I was hooked by the first episode, avidly awaited the second, and by the third I just could not wait any more! So I read the manga and I could. Not. Stop. Seriously.

Suffice to say that now, two months later, I am an Adachi Mitsuru fan and I’ve read almost all of his work. Cross Game, H2 and Katsu are now absolute favorites. Nine, Touch, and Rough are good too despite the oldness of the art.

I agree Adachi’s characters look alike but once you’re into the story you realize that Kou, Kunimi and Satoyama may look the same but they’re actually very different. Kudos to Adachi.

My advice for looking for someone to gush to about something you love, go to the forums.

As such, I don’t like to approach an anime with expectations or requirements if possible.

I actually think that’s one of the best ways to enjoy an anime for all its worth, but that we often forget / neglect. And yes, in the end, anime is one teeny portion of our lives, no need to fret when people don’t enjoy what we love. There’s more to life than anime! Though of course, anime makes it all the more colorful

I’ve been monitoring the anime blogosphere (I don’t know what else to call it :P) for a while now. And I was becoming fairly confused by what’s considered a “good anime” – some emphasize pacing and action, others character development, etc. Or in real life– shows that really captivated my attention (such as Planetes) would make my little sister literally fall asleep sitting up.

But like you were describing… it all comes down to individual personality and the tastes that come from that.

PSGels at Star Crossed blog has been looking at believability and characters in his reviews; watching people go through hard situations, realistic or fictional, and seeing them and the story evolve from that is something that really gets his attention. Calm slice-of-life has little appeal to him, unless you put the characters in a dangerous or hard situation. He enjoys watching the stories of people moving forward.

While others like Josh from Hop Step Jump! blog really – and I mean really loves the entire slice-of-life genre. Even if nothing is happening or changing, remembering the trials of high school life, or watching the relationship build between friends, or just laughing at the randomness of life, he enjoys it all. Aria, Hidamari Sketch, Lucky Star, K-on, etc. It is because of escapism or something else? I don’t know, but his passion for slice-of-life is what made me take interest in it too.

Of course, these aren’t absolutes. I admittedly don’t know these people well. And one of the few absolutes is that people are always changing. I was a little bit shocked to see PSGels love for Angelic Layer when wrote about it. But I agreed! Misaki’s just so dang cute! – and the choreography is awesome – how can you not root for her?

Or looking at myself… I guess I’m a tourist at heart? Lol, that is, I enjoy seeing everything and loving it just as it is, for what it is.

Eh, I’m just gonna rant:

* I love “thinker’s anime”- where the plot is not explained out like an open book, but encourages you to think about what’s happening and why- just like the characters themselves are- such as in Ergo Proxy or RahXephon.
* I also enjoy open-book cliche “shounen” like Bleach and Naruto and Hunter x Hunter. These shows can become surprisingly addicting.
* The “slapstick comedy” of Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu / “subtle character comedy” of Kanon ‘06 / “just everyday weird and funny” Azumanga Daioh.
* The “beautiful animation” of Girl Who Leapt Through Time, or the “ridiculous animation simplicity” of xxxHolic.
* The “lovable characters” in Nodame Cantabile, or the “everyone’s an idiot I want to slap but I love this show” of Gankutsuou.
* “For some reason, I feel more relaxed” mood of Aria or Fruits Basket, or the “Why is every episode a cliffhanger? How did a kid’s show turn so tense?” of Dennou Coil.
* The “there’s a plot?” story of Angelic Layer or Genshiken / The “so-over-the-top-and-cliche-that-it’s-cool” story of TTGL / The “good old fashioned adventure” story of Crest of the Stars / The “HOLY CRAP, that was some memorable story” of Monster.

Anime is so varied, I love it!

As such, I don’t like to approach an anime with expectations or requirements if possible.

For instance, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has outstanding ratings like it’s the ultimate-peak of anime. Then people watch and are like “that’s it? I expected more”. Little did they know, high ratings were because it was an all-around ‘just plain good‘ comedy that almost anyone could enjoy, not because it was epic. Watch TTGL or Vision of Escaflowne for that (personal opinion).

But… not everyone thinks like me. It’s doubtful I’ll ever convince my little brothers and sisters to enjoy a non-action anime. Conversely, I doubt I’ll ever find a show that my eldest brother doesn’t enjoy as much as I do.

What does it take to make a person enjoy the same show? Well it’s very hard to make people like something– people just don’t have the power to change other people’s minds and hearts that easily.

That’s why it’s usually better to just invite and beckon them, let them make the choice on their own.

If they like the same show, great. If not, still great, they’re still your friend and it shouldn’t change your enjoyment of the show. It really doesn’t matter as much as we *feel* it does.

At the risk of sounding “preachy”, I’ll say this… Whenever people see something potentially good (be it friendship, romance, money), they like to rush to it, think about it, worry about it; but if they understood it at all, they’d know that it’s not a goal unto itself. Truth is, you never have to fret.

Sharing something in common like anime is always good, but it’s not a goal unto itself. The truth is that your friend is still there, the anime is still there, your fangirlism is still there, everything is still more than fine. That’s the truth: even when we feel like sharing the gift of anime with our loved ones, that’s fine, but whatever happens it’s not worth fret. Living by what you know and not by what you feel is always a hard lesson, but worthwhile.

So don’t worry! I can’t say I have all the answers, but enjoy the anime, feel free to share it, feel free to invite others to enjoy, but no expectations about acceptance (it also shouldn’t have anything to do with their acceptance of you– usually when I invite people to watch, I feel like it’s more like I want them to approve of me and my tastes, than the show itself– but I’m working on that! :D).

Anime is great, but it’s not a great matter. Having something special like an anime in common with a friend is great, but it’s not a great matter. Just live your present life to the fullest while walking forward to the future. Besides, almost everyone here approves of you and shares your anime passion, or we wouldn’t be commenting.

I hope there will be a second season though, there’s a lot of material to cover, especially once they get further into the actual baseball material.

Edit: Wow, I missed your post dizzcity. That is a fantastic insight, which I’m inclined to agree. I’m 21 now, not as young as I was (or like to think I am), so the fact that I like this show means that I fall right into your demographic description. =]