Television has been my first media to watch films; cartoons, movies, or news. My common showtime would be 7pm on weekdays on TV3 channel for cartoons, 4:30pm on weekends on TV2 for Running Man, and then sitting in my grandma’s news time at 8pm. Sometimes, we (my uncle and I) would fight for the channel, especially the movie time at Friday’s night. I remember I would just sulk and give up on watching anything because he didn’t seem to notice that I was focused on the show.

When I reached my secondary school, I became more acquainted with my phone rather than the TV due to the accessibility and for peace. When my mom returned from abroad, she often asked why I am so into action films with male protagonists. It wasn’t until this year that I realised my TV shows watching time have influenced my preferences for film. 

Most of my TV shows and cartoons cater to boys in terms of action, adventure, and superhero fiction. I spent my childhood watching B-Daman, Beyblade, Bakugan, Supertots Supersquad, Ejen Ali, and Boboiboy. There’s also some seasons of Power Rangers, Super Sentai and Kamen Rider airing on TV2 and TV3 (I don’t have Astro). 

When I first watched the Kamen Rider Build on TV, all I could think about was the weird dubbing in Malay of Kamen Rider Build (2017). It was very obvious how the audio and the mouth movement of the actors/actresses are not in sync. The only thing that appeals to me is the common sacrificial habits of the main characters in the episodes. 

This fascination stemmed from my previous experience of watching TV, and this drew me to the characters that often seem undervalued or with hidden pasts. I’m not sure how to explain it but there was the satisfaction of revealing that the characters (that I like) are not as simple as the other characters thought. Looking back, most of my favourite characters are specifically the team leaders, the main characters, the oldest member of the group, or sometimes the timid and kind characters. 

Right now, I’m obsessed with Kamen Rider Ex-aid which was based on the theme of doctors and video games.  As a summary, the narrative tells the main character, Houjou Emu who was an intern paediatrician, somehow becoming a Kamen Rider doctor that cures ‘Game Disease’ that was created by a virus known as Bugster. His characters portray a cheerful and clumsy but determined man that wants to bring a smile to his patience, while also playing games. Nonetheless, this image makes him more mysterious as his backstory was the last to be revealed, and there were some plot twists which made it more interesting. 

This type of genre has become one of my favourite shows to watch as it was influenced by my childhood with TV shows. Either in animation, tokusatsu film or drama, I still seek out the same feeling of excitement albeit cringe moments. 

Fragments of Fanatic's Library

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