Intrinsic Irony of the Dreaming Otaku
There's something a little ironic, I think, about watching certain seinen series. I'm sure you know the type. Those with fluttering pastel colors, cute, moe girls and nondescript boys, with rich landscapes and slice-of-life type stories, that give you a vague sense of some unplaceable nostalgia. Titles such as these include Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (ヨコハマ買い出し紀行), Aria, and a show I've just started, Sketchbook ~full color'S~.
What I find ironic about these shows is not necessarily something to do with the shows themselves, but rather those who watch them. Series such as these evoke a sense of quiet wonder in the viewer, one that makes you feel as if the people and places depicted are what you've been missing all your life. For some, or at least for myself, this feeling makes you want to go out and see the world. It gives you a taste of something sweetly bitter, that you can't find for yourself, though the things you watch make you feel as if it's as simple as taking a wrong turn on the walk home.
This brings us to the irony of it all. People watch these shows because they wish to experience these feelings. However, if they were not holed up in their homes watching the shows, they might be able to experience the feelings for real. Anime characters tend to lounge on scenic embankments by clear blue streams. I've never seen such a thing in person. At least, I hadn't, until one fateful day I decided to explore a bike path I had never known of. Somewhere around the outskirts of DC, I found myself on a path above such an embankment, the wind blowing gently, the grass waving on the edge of the stream, long stretches with no one else. Just me, my bike, and my thoughts.
This, to be clear, is not an attack on these type of series. I love them quite dearly, and without them I would not be able to get a fix of these ephmeral emotions that we so seldom grasp. However, if you wish to take a walk on the Scenic Route, you should try it for yourself. Letting a figment of someone's imagination take you there is never as good as discovering it on your own.
What I find ironic about these shows is not necessarily something to do with the shows themselves, but rather those who watch them. Series such as these evoke a sense of quiet wonder in the viewer, one that makes you feel as if the people and places depicted are what you've been missing all your life. For some, or at least for myself, this feeling makes you want to go out and see the world. It gives you a taste of something sweetly bitter, that you can't find for yourself, though the things you watch make you feel as if it's as simple as taking a wrong turn on the walk home.
This brings us to the irony of it all. People watch these shows because they wish to experience these feelings. However, if they were not holed up in their homes watching the shows, they might be able to experience the feelings for real. Anime characters tend to lounge on scenic embankments by clear blue streams. I've never seen such a thing in person. At least, I hadn't, until one fateful day I decided to explore a bike path I had never known of. Somewhere around the outskirts of DC, I found myself on a path above such an embankment, the wind blowing gently, the grass waving on the edge of the stream, long stretches with no one else. Just me, my bike, and my thoughts.
This, to be clear, is not an attack on these type of series. I love them quite dearly, and without them I would not be able to get a fix of these ephmeral emotions that we so seldom grasp. However, if you wish to take a walk on the Scenic Route, you should try it for yourself. Letting a figment of someone's imagination take you there is never as good as discovering it on your own.