The past week has actually just been one long joyride for me: after I realized that anime, after all, is not as harmful an addiction, I have enjoyed the free time that would be absent until perhaps Christmas. A day after I watched Bakemonogatari, I started watching a series I vowed to finish when it aired, and it was the second season of Spice and Wolf. As a show fuelled by character development, the show was solid and quite well-done. However, I did not like it as much as the first season because it seemed as if the second season revealed a cornucopia of Lawrence’s character: despite being a merchant, he has grown to be kinder and more caring as well as knowing what his real priority in life is. On the other hand, I felt Horo remained relatively staid: nothing really developed from her, and from what I observed she has changed little from her actuations during the first season. This has been most obvious especially during the final arc of the second season, where while Lawrence pours his entire heart and soul just to have Horo as a companion, and finally realizes his own feelings towards her, Horo nonchalantly remains the same knowledgeable, kind, but flirtatious character.
I thought this scene was especially sweet.
It is undeniable that Horo has feelings for Lawrence. Even when he felt she was going away from him, she was actually trying to assure his victory over Amati. Her loyalty lies with Lawrence, and it reflects in her actions that she treasures Lawrence beyond just a friend, or even a best friend. However, she keeps on dragging Lawrence, playing with him, and never telling him what she truly feels for him. While this unwillingness to open herself up is extremely understandable (she has loved before, and it has ultimately ended up with the death of her love), I was just thinking that she should stop toying Lawrence around. If she could perhaps curb her tongue when she speaks, and perhaps just cherish their moments together it would probably be better.
It is no longer Lawrence’s turn to act. He has willingly sacrificed everything he had valued before because he loves Horo, and he has put that into words. He lost a significant amount of money, could no longer be a town merchant, but he was willing to give all of his previous apices just to be with her. Even with that, Horo barely reciprocates his emotions. I just don’t really find it funny, sweet, or heartening.
Has anyone watched the second season and observed this? Perhaps actions speak louder than words, but words are still important to convey one’s truth in one’s emotions. One cannot live with actions alone, and it is with this reason that people get mad when they have no one to talk to. Madness arises from the inability of people to reach out to others and to ask for help through their own words. Horo may have been hurt in the past, but I don’t think that’s an excuse to skirt the truth of the matter regarding Lawrence.
The second season remained to be an eminent show. But for all its beauty, a unidirectional development will eventually be tiring. My own ranking of the season would be an 8/10.
I have been highly productive with regard to anime. After waiting about a day reflecting on the second season of Gundam 00, I decided to start viewing (on just a whim) Bakemonogatari. I could not stop watching it, and I realized that it was among the best anime this year has offer. I loved it not because it was trailblazing or totally original like Mononoke; I loved it because aside from its story (which was entertaining enough) it was also stylistically both unique and pleasant. While it borrowed concepts from Mononoke (I thought this was evident enough as I went through the series), xxxHolic and Requiem from the Darkness, it still was original and witty enough to be an excellent watch for this year.
I also loved how the subplots (the different oddities encountered and the person suffering them) contributed to the development of the characters. One can see how Hitagi grows from a callous and totally cold woman to someone who has learned to care for another, but it is a testament to the greatness of the series that Hitagi does not become perfect: she is still verbally abusive and offensive at times, but she usually more than makes up for it with her kind words. There is a similar development among the others featured in the series, with Mayoi, Kanbaru, and Nadeko, who have changed directly or tangentially because of Koyomi’s involvement with them.
Unlike Mononoke, however, the series is of a lighter tone. It still got bloody quite a few times, but the presence of the amusing wordplay, the allusions to memes and other series (the one I found most notable were allusions to Doraemon and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) contributed to a more jocular series.
I laughed out loud when I saw this. This is quintessential 4chan.
Finally, the TV ending of the series (of course one knows that there are still three episodes left) was a great culmination of the series. It could be seen that Hitagi has finally opened herself up not merely because she was rid of the oddity that befell her, but because she has truly fallen in love for the first time with our lovable and heroic protagonist. Even if one ended with the 12th episode, one could see that the series has come full circle: it started with Hitagi, and it ended with her as well. From an ice queen she has become transformed into a human, and she has become (despite all her quirks and idiosyncrasies) a woman who loved with all her heart. The emotional aspect of Bakemonogatari (aside from its interesting stories) gives it humanity. It does not dwell on man’s evil but cherishes life, love, and forgiveness, and this gives it an advantage other horror series don’t really possess.
It hasn’t been the best anime I have ever seen, but I can say that it ranks among the best. In my own, personal ranking it’s probably a 9.25/10.
What did you guys think of Bakemonogatari? Is it utter pretension, or a work of art?
I recently finished my first anime marathon ever since I started medical school. To sum everything up: feels good man. With that said, I was able to do it because I resolved to wean myself off bidding on eBay. I am extremely grateful for those who commented on my previous post and the grains of wisdom within their comments. I was wavering with symptoms of withdrawal beforehand, but I am glad to say that it has been a week since I have bid on anything on eBay. It may be a minutiae to many, but it is something significant to me. As I believe this will become a relatively lengthy post, I will divide the post between its central part [the anime part] and the personal part [my continuing battle against addiction], as I feel writing about my problems will help solve it.
I am a person who possesses a lot of discipline with regard to the things I deem important: for example, I am rarely late at meetings, and it has come to my attention that I am usually the first to arrive at the rendezvous point. I also exercise when I deem myself needing it, and I also have discipline to submit pertinent requirements on time. However, I still lack discipline with certain things, and most important among those are my wanton purchases on eBay. Despite the helpful comments that people have suggested in my previous elaboration of this quasi-addiction of mine, I have not been able to successfully conquest this demon of spending on unnecessary things. I have purchased some more video games the past month, in addition to purchasing a vintage set of headphones (which, to my dismay, are uncomfortable despite having good sound).
Medical school is akin to barely breathing. We had three exams just a week ago, and two more this coming week. Despite knowing that Spice and Wolf II is currently airing, and that there are still some anime that are worth watching (plus, is Lelouch really alive? When will the OVA come out?), I don’t have a consistent Internet connection and I also don’t have much of time to really enjoy myself with anime.
I’m glad that I’ve finally (somewhat) controlled my urges to eBay: I did it by being interested in a relatively expensive (and very rare) video game, which would cost me a lot of saving and a lot of waiting. I’m halfway through that mark, so it’s good. I wish I could comment and read what the blogosphere offers, but medical school takes away most of your time. It really is a schooling, both inside and outside the classroom. Imagine reading a whole book for only a week … with a comprehensive exam upcoming immediately after.
I knew that the transition to medical school was going to be anything but smooth, and I was correct. I had a lot of misgivings before the start of classes and a lot of imagined problems with my soon-to-be classmates. Somehow, however, I was able to persist and flourish: perhaps this is the reason that they call man to be the superior being, as his capacity to adapt is nearly limitless. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m only starting to understand the intermittent updates by TheBigN, and that has a lot to do with the rigours of medical school. It’s actually worse than high school, because after you’ve stayed at school for more than a third of the day you also have to study for another third just to probably pass. There are also weekly exams, which don’t make things any easier.
With that said, I haven’t really watched any anime after finishing Shikabane Hime. I was irritated at the ending, primarily because it was classically Gainax, but it was, as a series, pretty good. I wished Makina and Oori became more than friends within the anime’s span, but I guess that wasn’t meant to be.
I have a few questions: which spring anime of 2009 have already ended? What are the good ones to watch, aside from Cross Game and Eden of the East? Has a poster for Summer 2009 come out yet? What are the anime to follow?
It’s actually a reality that I’ve realized a steep decline in my Internet use. From the more or less 35 hours a week in college I’m barely using five this time around.
While other post-graduates were busily preparing for what to bring the next day, I was on the computer looking at a red-and-black screen, dodging a missile at one point and ducking an alien at another. While they were excited to open a new chapter in their life, I was totally focused on vanquishing the ecclesiastico-military palette.
Enjoy watching.
I was playing the Super Cobra (using the Adventure Vision BIOS) on the MESS and I sought to finish the game (by myself) without infinite Cobras to see whether the game would present an alternative ending or not. I was so besotted with the completion of the game because it would give me closure, a closure that I desperately needed to prove to myself that my lust for that failure of a handheld system was juvenile. I vowed to myself to finish it before classes would start primarily to prevent any distraction from my studies. While I had quite a few misgivings regarding medicine, I am a man who sticks by what he has chosen, and as I had chosen medicine I am going to stand by it (despite the fact that I barely slept yesterday and probably wouldn’t later). After about five days of persistence, I was finally able to finish the game with a limited number of Cobras and I also finally discovered that there was no difference in the ending whether one had infinite Cobras or not: the game kept on without end.
Having played as if demon-possessed for a few days, I could not help but notice the different flaws that the Adventure Vision system had. For one, it was very fragile: a short fall and the rotating mirror mechanism that allowed the game to proceed would break. There would be no more game, and no more system. Another flaw to its design was that it was primarily built with red LCDs. The VirtualBoy was merely an upgrade from this console: both have the same red LCDs that cause eye tiredness, headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Finally, the games other than Super Cobra have barely any replay value: the system possessed mediocre graphics at the time, and once one finished with Super Cobra there wasn’t really anything else left to do but to start all over again (or stop playing, which was what I did).
My finishing of the game came at the most opportune time, because after I completed it I could finally disassociate myself with the game and with the obsession that plagued me for a good few weeks. I could also finally focus studying for the medical profession that I have chosen; and while I am still not quite sure of the decision that I have made I am extremely certain on my commitment to my choice. I can only hope that I can surpass the obstacles that I am encountering currently and the even bigger ones that I will face in the future.
Thank you for everyone who has supported me throughout my stint of blogging. While I probably will not stop watching anime, and while I will probably still blog, it will most certainly be not in the same volume or length as before. Right now I have dealt with three-hour night sleeps: I will probably have to deal with worse.
As Samuel Beckett most aptly put it, ‘I can’t go on, I’ll go on.’
Even when I was still a child I had always been admiring of pens in all shapes and sizes. I sometimes admired some pens so much, I stole some of them when I was still very young. While I no longer steal pens at this age (I’d like to think I’m a wee bit more mature), I still have the same admiration and quasi-obsession for these objects. I bought three pens at two American dollars primarily because they were aged and comparatively antique (two were probably at least ten years old). As expected, the ink dried out within a week, and I had wasted two dollars on white elephants. They barely even wrote. Read the rest of this entry »
As I’ve said in my previous posts, I have been busy chasing and dealing with the requirements of medical school. That doesn’t mean I have done absolutely nothing as regards anime: on the contrary, I have observed and watched a significant number of movies and series (both anime and live-action).
