About

About Me

Hello, internet!

My name is Sejin. Well, really, that’s my “internet name”.  At this point in time it’s the name I’ll be using to blog, although there’s always the possibility that will change in the future.

I love understanding things. I enjoy making sense out of things that are confusing or complex. I enjoy thinking about why. Why do things happen? Why do people do things the way they do them? What makes people tick? I’m really interested in psychology, and am particularly drawn to the fields of humanistic psychology (especially the thoughts and ideas of Carl Rogers) and positive psychology. I try hard not to make assumptions or snap judgments about people, and to be receptive and open to things.

I love seeing people grow. I think it’s important for people to be empowered through knowledge and understanding so they can make informed decisions, become their best selves, and get what they want out of life. I suppose, then, that it should come as no surprise that so many of my favorite anime and characters fall under this umbrella of self-aware growth and understanding.

I have a burgeoning interest in health in the fullest, most inclusive sense of the word. This was sparked by my interest in taijiquan (more commonly known as tai chi). I would love to write about those things as well, but I don’t believe I am knowledgeable or competent enough yet to do so. My goal is to work as a dietician, adding some elements of physical health onto that practice. For such things, I think it’s essential that a person be able to practice what they preach. So, I’m continually trying to improve my own health through lifestyle changes.

Unrelated to health, I’ve been interested in martial arts for a long, long time. When I was a kid I used to take karate lessons, and I loved Bruce Lee. My current interest in martial arts is centered around the internal arts (neijia), which include the martial arts taijiquan (AKA tai chi (chuan)), baguazhang (AKA pa kua chang), and xingyiquan (AKA hsing i chuan), as well as the more general practice of qigong (AKA chi kung). Currently, I only practice taijiquan and a little bit of qigong, but I’d like to learn the other two internal martial arts, particularly baguazhang. I also think it would be really fun to learn some external martial arts like kung fu and capoeira.

Another area of interest to me is music, both listening to and playing it. I play the guitar, although I’m not very good. I’d also really like to learn to play the piano, and maybe drums. Most of the music I listen to is Japanese rock and pop. I also listen to a little metal, and even less American rock. Some of my favorite bands/musicians are Machinae Supremacy (primarily their older music, up through Redeemer), Incubus (again, primarily their older music, up through “A Crow Left of the Murder…”; I also like some of what I’ve heard from their “Monuments and Melodies” album), Kalafina (I also really enjoy what I’ve heard of Yuki Kajiura’s compositional music), The Black Mages, Fire in the Eyes of the City, and Younha. I also adore the music from the anime Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, and would die out of sheer ecstasy if Beck was a real band.

I have a passing interest in video games as well, which is much more minor than it used to be. I primarily play Japanese RPGs (I grew up with Pokemon), and I sometimes play fighting or racing games with friends, but that’s it for the most part.

If you’re curious about what anime I have or haven’t seen, you can check out my profile on MyAnimeList. A couple animated shows that technically aren’t anime (and thus are not listed on MAL) that I’ve seen are Teen Titans (the 2003-2006 cartoon, not the more recent comedy spin-off called Teen Titans Go!) and Avatar: The Last Airbender. I really enjoy the Teen Titans cartoon, and I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s one of my favorite animated shows. I’m planning on watching Avatar: The Legend of Korra, but I’m waiting to do so until I’ve read the comics that cover the time-span between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. I’ve read the first two comics (The Promise and The Search) and I believe the last comic is currently being created.

I recently started a Tumblr blog as an extension of this one, as I’ve noticed that the format there allows for a wider variety of posts, which I think can work well as a less formal, more off-the-cuff supplement to this blog. Some of the things I post there may appear here later on as parts of more thorough or fleshed-out pieces, but for the most part I plan to keep the content separate, because doing otherwise and posting the same things on both blogs feels very redundant to me.

If there’s anything you’d like to know about me, feel free to ask. If it’s not too personal, I’ll respond. 🙂

 

About the Blog

I figure I should talk a little bit about my intentions for this blog, so as to avoid unnecessary confusion or uncertainty about how I do things and why I do them that way.

As a result of following other peoples’ discussions and analyses of anime over the past couple of years, I gradually developed an interest in being able to do the same thing. I began to realize that there was a layer of depth and intricacy underneath the surface of many anime that I had not explored, and couldn’t perceive, that could add a whole new level of enjoyment and appreciation to what I already loved, in addition to enhancing my enjoyment and appreciation of what I encounter in the future. Thus, I don’t have any intention of being judgmental or critical in a harsh or strict way. Rather, I try to approach thinking about anime with an attentive mindset that lends itself to thoughtful observations and analyses. The key word here is “try”, as I’m still very much a novice among novices at looking more thoughtfully at anime and other things. So, I chose the title of this blog to reflect both my mindset and my inexperience.

I didn’t really have a place where I felt like I could post my own thoughts and observations about anime and other, related things at great length and actually get much of a response that will elicit good discussions on a larger scale than private messaging, so I decided to start this blog. In this spirit, I welcome and encourage feedback and responses of all kinds, even if you don’t feel like you have a lot to say. 🙂

The posts I make on this blog will primarily be about anime, and will be in a number of different formats as I see fit. I intend to write reviews, editorials, and analyses, and make other posts that don’t fit neatly into those categories. I intend to post what I want, when I want, without making myself keep to any kind of schedule. This blog is purely for enjoyment, so I don’t want to hinder that enjoyment with arbitrary restrictions. Also, I don’t usually watch currently airing shows, so there probably won’t be anything of an episodic nature unless otherwise specified.

Because of how WordPress works, only new content in the form of posts appears on the front page of the blog. Because of how I decided to organize this blog, much of the content is in the form of pages, which do not appear on the front page of the blog when added. As a result, when I add content in the form of pages, I will post an update in the form of a post, which will appear on the front page. I may decide to do this every time I add or update a page, or it may only be when there’s been a more significant amount added. At this point I think I’ll just play it by ear and make an update post when it seems most appropriate.

The only part of this blog that will always be spoiler-free is the reviews. For everything else, expect spoilers, as things like analyses and editorials don’t lend themselves very well to being spoiler-free. I realize that many people probably won’t read this page, so I will also indicate when there will be spoilers in the posts themselves. I will probably write a lot of reviews initially, as I think they will be good practice for me, not only for organizing my thoughts and putting them into words, but also for being an attentive viewer and learning to perceive things as they’re happening on-screen.

In addition to being new to thinking about anime, this is the first time I’ve tried to blog. As such, even though I have some ideas about how I want to organize this site, it will happen gradually as I add content and see how it all pans out. The organization of this blog is subject to change as I see fit, although I can promise I will try to make things easy to find. I’m a stickler for clarity, accuracy, and specificity, so I think that helps.

 

Well, I think that’s about it for now. This is very exciting for me and I’m really looking forward to seeing where it goes! I hope I can have some wonderful interactions with people and that you, in turn, get something worthwhile out of this blog! ^_^

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