It’s another group blogging effort where we each write about something given a topic. I know it’s a little soon since the last group blogging thing was only a few days ago; you’ll live. If you haven’t guessed, the topic is “Autumn Season, 2007.”

I thought about comparing this season’s shows to others aired this year. Despite my efforts, it didn’t seem like a worthwhile cause. There are good shows, and there are bad shows. Overall, the survey is made of a common ilk. That is to say, the types of shows are fairly common. The stuff we have grown used to seeing. Myself; Yourself can be seen as a continuation in a long line of high school dramas. Ghost Hound is another sci-fi show that seems destine to fail where it showed the most promise, a captivating story. You’ll find that isn’t exactly my problem with the show. Finally, Shugo Chara is plainly excellent shoujo comedy, something that has been missing from my viewing schedule for a while.

For this post I’m going to talk about three shows I’ve been watching. Then there will be a little discussion about viewing and blogging. Of course, I haven’t seen every episode of every show that has aired this season. I’m simply going off history and those that I have viewed.

Myself; Yourself:

The story of the boy returning to his home town a little older but not the least bit wiser is fairly standard stuff. If not common, it isn’t groundbreaking with regard to building a plot. One of the issues I’ve had with the story is that it hasn’t produced any unique aspects that would set it apart from other high school dramas of recent memory.

We have the inept male lead and a couple of possible romantic options given by two of the female characters that will, or already has, lead to a love triangle. Everyone thinks the heart is the most romantic shape, but I think the triangle is severely underrated. I may not be the first to express this sentiment, as I seem to recall reading it elsewhere. I doubt many would disagree. We all love a good love-triangle.

Beyond all else, this show has what has come to be known as, “Very good ‘nice boat’ possibilities” (actually, I just made that up). Put another way, will we be able to categorize this as a “slice-and-life” show?

If it ends with Sana and Nanaka getting together combined with a lot of crying school girls then I’ll be happy.

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Part A: Impression

There are aspects of us that make us human. For that there is no doubt. Upon closer examination we see that our actions are rife with instinctive behavior. How much of what we do is guided by those actions is debatable, and how much that driving force we can consciously willfully deter is also debatable. One can make no argument that human beings are driven by forces other than conscious controllable thought. We have a heart; it beats whether we want it to or not.

We are simply and completely at the will of our memories. They haunt us and teach us about ourselves and those around us. To some the haunting fog of our past is a shadow cast upon it all. All the images and sounds of our history become a hazy dull coating on those irrepressible moments in time. Those key events that shaped the beings that we are today. They are uniquely us. They define us. They literally are us in the sense that we are more than a body. We are more than a beating heart.

We understand others only when we come to understand ourselves. It starts with the child who has no sense of others. It ends with the adult who by virtue of simply being human understands the concept inherent in the word, “other.” We are painfully aware that others don’t understand us. We are comically unaware that they actually do. In a paradox the scope that encompasses the entirety of humanity we see that it is actually easier to understand others than it is to understand ourselves. After all, our eyes can only see outward.

One could make a very good case that our being is simply the total sum of our memories. The lives lived are a combination of thoughts, events, and times intermingled with those of others. We share our memories. I’ll tell you a story. Once upon a time, I lived. (more…)