Last week, I auctioned off my Tenchi Universe collection on eBay. I had mixed feelings about letting the series go. I hadn’t watched it for many years and it was just collecting dust. And it’s really not that great of a series…it’s very mediocre, only made interesting because of its characters. Its two best contributions, in my mind, were the addition of Kiyone (my first anime crush) and one great episode, “No Need for Memories,” which was a non-canonical (as was the entire series) dip into Tenchi’s past with his mother. Besides this…the show is pretty forgettable.
But…you see, Tenchi Universe is the series that made me into an anime fan. For sure, I’d seen a lot of anime as a child (particularly Speed Racer and Voltron) and I used to watch Digimon, even with the embarrassment that comes with viewing a “kid’s show” as a teenager. But it wasn’t until Tenchi Universe (I’d seen this series in its entirety before the OVAs) that I became gripped by an anime series to the point that I wanted to find out more about it and to seek other anime I might like.
But alas, it was time to let go.
I try to live my life according to how Christ lived His. One thing that He mentions is to live in the present, neither worrying about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34) or focusing on what’s happened in the past, as seen by His forgiveness of even the most disdained of sinners in Judea. Although a bunch of Tenchi DVDs are hardly a thing to worry about, they reflect a past that I occasionally want to forget – a past that sometimes contained hurt and wasted opportunities. I wouldn’t say that selling these DVDs is cathartic – I can’t go that far – but bit by bit, I’m letting go of physical objects as I let go of less tangible ones.
Forget the past. Live in today. Hope for tomorrow.
How about you? Have you let go of past items of which you had an emotional connection to? How did it feel?
I saw Tenchi Muyo and loved it, and watched Universe and was like “Meh.” I’m happy to own Muyo on DVD, but never bothered to buy Universe, as I found it to be far, far inferior to Muyo. Though the episodes where they were hopping through different worlds was kind of fun. I disagree that Kiyone being added was a good thing though. I never liked her. :p She was just “female Tenchi” but far less interesting.
I know your feelings about Kiyone – you mentioned them in a post once. And this is why I don’t like you! 😛
But come on…she looks cool, right? 😛
I was Tenchi crazed in high school and bought all the DVDs – the 13-ep OVA, Universe, Tokyo, the three movies, and the Pretty Sammy series and OVA. I even bought the manga as Viz released it. I eventually lost interest in all but the OVA and manga storyline, so I also ended up selling my Universe box set as well as the Tokyo one. I tend to hang onto my stuff unless I really don’t feel emotional attachment to it anymore, and the Tenchi DVDs finally reached that point. I stopped collecting the manga some time ago but I still have the OVA, the movies, and the Pretty Sammy episodes. One day I’ll go back and rewatch them – oh, and watch the 3rd OVA that finally came out after I had lost interest in Tenchi =P
All I have left now are the OVAs (including the third one) and a couple issues of the manga. As for Tenchi in Tokyo…goodness, I couldn’t even get myself to buy that, no matter how much I was into the Tenchi universe!
The third OVA is…beautifully animated. But…I can’t believe I had waited so long for THAT. 😛
I’m a semi-fan of Tenchi.
As for letting things go…I’m not good at that. I hold onto everything, forever. I’ve already decided my Pokemon card collection is never going anywhere, because I seriously tear up when I consider it, even though I only touch the things like once a year, just to flip through them. I DID manage to force myself to get rid of some of my old, intensely crappy writing pretty recently, and I intend to throw more away soon as well. I am proud of myself for that.
And just for the record, I still watch my Digimon quite often. I’m attached to it.
I think I’m more like you, regarding being a pack rat, than R86 (below).
As for Digimon…that’s something you NEVER have to apologize for. I seriously, SERIOUSLY consider the first season to be a fine, fine, fine piece of anime with very memorable characters.
I am the type to clear out the dead wood. Actually I seldom keep anime DVDs unless I’m sure I’m going to watch it again. Same thing with books unless I’m sure I’ll need them later. True, I have occasionally regretted it later — but only very rarely.
I don’t know anything about “Tenchi” or “Digimon,” but there are these “Saint Seiya” DVDs that I still have. Part with them? Oh heavens no. I need them … for … references. Yes, that’s it. References. Research. And stuff.
(What do you mean, “they’re dusty?”)
I think you have the right idea. I’ve always been a DVD junkie – I think over the past few years I’ve sold about half the DVDs I bought to clear room or because they contained scenes I didn’t want my children to possibly see.
I think Tenchi and Digimon precede your fandom. But they’re pretty important to many people. Some, like me, really got into anime through Cartoon Network’s Toonami cartoon block back around 2000, and later through Adult Swim. Some of series that were shown on those blocks in the early days were Tenchi Muyo, Card Captors (the English reworking of Cardcaptor Sakura), Outlaw Star, and Cowboy Bebop. Meanwhile, other stations showed anime more aimed at children, like Digimon and Pokemon.
Haha, well, if you’re going to rewatch shows…for research or otherwise…could be worth it to keep! I’m dumping anime that I’ll probably never watch again, or possibly just once more.
By dusty, I just meant they were on a shelf/in storage collecting dust.
Oops, my comment about “dusty” wasn’t aimed at you. It was aimed at an imaginary person who, on looking at my “Saint Seiya” DVD collection, said I couldn’t possibly be using them for “research” since they’re dusty. Sorry about that! 🙂
For now, I’m off to reread your “Fractale” thread, since I just watched the first two episodes. Boy am I ever confused. 😉
Hehe, woops…your comment makes more sense when I read it the way you mean it. 😛