Preview: Dragon Ball: Evolution

.....................................................FAIL!

Cannot Catharsize: Nana

Ah, the slow days of summer. It's nice to be able to just sit around and relax and do absolutely nothing, and then watch as my days go from meandering to sprinting in a moment AKA when I start my job. I've taken a pretty long break from writing, and depending on how my summer goes, I may not be writing too much on the blog (at least until next semester). But more on that some other time.

Right now, it's another edition of Cannot Catharsize, this time featuring the exquisite anime, Nana, that I just recently finished burning through. Nana is a shoujo anime, based on the manga written (drawn?) by Yazawa Ai, which started airing originally in Japan in 2006. I will be the first to admit that I was quite tentative about watching this anime at first, being that it is mainly a romantic story, mostly plot driven with absolutely no fighting (none physical anyway) nor explosions. But, after watching the first 4 episodes, I found myself hopelessly intrigued by the characters.

The main plotlines revolve around two characters, both named Nana. The first Nana you meet is Komatsu Nana, a naive, air-headed, and spacey girl from rural Japan. At the beginning of the anime, you see her taking the train to move to Tokyo, presumably to live with her boyfriend who moved to Tokyo a year earlier, Shouji. She makes frequent references to the "Demon Lord" (Dai Mao in Japanese), contributing to some elaborate fantasies that she manages to concoct regarding both her friends and her boyfriend (such as when she imagined that he had found a new lover in Tokyo named Sachiko and had been cheating on her for the past year). At first, her character seems like your typical, annoying young girl character, complete with overdone facial expressions and outbursts of emotion, but beneath the surface, she is an extremely complex and pitiable person. Gradually, her annoying habits transform into endearing qualities, with many of the characters at first put off by her outgoing character, only to find themselves wishing they could spend more time with her later.

The second Nana is Oosaki Nana, a husky-voiced, punk-rock singer. She comes off as strong and confident at first, seemingly much more reliable and even-keeled than K-Nana. However, as the series goes on, her flaws begin to seep through, and her character transforms from the strong leading heroine to the emotionally unstable partner, becoming dependent on the support and love of K-Nana, whom O-Nana affectionately names, "Hachiko," after a famous Japanese dog ("nana" also means seven in Japanese, while "hachi" means eight).

Some of the other characters include O-Nana's band, "The Black Stones", including the lawyer-drummer Yasu, O-Nana's only high school friend and lead guitarist Nobu, and the bassist, high-schooler turned child-prostitute Shin. Additionally, there is the rival band, "Trapnest," which include: Reira, the beautiful female lead singer; Takumi, the leader and bassist; the lead guitarist, former "Black Stones" member and O-Nana's lover, Ren; and the drummer, Yasu's old friend, Naoki. On K-Nana's side, you meet Shouji, and their friends, Junko and Kyosuke. While this presents itself as a large ensemble cast, each member is so different, not only image-wise, but also in character and personality. As each character is introduced, their relationships begin to intertwine, with the two rival bands having many inter-band relationships. This leads to many complications between each member doing what's best for their band versus what's best for themselves.

While the anime has many different underlying themes and numerous motifs (such as the use of nana, music, and the part-time jobs each of the characters possess outside of music), one of the main themes is ignoring that which is immediate in favor of that which may come in the future. Throughout the story, the characters continually choose that which they believe will bring them more happiness in the long run versus that which has made them happy up until that point. No details, because most of the occurrences are plot drivers, but it is very interesting to see the characters rationale for making each decision, even if you can see right through them as a viewer.

Overall, I absolutely loved watching this anime, burning through all 47 episodes in about a week. Another season should be forthcoming, and I honestly can't wait to finish the story. I think I'll start rating the anime's I watch, retroactively giving Gundam 00 a B+, and Welcome to the NHK an A-

Grade: A

I leave you with the second OP, "Wish" by Olivia, which is inspired by Reira in "Trapnest."

Cannot Catharsize: Welcome to the NHK

For this edition of "Cannot Catharsize," I'll be focusing on the anime that I just burned through in the span of about three days, "Welcome to the NHK." (The Japanese name is "NHK ni Yokoso!" which translates to, you guessed it, "Welome to NHK"). To give you some perspective as to my loserish-ness (yes I just made up that word, I love English), this series is composed of 24 episodes that run the standard length of about 23 minutes. Subtracting between 2 and 3 minutes for opening and ending themes (that I skip if I am fully engrained, which I was), that adds up to about 20 minutes per episode. Multiply by 24, we have 480 total minutes, divided by 3 days, we have 160 minutes per day. That makes it exactly 2.666 (repeating, of course) hours per day spent watching this anime. Some of you (*coughMattcough*) will say that this is nothing, and I will admit that such is not the highest density of anime I have watched on a per day basis, but the fact that I'm busy with school with projects and homework's galore, and still manage to waste time watching 8 hours of anime, should tell you enough of how engaging this series is.

NHK ni Yokoso (I use the Japanese because I'm cooler than you) is a slice-of-life, comedic drama based around the life of a 22 year old man, Satou Tatsuhiro (last name first, because that's the correct way to write it). The gist of the plot is that Satou is a hikikomori, someone who is extremely hermetic despite the bustling Japanese society, who dropped out of college, never leaves his room, and manages to survive via an allowance given to him by his parents. Satou is very easily influenced by others, throughout the series being led to believe that, 1.) the pain and struggles of his life are a conspiracy created by an evil organization, 2.) that he can make a living by playing online games (WoW style), 3.) that he can rid himself of his hikikomori status by taking prescription pills. Satou has an elaborate imagination, causing to have impossible fantasies (especially sexual ones) involving various other characters and occasions.

Then, out of nowhere (plot device yay), a 17-year-old girl named Nakahara Misaki (last name first) shows up at his door with her aunt attempting to solicit people into buying various publications. Somehow (I won't spoil it for you, and it's too long to write), Misaki gets into regular contact with Satou, as she begins to "teach" him how to rid himself of his hikikomori status. Many other characters are introduced, such as Kaoru Yamazaki, Satou's next door neighbor and former kouhai who goes to vocational school to learn game design, and Kashiwa Hitomi, Satou's former senpai who is dependent on drugs and obsessed with conspiracy theories, among others.

The series truly captivated me because many of Satou's fantasies/psychotic reactions are seemingly very normal (to me at the very least). When he hears someone laugh, he wonders if that person is laughing at him. When he sees someone give him a disgusted look, he assumes it's something wrong with him. Not only does he come up with elaborate fantasies regarding the source of these insults (when a teacher at Yamazaki's vocational school chuckles, Satou assumes it's because the teacher thinks he's better than him), but he also comes up with elaborate excuses and/or lies to cover up the truth of many matters. He lies so often that he gets trapped or convinced by his own lies, such as: believing that a girl character in an online game is actually in love with him, trying to convince Misaki that he's always working in his room, not just sitting there doing nothing, and fooling his mother into believing that he has a job and a girlfriend.

Yet, the main beauty of NHK ni Yokoso is the fact that all the characters have their strengths and weaknesses. They are all weak in some way, whether it be Satou's lies or Yamazaki's condescending attitude about women. But they're also all strong in some way, such as Misaki's unyielding support for Satou or Satou's sense of justice that compels him to meet with Misaki (in order to protect her from the molester that was rumored to seek young women in the park in which they meet). All the characters are beautifully real, with no one seeming too strong or too weak (perhaps with the exception being Satou). But most of all, the show really gives you excellent perspective in that your life is yours to live, that failure is only assured if you don't try, and that just because things go wrong in life sometimes, does not mean it is your fault.

With that, I leave you with the absolutely insane ED "Odoru Akachan Ningen", which translates roughly to "Dancing Baby Humans." (it's insane, trust me). (Yea, his appliances talk to him). (I told you it was insane).

Cannot Catharsize: Gundam 00

It's spring-time, so that means one thing....gloom and sorrow for the next 4-5 months as I try to recoup from the loss of a season's worth of anime! Most of you probably don't know, but right about now is when most anime series in Japan wrap up, and spare some of the really popular ones, will not return ever again, or at least not until the fall. Some of the really popular ones, like Naruto and Bleach, usually go into filler mode during the summer months, which basically means weeks upon weeks of painfully inane dialogue, drawn-out, underdeveloped, insipid plotlines, and action sequences that look as if a 4-year old might have drawn them (I was thinking of using 12, but there are some really good 12 year old artists, so I chose 4, because at that age, kids don't really have full control of their bodies, so there's no way they can draw that well).

Sadly, the series that I am most crestfallen to see go (at least until its next season) is Gundam 00. For those of you unfamiliar with the Gundam franchise, it is probably the most popular franchise in Japanese anime, featuring gigantic robots fighting in armed conflict. While the series is diverse in theme and plot, most of the series' go something along the lines of: war breaks out, lots of people die, gundam emerges, wreaks havoc, gets owned at some point in the story, regroups, then takes a huge dump on the enemies collective face in some enormous climactic battle (yea, that last bit was a bit of a stretch, but you get the picture).

Most Gundam series are fairly predictable, with a small core of main characters (usually the gundam pilots and their love interests), an amazingly insane/talented enemy pilot (or group of enemy pilots), and a whole crap ton of fringe supporting characters. Thus, we have good guys vs bad guys, where the good guys get the upper hand, then begin to struggle, then get owned, then make the come back, then beat the bad guys, and the world is saved. End Series. Usually there's a spoon full of intrigue/theme in there, but not much.

What makes Gundam 00 so interesting is that the conflict is not between a force for good vs a force for evil. In actuality, it is two conflicting ideals battling with one another: one ideal choosing to impose order on the world to end conflict (the Gundams), and another ideal choosing freedom despite conflict. In this way, even though the series is still Gundams vs bad guys, the bad guys are not so bad (with possibly one exception, a warmongering terrorist who seems to only exist to perpetuate war). LIkewise, some of the "good guys" you grow to dislike, simply because of their blind pursuit of the ideal of peace at all costs (one Chinese girl is so blind as to say that "I don't care the price the world has to pay, as long as it changes." Pretty dangerous thoughts coming from a 17 year old Asian girl).

The first season of Gundam 00 also ended in a huge cliffhanger, with the good guys in complete disarray, new bad guys emerging, and the revelation of a new mobile suit (the aptly named, "Gundam 00") that, in the words of the Chinese girl, "will change the world." Needless to say, my already weak ability to process myself through catharsis has been rendered utterly incapable of freeing myself from the Gundam 00 universe, leaving me with hours upon hours of speculation and Wikipedia-surfing in search of new revelations and details (Ok, the hours upon hours may be a bit of hyperbole, maybe minutes upon minutes is more truthful, but saying minutes makes me seem so much less loser-like. And loser-like is what I'm going for, right?). If you don't know what catharsis is, please read the Wikipedia article, because it's really the explanation as to why we get emotional through experiences that we see in the form of art, but do not necessarily experience ourselves. It's a wonderful word which expresses exactly why I'm so attached to anime: because it's the art form that is most difficult for me to process myself out of. But, that's another article for another day.

I leave you with one of my favorite songs (206 play counts on my Ipod as of today, #7 of my most played songs), the first OP of Gundam 00, "Daybreak's Bell," by L'Arc-en-Ciel.

What is Salvation?

Many times in life, we often attribute certain events to destiny, to fate. We say that such things could not have been prevented; that certain things were bound to happen. If we were to take a purely logical standpoint, one could say that all occurrences are the result of causes, known or unknown. If such is the case, are our struggles pre-determined, such that whatever action we are currently taking was already decided? In such a way, why do we struggle to attain our desires if so much of our lives is attributed to destiny? Is it pointless to wish for things, to strive for things?

All things are born, live, and eventually die. That's all there is to it. That's simply the truth of this world and all who live within it. No matter how hard you try or how long you strive, that fact will not change. Everyone else forgets this; I shall never forget. Yet, all that means is that I'ev never forgotten the true meaning of a life such as mine.

But everyone strives for something. By continuing living, we are actively choosing to continue to pursue something, even if that something is as simple as continuing to live. Yet, what are we to do when we find out that our wishes will not be fulfilled? What do we do when we find that it was destined that our wishes would not be fulfilled?

Life is like walking through a maze: There are always many paths to choose from; we simply choose one and follow it. Everyone believes that what they desire lies ahead along their path. Yet, I do so only to confirm that what we desire is not there.

Who decided that life would be like that? What did they truly decide? What if that which we desire was along a path that we did not choose?

Time will continue and eventually run out as you ponder your question. A path not chosen is the same as a path that did not exist. "If only at that time..." No matter how many times we look back with regret, we cannot go back. We cannot return to how we once were. We cannot change anything. All we can do is continue moving forward towards our uncertain future. "Some time other than now... Some place other than here..." Will you struggle along that path for all eternity, in search of what you desire? How unfortunate.

Are you saying there's no salvation?

What is salvation? Is it for all your hopes and dreams to come true? "Things should not have become like this..." you say. Is salvation the ability to turn back time and grant all the wishes that you lost? Given that, can you be certain that you will not make a mistake the second time? Who decided this? What did they decide?

If we cannot go back, then we must start on the correct path from the beginning. What one can do and what one should do, shall become one and the same. That's because we know ourselves best.

...

For those of you who don't know me, I'm marginally insane. The preceding was a Platonic dialogue (an idiot asking questions, being answered by an enlightened person) between Gilbert Durandal (and myself to an extent) and Rau Le Creuset from the anime Gundam Seed Destiny. The dialogue (with a few edits on Gilbert's part from me) comes almost entirely from GSD episode 29, which I posted the last 1/3 of in my second post on this blog. You may recognize a lot of the lines, as I have a tendency to use them in other posts regarding my philosophies about life, as well as in my Facebook profile and sometimes just when I'm talking with my friends. As I've said before, anime has had a profound affect on me in many respects, with this dialogue being one of the most salient. But I believe if you truly read the words, think about them, and analyze their meanings, you will see their truth. That there is no inherent "goal" nor "purpose" in life; we choose those for ourselves. And even if we make a difficult choice and hurt someone, that was still an active choice. Even if you don't watch the entire series, go to Youtube and watch GSD episode 29, "Fates." (It may be a little confusing, but it's worth it). Part 1 Part2 Part 3

Anime Procrastination

Those of you who know me, know that I tend to not have a lot of free time. As if being in my junior year wasn't time consuming enough, I've also been very active in my job hunt for the past 2 months, as well as working 2 jobs, searching for a place to live in next year, and all the work that goes along with each. However, you might also know that in what sparse free time I do have, I have a tendency to burn it up through watching anime. These days I rarely watch more than 20-40 minutes a day (and sometimes not at all), but there are some days when I'll go on a binge and watch 8-9 episodes in a row. I do complain a lot about not having enough time to do stuff, but I guess that is fairly hypocritical given how I use some of my free time. Yet, I also feel that anime fulfills several very important desires in my life.

Number one, I enjoy stories. I enjoy learning about characters, seeing their interactions, linking them with my own. I enjoy experiencing their emotions, feeling their pain, reveling in their joy. Maybe it's because they're in Japanese, maybe it's because they're far less commercial than American television, but I feel that most anime's tend to have a lot more depth to them than most mainstream television. Which brings us to point number two.

I appreciate the depth and thematics of each show. Every anime I watch has an overlying message to it (if it doesn't, it's usually not exciting to me, so I don't watch it in the first place). I have a file on my computer that keeps track of all the anime's I've watched over the course of my life (believe me, you don't want to know how many that is), and each entry is accompanied by how good I think the series is, and what message or theme I got from the show. This way, when people say "watching anime is so useless, you shouldn't spend your time on such a fruitless experience," I respond to them that they're not useless. I have many mini-lessons that I've learned from each anime, some of them greatly affecting my view on life and my overall interpretation of the world around me.

And last but certainly not least, anime is simply how I choose to entertain myself. Some people play sports, some people play video games, some people go out and drink themselves stupid, some people do drugs, all in the name of self-entertainment. It's just that most people believe that watching anime is socially unacceptable, and thus anyone who does so must be an uninteresting or uncool person. Perhaps that's true. Perhaps it is uninteresting and uncool people who watch anime. But like so many others, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I leave you with "Howling" by abingdon boys school, the OP for the anime, Darker Than Black.

Saaa, Hazimemasyoo ka?

So yea, the title is in japanese, which roughly means "so, let's begin." Although this blog will certainly not be limited to this topic alone, one of my favorite things to burn time with is watching anime. Sure it's nerdy, sure it's dorky, sure it's not something I would bring up with a girl on a first date (unless she was a nerd also, in which case...). But, to deny that which I am is truly pathetic right?

I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch anime. I also don't tell everyone I meet that I'm an avid anime watcher. But I know too many people that watch anime and are afraid to admit it. Whether they think it'll upset their parents, upset their friends, or what not, some people simply try to hide their affection for this genre. This truly saddens me, because I feel that if more people acted the way they truly are, instead of acting the way they wish to be perceived, not only would those hiding their true selves feel a much greater sense of self-integrity, but also those who would put us down for our idiosyncrasies might just open up to new ideas.

To wrap this up nicely, all I'm trying to say is that people should be themselves. I'm going into finance, and it's disgusting the way people act in order to fit in, whether it be omitting certain peculiarities about themselves, or by subscribing to a way of thinking that they themselves do not hold. Into every interview I've had, I've gone in knowing every single answer to every possible question they could give me. Why? Because I know myself. I don't have to make up any lies, I don't have to bend any truths. I just wish that more people could think like this, because it truly is liberating.

And since this post started with anime, I'll end it with anime. Here's a cool scene from the anime Gundam Seed Destiny, which features my fave character of all time, Raul le Creuset. It probably won't make much sense to those who haven't seen both GSD and it's predecessor, Gundam Seed, but if anything, just listen to the voice acting and the intonation of the actors. It's truly amazing. If you read this post, please make sure to comment so I know who's reading and who's not. That way I can know what's popular to write about.