Hellolehs, people who are reading this blog. Yes, I am alive.
As an afterthought, if you will, of our karaoke gimik last Saturday, we were thinking about the state of the anime series that are being shown today and how they pale in comparison - plot and character-wise - with the anime that we grew up with. I agreed of course, but I was also quick to say that maybe that assumption comes with age (OUCH! HAHAHAHA!).
Still, if you really think about it (and I'm talking to my age group here, who grew up watching Dragonball Z, Sailormoon, Yu Yu Hakusho, Gundam Wing, Rurouni Kenshin, etc etc) the anime series that are dominant at this point in time are kind of, well...hmmm...let's just say that they're not groundbreaking, if you will. Most of the anime right now don't have a mind-shaking impact on its viewers, in my opinion. Mostly, all you remember are the bajillion jutsus that are accessible in Naruto. But I digress; the best way to illustrate this is through an example.
Best case in point for this argument: Rurouni Kenshin. If there was any anime that had a tremendous impact on my philosophy in life, it has got to be this series. Yes, the art is beautiful, the setting is wonderful (who wouldn't love watching flashbacks of the Bakumatsu era and the first few years after the Meiji restoration? COME ON!), the story is, well, what more can I say? But what made this series memorable (for me, at least) was the Shishio arc.
Yes, his methods are extreme, but you can never dismiss his philosophy behind his actions: Darwin's famous idea, the survival of the fittest (the strong shall live and the weak shall die, Shishio always says). You can never dismiss his leadership potential, his charisma over his goons (the Juppon Gatana), and you can never, EVER deny that he has a point - that the Meiji government has done little to change the ailing society of Japan - allowing the country to be subject to foreigners, letting the gap between the poor and the abusing rich widen even more, and in a particular move that Kenshin even is subject to, the prohibition of carrying swords in public, hence making the samurai nearly extant.
We all know what happens - Shishio burns to death. But dare I say it? Even his death was beautiful. It kind of came full circle when it happened - that the fires that first consumed him have exploded once again (as if in vengeance) - this time from within himself, his own body fat fueling the fire that made him end up in ashes. It was so extreme, and it had so much meaning that his death will be forever embedded in my mind.
Probably the closest (but still not close enough) I have seen this kind of villain in the anime series these past years is in Naruto, specifically with Nagato/Pain. But it's still...well...it wasn't as epic as the Shishio arc (for me). Though Nagato had similar intentions and extreme methods (being a victim, wanting to start a war that would end all wars or something?), the passion of his cause didn't really resonate to me as a viewer. Not as much as Shishio's, that is.
You can argue, of course, that there's nothing new under the sun (Naruto, after all, was inspired by Dragonball!), but hey, you can always make better what isn't new, right?
If you haven't watched it, GO FIND A COPY (I can lend mine but you'd have to promise to take care of it with your life). IT'S AWESOME.
If the movie was awesome, the book is a bajillion times more awesome - and this is why I sometimes prefer watching a movie first before reading the book, cause when it's the other way around I'm usually fretting about details in the book that I feel are important that get omitted in the movie version. Now that I'm reading the book, I'm getting the real deal.
Spoilers follow below.
The beauty of The Mists of Avalon is it's feminine point of view. Whether it was Morgaine's passion for the Goddess or Gwenhwyfar's (whom I hate, hate, hate!) devotion to the new religion, the fact that the story revolves around the women of Arthur's time is a fresh take on the legend. Plus, you realize that Arthur, who's usually the main character, is very much influencd by the actions of the women that surrounded him. And he loves his sister in a way that was...well...incestful. And may I add - that their love was actually consummated (CAN I GET AN OMG!) but in fairness to both, they didn't know each other during that time (And I shall not explain why XD I don't want to spoil!). But even if that didn't happen, Arthur was close to admitting to Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet that Morgaine was his greatest love and the love that he could never have. ( FAMILIAR ITO HA! Sample Arthur line: He looked at her lovingly. "I have always trusted you, dear sister.", or even "Morgaine, I have always seen the Goddess in you..." OH EM GEE.)
And I thought no pairing that I've encountered can be more extreme than Seiran and Ryuuki being canon in SaiMono. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
No comments:
Post a Comment