list as many of the shows that I watched that I could remember. Eventually the list was large enough that I felt satisfied to post it, thinking it was a job well done. “I’ll show these guys just how much anime I’ve seen,” was probably my intention at the time. I distinctly remember listing Gundam Wing as “Gundam W,” and this was before W began airing on Cartoon Network. Just the idea that I could start listing shows and act like I had done more than scratch the surface of anime makes me realize how naive I was at the time.
Years later I signed up for a myanimelist.net account (check the second post on this blog), and tasking myself with jotting down all of the shows I’ve watched, I felt overwhelmed. Even with this very convenient website which remembers things for me, I lost the will to just record every show I watched.
So I don’t know who that kid is, but I hope he knows that if he truly wants to know “all the anime” that he has a long journey ahead of him.
OGIUE MANIAX 
Ah, but the point of “I KNOW ALL THE ANIME” is not to know the anime, but to say “I KNOW ALL THE ANIME”.
I know all the anime! Just ask me about one and I’ll pretend I watched that shit!
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Whenever people use the word “all”, you have to be suspicious. It is physically impossible to know all anime. It is not about the quantity of anime you watched, but about quality you gained watching it.
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I don’t think I watched that many anime. In fact, I probably watch less than most of the anime fans out there. So…what? No one cares if you watch that much anime.
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What is anime?
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Omo,
As I understand anime is straight from Japan, totally unexpected, and not kid stuff.
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Maybe that kid wanted to puff out for a girl or just for plain attention, but if I encounter him and he starts with Pokemon and Code Geass I’ll smack him one ^^U
I was also baffled at the amount of anime I watched. It surpasses with no effort the amount of Live Action (or western) programs, maybe I need to lay off it for a while.
….No way, too many shows to watch now ^^
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Further, there are a number of Japanese animation genres: action, sci-fi, comedy (I said with a chuckle), and martial arts. This material can be found on television as we speak, at all hours. To obtain “anime,” please loudly demand it on the Internet. Thank you.
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omo: I thought ADV put that question to rest years ago. :P
If you ever wanted to finish, it’s best to do it in chunks. By letters, for example. It was annoying to set up my MAL (and in another point, why do it in the first place?), but satisfying when I was done, and it helps organize things. :P
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