Plans

Greetings,

So I thought I would start with some ideas of what I want to talk about on here.

To begin, I am currently interested in shows that fall into the more josei/seinen category right now, so a lot of the shows I want to analyze are currently in those genres. I really enjoyed the sincerity of Chihayafuru and loved how the show influenced me to support the "less-likely" male lead to get with the main character. I still think that the author Yuki Suetsugu could legitimately get the two together, but only once the currently "favored" male lead comes back into the picture so that the two can be on a level playing field, neither occupying a higher position than the other. Aside from that, I enjoyed the fact that the side characters were not one-dimensional and that the characters generally grow (though I hope for Chihaya to grow a bit more so that she is more sensitive to others and can see past her passion of karuta when necessary; I think this would really help her get into the correct mental state during her matches as well, for part of the game is mentality).

I currently am loving Kids on the Slope to a great degree, so I suppose my analysis/reviews may be biased, but humans are inherently biased anyway, so I will try to catch myself where I can. I suppose that the atmosphere is very refreshing to the normal anime viewer and the characters so genuine and realistic; yeah, Kaoru is a prideful and self-centered boy sometimes, but he has a very refreshing outlook on what he cares about and how he carries himself. He looks like a wimp to be blunt, but he has enough honor to do what he can to repay a favor and does not back down when put into a precarious situation. He may take a step back to look at the situation from another angle, but he always carries through with what is needed, even if it makes him look "bad" in the mean time. And of course, the music is amazing; it is interesting to think how music we find to be so classy nowadays was considered sordid pop music in the past; I think by 1966 the image of Jazz was cleaned up, but I doubt it was the most respected music at the time in Japan. I enjoy seeing a different time period that is still reasonably close, for it offers a mirror into the world that we see now in an older form. And of course, the show is quite fun as well; the characters have a great chemistry together that never feels forced.

And third, I will mention Space Brothers. This is probably the show that gets the least of my fervor but I still enjoy seeing it every week. It is a bit off-color so to speak, so it is a lot of fun. It is interesting for me because it has kind of a dry adult humor at times that I am not used to because its another culture and I suppose I am transitioning into adulthood as of now; technically, I am the same age as Mutta chronologically, as in I was born in 1993, haha; my only little brother was born in 1996, to add onto the parallels, but that is probably where it ends. (Let me just say I enjoyed being reminded of the Zidane headbutt in the 2006 World Cup though; from there ensued some amusing doctored youtube videos). I really enjoy the sense of wonder portrayed by the series; even in my young adulthood, I find myself forgetting the wonder of certain events in life, just like Mutta did, getting lost in the profane of the world. But we need to remember that what is fantastic in the world enriches our lives in different ways. For Mutta, it is the wonder of space. He feels that he must always lead Hibito as his older brother, a non-fantastical sentiment, but both are wrapped up in the wonder of space. Mutta allows himself to be too realistic and never go for his dreams, but that changes. He needs a little bit of the drive he had as a child to improve his life as an adult.

 Even so, I think any genre can have shows with deeper meanings, so I hope to write about anything that catches my interest. As such, I may look into analyzing The Legend of Korra as well at some point; thus far I am impressed by the factors that they have included in the show that connect to some of the sentiments behind socialism (ie who has the power and do they really have a right to that privillege; shouldn't everyone be equal, not with the benders as the ruling class and the non-benders as the subservient class) as well as the rise of industrialism and the world trapping itself in the iron cage, as can be seen with the Amon trying to end the magic of bending and the use of technology that can rival the power of bending. Sorry, that was a long sentence!

But anyway, to be clear, this is a blog about general animation as well; I do have a certain inclination to anime, but I am willing to look outside the box if something catches my eye. Maybe I will write something on Spiderman (2003) as a relic of its time that shows the risks that tv was still willing to make back then by showing an edgier Spiderman.

Now, Some Topics in Mind Currently Are:

-Taichi as "Coward" in Chihayafuru
-Role of Religion in Kids on the Slope
-Does Kids on the Slope Break Genre Conventions? (In regard to speed, romance)
-The Appeal of Space Brothers to an American Audience
-Why I Think Taichi Still Has a Chance, But Only When Arata Comes Back
-The Character of Republic City in The Legend of Korra


I hope these topics are of interest. I should be able to update a bit more in another 2 weeks, but I do have finals coming up, so I need to focus on those. I must work hard!

Bye for Now!

Introduction

Hello to any person who may be reading this. This may be sort of random, but I wanted to start a blog where I could intellectually discuss the shows that I am currently watching. As of late, I have found many shows that I have really enjoyed on a level that I have not experienced in a very long time. As such, I wanted to share my opinions about these shows in some form or another. I feel like a forum is not the exact place where I should put the analysis that I come up in many cases because it sometimes takes a while to think of these thoughts, well after the forums have moved on from the discussion.

Bear with me, for my analysis may be rough because I have not taken an English class in nearly a year, but I do really want to share my opinion and see if it can be of any use to someone else someday. I want to put out some analysis and see if I can impart some of my enjoyment and/or intrique onto someone else, hopefully helping them to notice something that enriches their experience of the show.