The story of how you become a Japanese comic/animation fan is usually 
boring.  But my life story has some bite.  Read about how I became the 
psycho you now know me as.  This was originally published on the DNR 
mailing list.

--HAYES

Subject: Re: life of HAYES
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 19:57:01 -0700
From: "Harold C.Hayes" <hayesman@webspan.net>
To: Daigakusei no Ranma series <DNR@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
References: <01I7DVV2G9KOB3KNAZ@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>

Hi there.  I am HAYES, an otaku, lover of manga and anime.
Manga(comics) moreso than Anime (animation), because comics are my chosen
profession.

My come-to-love-anime story is actually quite interesting.

It all started when I joined The BoyScouts of America, yes I'm a Boy
Scout.  Still am and I love it.  Camping, merit badges, hiking... I love
it.  Even today I follow the Boy Scout Law like a samurai follows his
bushido.  ( This keeps me out of trouble alot, but it also kind of sucks
because I can't get "La-Blue Girl" or "Elven Bride".)

ANYWAY!  It was when I was about fourteen when I went to summer camp and
encountered Dungeon & Dragons.  I was fancinated by it and was soon
hooked.  The following winter, I went to my first D&D con, Defcon.  I was
mainly there to buy some essentials; metal figure, D&D players handbook
and some other books, but While my dad left me there to run some errands,
I wandered into the Anime display section...

They were showing the episode of Ranma 1/2 where he fights Kuno after
getting splashed with cold water after turning a corner...
The subtitles were a little irritating at the time, but I became
intritrigued by the plot.  I love a good gender-bender.

I was soon calling up all my friends and asking them about "Ranma 1/2".
These was easy because I had only 2 friends: Chris and Ladd.  I would
tell you more about them, but frankly, those two wierdoes would be much
better as manga characters...
In short, Chris was an alternitive comic buff at the time.(later, he fell
into the wrong crowd; smoking, leather jackets, drugs, crime, vampires,
witches, etc... but thanks to me, he cleaned up eventually.)

Chris introduced me to Steve Conte, owner of a comic book store called
"Funny Books".  I work for him now, so heres a blatant plug:

Funny Books Comics and Stuff
98 N. Beverwick
Lk. Hiawatha; Parsippany New Jersey

Anyway, I went into the store and hunted down the Manga section, which
was really just a few comics on the BOTTOM (one centimeter from the
floor) shelf near the back of the store.  It was two issues of Ranma 1/2
and one NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #39, plus one other comic, I think it was "hit
the Beach" or something.  I instanly bought the two comics, Ranma 1/2
part 2 no. 9 and 11.  Then I looked at the NINJA HIGH SCHOOL, it was an
issue where the characters happen to be in hell at the time, "Whoa!, too
wierd for me, man!" I though as I put down the comic.  I picked up the
next one: the beach one or something.  The scene I opened to showed a man
at the beach in swim trunks looking listless.  Three girls came up to him
to cheer him up.  One attempted to do such by taking of her bikinni and
asking him to rub suntan oil all over her. "Whoa!!" I though as I quickly
threw the comic back where I found it and looked behind me to see if
Chris or Ladd were reading behind my back.  True, the scene was angled
such that the girl didn't show anything, but to a Young Boy Scout who has
never scene anything like that before then, It was quite a shock to the
system!
If I had though of it at the time, I would have told Steve that the comic
was for mature readers and it shouldn't have been in the reach of
children...

I  went home and read the comics in jubilation.  I must have read them
over thirty times that one day.  I started carrying a bookbag on my back
where ever I went with those comics in it.

The next day Chris, Ladd and I had a little sleepover party at Ladd's
house.  Yes, young men can have sleep-overs too!  We play video games,
watch action movies we rented.  Chris and Ladd were engrossed in "Romance
of the three Kingdoms" while I sat on the side and re-read my Ranma
comics.  I kept on extolling the meritts of the art and storytelling,
much to Chris and Ladd's irritation.  Eventually, Ladd got cabin fever
and got one of "brilliant" ideas. <- (that was sarcasim)

He decided to go outside in the freezing snow topped off by a sheet of
sleet.  He and Chris went outside to a near Ladd's house to a raised
ridge over looking a stream.  They dragged me along.  They stood on the
top of the narrow ridge and threw punches and snowballs at each other,
playing "Street Fighter II".  I was content to stay on the bottom of the
ridge and read Ranma while the other acted like twits.

Eventually, my fingers got numb, so I gently placed the comics on a sleet
of ice and walked up the ridge to demand that we go inside.  My request
was met by a snowball to the face by Chris.  At least he tried to hit me
but I dexteriosly doged it, with disasteruos results.  The snowball
missed me and hit my Ranma 1/2 part 2 N0.9!  The comic skidded twenty
feet on the coat of ice.  Chris and Ladd froze.  I calmly walked over,
and examined the damage: Out of the impact, the moisture, and the skid,
the only damage done was a two inch slash in the cover.  I calmly brushed
off the comic, placed it back on the ground, walked up the ridge, and
commenced beating the crap out of Chris and Ladd.

Now you may ask:
What happened to Chris and Ladd?
What ever happened to the manga section at Funny Books?
How did I stop Chris from becoming a vampire?
and
What does this have to do with DnR?

All Questions will be answered in
Re: life of Hayes2