It was at this this point that Raider3 resolves never to drop out of fandom again, making at least one convention outing a year from this point forward, and to get more involved in fandom.

This year also marks the 10th year of otakunization, as well as Raider3's first appearance on the “real” internet (As opposed to being on AOL, Prodigy Classic (RIP), GEnie, CompuServe, etc.) The Raider3 home page, initially started on Prodigy in early 1995, also makes an appearance. Raider3 joins IRC channel #anime! on EFnet, and uses the Raider3 name after a few early entries... (So that means I get to put the soul-hurt on any impostors, and I don't give a crap if there's no nickserv anymore... Face it, non-believers... I am Raider3, now and forever, cower before my might.. ^_^;)

Having got ahold of a flyer for another Bay Area anime club, Raider3 starts sporadically attending meetings of Foothill Anime from July 1995 onward. The above events, coinciding with his sister's graduating from CSU Fresno, her marriage, and moving to San Jose, establishes that city as Raider3's second home, as the second decade of Raider3 anime fandom kicks off...

1996 - Raider3 makes plans to attend Anime Expo '96, having started planning in mid-January of that year. This marks the first full attendance of an anime convention, as it was an organized “family&rdduo; effort, involving sister and brother-in-law (who had ulterior motives - there was also a sports con con going on in the same location) Prior to AX '96, Raider3 puts in an appearance at Fanime Con '96, back when it was a one-day event at Foothill College.

Anime Expo '96 set several firsts for Raider3 -- The first instance of a huge expenditure of funds on anime-related items, setting the precedent for spending budgets for future conventions, the first get-together with folks from #anime! EFnet, resulting in Raider3 getting significantly drinked. (but not as crazy as some individuals, including one Linus Lam, a.k.a. Kyousuke, who got pretty crazy without the need for grain-derived beverages...) Also, Raider3 learned of plans for organizing the first midwest anime convention, Anime Central, set to kick off in 1998.

(Raider3 obtained a certain bootleg item, which remains a part of his collection in his room to this very day. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. If you weren't there, you missed out. Ha-ha. ^_^;)

The Raider3 home page moves to anime.net, where it resides to this day. (Thanks once again to Goemon for letting me set up shop here. ^_^;) The addition of a second ISP for the Raider3 Organization provides the new direction for the end-of-year remake of the page, now known as the vision of raider3. Raider3 attends the end of semester marathon at Cal-Animage Alpha in Berkeley, CA, in November of that year.

1996 was also a year of some setbacks for Raider3, involving events involved in fandom that spilled over into his personal and professional life, ultimately culminating in his dismissal from his USPS job, and the beginning of a brief depression prior to and after.

Enough has been said about the events previously in this forum that it has been deemed unnecessary to go into further detail here. To quote Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam, “One does not wish to acknowledge them, the mistakes of one's youth...”

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