Anime-nia
I have always enjoyed anime, but I've rarely ever had the opportunity to stick with a show watch it from beginning to end. Up to now my exposure to anime has mostly been limited to the shows and movies that cross over from Japanese broadcast to American audiences. Dragonball Z was a big one for me while I was in college.
My introduction to anime was Akira, a movie I saw at 13 and was definitely too young to be watching. It was rented from a local video store, and I think I must have watched it three times before returning it. That anime, the film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's incredible manga, is a formative memory for me because it changed the way that I think about animation. Keep in mind, this was when I was a kid at the very end of the 1980s. To most people back then, animation was Saturday morning cartoons and musical adaptations of fairy tales with talking animals courtesy of Disney. I grew up on those, and I still love them, but the point is the vast majority of animation at the time was for kids. The idea of animated shows or movies for an adult audience was just starting to emerge. Akira, blew away everything I thought I knew about animation. It's also incredibly violent with some other mature content, and my parents hated it. That didn't hurt.
Since then I've watched a lot more anime, but not nearly as much as serious fans. For the most part that's because it was kind of hard to find until a couple of things happened. The biggest of which was the Internet (back when it used to be capitalized as a proper noun) and the other was Netflix. Love the company or hate it (and there are plenty of good reasons on both sides of that argument), it made it possible to explore content like anime in a way than might not have been available otherwise. Now my wife and I have both found shows we like through Crunchyroll. I know that Crunchyroll has detractors with some fair criticisms, but it does have a lot to offer and gives a casual fan like me an opportunity to get caught up on some of the greats.
All of which is to say art in this post will be very anime-centric. Enjoy.
Say that again. Mirajane dares you
Fairy Tail is, if not my favorite anime series of all time, pretty close to it. Through eight seasons I grew to love the characters and their adventures. I haven't seen season 9 yet. I was waiting for the subtitled version to be made available. It is a great found family story, which turns out to be something that resonates with me for some reason. It also has a fun mix of goofy humor, and emotional depth. When my kids were very small I would watch episodes of Fairy Tail on my tablet while waiting for them to go sleep. The moment Mirajane unleashes the power she's been suppressing for years is one of my favorites in the entire series.
INUYASHA!
I'm getting to this one pretty late. Inuyasha was first broadcast in 2000. Even so, it holds up very well, even though there are some dated elements, such as the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original broadcast and the animation is all hand drawn and painted. That last is more a point in its favor. While it is more of an Isekai story, it still has elements of found family, goofy humor, and emotional depth that I liked about Fairy Tail. I have become similarly hooked to this one.
KAGOME!
Despite the name of the show, I think of Kagome as the main character of Inuyasha. I really enjoy her spirit, and her growth throughout the show from tentative fish out of water, to confident...not exactly a warrior, but coming into her own as a very capable young woman who is at home with powers she didn't know she had. The will they / won't they between her and Inuyasha is fun, too.
Lookout everyone, it's undead priestess Kikyo!
Wow. I really like Inuyasha. This is Kikyo, the priestess Inuyasha fell in love with, before they were tricked into fighting each other by the demon Naraku. She is a very interesting, complex character that I am still figuring out.
My new favorite poison loving gremlin
There are too many good things for me to say about The Apothecary Diaries than I could possibly fit here. That's not true. I probably could, but you'd get bored with it by the four or five thousandth paragraph and click over to something else. This is Maomao. Watch the show.
A multitude of Maomao's
More Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries. The show itself presents as a mystery of the week with Maomao solving each one through a combination of observation and encyclopedic knowledge of plants, poisons, and various traditional medicines. She is an apprentice apothecary who is abducted into the rear palace of the forbidden city of Imperial China, where she enters the service of the emperor's current favorite concubine. The show offers court intrigue and is an exploration of the role of women at the time, and how they navigated and survived a system that saw them as useful, but ultimately disposable. The writing is phenomenal, with some of the most well developed and authentic portrayals of women you will ever find in anime. It could almost be studied as a master class in writing believable women.
Maomao and...pretty boy...
The other character here is Jinshi, a pivotal character and love interest for Maomao. The anime is based on a series of light novels in Japan written by Natsu Hyuuga. An interesting thing about the writer and these characters is Hyuuga has gone on record saying she hates the character of Jinshi. She introduced him as a side character, but the fanbase latched onto him so completely she's been forced to keep him going. A good example of how the characters you create can take on a life of their own.
Komi wants you to be her friend...sign her book...
This last entry is now what I think of as my favorite anime and manga to date. Like Fairy Tail this is one I can go back to over and over again. The main character, Komi, is afflicted with extreme social anxiety and a communication disorder that makes it very difficult for her to talk with people. Another student at her high school, Tadano, is very gifted when it comes to reading people and interpreting expression, body language, and non-verbal cues. He is able to forge a connection with Komi, becomes her first (and best) friend, and promises to help her achieve her goal of making 100 friends. Along the way they not only meet a host of quirky, fun characters for Komi to befriend, but a lovely, slow-burn romance develops between the two of them. The anime is great, and I can't recommend it highly enough, but the manga is almost complete, and is a must read for any fan of the slice-of-life genre. The story touches on themes of found family (again), friendship, first loves, and some things that don't start with 'F' like overcoming obstacles, self acceptance, and the quiet strength of perseverance.
Komi brings up one question though, and maybe someone out there has the answer. Komi Can't Communicate, Jujutsu Kaizen, My Hero Academia, just to name a few...why are so many Japanese high schools in anime so freaking weird?














