Hello hello! I’m Iskendaris and it’s lovely to meet you. In true anime fashion, I blushed when asked to join RandomC – someone pinch me, is this real? My heart went dokidoki like a shoujo protagonist under sakura flowers on the first day of spring. “Ah,” I thought, “this is the moment when senpai notices me!”

As the middle child of a large family, anime was one of the few things that bonded us siblings together. Souryuuden, Gundam Wing, Flame of Recca and other typical shounen series were our daily staple, I’d watch them with my older brother every day and we’d play-fight the best action scenes with armour made of blankets and pillows. Later when my younger sister was born, we got her right up to speed with Macross Plus, Ruroni Kenshin, Visions of Escaflowne and more.

3pm – 6pm was the sacred time slot that we all lived by. It didn’t matter if we were in the middle of a sibling quarrel; time stopped. We’d stop fighting and tune in to AXN anime.

As a kid, I was watching anime regularly, but so was everyone else. Anime is different in East/Southeast Asia, almost everyone watches it. It’s not a big deal to watch anime or read manga as long as you weren’t too deep into it. Trains regularly advertise Pokémon collaborations, and even my mother knows what Card Captor Sakura is.