My anime:
I grew up watching Astro Boy on t.v. after school. When I was 8 or so my friend's parents rented Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, we watched it like 4 times in a row. When I was 25 I watched Evangelion.
After watching Eva I saw Princess Mononoke in a cheap theatre a block from my apartment. Seeing that amazing film I decided to find all of it's creator's work.
When I discovered the creator's first film (for the second time). I was delighted to find that the amazing movie experience of my childhood was in fact created by my new Japanese hero, Miyazaki. Not only that, I discovered that Hidiaki Anno the creator of Evangelion had gotten his very first animation job making one of the most memorable parts of that film.
Evangelion was the first and is the most amazing anime series that I have ever seen. It was created the year I graduated from high school and it's first episode aired on October 4th, my birthday.
As a Christian person watching Evangelion, a show with so much religious iconography, that is about a boy learning to make decisions as a man, that was released the year I graduated from high school; it had a huge effect on me. Ever since then I have been interested in creative Japan and it's animation.

My life:
I'm a born-again Christian. I grew up in a Christian home, went to a Christian school and my family is predominantly Christian on both sides. Up until I graduated from high school I could practically count the number of non-Christian friends that I had ever had on one hand. Despite such an enclosed "Christian" lifestyle I can honestly say that I had never truly met God until I was 16 years old. At that time I decided to make a choice. A choice that was apart from the external influences I had around me. It was real, and amazing! Jesus is now the core component of my life and His opinion of love supersedes everything that I experience. It is profoundly cool, and it is my amazing life!

-that's me and my new niece. Cheers and God bless you!