Sorry, I never post in here but I saw myself quoted and some discussion about Toonami and anime and wanted to comment.
I've always been a very casual anime fan. Like several people my age, I saw a couple of the old Toonami classics in elementary and middle school (Gundam Wing, G Gundam, DBZ etc) and I liked a lot of it, I was 12, etc. but during my high school years I pretty much ignored anime completely. Not for any specific reason, I just was busy and interested with other things and never got around to it. It wasn't until my undergraduate that a new friend of mine strongly recommended shows like Full Metal Alchemist when I started to watch a couple of shows on my own again - including some of the classics I had missed at the time like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, and I got a bit more interested in anime in general.
But I'm still a very casual fan (I'm doing my graduate work now) and there's a TON I haven't seen that I want to. I'm slowly getting more into anime even more now thanks to this revived Toonami block as well as the fact that I now chat regularly with big anime watchers (talking near daily basis here, including Neogaffers like kayos90 and sometimes cosmicblizzard). I actually started a watch through of the first few episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's a show I already know quite a bit about just by references and discussions that show up from time to time. However, I still find that when I have free time by myself I'd often rather do something else than watch anime by myself. Having a scheduled block of shows once a week (most of which I haven't seen) actually works well for me + having a 'chatroom' available as I watch really adds a lot to the experience for me. I think it helps me stay interested in the shows. It's also fun to interact, rage, cry, and whatever in real-time.. I enjoy the 'live' nature of that thread
But in the end I'm still a very casual fan. One reason why I don't post in this thread is that It feels most of the talk in here about the currently running or more recent anime seasons and I'm still primarily watching the much older stuff I missed a long time ago. I'd feel out of place at this point. Also the fact that I'm still not very familiar with the anime scene, I just feel like I can't contribute or participate well in this thread. I have nothing against anime or fans of it or anything like a few of the comments in here seemed to imply.
Oh yes, and Episode 6 of Deadman Wonderland was special night for sure, haha.
