It’s not always the stories you expect that enchant you. Often it’s the ones you weren’t sure about until after you gave them a shot that become nearest and dearest to your heart.

When I first heard about Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, I was confused. I didn’t even plan on watching it. I didn’t start until eight episodes into the first season, and now I love it.

I was skeptical of Ano Natsu de Matteru. I didn’t expect it would become one of my favorite romance anime of all time.

I wasn’t sure about Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, even after I picked it up for blogging at Random Curiosity, and when I found out it was 2-cour, I got worried. Then I started watching it, and the story profoundly resonated with me. I wish I could have had two more cours.

Those are just anime examples. If I went into books, movies, comics, TV shows, songs, plays, and every other form of scripted fiction I’ve ever consumed, more often than not it isn’t the ones I expected that ended up changing me.

We humans are bad at understanding what we truly like, and are even worse at anticipating how a story will turn out before it begins. Big surprise, I know.

When in doubt, give a story a chance. It may be the one that changes you forever.