N-list Self-Diagnostics
Mentioned here via Ani-note–basically, your favorite anime say something about you. No brainer. But it’s fun. And I’m in the mood to write some no-brainers.
As corollary, any kind of list which exercises the arbitrary selection process (eligible for copyright?) is probably saying more about the entity that makes the list than the list itself. Which is to say most top-n-entity survey lists are pretty dumb because it’s put together by a mob of people. Or it’s probably worth pointing out that your #2-5s say more about you than your #1!
I’m due to redo my top-10 lists anyways, so here’s a glimpse.
Personal favorites:
- Nadesico (Mainly just the TV show)
- Magic Knight Rayearth (Season 1 mostly)
- Excel Saga (Possibly the only Nabeshin show I truly loved)
- Millennium Actress (It formed a personal connection with me)
- Cowboy Bebop (It’s here because it’s an easy pick, and it includes the film, surely)
Even as I say this, only #1 and occasionally #3 pop into my mind from time to time. #5 comes in a lot in the context of Yoko Kanno, and while it has some mainstream appeal, it’s the only timeless context that is relevant to me on any sort of day-to-day basis. Because I would rather it look like:
- Manabi Straight
- Utena
- FLCL
- Simoun
- RahXehpon
I suspect if I didn’t watch anime in the 90s, it would have looked a lot more like that. Well, wait, I might have dropped RahXephon and FLCL because those shows work more powerfully if you have context in terms of other anime you have seen, although they are both quite potent by themselves.
There’s room for more play, for example, top 5 favorite anime films:
- Millennium Actress
- Utena the movie
- Whisper of the Heart
- Porco Rosso
- 5 Centimeters per Second
I think it’s sort of self-evident what kind of second-gen fan I am. Need more help? Favorite comedies:
- Full Metal Panic Fumoffu
- Excel Saga
- Karekano (This is more a glimpse of how I think of this show than any statement about Karekano being funny)
- Ebichu (Just had to)
- Azumana Daioh
Favorite artsy-housey tee vee (getting really specific here):
- Koi Kaze
- Haibane Renmei
- Yamamoto Yohko
- Witch Hunter Robin
- Earth Girl Arjuna
To-Heart and Hidamari Sketch would almost qualify…
And that’s a wrap. So much exhibitionist tendencies satisfied in one single post. Yea, I’m kind of not in a mood to write. It’s like I poured all my motivation into 3 tl;dr drafts talking about the same thing in three different ways, but I don’t feel comfortable posting them orz. Forgive me for boring you with a post that I normally wouldn’t do.
Partly Passionate Past
It is hard to part with the past.
Especially when it makes a great story that others enjoy hearing. This is the story of Robin Sena for me. Often times when it’s playing on the screen, I just look blankly and smile. Thankfully I rarely see her on TV.
Oldies are goodies sometimes, when what the old stuff evoke isn’t some higher power brain function but a simple emotional response. It makes us turn into little kids. It’s quite different than what I think is “moe” or what is plainly attractive or sexy. This feeling is layered, seasoned emotion. You taste euphoria by remembering how it was euphoric. It’s like ABC gum, but the flavor never goes away. Or Star Wars: A New Hope. Or lazying around with some old friends doing nothing.
Or is it? I think when I rewatched Witch Hunter Robin last week as it was being rewatched by someone else (does that make me a mere by-stander?) I realized this show, vintage 2002, is really well done even by today’s standards. Maybe that’s just me watching my own DVDs for the first time (at least, the first time I remember it) and all I can mostly remember is my first impression from the off-air digisubs that made me a believer, but aside from the awkward lines here and there by the animator team trying to do Shokou Murase’s designs justice…it looked really nice.
I think all fans have memories like these that make them the type of fan that they are. Come to think of it, the gothloli fad was making its way just about then in Japan in force. Maybe I have this show to blame for my strange, elegant slant. In a way this is really the kind of idol-effect that I really need to be aware of. Naturally what I adore, I praise and follow…
It all makes sense. Genres are pioneered by massivly popular hits into the mainstream. Gateway drugs-type experiments open the door to greater differentiation and diversity (and more gateways) when they’re successful. We all have to thank Astro Boy? What and who is responsible for all the lolicon in anime? If we can trace it, that is.
Yurika Doujima: …
Robin Sena: …
Yurika Doujima: …
