The Old School Otaku Lounge

Greetings, everybody!

I'm a 33 year old occasional Anime podcaster who is currently living in Hong Kong.

Like many of you, Starblazers, Astroboy and Battle of the Planets were gateways to the world of Anime. In around 1988, I saw a copy of "The Nine Lives of Fritz The Cat" for rent at the local video store. At eight years old, I was absolutely flabbergasted at the notion that cartoons could indeed be made solely for an adult audience. Whilst I was unable to see that aforementioned film for several years after my discovery, my search for other more "mature" cartoons persisted. I was absolutely intoxicated by the idea.

I discovered a few gems on this quest, such as "The Missing Link", an adult oriented French production by "Picha", which I was able to see on account of its tamer "M" rating. (An Australian rating, kind of similar to PG-13).

Needless to say, my discovery of Akira was met with immense jubilation. It was there and then, that I decided to soak up as many of these "Japanese cartoons" as possible.

My paltry $5 a week allowance meant two-plus months of hard saving to get my hands on ONE imported Manga UK video: Dominion Tank Police. 3x3 Eyes came soon after, followed by Fist of the North Star, Project A-ko, Lensman and more.

Unfortunately, I grew up in a country where "Better Homes & Gardens" was constantly number one in the ratings whilst "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" would air sporadically at about 1:00am. My Anime fandom was largely a solitary experience before the advent of the internet.

The proliferation of moe, and recent trends in Anime has really poisoned the joyful enthusiasm I have for anything "new" (despite the occasional gem), so the bulk of my attention is focused on what is now, "old school".

I have lived in Hong Kong for more or less my entire adult life; Hong Kong is a fantastic place for an old school Anime fan. I can literally make a Fist of the North Star joke at the local dentist (or anyone 30 or older), and they'll totally get it! There is also a great "retro-mall" filled TO THE BRIM with old, ridiculously obscure collectibles. Want an old Plawres Sanshiro handheld game made to look like a little arcade cabinet? They've got it!

It has been a long time since I've participated in any forums; especially Anime related. But the mission statement (and community) really appeals to me.

So, anyway, nice to meet you all and I hope to contribute more in the future!

Welcome Captain! I never really thought of Hong Kong as an anime paradise. It is nice to know that people over thirty are that much into anime. We will have to talk more about Hong Kong. It may be the place for me to retire!

Welcome aboard. I've really wanted to visit Hong Kong one day. The big issue I have right now is unless I get an extra push, if I'm going to fly all the way over to Asia, I figure I'm more interested to spend time in Japan, so I just do that. (and I don't usually have enough vacation to make a side trip to Hong Kong viable.

Have you looked into "Attack on Titan"? It's a currently running show that seems like it might be something you'd enjoy.

Hi everyone!

I am definitely enjoying Attack on Titan; And like what seems like much of the world, Hong Kong is in the grips of Titan Mania.

In fact, they turned the chief executive of Hong Kong into a titan during a recent protest!

Oh, that is funny!

So in Hong Kong, isn't most anime stuff unlicensed bootlegs? That's all I ever think of when it comes to Chinese countries. I had friends from Hong Kong in college, and they thought it was outrageous to pay full price for stuff like anime and video games when you can get an entire stack of bootleg discs for $10 HK dollars.

I have also heard that Australia had a pretty boring anime scene.

Welcome to the forum!

Hi Greg. Actually, what is commonly known as "Hong Kong bootlegs" are actually Malaysian! As the factories producing these bootlegs were most likely situated in Mainland China, a lot of them did make their way in Hong Kong. When I first moved to Hong Kong (1999), there were quite a few bootleg stores and piracy was pretty rampant. However, its virtually non-existent these days. Hong Kong authorities really stamped out piracy and bootlegging to a large degree. I haven't seen any bootlegs on store shelves since around 2004. However, last year when I visited Malaysia, the bootlegs are still everywhere.

Welcome, welcome! It's always great to see new faces around here! I totally feel you about having to save up money for anime in the past...I hoarded all my babysitting money as a kid to buy either official tapes from my local video store, or for blank VHS tapes to send away for fansubs. My mother thought I was crazy, and at one point I owned more VHS tapes than both of my parents combined!

Haha, oh man, the photo of the Attack on Titan protesters is awesome. It's also good to hear that Hong Kong is cracking down on bootlegs like that! I have noticed that with most bootlegs I see on eBay nowadays, even the ones from sellers in China look to be from Malaysia. I guess they still have a ways to go in catching up with the piracy laws, eh?

Welcome Captain! I've always wanted to visit Hong Kong someday, and glad to hear that the piracy is near non-existant!

Wow, so I wonder what it's like in Taiwan? Son May is (was?) a Taiwanese company, IIRC. Out of all Chinese-speaking countries, Taiwan has the best relationship with Japan, it seems. I'd hope that they have also cracked down on piracy.

Once my father was aghast at all the tapes in my room and complained that I was over-indulged and about how much money all those tapes must have cost. I told him that unlike 99% of (at the time) other teenagers, you actually see where my money was going.

Most of the other teens I knew had blown their money on booze or some other vice; In my room you saw where every dollar went!

In regards to Taiwan, I was there a month ago. I saw no real piracy or bootlegging in Taiwan at all; Most of the stuff seemed to be imported from Japan. I actually found Taiwan to be a great place to buy stuff because (for obviously political reasons) a lot of the items were "Made in Taiwan" and still relatively cheap yet of much higher quality than Mainland China.