Why my hair used to look stupid

At 18–19, he obsessively replaced English with Japanese media, devices, friendships, and ambitions to become Japanese. Anime- and visual-kei-inspired spiky hair took over an hour daily; wind anxiety now makes the style seem ridiculous. A decade later, living in Japan fulfilled his dream; he rejects the former identity and excitedly tests a laser pen.

His trajectory moves from idealized cultural self-reinvention to self-aware distance after achieving Japan.