Anime Finds
I've been going through a lot of anime finds lately. (Yes, I'm hopelessly behind the curve here, I'm sure, but bear with me.) I've gotten really picky about what I spend my time watching, and really yearn for stuff that reminds me of shows that got me into anime in the first place.
I think this started with Mai Hime, a short while back. Moving on through Mai Otome and Yakitate Japan.
Most recently, I was introduced to two shows. One through my love of Anime Music Videos, and another just because it had an interesting name, and I wanted to see what it was.
First up, thanks to silver_moon's outstanding AMV She's Just Oblivious, I was introduced to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This show is simply brilliant, and one of the most creative shows I've seen in years. It is very difficult to discuss it in length without spoilers, so I'll just say stick with it for at least 2 episodes. As far as that video goes, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's one of my top 10 favorite videos ever. The construction is masterful, and the song/anime match is simply perfect. It won Best Character Profile at AWA, probably just because it's pretty hard to peg the video in one of the big four categories... it's not really action, drama, comedy or romance... it's... Haruhi... and thus is practically the definition of a character profile video, indeed. I'm really sorry I didn't get to meet silver_moon at AWA and offer my congratulations... if you're out there, pat yourself on the back... you completely knocked my socks off with this one.
Next up, I'd like to give an academy award for music direction to Honey and Clover, one of the best shows in this category since To-Y (and anyone who knows me knows what high praise that is). The BGM is outstanding. The insert songs are poignant, and the closing credit song's opening measures hit me exactly the same way the closing of Mai Hime did, the first time I watched it. On top of all this outstanding music is another very unique show. I think so far the average amount of time elapsed between episodes is about two months... I don't know if it holds to this pace, but at least for the first 8 episodes this keeps this slice-of-life romantic story moving at warp speed, and lets you, the viewer, discover so much through foreshadowing that is simply delicious.
So, that's what I've been watching lately. ^_^
I think this started with Mai Hime, a short while back. Moving on through Mai Otome and Yakitate Japan.
Most recently, I was introduced to two shows. One through my love of Anime Music Videos, and another just because it had an interesting name, and I wanted to see what it was.
First up, thanks to silver_moon's outstanding AMV She's Just Oblivious, I was introduced to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This show is simply brilliant, and one of the most creative shows I've seen in years. It is very difficult to discuss it in length without spoilers, so I'll just say stick with it for at least 2 episodes. As far as that video goes, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's one of my top 10 favorite videos ever. The construction is masterful, and the song/anime match is simply perfect. It won Best Character Profile at AWA, probably just because it's pretty hard to peg the video in one of the big four categories... it's not really action, drama, comedy or romance... it's... Haruhi... and thus is practically the definition of a character profile video, indeed. I'm really sorry I didn't get to meet silver_moon at AWA and offer my congratulations... if you're out there, pat yourself on the back... you completely knocked my socks off with this one.
Next up, I'd like to give an academy award for music direction to Honey and Clover, one of the best shows in this category since To-Y (and anyone who knows me knows what high praise that is). The BGM is outstanding. The insert songs are poignant, and the closing credit song's opening measures hit me exactly the same way the closing of Mai Hime did, the first time I watched it. On top of all this outstanding music is another very unique show. I think so far the average amount of time elapsed between episodes is about two months... I don't know if it holds to this pace, but at least for the first 8 episodes this keeps this slice-of-life romantic story moving at warp speed, and lets you, the viewer, discover so much through foreshadowing that is simply delicious.
So, that's what I've been watching lately. ^_^