How has anime effected you life?

On the surface it's possible that it's sort of closed me off (for lack of a better way to say it right now) more than other loves/hobbies etc. would but at the same time it has pushed me to try new things and try to become more open of a person (realizes the almost ironical hypocriticalness of that).

It helped me make a couple friends here and there and inspired some of my art styles. Its also the cause of my unhealthy practice of shipping...

Anime is what got me interested in becoming a voice actor actually. While I wouldn't mind doing a variety of voice over work, I've always loved the idea of voicing an anime character, and going to conventions to find people raving about an anime I got to be a part of

well. I didn't have a lot in common with other people my age, I was really smart at a young age (I was reading stephen king and other such novels while other kids my age were on stuff like the magic treehouse and whatnot) So I kept my nose in books and manga pretty much throughout my school life. It was just so good to escape being picked on and bullied by coming home and watching all my favorite characters have adventures.