(no subject)
I haven't had much to say lately, so I haven't been posting, and also, I've really not felt like rattling on about fiction and my insignificant life when far more important things are happening in this world, but I also have not wanted to discuss said important things, as I don't have really any right to, in my mind, being so far apart from them as I am, and thus really knowing nothing about what is going on; thus, all that I can say is that my heart is with the people in Iran.
And, now, I guess I will rattle on about insignificant things, about fiction and my life, but I wanted to make that statement before I did.
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This week, it has been raining quite a lot, meaning that I have been working much less than normal, as the things I really need to do right now - mowing and weeding - become impossible when everything is wet. This means that the last full day I have done was on Friday, during which my Dad discovered a giant strawberry patch. I only did two hours on Wednesday, but I'm making it up today. Monday, however, I decided, "Hey! I didn't get to watch as much anime as I wanted to this weekend, so I'll just sit down and finnish the last two episodes of Gurren Lagann!"
And I did. And it was amazing.
And then i learned that the first episode of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya had been posted. And I watched that as well. And it was also amazing.
And then I realized the mail was going to come in an hour, so I had better watch one of my Netflix DVDs. I decided on Mushishi, as I am fed up with Red Garden at the moment. It, too, was. . .
You get the idea.
Finally, the mail came. And with it, a bastion of cuteness in the form of Gakuen Alice.
In total, I watched seven hours of anime - 19 episodes, the most anime, or any visual media, that I have seen in one day.
Actually, the creepy thing is that watching 7 hours of anime implies that I did at least something else for 6 hours altogether during that time, and I honestly can't account for that. Also, part of what caused this marathon may have been that I got my old glasses fixed, so I am no longer squinting through lenses of an old prescription that gives me a headache when I try to make out subtitles.
I have a lot of things to talk about involving anime, but they deserve their own posts. I'm going to dedicate this post to Gurren Lagann, post about Baccano!, which I finished last week, later today, and do a post about Gakuen Alice once I complete it.
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The funny thing about Gurren Lagann is that when I first heard about it, I was sure I was going to hate it. The person I heard about it from is someone with tastes very different from my own, and I actually only agreed to watch it if he agreed to watch Witch Hunter Robin. That deal went out the window when a friend whose tastes I do trust told me a few things about it, and though still extremely cautious, I decided I may actually enjoy it.
I didn't really like the first few episodes, truth be told. Part of this was because I was having a hard time being absorbed into it, I suppose, but also, it was loud, it was loud and bold and happy and I kind of reacted by curling into a ball and covering my ears with my hands. . .figuratively. But, by the end of the disc, my opinion had changed, at least to some extent. Kamina and Simon's relationship I found very touching, and the character of Rossiu was definitely very interesting. Yoko I was still a little unsure of, as she seemed to be there mostly for fanservice, a notion reaffirmed by the dreaded episode six, which I honestly do still despise, with the exception of one very touching scene.
Then came the end of disc two - the emotional climax of the story's first act, and the introduction of the character of Nia. Nia was one of the things that made me cautiously interested in the show. Nia is fun and cheerful and happy, but she's also more than that, and watching Nia come to her own self-actualization while coaxing Simon along his own is just amazing. More than that, though, everyone started really developing, Simon, Rossiu, Yoko, Kittan, and throughout the show, with one exception, nobody remains unchanged.
It kept getting better and better, and now, I have to say, I love it. Yoko is an amazing and dynamic character who wears skimpy clothing because she wants to - it suits her, really, and it suits her attitude towards battle. Nia is Nia, sweet and happy but with an amazingly strong will, Rossiu is a hard man, one who knows logic and law only too well, and who is well equipped to make hard decisions even if they kill him inside, and Simon is our hero, someone I truly do want to root for, and someone who changes from a sweet little boy to the kind of cultural icon nobody forgets.
I love these guys.