You know what: why is it that the one thing that makes you so interested in something, is the self-same thing that can make you so blasé?

I must admit, the reason that I delved into the Japanese world was not through love of the country, or its people, or its customs, though, believe you me, those things followed pretty sharpish. No, the thing that thrust me down this crazy, すばらしい path was actually the need to grasp a language made of symbols. That was it. I couldn’t get my head around how people could communicate without an alphabet. To say I’ve been studying languages all my life, this was a pretty naïve assumption to make. Anyhow, ‘we are where we are’ and now, like glitter on a child’s collage, I’m stuck fast to this world. Much like that glitter though, I keep finding bits everywhere I go, enticing me further and further, like a kid with candy, into this amazing place.

Yesterday, I was sifting through the web, as you do, emailing friends, logging into JapanSoc, making a nuisance of myself on Twitter etc. when I came across a site filled with anime stills. I can’t believe it, but I didn’t take down the site address, and it doesn’t seem to have saved to my history, but anyway, this site was packed full. As I was going along, I suddenly realised, like a ray of sun from up on high had parted the weather and spotted me exactly where I sat: anime is fantastic.

The first that I ever watched was Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) by, although he need no introduction, the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. Usually, I hate clichés for being hubristic, self-righteous misgivings, which, much like the odour of Manchester shipping canal, never seem to shift. However, with SA, if I said it was one of my most favourite films of all time, I would probably be doing it a massive disservice. I remember watching it for the first time, not really understanding the plot, but being mesmerised by the beautiful, incessant characters, the fabulous animation, and the emotions that it forced me to feel. From the naïve and greatly needed Chichiro, to the manipulative and enigmatic Zeniba, this film cast me into a world that I could not get enough of.

And so, with that, I think I managed to raid Love Film of its entire collection of anime. Piles and piles of them littered my front room. Hoards of postal workers grafted night and day to bring me skip loads of the stuff. Anyway, back in the real world, month after month, I would open the small, square package left in my post box to be greeted with yet another fabulous disc of happiness. I progressed happily from SA to Kiki’s Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便), and then onto more solid performances, such as Howl’s Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) , Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) [strictly this one is manga, but we'll let it fly..] and the fabulous Nausicaa (ナウシカ).

Thinking about it, I could probably have been done for anime addiction. Constantly shooting up on a dose of Miyazaki here, or Hideaki there, I was revelling from one to the other, looking furtively for the next, more tantalising hit.

But, much like any addiction, the glitter and sparkle that enthralled you to begin with, that held you fast in its gluey grip and sent you ever needing more; although it didn’t dissipate, it certainly receded a tad, and, the thing that made you so enamoured to begin with seems to be the self-same thing that creates the habitual. Instead of this beautiful country being something shiny and new, it has become something shiny and known(-ish). Instead of its language being locked and impassable, slowly the drawbridge is being lain down. And, instead of anime being a revelation, it is now just a feast for the eyes.

It’s a shame that the human spirit has to know. It’s a shame because you forget how it felt in the beginning. Unless of course, you come across an anime site full to bursting with all your favourite moments. The sparkle may have gone, but the glitter is certainly holding on.