Nakama Britannica

Thinking up the topic for todays article wasn’t the hardest task in the world. All I had to do was look to my right and stare blankly at my shelves chock full of DVD’s. The question I propose to you in this article is “What is the purpose behind a collection? What do you get from it?” Granted it may seem a little bleak but let’s take a little look into it and see what we can find.

Now everyone that is reading this has some sort of collection, it doesn’t even have to be related to anime, but why? Obviously the first answer is that we like the show enough to buy it. But do we get anything else for the money? Other than just a product? I think we do. Now I know that everyone is different, but when you look at your collection there’s something else there.

When I look at my collection I like to think of it as an extension of my personality. I liked these shows enough to go and buy, or import them and they sit on my shelf all neat and tidy. If anyone else was to look at it they’ll be able to get a rough idea of what I do and don’t like. I would post some pictures but unfortunately my camera has decided to hide itself, instead i’ve posted various collections from a few minutes searching on the net. What can we tell about these complete strangers?

But it’s not just a sense of personality that you can find in your collection, there’s also a sense of pride. Anyone that has an out of print show or a limited edition tin that you just can’t get anymore will know this feeling. When you look at it and go “That’s mine, hardly anyone else in the world has this” it should make you feel that little bit better about spending all of that money on it (A point I’ll be coming to in a later article)

The internet is a wonderful thing when it comes to looking for these types of situations; I’ve provided some examples as you can see. But everyone is different. Some people have literally thousands of DVD’s all neatly ordered into a cabinet. Some have plush toys and action figures scattered around their homes. Others buy the DVD’s and throw them in the cupboard, never to be looked at again.

I realize this is a short article but there it’s something that requires more discussion and less reading. The point I’m trying to get across is that everyone is different and this difference shines through in collections. You can tell a number of things about a person by the way they keep their things and for some people it’s not just about that DVD or that collector’s tin, but the memories and feelings attached to it.

The easiest example for me to give would be my collection of Tenchi Muyo. I have every thing you can think of in relation to that franchise; Books, DVDs, Manga, CD’s, Posters, the lot. But it’s not just about being a huge fanboy for Tenchi. In hindsight when I think about all the stuff I’ve bought it really is just a bunch of DVD’s etc but it encompasses everything I love about Anime. Tenchi was the first show that got me into Anime, which in turn spurred my writing about Anime. Looking at it now it just reminds me why I spend this hard earned money on collections like these. To keep me entertained.

My point is this. Everyone has different emotions tied to their belongings. What’s yours?

Photos courtesy of Shelf Life @ ANN