[Ryzorian]

Lets see. For me it was a series of things. I remember watching Shogun as a kid and thinking it was interesting. I have a great Uncle who flew bombers dureing the war, he wouldn't talk much about it, but what little he did say also intrigued me.

Course you have the Anime part, I actually understood them as far as plot and emotional reference. Though for the first few years I thought they never had a happy ending.

I was also amused by how Americans tend to be portrayed on anime, we aren't all crazy, the midwest is pretty dull compared to say New York. Plus my mom's cousin had a son marry a Japanese girl and now lives in Japan...so I guess I have "relatives" In Japan now.

So it's basically an interest from a combination of things.