Just Browsing

I’ve started browsing through the 1^st episodes of Fall Anime Season 2010 series I just got hold of and has piqued my interest, trying to decide which series I will follow this season.

Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai or Oreimo. I’ve been looking forward to this series since they announced it last season. The title is roughly translated as My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute. (Here’s the wiki for the series.)

Sounds a little creepy, but lots of fun. This is one series I’m definitely going to follow.

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge. I watched the first season in spring. The first season was so funny and I just love the voice actor for Kou, Hiroshi Kamiya, who also did the voice of Nozomu Itoshiki in the Sayonara, Zetsubuo-Sensei series, another series I enjoyed very much. Since I enjoyed the first season, I’ll definitely watch the second season too. I really enjoyed the first season until the last episode where the lovers got a little too sappy for my taste.

Panty Stocking With Garterbelt. Although the synopsis of the series is quite interesting, i’m not generally attracted to action anime. I’m also not drawn to the anime’s art so I probably wont be waiting for the second episode.

I’ve still got lots of first episodes I want to watch. So many anime, so little time!

When A Season Ends

Summer anime season 2010 has just ended, along with 2 series that I have been faithfully following: Kaicho wa Maid Sama! (Maid Sama! in Northern America) and Occult Academy.

Maid Sama! is a light romantic comedy. Except for the introduction of a possible love triangle towards the end of the series, there are really no complicated plot twists here. It's simple and entertaining with many funny and interesting characters. I find these types of anime quite relaxing, where I only have to watch without having to think.

Occult Academy is a bit different. It's about a high school girl who inherits a high school from her dead father. She hates the school (mainly because her father spent more time with the school than with the family) and wants to destroy the school. She then meets a time traveler from the future who came back in time to save the world from destruction. Although the series is filled with occult stuff, from fighting legendary monsters to summoning spirits, there's nothing heavy or dark about the art or the storyline of the series. It's actually quite light and entertaining until you reach the last two episodes and an unexpected twist in the story is revealed.

As the summer anime season 2010 ends, i'm looking forward to the fall anime season 2010. The line-up looks good with lots of variety for different demographics. Based on the synopsis and art, I think i'll be following around 4-6 anime series this season. Let's see. I tend to watch all the first episodes but end up following just a handful. But the new season looks promising.

Of Ultra Maniac And Anime Overload

Ultra Maniac is an anime that I’ve watched over and over. It’s one of those series that do not require you to think so whenever I have an “anime overload,” this is one of those series that can help me relax.

I’ve just finished watching Death Note so I wanted something cute and shallow to refresh my mind. It’s time for another round of Ultra Maniac.

Aside from Ultra Maniac, there are some pick-me-uppers that I love to watch whenever I feel overloaded. Among my favorites are Lovely Complex and Ouran High School Host Club. I try to steer clear of serious or thought-provoking series (such as Death Note) and those that I feel are too “emotional” (Honey and Clover made me cry at several points in both seasons).

For a quick fix, I watch Episode 10 of Nodame Cantabile (first season) and listen to S Orchestra’s rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. I then skip to Episode 12 to listen to Nodame and Chiaki’s duet of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2.

Is it weird to get tired from doing what you love? Take note: I’m tired FROM watching animes, NOT tired OF watching animes. For me who tends to get compulsive and a bit obsessive, it can sometimes get mentally draining.

Top maintain my sanity (if I am still indeed sane), moderation is the key. Moderation and variety.

Death Note: What Makes a Villain?

The Death Note anime really made me think: What makes a hero and what makes a villain?

The story is revolves around Light Yagami, a young genius who gets hold of a Death Note and starts living a double life. His other persona, hiddenfrom the public, is Kira – an entity killing off criminals. That’s basically murder, right? But crime rates drastically go down, making the world more livable for the majority and so Kira gains many supporters.

Another main character is L, another young genius who is bent on upholding the law and on finding and punishing Kira.

Here comes the dilemma. Light/Kira’s murder spree has definitely helped law-abiding citizens and one could really understand why people would support him. He does have a selfish goal though: to create a perfect world and rule it as god.

L, on the other hand, is not squeaky clean either. He is a ruthless detective willing to sacrifice lives just to get to Kira. And if L indeed stops Kira, crime rates will again rise.

Whichever character you root for, you know it wont come to a “good” end. So which character is the hero and which one is the villain?

I was actually attached to Light/Kira, not because I approve of his methods and goals, but because I think it would make for a good story if he indeed is successful. Later in the story, I began to lose interest in Light when loses his memory and turns into a regular guy. I started to like L better and truth be told, the more ruthless and cunning L becomes, the more I am drawn to his character.

There is no doubt in my mind that Light is the center of the story. The viewers got to know his personality, his goals, his opportunity (obtaining the Death Note) and the creation of Kira. No other character in the story is as well-developed as Light so its only natural to be emotionally invested in him.

But Light/Kira is a murderer, whatever angle you look at it, and L is still the enforcer of the law.

So when the Death Note characters are classified, which one is the protagonist and which one is the antagonist? Which one is the hero and which one is the villain?



NOTE: Light defeats L before the series ends and new characters are introduced to continue pursuing Kira. Many feel (me included) that the last 11 episodes where L is no longer around is very anticlimactic, like a case of a bad sequel. This shows that many are also fans of L’s character.

Anime Moments

Love-Hate

I love-hate anime. I love watching anime and i can get quite obsessive whenever i find something that I like. But I hate the feeling I get whenever a series ends.

Is it about the endings that usually leave me so dissatisfied? What attracts me the most about anime is that they do not have “formula” endings. The stories and premises may be common, but unlike most stories, the endings aren’t usually tied up neatly. There’s no such thing as “they lived happily ever after” in animes, and if there are, I wouldn’t like those so much. For this reason, no matter how outrageous the premise of the anime is, I still find it more grounded in reality than other modern tales. No story really ends in real life.

Take Nodame Cantabile for example. After three seasons it’s not clear whether Nodame and Chiaki really hooks up. Another classic example is GTO where by the end of the series, Onizuka is wanted in Japan and went into hiding in the United States.

I know that when the series ends, I would have to make my own ending to the story… something I sometimes find to be anticlimactic. I never watch anime series one after the other. I always need some time in between to think things through and formulate an ending. Like I said earlier, I can get quite obsessive about animes.

For me, a good ending is a good beginning of a new journey… an opening for a new story that only my imagination can tell. And whether the new story is going to be a good or bad one, only I can control it. This is why I love-hate anime.