Precious things
I'm not sure how exactly I ended up thinking about this, but it is something that I'm vaguely curious about. It's obvious that D.N.Angel is something like an obsession for me. However, I'm trying to think back on my years of being involved with this series to figure out at exactly what point this manga went from being "ooh, shiny" to "OMG LOVE", and why. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is about this series that made it become so incredibly precious to me. It's almost as if I'm entranced by it, as some of the characters in that world would be by an artwork of the Hikari.
In the end, it may be a combination of things.
1) Art: As far as appearances are concerned, I think Sugisaki-sensei's art style is beautiful, particularly how she draws eyes, hair, and feathers. While other factors usually outweigh style in the end, an art style that I like does make a good first impression.
2) Plot: The concept that artworks can have "life", and the emotions that the artist felt when creating an artwork is reflected in its power. I don't know if the manga planted this ideal in my mind or merely amplified it, but it's something that I've come to consider true and essential to the way I view art. Though artworks in our world may not be alive in the literal sense, I do feel that they inspire emotions in the hearts of people, both for the creator and for the viewers.
3) Characters: I'm not really one to latch on to characters (especially main characters) for no reason. That being said, in the early manga I found Daisuke absolutely adorable, and as the story progressed my image of him became that of someone with an incredibly strong and moving heart. Dark has always been a mix of cool and hilarious, though he's developed into being somewhat of an enigma when he slips into a (excuse the phrase) dark mood. Satoshi, surprisingly, didn't really interest me initially (which is ironic considering that he is the character that I usually feel the closest to these days). It was only after I began to notice how much Daisuke's open and friendly personality was gradually shaking his isolated world that I began to see the extent of how complex he is.
The characters of this series are also unique to me because even though I may dislike some of them, every single character has something--some kind of trait or action or detail--that I like. Even if I had the power to change this series by removing any characters from it, I never would. Not a single one. (That's also one of the reasons the anime pisses me off so much; it gets rid of so many wonderful characters, and has some random filler characters that don't really stand out to me. Mio Hio was the only one I found even remotely interesting, but only because she reminded me of a gender-flipped Saga.)
As for when this series became my One True Fandom, it probably started around the Sage of Sleep arc. (The aftermath of that incident also might the point at which I thought "Hmm...SatoDai...?" even though I was crazy about DarkDai and to a lesser extent SatoDark at the time.)
And this is completely off-topic, but I'm considering redoing my journal layout again. For the most part, I like the feel of this one, but it has some limitations that I'm not too satisfied with. Hopefully I can make something similar to my current one.
In the end, it may be a combination of things.
1) Art: As far as appearances are concerned, I think Sugisaki-sensei's art style is beautiful, particularly how she draws eyes, hair, and feathers. While other factors usually outweigh style in the end, an art style that I like does make a good first impression.
2) Plot: The concept that artworks can have "life", and the emotions that the artist felt when creating an artwork is reflected in its power. I don't know if the manga planted this ideal in my mind or merely amplified it, but it's something that I've come to consider true and essential to the way I view art. Though artworks in our world may not be alive in the literal sense, I do feel that they inspire emotions in the hearts of people, both for the creator and for the viewers.
3) Characters: I'm not really one to latch on to characters (especially main characters) for no reason. That being said, in the early manga I found Daisuke absolutely adorable, and as the story progressed my image of him became that of someone with an incredibly strong and moving heart. Dark has always been a mix of cool and hilarious, though he's developed into being somewhat of an enigma when he slips into a (excuse the phrase) dark mood. Satoshi, surprisingly, didn't really interest me initially (which is ironic considering that he is the character that I usually feel the closest to these days). It was only after I began to notice how much Daisuke's open and friendly personality was gradually shaking his isolated world that I began to see the extent of how complex he is.
The characters of this series are also unique to me because even though I may dislike some of them, every single character has something--some kind of trait or action or detail--that I like. Even if I had the power to change this series by removing any characters from it, I never would. Not a single one. (That's also one of the reasons the anime pisses me off so much; it gets rid of so many wonderful characters, and has some random filler characters that don't really stand out to me. Mio Hio was the only one I found even remotely interesting, but only because she reminded me of a gender-flipped Saga.)
As for when this series became my One True Fandom, it probably started around the Sage of Sleep arc. (The aftermath of that incident also might the point at which I thought "Hmm...SatoDai...?" even though I was crazy about DarkDai and to a lesser extent SatoDark at the time.)
And this is completely off-topic, but I'm considering redoing my journal layout again. For the most part, I like the feel of this one, but it has some limitations that I'm not too satisfied with. Hopefully I can make something similar to my current one.