(anime babble)

[reenka]

I started off making a list of my favorite anime to prove to malafede I wasn't just into shmoopy shoujo, but then I realized I had to post it 'cause it was simply taking so long to come up with every title & comment & stuff. I imagine no one really cares, but if anyone was like, 'hmmm I wonder what anime Reena's into so that I can go out and watch', 'cause you're just that bored, well, hey. Who am I to deprive you?

I've always loved fantasy & romance & adventure, and those are my favorite genres of anything. So my favorite anime are......


- Please Save My Earth - my adoration for this has no limits. NO LIMITS. I am so in love with Shion & Rin it's embarrassing, rather. I am in love with the world & the themes & did I mention little!Shion? Because I adore him. And the idea of their powers and how they are all interconnected and Alice/Mokuren.... Alice. There's a lot of me in Alice. I think she's the closest to what I see myself as that I've ever seen in anime -or- fiction. But then, I don't think what I see myself as is all that similar to what other people see me as. But anyway, PSME = <3333333333333333333

I love psionic stories, and I love growing-up stories, and I love love-stories and star-crossed predestination may not be realistic but it makes for great fairy-tales. It's probably got my favorite plot out of any anime, hands down and no contest. And probably one of my favorite all-time plots/themes.

- Hana Yori Dango - yeah, okay, fine. Romantic comedy. But not quite... not all comedy-- more like dramedy. It's my favorite pure shoujo of all time. I can't stand stuff like Marmalade Boy (though I watch it), and HYD doesn't have that much in common with the Meg Ryan movie thing. Heh. I don't particularly like schmoop, just comedy & romance, yeah. Oh and Tsukasa <3333333333333333 And yeah I kind of identify with Tsukushi, moreso than with any other shoujo heroine.

The thing I adore about HYD is the style (in the anime), too-- just how different it is. And the mood-- all the faded colors and the piano music and.... god I love that English-boarding-school look and the blatant nostalgia. If an anime has blatant nostalgic themes, I'll prolly adore it.

But really, this sort of romance is my favorite. Feisty/indomitable yet positive female and arrogant/broody yet secretly sensitive male-- omg I am a total sucker for that. She slowly 'reforms' him and in the end, he's kinda wrapped around her little finger. I think it's just not very feminist of me, but that was my formative relationship so I think I'm doomed to be fascinated now.

I don't think it's sappy though. HYD isn't sappy and my own ideal of it isn't sappy... it's just intense. Two personalities at war, that's what gets me. Complete opposites who challenge each other and need each other and... just, their personal growth being a result of knowing each other. Wah.

...And yeah, I could never see what the big deal was with Utena. Just. Not my thing (which is weird since it's all fairy-talish & symbolic but... it didn't have that heart I usually cling to).

- Kodomo no Omocha - I love Hayama. That is what it comes down to. I don't just -love- him, I ADORE him. Yeah, I always love the (secretly angsty) smartass, yeah. He's like Rin, except like... even cuter. It's just physically impossible for me to resist him. If I ever had a child like him, he would totally get me to do anything he wants. It's kinda sad.

And again with the violent clash of personalities (Hayama & Sana). I love it when the girl starts out -hating- the guy and thinking he's a complete prick and intending to give him the what-for. A lot of guys so totally need that. And well, the arrogant poopy-heads need it even more. So yes, much with the happy.

Also, it's completely hilarious and a brilliant mix of flashes of drama in the middle of complete insanity. Sana is basically me when I'm on a lot of crack, and also if I was even remotely extraverted, heh.

- Fruits Basket - OMG THE SHEER ADORATION. I mean, Kyou (must love the angsty smartass!!), yeah, but... it's like mind-candy to me. I dunno, it just is. Also the idea is really cute and the theme of beauty's redemption of the 'beast' usually gets me no matter what angle you have. And all the characters are so... distinctive and archetypal and the girl characters are just as interesting as the boys (if you don't count Tohru-- but I don't really mind Tohru like some people do).

- Anything by CLAMP except CCS, which freaked me out with the first ep I watched-- no, seriously, it really did! - mostly I'm still stuck on RG Veda, which was so beautiful I tingle just thinking about it. Mmmmmmmmm. RG Veda-style anime is my crack. So pretty. So pretty it -kills- me, kills me dead.

I like X, too, but I still haven't watched the whole series, 'cause I'm bad. But I still like the themes of Tokyo Babylon & RG Veda more, 'cause I was never into the apocalypse stories much.

RG Veda was one of the first anime tapes I owned. I'm all sentimental about it, clearly. But CLAMP's more complex style is still my favorite, no contest, all this time later. ...This is probably why I actually watched all of Rayearth -.-

- The Vision of Escaflowne - Well, the whole other-world thing. And Van-- is my type (...I have a feeling people will start making fun of me any moment). But anyway, I liked how understated the Van/Hitomi thing was, and I definitely like Hitomi more than any other girl in a fantasy anime with a heroine at the center. Plus. Wings!! No, seriously. That's a big, big huge plus :D

And the plot was rather good. I was actually interested. I didn't mind the mechas 'cause it was character-driven. Overall, it was really good except for the ending, which was understandable too. I really liked the movie, too (which I felt had a much better ending). And the music. The character designs weren't -too- bad, especially in the movie of course.

- The Song of the Wind and Trees - This is my favorite shounen ai, and one of my all-time favorite anime... and I feel this probably says a lot (too much?) about me. It's all over-the-top angst and pain and tragedy, but in a different way than say, Bronze. Maybe I just have a kink about boarding school boys and hero-types falling for hopeless degenerate tramps (okay, I know I do). I think that one moan in their kiss scene was sexier than any other shounen ai sex scene I've seen-- and that includes all the graphic sex stuff.

Well, again, I'm a sucker for nostalgia and boys in hopeless love. Heee, with each other!!

- The Legend of Basara - I love this, though I actually haven't seen the last few episodes. The Legend of Basara is prolly the only anime I'd seriously consider reading as a manga, 'cause it prolly has one of my all-time favorite plots, and a female character I can get behind a 100%, without any need for me to pine over the male leads or whatever. Though of course I love the angry-yet-angsty Red King. The whole thing is right up my alley with the legend-of-the-savior and the girl-heroine and the cross-dressing and misunderstandings and pretty villains and just-- everything. The whole apocalypse thing doesn't apply, since I only dislike pre-apocalypse, not post-apocalypse, heheh.

- Angel Sanctuary - ahhh, the pretty! Boys with wings! And! Forbidden love (aahhhhh kink)! And! The fight against death & evil angels and! And! The slashiness, OMG! *dead*

It's so sad that it's only an OVA. So sad.

- Kare Kano - I don't love it, but I really like it. It seems to get better on rewatching. I think the characterizations are really good and not in a squeeing OMG I LOVE THEM sort of way, which is refreshing in a way. I don't squeal in utter fangirl adoration but instead of watch their story unfold. It's kind of quirky and sad and just, a mixture of everything. Though sometimes the silliness really doesn't work for me.

The style-- with all the still-frames-- is really interesting, too.

- Fushigi Yuugi - shut up. Just. SHUT UP! I know it's lame. But that was what started my shoujo madness, so now I'm sentimental.

It actually got really boring by the end, and I skimmed the last few eps madly. Actually, the whole second half was boring. I really liked it when it was that stupid will-he-won't-he angst with Tamahome (SHUT UP) and the whole introduction of the world and the concept. I'm a sucker for the whole escape-into-the-world-inside-the-book scenario (Neverending Story is like, my favorite movie EVAR, and I feel like if you really understand why, then you know everything important about me just like that), though not to the point where I think much of Magic Knight Rayearth is any good (though clearly, I watched it anyway).

I always thought I -should- get into Ayashi No Ceres, but really that was going too far with the melodrama and the-boy-you-can-never-have-because-he-doesn't-exist-except-to-serve-you-in-your-hour-of-need. Though actually, the storyline is much more up my alley, 'cause I love the fairy-tale.

- Vampire Princess Miyu - yeah, I'm predictable. Creepy (but not horrific) fantasy, well-animated, and with an ambiguous melancholy romance at the center. I wish there was more of it. `Mermaid Scar' prolly goes into this category too.

- Robot Carnival - I have such great memories of it... it was one of my first anime experiences. And I still think there's not much in its genre that tops it (not much in its genre, period, of course). All of the pieces are so completely brilliant and vivid and haunting, especially the robot who became a boy, and that piece with the inventor who fell in love with his robot. It's just completely beautiful.

- Iria: Zeiram the Animation - this is probably the best-drawn sci-fi OVA of all time. Heheh well, I think so, anyway. I adore the animation & background world-building of this to pieces. I mean, the plot is kinda 'eh', but the backdrop is brilliant, and the animation is delicious. Plus I really like Iria and her little sidekick. The style is unique and imaginative as hell and I just enjoy watching it a lot. You can pretty much get me to watch anything if it's pretty enough, clearly. Not that I mind sci-fi thrillers (must stay true to my roots, all that).

- RahXephon - really beautifully animated, and I like the story (though I still haven't finished it). I usually actually like mecha shows when they have a philosophical twist... in the beginning, I watched a lot of robot sci-fi anime (and liked it). Like, I think I have all three tapes of Armitage. Ahahah not many shoujo fangirls can say that, right. Plus I watched all of Bubblegum Crisis and enjoyed it. *flashes geek credentials*

- Tank Police - AHAHAHAHAH. Yeah, I like that sort of humor. Just thinking of the mini-tank and the huge inflatable penises makes me laugh.
~~

Oh, and all you peeps who wanted the daily-writing community?

Here it is: scribble_daily
~~

EDIT - Omg, joosetta's latest H/D pic is just so yummy..!..!! Aaahhhh, the -Draco- and their -hands- and, and.... 'spretty, mmmyes. Though this one scores for super-hotness. Because. Tongue fetish, me? Nooo.
    *sigh* And then there's sherant's mirror!wank, which is just. Yeah.

Comments

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

Ah, the anime love. My own favourites would probably be:

Trigun: For not having an angst-ridden twat of a main character as it often happens, but someone entirely likeable and funny. For starting out so funny and ending up so dramatic and intense. For the guns and the leather coats and the big crosses and the whole cowboys in space aesthetics. And apart from the V/W, there is a nicely sick twincest subtext going on.

Weiss Kreuz: For being the singularly most cheesy anime I have ever watched, full of air-headed assasin-my-ass bishounen. It's so crap, it's good! There are even tentacles! And there are Schwarz.And there is Schuldig. I worship Schuldig.

Hellsing: The guns! The vampires! The massacre! And the coolest female character ever in anime, when I grow up I want to be Integra.

Saiyuki: Cause it has the most unique design of all anime I've seen. Despite the crap rock music there are bucketloads of style, and it actually has plot hidden after you go past the eye-candy men. The backstory of all the characters is so incredibly violent and yet I find it balances angst action and humour pretty well, just like Trigun does, and looks better.

These are the current favourites, though the list changes every time I get to download something new.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

CLAMP's CCS is for those who like the Cute mixed with the Wrong into one glorious whole. Also, I have a mad crush on Touya, my favorite CLAMP male ever.


The Vision of Escaflowne -
And the plot was rather good.

... um. o_O
Must I even mention who the big bad turned out to be at the end? (Tho' very fun characters. I enjoyed watching Van in his "do me" jailbait shirt, and kept hoping for more incesty bits with his brother. Also: Geddes. Also: Dilandu.)


Iria: Zeiram the Animation - this is probably the best-drawn sci-fi OVA of all time.

I MUST RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE.
However. An amazing percentage of guys into anime in the 90s had a crush on Iria. (fun fact: Iria's brother shares a voice actor with Utena's Akio)

Am with you on the PSME and Hanadan and Kodacha and Tank Police love though ^_^

I want to mock FY, but I loved it before I hated it too, so I can't talk.

Agree that overall KareKano is good/ok, but it does have 1 or 2 episodes that deal with her father that are amazing.


My favs (I know you care!):

Porco Rosso and Whisper of the Heart (aka mimi o sumaseba) and, of course, anything Ghibli
Macross Plus Movie
Bronze and ZetsuAi
Utena
Yami no Matsuei
HYD
Ai no Kusabi
CCS
Nadia of the Mysterious Seas (aka Fushigi no Umi no Nadia) (my 1st anime love!)
Brother, Dear Brother (aka Oniisama E)

Be-boy's kidnappin idol: is so bad and 80s it's good. A perfect start for a boyslove showing night.

There are other things that impressed me and are well-made (Eva, Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, some of the Patlabor movies etc etc) but that I didn't fall in love with.

Kenji's Spring is probably the best anime movie that no one's heard of.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I am in a rush like you wouldn't imagine, but your list is a go! I approve.

Please Save My Earth is one of my favourites of all times too, except my favourite character was for some reason Jinpachi. I need to stop myself from commenting on Hana Yori Dango, but: feisty/indomitable yet positive female and arrogant/broody yet secretly sensitive male dude, I so blah the feisty.

I'll add more later! And Angel Sanctuary! Ahahahaha. The writing is so hysterical at times and yet there's Katoh. And Rociel. And one can always vent a lot of spleen by spitting venom at Kira and his mullet.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Oh, I read your post more carefully, and your list is no longer a go. This makes me sad. I think... it's kinks clashing, though my total amusement at stuff like Hana Yori Dango isn't due to squick or anything. It think it's just that bad. Like telenovelas, only worse. I mean, the Fab Four? What? I think we spent a night laughing just at that concept. Oh, of course it gives me rage against the system the fact that it's published and successful in Italy whereas the really good stuff like The Song of the Wind and Trees isn't because it doesn't have the mass-appeal.

I also realised you are talking about anime, and anime... are basically always inferior unless you're talking Utena. Which I don't really think lacks a heart, more like lacks melodrama. You should read the manga for: Please Save My Earth, Fruits Basket (though I sort of read it for a lark and the gay and Shigure, and Tohru is retarded), CLAMP especially (how can you go without their art and writing if you liked the anime?) and Angel Sanctuary BECAUSE THE ANIME IS CRAP AND OFFENSIVE. Kaori Yuki is a slave of her own kinks, and her long plots (...plots) hurt my brain, but she does well with character building sometimes and short stories.

oh, forgot half of it

[malafede.livejournal.com]

What freaked you about CCS? RGVeda has pretty art (I could bring the artbook they published last year when I come over, or was that two years ago?) but I only really cared for some characters, which weren't the main characters. Ryu, Soma, Kujaku, Kendappa and Taishaku-ten. X is good for the aestheticism, it's a divertissment on the tropes and an exercise in building an epic, I think. Oh, yeah, and an excuse for the gay. Fuuma/Kamui so hot. But Clover is their best work I think. And guess what? It's unfinished. Rayearth = ahahaha.

I watched Kare Kano for a while because of Hideaki Anno... that, and it made me piss my pants with laughter. Then it became all diet-angst and romantic trite yet pretentious crap and I was like - oh, not you too. I have a friend who really likes Kodomo no Omocha - she says the portrayal of childhood is really realistic and well-written. I have only one thing to say about Fushigi Yugi: Suboshi/Amiboshi. The rest of it is all nebulous (though I was one of the few Miaka fans around, I hear).

[malafede.livejournal.com]

And the coolest female character ever in anime, when I grow up I want to be Integra.

The coolest female character ever in anime is Kozue from Utena!

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

Kozue doesn't have a pet vampire!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heheh I was just trying to prove I'm not -just- into shoujo ^^;;;
I don't tend to read manga for -anything- (though I'm really tempted with Clover-- sounds really good). Y'know how people have issues with anime 'style'? I have issues with manga 'style', plus it's a lot of trouble to find/get since my neighborhood comics store doesn't really carry it so I'm not really exposed to it. Plus it comes out in tankabans which is a bit confusing, on so-so quality paper-- and it's black and white. I realize it's a sign of l33tness to read b&w comics, but for me the color & movement & music is a large part of what attracts me to anime.

I mean, I love comics, but I have issues really following ones that don't come out in graphic novel form, and a lot of what attracts me to art -period- is color. My sense of color is very primary, and often times even dominates my sense of story-- so I really dug Neil Gaiman's collaboration with Alice Cooper halfway for Neil but halfway just for Chris Bachalo's coloring. I just have weird preferences when it comes to comic art-- and artbooks are a) very expensive & b) hard to come by just by browsing. If I could, I'd prolly have oodles of artbooks (partly 'cause they're colored).

So yeah, I know everyone says 'the manga is better', but I mean, for me, the color/sound/movement really makes up for a lot, and anyway ignorance is bliss :>

I don't really care about the peripheral/non-central characters like -ever-, so I didn't care about the Fab Four or anyone but Tsukushi & Tsukasa. And Tsukasa really is my type (one of). Sad but true. I'm really a sucker for a lot of the stereotypical romance cliches, yeah, I know that. I did say that it was my favorite -shoujo-. It's very much within a genre, and I think anyone not into the genre wouldn't like it :> Though I'm likely to dislike shmoopy things like Marmalade Boy while tolerating melodramatic things 'cause they hook me. And no, I don't watch soaps or read epic quest novels.

I liked the Angel Sanctuary OVA 'cause... it was enough to make me interested, y'know. I know that the manga is much more in-depth/complex, but fact remains I don't -read- manga ><;; At all.

I have read scanlations of HYD because I was desperate to have the story end better than it did in the anime, but that's my only experience, really. I kind of enjoyed the HYD manga, but nowhere near as much as I liked the anime. And that really is weird 'cause I adore comics as a genre. It's just, some central things about manga style are really different from American-type comics, y'know-- in art, style, writing & distribution (as well as availability-- 'cause I could just -rent- anime from almost any video store).

Utena-- I think if I watched more of it, I could grow to actively dislike it, and I dunno why, even. Its symbolism just rubs me the wrong way, and since I'm particularly sensitive to symbolism-- yeah. I dunno. Also, the humor/silly bits weren't amusing to me :/

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Does Integra have an incestuous twin?

[malafede.livejournal.com]

What, no Slam Dunk?

YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.

(... or was this just about anime? Because then, I agree on the SD ban.)

Re: oh, forgot half of it

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hehehe I think I just like 'traditional' romance waaaaay more than you do :> So yeah, kinks :>
CCS... well.... Sakura (she's like Tohru except younger, more saccharine and more bouncy... *shudder*)... Tomoyo or whatever her name is just -scares- me with the cute/sweet stalkerishness... the little lion-type creature-- I just generally dislike talking sidekick animals.... Anyway, yeah, it's aimed at 11-year-old girls and I'm not exactly its target audience. I don't like Sailor Moon, either, but I'd like it less if Sailor Moon looked 9 instead of 14 or whatever. Happy shiny sweet 9-year-old girls scare me. Actually, I think a lot of it's the character designs. The huge angelic eyes coupled with the angelic expressions of childlike innocence. Yes, childlike innocence creeps me out, what can I say. Or something. o_0

I mean, I loved Kodocha, so it can't be that I can't watch shows about children. It's just... I think it explains everything 'cause I love Sana and can't stomach Sakura. They're both bubbly & sweet in their way, but Sana seems more like a real girl instead of a scary caricature. Mind you, I just saw one episode.

I don't like Kare Kano that much, heheh. Prolly about as much as I like FLCL, maybe a bit more :>
I have like, a really high tolerance for 'romantic trite' crap :> Not as high as some people, of course :>

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Nonono, it's just. Kodocha is cute mixed with wrong. CCS is... SO CUTE IT IS WRONG. There's a difference, ahahahah, but perhaps only in semantics ^^;;;;
Heeeeeeeeee. Dilandu...!..!! :D :D!! Omg, there's this brilliant Dilandu vid on animemusicvideos.org... teehee. Actually, no, I have to go to kazaa for it. But it is so worth finding!! It's to 'Sweating Bullets' by Megadeath. It is brilliance incarnate :D :D! It's 68 megs but it's so good I'm tempted to put it up on streamload.com just to have you download it :> :> heeeeeeeee god I love my Escaflowne music vids. It's totally renewed my love <3333333333333 OMG THE LOVE (for the vid). No, seriously. FIND IT.

'Hello me, it's me again' <3333333333333333333333333333333

What I meant about 'plot' was just that it was better than FY or Rayearth or whatever-- all the other countless other-world fantasy epic shows, y'know.

Heheh yeah it's true that I haven't -seen- as many sci-fi OVAs as I could've. Hmmm. I just -really- like Iria's particular style-- and it's pretty particular. I haven't really seen other anime with that style, which is sad.

Heeee! Macross Plus! I liked that~:) It reminds me of liking the KOR movie, even though they're nothing similar~:) But yeah. Space opera! There's not enough of it-- except in anime. Omg now I'm remembering watching the Iczer series :D
I started watching YnM and really liked it, too... and I enjoyed Ai no Kusabi & Bronze/ZetsuAi, just didn't connect personally to the characters...
I really enjoyed Princess Mononoke, so I should prolly give Ghibli stuff more of a chance, but. I'm such a sucker for the pretty-shiny in anime so I haven't watched most of the older, less smooth-looking stuff-- it gets to the point where even stuff like Lain isn't pretty enough for me ^^;;

And I still haven't gotten myself to watch Eva, but am still into all the Eva music vids out there for some reason ><;;

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heee! Trigun has been showing on Cartoon Network lately, so I've been seeing it. And really liking it, though its themes (war, responsibility, pacifism etc) don't generally rivet me. But I really like the main character-- it's hard not to, I think.
Ahahah I always avoided WK 'cause everyone's like, 'it's so bad! so bad! not worth watching unless you -must- research your fanfic!' heh

They showed Hellsing one day in anime club-- and I definitely dug it-- y'know, it had spirit. And I definitely liked Integra-- she seemed more interesting/complex than the orange-haired vampire girl, certainly, and y'know... ambiguous and strong-minded and all that. Was distracted by all the violence/gore/monsters/etc, as I sometimes can be. I was never conscious of violence wearing on me, but then I realize that the dark fantasy I like tends to be largely bloodless (like Miyu or something).

...I really heard a lot of good things about Saiyuki, so now I'm curious, too :> I did think it looked pretty. Hmmm. Pretty is usually quite enough for me, heh.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Actually, 90% of CCS's cute is kind of creepy. Like, intentionally. And I think I dig the innocence showed there - unlike Tohru's, which is fake and retarded. (Plus, Yue! Pretty, asocial, dry, bitter Yue. Yue/Toya is where the boylove should have been. Actually has, for a moment.)

Re: oh, forgot half of it

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I will never shit on Sailor Moon because I think it was great what it said about compassion.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I think one must have a love for the surreal to dig Utena. Which I have. There's the study on the ego (self/other issues all over the place - dude, the incest) and subversion of unpopular character tropes (I LOVE Nanami) and well, all the stuff about gnosticism and revolution. Revolution is like, my way of life. It's meta in its commentary and sometimes parody and sometimes aestherizisation (?) of shoujo formulas. Dude, Utena has tons of meta.

Besides that, it's a coming of age story in the sense of becoming adult enough to stop hiding inside yourself and facing the world outside. I actually cry everytime I listen to Rinbu:

I will go on living bravely and heroically
Even if the two of us become separate...
Take my revolution.

(bold because it's that important)

(I think the song applies to Miki and Kaoru too, which makes me a puddle of go. Distortion of distortion = reality. Broke that shell, Miki, you idiot!)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I do have a love for the surreal... I mean... surreal is just a type of fantasy, and I dig nearly all fantasy, heh.
I think it's Utena's particular brand of overt meta that bothers me. Like... in general, I prefer not to -have- to focus on a story's 'theme', y'know... at least in some cases. Sometimes a story or movie or what have you is obviously a metaphor or is deeply symbolic, but I want to get that out of the story myself, kinda, rather than having it shoved at me. Perhaps it's because Utena's ideals just... seemed construed and put there instead of natural.

Mind you, watched less than 10 episodes... or at least, not much more than. I remember all that stuff about The Revolution... and mind you, I love the -idea- of revolution (especially when it's in cheesy 80s High School movies, but that's another story). But when it was just introduced, I was more confused than anything else. I was like, whuh--? I think that's where the surreal comes in, because it's not -supposed- to 'make sense', necessarily, yeah, okay, but Lain (and say, even Kodocha) is surreal too-- just in a different way. Any heavily stylized piece is going to be somewhat surreal-- it depends how deep the affectation goes, for me.

I perceived the 'style' as affectation too many times in Utena-- all the ceremony and grand pronouncements and thick symbolism seemed almost -too obvious-. I think that was the problem, for me-- I found it both too obvious and rather obscure (in terms of its stylization) in an uncomfortable way. By 'heart' I tend to mean, the meat-and-bone of a story that has to exist there, completely apart from meta. The meta can only work for me as an added layer, not the primary one; but then, whereas you -look- for ethos, I actually want all overt ethics/ideals to go away-- to be subtle. If I can -tell- what a story is saying for certain, I'm likely to feel spoon-fed and patronized as a viewer. I find such things too didactic and not subtle enough.

I love meta and shoujo both, obviously, but I can only bond with a story if it worms its way into my heart regardless of formula, so to some extent it must be opaque to me-- even as it can be self-referential, it must simultaneously be a -real story- happening in real time for me to care. I dunno, it's hard to explain. My issues with Utena have much to do with how I like my meta :>

I want to come up with 'the point' independently, near the end-- I want to have the story lead me along without me ever realizing it 100%. Otherwise it's more of a curiosity, for me-- some sort of overly high-minded philosophical treatise with no life to it. In the end, Story must retain primacy over Theory for me to enjoy it. Basically, it should work on both levels, but it's more important that it work as a narrative. And just being surreal doesn't change that-- because say, Alice in Wonderland is both surreal and meta, but it retains that primacy of Story thus it works for me.

But I think this returns to the fact that I'd rather not have to analyze/think about things as I watch them, not -consciously-. I don't generally think about 'themes', I just -feel- them. Utena felt very cerebral to me, which is why I said that about 'heart'. Cerebral is anything that forces me to think, heheh. Serial Experiments Lain was kind of on the borderline of how blatant I want my theory to be in things-- I think it was still 'story' driven, but the 'theory' was -very- very near the surface to the point where I couldn't fully enjoy it.

And to me, it doesn't matter whether or not I enjoy or agree with the ideals at hand, too. That's prolly why I can watch cliche romance in the first place-- I enjoy it on a very gut level-- I pretty much enjoy -everything- on a very gut level: it's only afterwards that I analyze. Utena just messes with my process, I think.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

This whole idea of 'cute to be creepy' kind of freaks me out o_0 Like... it's hard to believe to the point where I want to watch it just to see, but. No. Ack, the scarring. Plus, am not much for magical girl shows even though I forced myself through Rayearth for reasons which presently escape me ^^;;
Actually, just the sheer repetitiveness of them drives me insane-- like, I remember watching DNAngel recently and after just one episode, the repetition was already too much.

Well, I think Tohru might be unrealistic, okay, but not fake-- I mean, she might be 'unnatural' but fake implies that she's just -false-, which is different, and I would contest. I never thought Tohru was supposed to be saccharine, but uh-- I can just understand where she's coming from. I think there are people like that, though more in Japan than elsewhere :>

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

And this has nothing to do with anything whatsoever, but help! My Italian is crap! Is it 'Stampato in Malaysia' or 'Stampato a Malaysia'?

And doesn't get Kozue her butt kicked all over the place by Utena?

"Stampato in Malesia"

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Doesn't anyone?

*cries*

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Break that shell.

Man, I want to catch you on aim.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Breaking shells is... positive......? Yet cryptic.

Also, I'm awake, but this isn't necessarily good since it's 7:30am & I haven't gone to sleep yet o_0

Re: "Stampato in Malesia"

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I knew there was a reason I was checking my lj during work.

Also, everyone and their mother is incestuous in Utena and I have to admit I find Miki kind of a wet blanket.

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

One of my main problems with anime, is that I very rarely like the main characters. I love the pretty art, I love their bizarre worlds and the endless suspension of disbelief they require, I love the streaks of surreal that vary from the sublime to the riduculous, the disregard of tying up loose ends or giving an explanation for everything, but I want to feel some sort of connection to the characters, and usually I either find them interesting (but in a very detached way, they're cool like a cool thing that wears cool clothes and goes cooly around doing various cool things) or alternatively, I want to kick their self-absorbed, angst-ridden butts. I like that anime can be just incomprehensible but when the characters themselves are incomprehensible, I just stare. Not being able to connect takes part of the enjoyment out. But Vash I love. God, when he starts crying while trying to eat those doughnuts and he can't help it and drops them... Pity that there are no good fics. The anime I find good always have crap fics. And the anime I don't like tend to have excellent fics. Go figure.

Re: "Stampato in Malesia"

[malafede.livejournal.com]

That's because he won't break that fucking shell!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I think I've found that different genres of anime have different 'types' of main characters (or, well, stereotypes). The more character-driven an anime is (vs. theme or plot driven), I think, the more attention you'll have to believable characterization... which is probably at least partly why I like shoujo. Like, I'm curious about what you'd think about entirely psychological-drama type anime like `I Can Hear The Sea (http://www.sandg-anime-reviews.net/ovadb/ovadb189.htm)' for instance, which I actually haven't watched. These tend to be less popular/hyper and more subdued, y'know. There's just a wide range of styles within anime.

If you tell me what sort of thing you'd ideally have in terms of theme/characters, I might try to rec something~:)

*IS DEAD*

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Yup, only talking anime. Or else, I'd have added Rose of Versailles--one of my favorite manga, but the anime isn't as high up there for me, much as I enjoy it.

Slam Dunk was the 1st (non translated) manga I ever bought. I was just a wee high schooler, no interest in bball, I couldn't read Japanese, but the art was so amazing. His art for Vagabond... gah. He's getting better and better. And Hanamichi... and Youhei ("red means stop" hee!).

But I do have to say... I like the SD dj best of all *runs away*

*reads your other comments and comes back* Utena--oh yeah baby.

I've said it before but I'll say it again. ^^ Utena was to shoujo was Eva was to mecha, both meta-commentary on their genres and using their genre's conventions as tools for bigger themes. (So I think a person familiar with shoujo shows--especially older ones--will "get" more about Utena, because they'll understand more about what's expected and what's being played with.)

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Fah. There's not enough wrong in Kodocha to fill a thimble. CCS reigns supreme with it's adorable wrongity wrongness.

The Bronze and AnK anime just really speak to my kinks AND are really well-made in terms of drawing and storyboarding/composition.

You need to see ALL of Eva and Utena before you are allowed to have an opinion on them. Maybe even twice. I would not usually say this about a show/book/comic, but for these, yes. You will not know what you are are talking about if you don't.

Ghibli is all of the good, although I like the older stuff better. I feel like the newer stuff lacks a certain kind of "heart" I found in the older stuff. Umi ga Kikoeru (aka the Ghibli no one watches) is the only one that really leaves me feeling "meh." It does get points for a nice feeling of understated realism, but Tomomi Mochizuki (not one of the Ghibli regulars) does better with the Greenwood anime--which has some of the "everyday" feel, but nicer characters.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

See, it's like... I can't really comment on the -show- in a critical way, but usually I can tell if I'll have major issues and what those issues are pretty fast, though the more I watch, the more clear and less 'fuzzy/blurry' my issues become. Sometimes, rarely, I start out with issues and they go away (like in HP), but that's mostly if I get a huge new perspective on things.....
It's like... as far as I can tell, that 'have to watch it all' thing comes from a convoluted/complex plot and stuff, and surprises/twists you don't know if you haven't seen them (or seen a ton of spoilers). I imagine people would say 'you need to watch it all' about Babylon 5, too. I can see where they're coming from, and I certainly wouldn't really engage in debate about the 'real' merits/issues with the show or whatever. So any comment I make is more about -me- than about -it-.

Style of storytelling or of animation, however, usually doesn't change as a story progresses (except in rare instances where it gets worse insignificantly, as in HYD)-- and if that's what I dislike, then it's hard to imagine how completeness would alter my perception, though I'm sure some opinions would become more concrete rather than amorphous.

It's interesting, though, 'cause I had vague stylistic issues/dislike of HYD when I started watching it. I mean, the violins drove me -mad-. Mad, I tell you. I learned to ignore them, but in general what I liked stayed consistent-- I think mostly 'cause I either bond with things immediately or not at all. I'm like this with books, too-- I can read 10-20 pages and it'll make it or break it no matter what book it is. Sometimes I'll stop midway but that tends to be absentmindedness rather than intent. I think I'm just biased, is what I'm saying. It's not so much that I form -opinions- so much as gut reactions that I can try to trace and say 'well, it seems that the source of my distaste is -hereabouts-'.

I think if I cared more about plot/theme/ethos elements I'd be different. But it's like, since I care most about storytelling/visual style & the amount to which I 'get' the characters, everything is much simpler ^^;

This is probably why I can't get myself to get through my reading list in college very easily-- it's just so unnatural to give anything time to interest me or just to read it in a more distant, critical manner. There's this cliche, right? 'I may not know art, but I know what I like' -.- heh I think it's not entirely true, btw-- you can definitely broaden your horizons and such, especially with enough patience. A part of it's my sort of nagging feeling like I'm -supposed- to like some things, so I don't want to. So I wind up with a weird feeling of distance both from the uber-popular-now things and the cult-arthouse-favorite things. I probably wouldn't have as much of a resistance if it didn't seem to be a common attitude that one -should- like/watch Utena, Eva, Cowboy Bebop, Ranma 1/2, Hellsing, etc-- though it's not like I don't like popular shows, far from it; I just get more defensive if I don't immediately get all happy about them.
But that's me being rather antisocial & grumpy rather than remotely reasonable, heh ^^;;;

[cellia.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to figure out if your issues would go away or not with watching more Utena and Eva. Hm. In some ways I feel like these shows change radically as they go along. As in: you thought *this* was the type of show you were getting? nope it's *this*, wait, nope it's *this*. Getting more and more layers. But I also wonder if this would just mean that what you had a strong negative reaction to would just become stronger.

In some ways it's plot, but there's also a... deepening, I guess I could say. And sometimes strange reversals and revelations. (it's hard now for me to pin down exactly what changes because the 2nd watching is so unlike the 1st for me with these shows)

But as for shows you're "supposed to" like... heh, I don't actually "like" Eva that much. It *is* very well-done (although I could also argue that it's also overrated and goes too far into a weak "I majored in philosophy" land and it never mocks its own pretentiousness quite as happily as Utena does). I'll watch another Evathon one day no doubt, and argue geekily about it, but I'm not buying any dvds. At the end of the day it didn't curl up in my heart.

Coboy Bebop and Ranma, on the other hand, are very much of the "begin as you mean to go on" school for me... as are most anime. You'll probably just hear more about Eva and Utena because they are unique and head and shoulders above most other regular series.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Part of it, I'm sure, is looking at it in a certain way and wanting to get some particular thing out of it-- so um, it's entirely possible I'd react differently to some shows at a different period in my life and/or if I watched them with different people or in different situations or what have you ^^
The more I think about 'meta', the more I realize that it can be self-referential or a kind of metaphorical layer of uber-story which parallels the 'actual' story-- and this is the kinda meta I tend to dig more. There are a few subjects I know a lot about-- say, I know most about modern fantasy lit, for instance-- and I can't imagine I'd be near as enthralled with a book that plays with the current/recent past genre conventions in a masturbatory way as a book that plays with or twists older/deeper story elements. In this way I prefer allegory (which is a type of meta) to parody.

In fact, any book that I remember obviously messing with genre and referencing other authors/books in any remotely gratuitous way just kind of... bored me. An opposing example would be a book which referenced much older (like, 50+ year old and often a century or more) material to enrich the style/background-- like, quotes from old poems or references to old dead white guys. I dunno. I like what little I've read of postmodern lit-- which is to say, my dabbling in John Barth & Barthes-- and I was happily ignorant of any references to modern culture while loving ones to old dead cultures.

Perhaps this is the difference between mocking & merely referencing. The meta-mock is only to my taste, generally, if it's actually -funny-. Also, if I actually perceive a story/show as being pretentious, no amount of self-mocking seems likely to rescue it :>

But I'm interested in the whole acquiring layers thing. Alas, that sort of thing is not common ^^;;

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Um...I like Naruto.

...

:D

I don't know much about other animes, but there used to be a manga here (http://www.sakura-crisis.net/translations) called Alichino which I was going to link to because although it genereally confuses it's very pretty and features a silver-haired angsty effeminate fellow, but, alas, it appears to have been licensed. Grrr!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heheh I am an uncultured fiend, for I do not read (even very pretty) manga. Though I might be really tempted with yaoi doujinshi, I think :D

...And, I like Naruto too, but I've only seen 8 eps :>

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Hee, I don't read manga either! Just that this one is so...pretty! Not that I'm trying to inflict random things on you here, but I think it would at least amuse you. *googlequest*

Naruto, however! *inflicts* (http://www.narutomania.com). Don't give up after only 8 eps. Zabuza! Haku! XD

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

a-HA! I have found eet.

See? Pretty! (http://www.storminheaven.net/alichino/immagini_alichino.htm) Androgynous people with crazily detailed hair. Er, like I said, the manga itself doesn't make huge amounts of sense, but...the pretty. You know?

Also, I have discovered you can still download the thing via Google cache (http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=cache:4qXi2JQtkzUJ:www.sakura-crisis.net/translations/alichino/+alichino&hl=en), but, um, I didn't tell you that. *whistles*

Anyway, I will stop rudely spamming you now. *flees*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! I recognize that artist... ishuca used that as Draco on her Plague of Legends page for awhile, and I really adore the complexity of the art... yum. heheh thanks for the pretty :D