I couldn’t resist picking Anime as my word for A, mostly because it’s fun and it has been my newest ‘obsession’ for this past year. Anime is the name for Japanese animated cartoons–a world of wonderful animations, music, voices and storylines.
As a fan of cartoons and animated things in general, the world of Anime is a complete treasure trove for me. There is pretty much a show for everything in nearly every genre, ranging from comedy, romance, mystery and so forth. I’ve enjoyed watching some amazing shows in the past few months, stories with more than just a hero-villain plot and with some pretty decent art styles and music.
My current favorite show at the moment, is Saiunkoku Monogatari, a Japanese-era style story of a girl working on becoming a government official at a time when only men are permitted to take the entrance test. It’s a fun tale, with a touch of mystery and slice of life themes as she grows up and perseveres in spite of all the difficulties around her. You learn a bit about running a country and life while you watch Shurrei learn about hers.
While the classics of Bleach, Naruto and One Piece are pretty much known everywhere, Bleach for being a show dealing with ghosts, Naruto dealing with Ninjas, One Piece deals with Pirates and though I didn’t think I’d get into it at first, I’m happily addicted and eagerly awaiting on new episodes. It follows the story of a young boy, Monkey D. Luffy, who wears a special straw hat who decides to find the ultimate pirate treasure and thus become the famous pirate king. He puts together a crew and goes off sailing. For me, I enjoy the show because of Luffy’s character and the ridiculous things that happen to him. There’s a fair amount of comedy, but also a decent chunk of heart. Luffy cares for his crew and doesn’t tolerate injustice, bullying and prejudice. He fights for his friends, family and simply has an outlook on life that’s hard to ignore–living for a dream with all that he has and running towards it in the company of his friends. It’s a show I enjoy watching very much.
My favorite anime of all time is Ayatsuri Sakon, a story of a boy Sakon, with his special puppet Ukon. If you know my penchant for mysteries, then this makes perfect sense. It’s a story in which Sakon plays two personalities, his own shy self, and Ukon–his puppet’s more confident and outgoing side, which helps him to blend together in the situations that he encounters. Situations usually turning into mysteries with an Agatha-Christie turned Sherlock-Holmes kind of twist. I enjoy the complicated plots, characters and the way that Sakon works his reasoning, because it’s the just the right blend of suspense and mystery for me, not to mention the art and music styles are quite lovely to boot.
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| Ayatsuri Sakon, featuring Sakon and his puppet Ukon |
Ah, but I’m rambling again and I could go on for quite awhile. Thanks for reading my thoughts on “Anime” and if you’ve ever the time to explore the world of international cartoons, I hope you find something you like. (psst, try One Piece!)
