It’s my Bloggaversary! A thank you to Star Trek and the fan series Star Trek Continues.

 

One year ago, on this very day, I wrote my first post for Exploring The World of Anime and Manga. I’ve come a long way since then and it’s really incredible what can be accomplished in a single year. I never would have imagined it would be this awesome!

This post is mostly going to be me talking about Star Trek and my journey after discovering it, because when you get down to it, this franchise is the reason I’m writing this post today and, well, I want to talk about it.

I once read a magazine that said Star Trek was the ultimate stepping off point. It was a place of discovery that could lead off in so many directions and opened so many doorways. People could discover Star Trek long before they ever ventured into the mines of Moria, Saw what a Deathstar could do, walked into a wardrobe or traveled in a Tardis and then be ever the more prepared for all of these adventures yet to come in these countless other worlds that are part of the magic of Fantasy and Science fiction.

I know my family owns this magazine, but after having looked at five separate magazines dedicated to Star Trek i still haven’t found this article. The ideas it conveyed, the idea that Star Trek had a huge part in my life regarding the amount of media i enjoy, really struck a chord with me. Its amazing world and colorful characters prepared me for the fantastic and unbelievable and I have delved more deeply into the world of science fiction and fantasy more then I think I would have if it did not exist.

I’ve heard of others saying the same thing. Star Trek can lead in many directions beyond sci-fi, from the original series and next gens penchant for classic novels, poetry, history and mythology to Star Trek Enterprises 30’s and 40’s movie references. It definitely helped spur me in all of these directions and made me seek these out. What I never expected was for it to lead to me discovering and exploring anime.

Strangely enough, I can thank football for introducing me to Star Trek, since this commercial was my introduction.

This spurred my parents into renting the original six movies and they were good, but I wasn’t totally down the rabbit hole until i watched my first episode of the original series, episode 14 The Galileo Seven. Incidentally, if you like big bang theory, you might know this was also Sheldons first episode too. Kind of funny.

I’ve watched countless episodes and read countless books and I still haven’t seen all of Star Trek, but it is my greatest love when it comes to fandom. So how did this lead to anime and manga?

If you happened to read my Blogger Recognition award post back at the beginning of March then you know I attribute my foray into anime and the creation of my blog to the fan series Star Trek Continues, due to the fact that it stars the American voice actor Vic Mignonia who I was able to meet.

Continues is the best, without a doubt, fan series I have ever seen. It stars great actors, writing, incredible sets and amazing music. I was, along with the rest of my family, enamored by this series. When we saw that the actor who played Captain Kirk in this series, Vic, was attending a comic con near us, we were super excited and were all set to meet him.

I remember approaching Vic’s table at the con, which took a few minutes because the line to get to him was somewhat long. It was so cool getting to meet someone that portrayed the character of Captain Kirk so well and yet was neither William Shatner nor trying to play Shatner’s version of Kirk.

He was so awesome and such a nice guy, but I will never forget the way he reacted when we explain why wanted to meet him. We told him we were fans of Star Trek and thus Star Trek Continues. He lit up like Christmas, because we weren’t just his fans, we were people that loved the same thing he did, something that he was truly passionate about, we were fans of Star Trek, his first love just like ours.

After meeting him we went to his panel, where we got to hear him talk about so many things. His childhood, Star Trek and of course, mainly, Anime. After hearing him talk about all these things with the same energy and fervor in front of a crowd, I wanted to check out some of the things he had talked about. Especially Ouran High School Host Club, which he discussed in depth during his panel. He mentioned how he had wanted to play Tamaki, long before he knew he would ever be given the role and how it was horrible, waiting to find out if he had gotten the role.

I was curious to see what this person who lived Star Trek as much if not more then me found in anime. I wanted to see this new world that he was a part of. I did it with such gusto that I started my blog within a month of meeting Vic Mignonia. I watched Ouran High School Host Club and countless other shows I found on youtube over the summer and then I found other sites for viewing like crunchy roll and some not so legal ones.

While I did start watching an anime before I met Vic I was no where near as excited to do so until after I had. I probably wouldn’t have blogged about anime until years later, if ever.

I have come so far in a single year with this blog, with 110 posts, 124 followers and so many new friends. I have bettered my writing and joined a community that I enjoy being a part of. I’ve also explored so many new worlds and places and getting to write about them all has helped me appreciate them all the more.

I want to thank every single one of you for supporting me and accepting me! While this post kind of turned into a platform for me to gush about Star Trek, let me also turn it into a platform where I can gush about you!

I appreciate every single like, comment and view! I appreciate the content that so many of you put out that helps to inspire my own! I love all the conversations we’ve had and all the points we’ve probably agreed or disagreed about! Thanks for all the recommendations! Thanks for all the love and support! Thanks for being yourselves, so I can be myself!

I love blogging and I love this community and I hope to continue to be a part of it for a long time to come. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon and if I seem to dispear, hopefully I’m right around the corner longing to jump back in.

Soon I hope to be posting a review for Star Trek Continues. I’ve finally finished the series and I want to talk about it some more. If your interested in reading about it, be sure to come back.

I almost got to meet Todd Haberkorn, another voice actor and the actor who Portrays Spock on Continues, but alas he ended up catching a cold or something, but I have now seen Christopher Sabat the American actor who plays Alex Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist and All Might from My Hero Acadamia. It’s fun meeting these people and I can because of Continues, since I’m a closet fan in my family. Hopefully this will soon change.

Thanks for one awesome year of Anime Blogging!

Until next time!