That position was not meant to be filled, at least not by you. I realise this selfish side of me is not ready to accept you. Just take heart in the fact that just because I do not like you does not mean I hate you. I am not friendly with you but I am not unfriendly to you. You can expect basic courtesy and that is all, don't encroach into my private space and keep your distance from me. I am just not ready to accept you, when will I be ready? I do not know but for now, don't make me spend time with you. Let me retreat into my little shell and pretend once again that you do not exist and that position remains unfilled.
I know I am being cryptic here, after all how much do you want someone else to know and worse how much do you want the target of your flaming to know? Lets leave this at that, I just needed to vent some frustration.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
ひさしぶり
ひさしぶり Its been a while...since I last posted anything on this page. Having recently completed an anime series, I was left with a rather empty feeling. I always get this feeling when I complete one of my sob sob Japanese drama serials, having drained my emotions over several packets of tissues. However this is my first for an anime. While I was not sobbing throughout this series, there were moments when tears did well up in my eyes.
I downloaded this as part of an "equivalent trade" deal which I worked out with a fellow pirate. I was curious, what with all the rave about this series and all. I did my research and I was intrigued by all the positive comments over this series. I did my wiki search too, and the more I read the more I found myself counting down to the time the download was complete. However, He watched something like 3 episodes before condemning it, said it made him sleep. Well...I would have to admit, this anime is one of those which you either like or hate. I believe it was intentionally targeted for the die-hard romantics (a.k.a Me) and since it was an adaptation of a visual novel, likely those typical Japanese otakus, a.k.a. geeky, anti-social men in their 30s who most likely can’t get real girlfriends and thus indulge in the cuteness and sweetness of the female characters. Trust me...some scenes are really just fan service. However, given how complex and diversified anime can be; there are so many underlying themes and characteristics that even within one particular series, it wouldn't be surprising to find fans beyond the original target audience.
So what is this series that I am talking about? Its クラナド or Clannad and the sequel Clannad~ After Story. This anime has everything: drama, comedy and romance all harmoniously put together to create one amazing piece of art. This anime was beautiful in every sense of the word, starting with the character designs. The hair designs had a sheer feel and reacted with the winds passing through it. This effect together with the use of highlights created more realism and I especially love how the hair gently floats up when the character is happy. This is in stark comparison to typical anime hair designs that stay fixed right through a high-tension battle scene as though the character had used an entire bottle of super hard hair wax. Although I did not fancy the cockroach-like antennas on the female lead, the male lead had slightly longish bangs and an overall devil-may-care feel which worked well for me. While its not uncommon for anime characters to have overly large eyes, in this case the use of highlights and an overall glossy feel made them almost glitter. I love how they use reflections within the eyes,there was this scene where the male lead was reflected within the female lead's eyes, as if saying "I've only got eyes for you." Awwwww~
The background scenes-from the streets, to the school rooms, to the shots of the sky during the day, afternoon, and night-are good use of pastels and colors to give a realistic feel to the mood of the story. There is a too bright..almost misty overcoat of sorts that gave this somewhat dreamlike effect. The artwork was no doubt impressive but sometimes, it appeared as though the animators had ran out of budget cos' all you got to see were blurry distant shots.
The entire story is broken into 2 seasons:School Life and After Story. In the first season, the writers chose to write the sub-characters arc as subplots supporting the main characters' budding romance. This was a choice move as it resulted in superb pacing and encourages viewers to make emotional investments in the 2 main characters which would serve well in the later season where all the drama was concentrated. It was a long way and honestly sometimes i did wish they would just get on with it but I realised its precisely cos the story took its time to progress so much so that along the way, the viewers get to see how the leads slowly turn towards each other and those brief moments where the emotions are apparent become so much sweeter.
The second season takes us through graduation and 10 years later into their lives. The first half of the second season did not cut it for me, as it absolutely did nothing to contribute to the larger narrative. I was bored to be honest. However the later half did redeem itself as the side characters drop off and the focus returns to the main couple. It is noteworthy that the exceptional pathos utilized within the story would not have worked as perfectly as it did if the first season had not focused on the relatively halcyon days of the schooling life of the cast. I had my doubts about the revival of the female lead, afterall that would mean undoing all the dramatic effects of a character dying. However cos I had so much emotional investment in the couple, I could not wish for anything other than their happiness.
I must say, I have yet to see such a well developed male lead in an anime series. He started out as a cynical boy who speaks his mind albeit harshly. I found it rather amusing how he lets lies flow out without so much of batting his eyelids. I've always enjoyed this type of humour more. However as the story develops. through interactions with the cast and of cos the female lead, you watch him slowly change and mature. This was consistent with the underlying theme of change as well.
On one of the many sites discussing this anime, someone got this quote by Philip Pullman:
“The sharing of stories takes time, but it is worth the wait, worth the meandering, worth the stuttering and stumbling and the struggle to find the right words. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but once upon a time lasts forever.”
It was slow-paced no doubt but I believe that the emotional buildup served its purpose and while though the ending was somewhat ambiguous for someone like me who is not familiar with the original visual novel. I still would not have wanted a different ending. Overall, this was a very well written story which kept true to its themes with highly commendable character development.
もし宜しければ, あなたをつれてしましょか.
この町の願いが叶う場所に...
If you wish, would you like me to take you?
To a place in this city where wishes come true.
I downloaded this as part of an "equivalent trade" deal which I worked out with a fellow pirate. I was curious, what with all the rave about this series and all. I did my research and I was intrigued by all the positive comments over this series. I did my wiki search too, and the more I read the more I found myself counting down to the time the download was complete. However, He watched something like 3 episodes before condemning it, said it made him sleep. Well...I would have to admit, this anime is one of those which you either like or hate. I believe it was intentionally targeted for the die-hard romantics (a.k.a Me) and since it was an adaptation of a visual novel, likely those typical Japanese otakus, a.k.a. geeky, anti-social men in their 30s who most likely can’t get real girlfriends and thus indulge in the cuteness and sweetness of the female characters. Trust me...some scenes are really just fan service. However, given how complex and diversified anime can be; there are so many underlying themes and characteristics that even within one particular series, it wouldn't be surprising to find fans beyond the original target audience.
So what is this series that I am talking about? Its クラナド or Clannad and the sequel Clannad~ After Story. This anime has everything: drama, comedy and romance all harmoniously put together to create one amazing piece of art. This anime was beautiful in every sense of the word, starting with the character designs. The hair designs had a sheer feel and reacted with the winds passing through it. This effect together with the use of highlights created more realism and I especially love how the hair gently floats up when the character is happy. This is in stark comparison to typical anime hair designs that stay fixed right through a high-tension battle scene as though the character had used an entire bottle of super hard hair wax. Although I did not fancy the cockroach-like antennas on the female lead, the male lead had slightly longish bangs and an overall devil-may-care feel which worked well for me. While its not uncommon for anime characters to have overly large eyes, in this case the use of highlights and an overall glossy feel made them almost glitter. I love how they use reflections within the eyes,there was this scene where the male lead was reflected within the female lead's eyes, as if saying "I've only got eyes for you." Awwwww~
The background scenes-from the streets, to the school rooms, to the shots of the sky during the day, afternoon, and night-are good use of pastels and colors to give a realistic feel to the mood of the story. There is a too bright..almost misty overcoat of sorts that gave this somewhat dreamlike effect. The artwork was no doubt impressive but sometimes, it appeared as though the animators had ran out of budget cos' all you got to see were blurry distant shots.
The entire story is broken into 2 seasons:School Life and After Story. In the first season, the writers chose to write the sub-characters arc as subplots supporting the main characters' budding romance. This was a choice move as it resulted in superb pacing and encourages viewers to make emotional investments in the 2 main characters which would serve well in the later season where all the drama was concentrated. It was a long way and honestly sometimes i did wish they would just get on with it but I realised its precisely cos the story took its time to progress so much so that along the way, the viewers get to see how the leads slowly turn towards each other and those brief moments where the emotions are apparent become so much sweeter.
The second season takes us through graduation and 10 years later into their lives. The first half of the second season did not cut it for me, as it absolutely did nothing to contribute to the larger narrative. I was bored to be honest. However the later half did redeem itself as the side characters drop off and the focus returns to the main couple. It is noteworthy that the exceptional pathos utilized within the story would not have worked as perfectly as it did if the first season had not focused on the relatively halcyon days of the schooling life of the cast. I had my doubts about the revival of the female lead, afterall that would mean undoing all the dramatic effects of a character dying. However cos I had so much emotional investment in the couple, I could not wish for anything other than their happiness.
I must say, I have yet to see such a well developed male lead in an anime series. He started out as a cynical boy who speaks his mind albeit harshly. I found it rather amusing how he lets lies flow out without so much of batting his eyelids. I've always enjoyed this type of humour more. However as the story develops. through interactions with the cast and of cos the female lead, you watch him slowly change and mature. This was consistent with the underlying theme of change as well.
On one of the many sites discussing this anime, someone got this quote by Philip Pullman:
“The sharing of stories takes time, but it is worth the wait, worth the meandering, worth the stuttering and stumbling and the struggle to find the right words. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but once upon a time lasts forever.”
It was slow-paced no doubt but I believe that the emotional buildup served its purpose and while though the ending was somewhat ambiguous for someone like me who is not familiar with the original visual novel. I still would not have wanted a different ending. Overall, this was a very well written story which kept true to its themes with highly commendable character development.
もし宜しければ, あなたをつれてしましょか.
この町の願いが叶う場所に...
If you wish, would you like me to take you?
To a place in this city where wishes come true.
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