The buzz over some Japanese film called "Spirited Away" zipped through movie news magazines and flitted across talk show lips during the winter of 2002 and 2003.

Critics said things like: "It's a rip-roaring whimsical adventure!" and "You've never seen anything like it!" The movie-man himself Roger Ebert thumbed "Spirited" up the wazoo, giving it the No. 8 spot on his top 10 best films of the year.

Then the 2001 film from writer and director Hayao Miyazaki went and did the one thing to seal its fate on my list of films to rent: It won an Oscar.

So I rented it. I watched it. I swore off anime film forever.

"Spirited Away" was one of the most terrifying, disturbing and upsetting films I have ever seen. For someone whose favorite Disney flick has been "Lady and the Tramp" since age 4, Miyazaki's world of ghosts, witches, giant babies and masked monsters was like tapping into a nightmare - only one scarier and trippier than any bad dream I've ever had.

The film's heroine is a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro. She stumbles into a dreamlike universe where she must remain until she can free her parents from a magic spell that turned them into gluttonous pigs doomed to the chopping block. Chihiro befriends a ghost-boy and lands a job in a bathhouse for Japanese gods while she works on breaking the curse on her parents.

It's supposed to be a story about growing up and finding ourselves. Maybe I was too distracted by a certain scene - in which a giant bagpipe-shaped monster with the consistency of a pouch of pudding terrorizes the bathhouse by gobbling up everything in sight - to really get the film's heart-felt message.

I had no intention of ever watching anime film again. Little did I know, I'd be diving into it head first a year and a half later.

In preparing to review the film "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence," which arrived in theaters this month, I gritted my teeth, hunkered down and exposed myself to the anime cult classic, "Ghost in the Shell."

In a complete turnaround from my previous experience, I found the film edgy and enlightening.

The film is best described as a "Matrix"-type story where characters can unplug, hack in and shoot at each other a lot.

It made me feel squirmy and disconnected, much like "Spirited Away," but it also made more sense on a very basic plot level. At least I had an inkling of what characters were attempting to accomplish from scene to scene.

By the time I saw "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence," I was no seasoned anime pro, but at least I had a mild appreciation for the genre. "Innocence" enhanced that appreciation even further.

Many of us discount anime based on a single experience, like I did. What many anime-haters don't understand is that Japanese animation is a medium, not a genre. There are different types of it, from fantasy to thriller, educational to science fiction.

There's "shoujo" anime for girls, "shounen" anime for boys. There's "mecha" with giant robots, "progressive" art film forms and even "ecchi" anime that delves into the erotica.

Whatever your tastes, there's an anime film, TV series or video production that might appeal to you.

As part of my anime research, I attended a meeting of MSU's anime club, Animosity. There I met members who were so immersed in anime culture, they dressed in headbands to match characters from their favorite shows. Some even created and drew their own characters.

But I also met fans who simply enjoyed the colors, the music and the stories in anime productions. They were people who had taken an interest in the stories. They enjoyed anime the same way you might casually enjoy "The Simpsons."

We try and label anime either as some type of cultist underground phenomena or a style of imported cartoons for children.

I say it's neither, but at the same time, it's all of that. It's just a matter of diving in and finding the stuff that appeals to you.

Maggie Bernardi is the State News film reporter. Reach her at bernar41@msu.edu.