The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

As I sit here I think to myself, “What to do?” The television bleeds out an endless stream of useless sounds and images meant for entertainment, but it fails at that. AVAST!!!! Apparently, my virus database has been updated. Oh, I’m so bored.

For the most part, I’ve found myself settled into a repetitive cycle of work for pay, pay for work (school), pay for play, and anime. I’ve been watching some of the popular series Claymore, Zero no Tsukaima, Idolmasters, and Hayate no Gotoku!. They are all very good, but the only one of the group that has a plot with any complexity is Idolmasters. As far as that is concerned, the point of interests is trying to figure out how they are going to get a teenage girl and a 50 meter tall mecha into the sack by the end of the series.

Those shows are fun to watch. They’ve got love, blood, violence, mecha, fights, swords, magic, lolis, humor, and meido just to name a small sample of the attractions. It would appear to be a well rounded diet. I still feel hungry though.

There are some shows that I’ve simply stopped watching. These series at first peaked my interests, but then there was a huge drop in enthusiasm on my part. I can’t help but feel that I’m missing out by not continuing.

A perfect example is Romeo x Juliet. I was very excited about this one. I really was hoping for a dramatic love story with spurts of comedy, but I just lost all interest in the series. I haven’t thought about this show for months. Perhaps, the story has made a turn for the better since I stopped watching it. Or, perhaps, the show has finally moved away from the meandering plot that didn’t seem to go anywhere. I love character development. The problem is that RxJ seemed to push the same character traits with each episode. In the end it was probably just my overenthusiastic cheering of the series before it got off the ground that hurt this for me.

Then there was Denno Coil. The odd thing about Denno Coil is that it is a good show. I’ve only watched five episodes, but I’ve liked every single one. It just doesn’t have a lasting flavor. I forget about Denno Coil as soon as I’ve stopped watching it. That means that when I have time to watch something it isn’t the first thing to come to mind.

Then there is School Days. I admit, I don’t know much about the plot or the characters. I’ve only watched the first three episodes; so, I’m commenting on that and the random comments from online people. Still, I just can’t get into it. Of course, I like the setup. It has all the usual stuff that make a good school drama such as the inept male lead, the best friend that is in love with the male lead, the shy girl who is in love with the male lead, the jealous third part group of girls that do no like the shy girl, a school that is full of girls that potentially love the male lead, and apparently–if online comments read correctly–a male lead that the viewers seems to like hating. Actually, I’m not sure why I’m not watching this.

Much of what I currently watch is coming to an end, which means that I may pick up where I left off with these shows. At the very least I want to know how Romeo x Juliet ends.

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Sometimes, I think my humor is too subtle.

The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

“I simply liked this character. She was fun straight forward and easy to grasp.”
–about Makoto of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

“Still, Noda is the character that I liked. She was simple. There wasn’t any pretense with her.”
–about Noda of Nodame Cantabile

It occurred to me shortly after posting my thoughts on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time that there was a somewhat consistent theme when it came to characters that I liked. I seem to prefer “simple” characters.

It is not that I only like characters that are not “deep.” There are many characters that I have found intriguing that could not be described as simple. For instance, Misaki from Welcome to NHK incited a wealth of emotions, in particular empathy. Hagu, of Honey & Clover, would seem to be an underdeveloped character but for the intricacies of her motivations.

One of the reasons that so many anime archetypes are rehashed repeatedly is because we know what to expect from the character when they are presented for the first time. The character’s actions and responses lead us into forming a first impression; if that character type has been exhaustively defined in other genre and stories then we know what to expect from that character. This initial impression is better as a marketing device that attracts viewers than it is in progression of the story and development of the characters.

That initial impression is only a starting point. Usually, the characters will evolve throughout the story. They may reach a final point to their development, and usually that is around the end of the story or that character’s part in that story. It isn’t unusual because when one examines the typical story, once the characters have no more to learn then there is less left for us to experience.

Notice that I attribute qualities to these characters based on personal perception. That is the key for me when introduced to new characters within a story. I make a conscience effort to relate to characters when possible, but that isn’t always possible. Not every character lends itself to self introspection. Oddly, when a character can be described as “simple” we get chances to evaluate ourselves that do not necessarily appear with characters whose motivations are more elaborately defined. Arguably, many anime characters are not very complex, but that hasn’t seemed to limit their impact on the story.

When we speak of character development we unusually mean it in the form of behavioral and emotional attributes. This is the necessary information we need to understand and guess about how the character would react given a situation or event. When a character lacks these qualities, what are we to do? No matter what, we will use our own personality and experiences to enhance the story and characters. This specific quality of people is unavoidable. In those instances that we are presented less substance to work with in personally developing a profile for a character, we use ourselves as a model. In order to understand others we have to at least be able to imagine “walking in their shoes.”

Empathy is probably the best example of this type of behavior in people. If someone cannot imagine the circumstances of another person then empathy is simply impossible. One can extend that simple observation whether it be love, hate, anger, sadness, happiness, sorrow, or any other emotions.

That is what a story is anyway, isn’t it? It’s a blending of emotions. They are words meant to incite feeling. I keep saying that emotion is the universal language simply because we can all understand these feelings instinctively. To the degree and complexity that we can experience something like empathy for the events in a story is due solely to the extent that we have experienced being human.

It really is that simple.

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BTW, Ayanami Rei > Asuka . . . I’ll just say it, Rei > *

The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

For the past week or so there have been many blogs of various blog stature posting about a general topic. The topic is basically why anime fans are the way they are. There have been sprinkles of self-hatred mixed with a healthy dose of egotism. However, the general view is that anime is fairly childish and you (we) are odd because we like it. Yet, we can all deal with it because it’s just so darn entertaining.

I was just going to let it all sink in and file it away, but I came across End of the World’s [Group discussion] The follow-up, which was a follow-up to [Group discussion] “Anime isn’t deep. It’s just entertainment.”.

Apparently, according to EoW, these guys got together and decided to post this stuff around the same time. Naturally, I’m feeling left out.

To sum my feelings about the whole thing. Here is a post I made at the beginning of the year that is related.

Jan 10 ’07: On Perspective and Interpretation (made with ~65% mushed up soul ball)

The short version is that art is only a medium for expression. Its “depth” cannot be measured within its own merit. You as the one who experiences the art inevitably add to that work. You are part of it. This shows in the great divergence of opinions when it comes to the “depth” of something. However, “depth” is only one metric that we can use to judge art.

These posts (many linked from the EoW article) talk about other aspects, but I just wanted to hit on that one. It should be understood that what may move an individual of one nature may not phase another of a different nature.

The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing

Dear Karmaburn,

After reading your latest post on Martian Successor Nadesico I am inclined to agree that scene is indeed “crazy.” However, I fear that you may have overlooked the additionally cool few frames of the OP, which show Ruri’s technicolor computer interface.

It’s one thing to have glowing eyes, but operating a high mobile battleship with an interface that is equivalent to a bad acid trip is friggin’ awesome.

So, in conclusion, while I respect your opinion about the “crazy shit” with Ruri’s eyes I am forced to disagree with you on this issue.