Happy to be from the West!

*May include spoilers. All media credits go to their owners*

Today I want to write about something that has always been on my mind whenever I watch anime or read something related to the Japanese culture - how differently society behaves here and there. And especially when watching anime, I find myself wondering whether the things they show there are really how things work. I mean, it's likely that school life is more or less exactly like it is pictured - children changing their shoes in the lobby, changing seating a few times per year and getting sorted into new classes once every couple of years. But is it really true that the most popular guy in school has food grades, is good at sports and acts nice to everyone?

When I think back to my high school times - which by the way ended like 5 years ago - I don't remember any of the cool kids being awesome at studying. Sure, there were athletes and yeah, there were nice guys too. But there were also random people who did nothing but drink and hang out doing, well - nothing, and their popularity was based mostly on being bad at school. Seriously, that gang in the back who never listened to anything the teachers said and played cards even during classes, that was "teh leetzor" gang to belong to. Now, I personally don't have a very vivid experience with the entire thing since we had 30 girls and 1 guy (poor dude) in the class - obviously the popularity contest can't really happen if there is no audience to compete before. The girls just formed groups based on interests or similarities and that's how it went. I also played in a rock band and liked playing video games so the fucks I gave about the entire girls-class thing was an absolute 0. But I did hang out with some of the cool kids from other classes because we had music to connect us and to be quite blunt - I don't think they were neither smart nor soulful.

Tomoya

Looking at school life in anime though, being a delinquent is generally looked down upon (which is completely the other way around here). Your grades should be at least a medium ranked to be able to charm anyone with your looks and kindness. Think about Tomoya from Clannad for a second. He was obviously rather handsome and evidently pretty kind and caring, but most of the people from their class still thought badly of him since he didn't care about studying. What kind of a society does it take to make kids think studying is awesome? In a sense, I think I would actually prefer that society. You are urged from an early age to strive for something and be someone. True, it will probably be challenging at times but by then you would already be used to it. You are constantly urged to form bonds, participate in events - student councils and committees are serious institutions and you actually get some credit for being the class rep. Then again, you would be competing with a mass of hard working ants who all aim for similar goals. Also, regardless of whether it's popular or not to study in the Western countries, if you do it well you'll probably have better shots at things. But to stand out from a mass of study bugs you'd have to be 100% dedicated to working your way through academics.

Here we come to another point that has always bothered me. The amount of dedication children in school settings are forced to put into things. I agree that one must be taught how to focus and reach goals, but do you really have to set goals for your entire life when you're 15? You don't even know who you are entirely and what you want or what you like. All you know is that people like parents, teachers etc have expectations and you need to set your aim in life to start working towards it with all your might. The day you walk out of high school you better have a new place to go to - otherwise you'll be kicked out of your parents place or thought of as a burden. Of course it's not any better to be dwindling about and not knowing where you are going in life for years and years after you finish your school life, like it happens around here a lot. But if you already set goals during puberty then it's rather likely you will wake up one day when you're 30, working on a meaningless post, and find yourself questioning whether you made any of the choices yourself or was your mind just molded to that direction by others. 
Young people actually need the time to fail and be free in order to find out what really matters to them in life. Can this really be accomplished by expecting them to choose when they're still children? I don't know. But I do know that there is a bunch of weird people in Japan who like to sniff girls panties and do extremely disgusting things to find some shelter from the iron setting the society has pressed upon them.

One last extremely important thing about being a teenager and finding out what is important to you is about love - and romance in general. In this sense I'm extremely glad that there are animes to sort of guide young people through it. Another thing I am glad about is how important they show the 'confession' part of the process to be. It's a climax point of the innocent love where you really need to pull yourself together and accomplish something. I admire the people who have the courage to face their crush in the broad daylight and confess their feelings. But that is not usually how it works around where I live and I believe it's more or less the same everywhere else in the West. 

Here people get together at someone's house -> get drunk -> start making out. After that it's probably pretty obvious one or both of the parties like the other. 
"I like you!" "Yeah, your tongue in my throat gave it away." 

Sure, I've witnessed some innocent love myself even, where the boy and the girl actually tell each other how they feel, go for walks, hold hands, kiss for the first time. But that ends with kids turning like 13-15 and finding out how easy it is to get someone to buy you alcohol. After that you don't really need to face your embarrassing feelings alone and if you lack courage you can supplement for it from the bottle. But that also makes it so much easier to go too far too easily. You get drunk and happen to sleep with a guy? Well now, no use crying over spilled milk, eh? The amount of sex that is shown on TV doesn't really help with the image what is good and what is not.

That's why I think that it's an important thing to actually face someone with no extra help from alcohol and tell them how you feel. Sure, it's embarrassing and sometimes useless since you might already know what the other is going to say. But to muster up your courage and go for it while knowing you might be both accepted or rejected is something you will remember for your entire life. It gives the whole business a meaning. Making out while drunk and then dating them cause you might as well, will turn into a mass of hazy memories when you're older, none of them really meaning anything. I sincerely believe that everyone should have to confess at least once as a teenager to know what it really means to try to reach someone with feelings

Yet, I don't think I would actually prefer living in the Japanese society. Regardless of how many good points the collective consciousness has, it's important to be free too. If you don't feel the direction you've chosen in life is right for you then all you have to do is take your life into your own hands and work for the things you really want. And people will support you. But in animes people seem to be so tightly set in their own tracks that when the time comes to change something, it seems to be the hardest thing in the world. True, there are people like that here too, but at least societies urge people to go for what they really want. There the world revolves around what the society wants...

Thank you for reading my blabber and hopefully some of my points have reached you.
Will be back next week!

Awesome romance anime

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

First of all - I know I missed last week, my conscience told me. But since I needed sleep between sessions of hardcore studying, I couldn't help it :( Anyway, this week I'm continuing with my practical writing exercise, so yay for me!

I've never really liked full romance animes. I mean, I've always LOVED romance in animes - but only if the anime was of any other genre than romance itself. The school-love combo just gives me nothing - it's full of horrible melancholic moments and weird choices by the main characters, from wether to admit their feelings to bla bla bla...

Please don't be offended

But! This season I've been forced to eat my words - I think probably for the first time ever. Because I'm sorry to admit it, but I didn't really like Clannad. The After Story was great (let me specify - the marriage story was great), but the regular Clannad was so damn boring. Seriously, I considered skipping it all in all. Eventually I had to force myself into watching it because I wanted to properly see what After Story, the nr 1 spot on ANN was about. But it was just another story about how people form groups in a collectivistic society that will likely be their only network of connections next to their colleagues for the rest of their lives... damn I'm glad I live in the West.

After Clannad I've seen a bunch of faliures - that at least I thought were meant to be romance animes. Like Chihayafuru - okay, maybe it was meant to be a 'sports' anime, but seriously, wasn't everyone hoping for the storyline they began with the triangle to evolve.... ? Was that just me...? Woopsie... <.<
And then Natsuyuki Rendezvous. Bad. So bad. I had such high hopes - I was cheering for it until the very end. But it ended in complete randomness. I would like to take this time and ask: Excuse me, but what was the point of that entire anime? We all knew the ghost would have to give up Hazuki's body in the end, we all knew how sad that whole situation was... what exactly did this anime give us? The ghost was still floating around even after his wife had died after living decades and decades with another man.... So in the end there was no closure, no nothing. Stupid.
I also checked out Arcana Famiglia, which I knew was shoujou, but I tried anyway.... was bad, so whiny. Yuk!

Junjou Romantica

Okay, I guess I did like one romance anime, but that was probably because I had never seen one like that before. And it had sex, lots of sex. I like sex :x
I'm not even entirely sure this should be counted as romance - but they are doing romantic stuff, right? And the title says so... Perhaps a pretty straightforward anime pick for my very first yaoi, but then again it had some mushy feelings in it and all that. It's not like it was Ai no Kusabi reborn :D (oh yeah, those who have seen it blushed a little there). Didn't have lots of school in it - still evolved around a university, so I'm guessing that counts. Anyway, that was kind of fun and fresh. So, coolio. I'm borrowing this phrase from a friend. Cooli-o. Coolio.

But other than that I had never seen a traditional romance anime that I'd actually like. Until Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (My Little Monster) came along! Alright, maybe it's not very traditional in the sense of what goes on in there, but basically - it has romance, it has school life - I think I've found my perfect traditional exception, finally! 

First of all, it's funny - anyone who sees it and isn't completely derived of a sense of humor, should see that. Sometimes the fun is situational, sometimes it's just the things they say and the responses they give. The characters are special and not your typical: worn out hero-type gentle high school guy, who keeps coming to the rescue with only pure thoughts in his head; and the kind and useless lead female. No. This time the hero is a genius-boy who has extremely weird tastes, is brutal, a bit dirty-minded and actually has feelings he's not afraid to admit. But for a change, the girl doesn't get overshadowed - she's smart, blunt, knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say it either. Basically they're both downright honest - not such a common thing in anime, eh? So throw in a bunch of rich delinquents, a nice baseball dude, a cute but dumb girl who is also incidentally an internet geek, and a shy class-rep who isn't so shy after all when she falls for the male lead - and you get a mixture crazy, funny and romantic that actually resembles real life. Oh, and don't forget the rooster - the rooster is important!

I mean it isn't so unusual to kind of fall for your best friend, now is it? And it isn't unusual to tell the person you like them, try to figure things out. So where the regular romance anime goes on for episodes and episodes of denying their feelings, trying to be just friends, this one comes right out and says it: "Now that I realised I have feelings for you, I want to do all kinds of things to you..." - Haru.

So far in this show, they've confessed like four times, changed their priorities, realised the world isn't black-and-white, kissed, gone on dates, stopped dating - and it's still at episode 7! Every week I just cannot wait for another episode, it's freaking awesome! I'll throw in a few pics to illustrate my point.

Haru and Shizuku

Haru forces Shizuku to go eat out with him

Oshima having a moment with Haru... and Nagoya

A bit of the philosophy that drives Haru

Shizuku announces her ambition, Haru backs her up

Shizuku and Haru, almost there...

Shizuku flushed after a kiss attempt

Haru thinking about Shizuku

Basically - watch this anime or you'll miss out on a helluva lot of epicness!

More grains to spill next week - share your thoughts in the meanwhile!

...and then came the sequel...

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

In the light of a new season starting in the anime world, I'm inclined to be a bit melancholic about all my favourite shows that have ended - and I mean in general, not the previous season. When I watch or read something that I really grow fond of, it's extremely hard to let go of it in the end. Let's say I'm reading the Game of Thrones series and finally, finally, mr Martin finishes the damn saga. That's terrifying! It's like the end of a world! Although I don't like waiting years and years for the next part of the story, at least there is something to look forward to. It's kind of like losing something from your life if there is nothing else coming! Here, let me paint a picture:

Regardless, however desperate I may be, I recognize that at some point all good things must end. Or they stop being good. And yes, Hollywood, I mean you especially. Although there may be money to be made from '[insert name here] Adventures 2&3&4...' due to the gullible hopeful fans of '[insert name here] Adventures 1', story and qualitywise it would just be better to stop with the first. Sometimes before the first.

I'm not sure if that idea entirely works in the anime world though. There definitely are some animes that have overstayed their welcome, like the endless sequels of Digimon (I did like the first 3, by the way), Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Gundam - there are plenty. But more surprising are the ones that become a more special and diverse story with sequels. I'd say, at least to some extent, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Naruto Shippuuden do that. If you look at the top anime list here, you can see that many sequels are ahead of their first part in the list. So today I'll be focusing on the ones that I think absolutely profit from having a sequel or a second season.

Code Geass

Although this one was probably never meant as one season only, it's original run time was from fall 2006 to March 2007. The next season aired over a year later, in April 2008. It's not very uncommon for shows to get canceled and sequels to be announced and called off again, so if I had been watching it from the Japanese TV back then, I would've been rather scared that the first season would be the end of it. Even if there are various reasons for delaying a show on purpose - from creating more word of mouth marketing to polishing every edge of the new piece of work - you can never really know what's going on behind the curtains and weather your beloved show will make it back to the screen.
But thank goodness it did, because it was clearly the second season that brought it home. Where the first part was what built the story and gave it colour and some background, it was the pace, new variations and characters of the second season that provided such an epic culmination. It brought so many new elements and yet managed to keep the vibe from the first part - not to mention create new word of mouth publicity with the ending and become one of the most legendary psychological and strategic minds anime ever.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

This one has a very specific topic so I don't really blame you if you haven't seen it - or have avoided it.
The first season, which ended in September 2006, painted a rather bloody picture that could arguably be targeted to very sick people only. There were a couple of live-action movies and even a spinoff OAV before the 'official' second season aired July 2007, but it really was the second season that saved everything. Where the first season was cute-kids-getting-brutal, the second gave it some kind of context and reasoning which made it less sickening and more tragic. I know people who've watched a few episodes of the first season and then looked at me in disgust for having seen two seasons of it and never ever speak of it again. In my defense - I even told them that it may be pointless to watch the first season if you're not going to follow through the second since otherwise all you'll remember are twisted pictures from a story with no point other than killing people off over and over

Clannad: After Story

Probably one of the most famous sequels as well as a long time top of the ANN best anime list, Clannad: After Story is what saves the anime for me. The sequel, which aired similarly to previous examples a year after the first season ended in October 2007, has earned a lot of praise and won many hearts. 
You may call me a cold bastard and I would agree, but the regular Clannad left hardly any impression on me. Perhaps it is due to so many school animes out there and every other one of them trying to be so very overly melancholic. Or maybe I'm just a heartless bitch. 
Whereas I fully acknowledge that without the first season and the first half of the second season there would not be such a rich back story and contrast, the story itself only begins for me with the second half of the sequel. That last part is where the "Real Clannad" starts and takes off from the ground of  'a bit above average' and becomes something special. The excruciatingly long introduction pays off. Another sequel surpasses its original.

But one of the greatest surprises was something very unusual. I just recently finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: that's not anime. True that. Still, the influences of Chinese culture and Japanese animation are so intensely visible in the series, that I would most often find myself wondering why they weren't speaking in Japanese.
When I first ever saw this cartoon it was when my sister was 6 and she watched it during the mornings. I didn't think much about it back then, it seemed rather tasteless. But with the urging community of 9gag, I decided to watch the show and guess what - it turned out to be awesome. There was the mindset and subtlety of Asian cultures skillfully mixed with American straightforwardness. It had great action, was very well drawn and no one really denied their feelings - the full package. A full shounen protagonist who is great at battles and knows how to handle spiritual stuff. What more can a girl ask for!

Now when I finished the original and went on to the Legend of Korra, I must say I was rather sceptical. We all know how the Western world butchers good things with sequels. But as the show evolved, I discovered my fears were for nothing. With matching undercurrents from the first show, the Legend of Korra kind of picks up like it's the most natural thing in the world. True, the world has changed and instead of the traditional China-like world, one might say there are new settings brought in from the red China - communist ideas in the world of element bending. And true, there seemed to be a lot take from the USA around the 40s, but all in all, it was the special and specific world of the four elements. Also, bits and pieces of the past were shown with our favourite characters from the original show all grown up, doing great deeds. 
I mean, dayum! Look at Aang, he grew up to be uberhandsome! Oh yes you did, yes you did!

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I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile share your opinion - which sequels do you like or hate?