Hey guys! It's that time of night again where I'm so tired that the filter between my brain and hands as they type disintegrates and I babble on like a spazz and even though I'm really tired I'm too stubborn to go to bed.

So I thought it would be a good time to write a new journal, let you know I'm still alive, and just exercise by right to babble like a spazz, because goodness knows I'm not the worst amongst those who inhabit dA.

Anyway, my topic of discussion for the moment: am I even recognizable as an otaku anymore?

Probably at first people watched me because of my anime/fan art, but now as I move more into the world of spiritual art, focusing on my watercolor abstract-y stuff (although hopefully utilizing my realism skills again in the future) and farther away from anime, the people who watch me now probably don't even know completely what anime is, let alone keep up with the latest releases.

And while half of me is like, "YAY! Now I'll actually get people commenting on stuff that isn't 3 year old poorly drawn fanart!" I'm also sad that if I'm really excited about an new anime, there's probably not many of you who are even gonna know what I'm talking about.

But I'm going to talk anyway. (HA.)
O.M.G. Durarara!! IS EFFING AMAZING

I was caught off guard by the drawing style (one that I've noticed seems to be the "in" thing right now---actually that highly interested me, it never occurred to me that drawing styles came in and out of... well, style. Fascinating.) in combination with the characters and plot and brazen dialogue, but it's a rather delicious combination and I'm really excited about it. PLUS the animation is GREAT and now that everything is HD and crazy big res, even though I'm getting my anime through torrenting it's still really good quality and SO much fun to watch.

You know that feeling you get when you get to the end of a super good anime (or show or movie or book or whatever) and you get kind of despairing, thinking, "OMG Nothing I ever watch/read will ever be this good again! *sobs*"



I totally felt like that at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist OMG I BAWLED and felt soooo depressed. But lately I've been stumbling upon all these really awesome animes and it suddenly occured to me, it's impossible to run out of good things to watch, because they're always going to be making them. And of course they won't all me the same, and they won't all be good, but SOME of them will be good and you just have to hold out for those ones. ^_^

Anyway, so another I really like right now is Kimi ni Todoke and I kind of was surprised, because I really hate female MCs with self-esteem issues. I mean REALLY. It's been done. My self-esteem is bad enough as it is, I don't need to watch some girl waffle around feeling miserable it's DEPRESSING.



But I dunno I just feel like Sawako is quirky enough that she makes up for it. And Kazehaya is just so damn sweet UGH I can't help but like him, and like the two of them together. And her friends and all the other side characters seem to be just unique enough to hold my attention.

What else... well, I have Shugo Chara and Shugo Chara Doki!! but and I'm trying to get my hands on Shugo Chara Party!! but I may have to wait for the whole thing and catch the batch torrent because that was the only way I could get Doki!! BUT I haven't watched even all of Shugo Chara so please no spoilers! But yeah, that one is so CUTE it's nearly unwatchable... but still, it can't top Card Captor Sakura I watched through that one again recently and it's still one of my all time faves although I'm absolutely devastated because I STILL haven't seen the movies. *angsts*

I've seen Ouran High School Host Club all the way through a couple of times, and I can totally see why it got so popular. *sighs* It's so amazing. At this point it could be considered not one of the newer ones I guess, but I didn't actually watch it till way after the craze had started so my bad. X3

I managed to save up enough money to buy a couple of seasons of Case Closed and watched that, but I REALLY want to get the rest (specifically on DVD so I can watch it in English---long story, I'm not a purist, I have an emotional connection to the English dubbing, so shoot me) so I can actually see some new episodes (since the bastards on Cartoon Network stopped showing it *sobs*).

Also watched Princess Tutu again. GOSH DARN IF THAT ISN'T ONE OF THE BEST ANIMES EVAR.


But right now I'm re-watching my Rurouni Kenshin DVDs. *giggles*

I'm so glad I have those. They were stupidly expensive, and stupidly packed (they take up like a whole shelf by themselves) but it's kind of worth it since Kenshin BASICALLY my first anime. Technically, Sailor Moon was, but I didn't actually know what anime even was until I started watching Kenshin... *sighs happily* It's all very nostalgic, especially the first two seasons since I watched them as they came out week after week on Toonami and then Adult Swim (if I'm remembering correctly.) OMG SOJIRO One of my favorite characters EVER that does NOT get enough love AT ALL.

*cough* All that being said... it makes me want to do fanart! SO BAD! Like, I'm watching these shows thinking, "HOLY EFFING GEEBUS, I MUST DRAW THESE CHARACTERS!!!" but then I get bogged down by everything else and just sort of let it go. *sighs* When I have time, I'm not motivated, and when I don't have time I want to draw so badly.

But anyway. If there's any new anime that's out and hasn't been liscensed yet and you think I might like it, LET ME KNOW I'm always looking for new stuff to watch, I'm still very much an otaku. :3

A Note On Being An Anime Fan (Or A Fan Of Anything In General)

I find that I sometimes actually enjoy watching anime with people who DON'T consider themselves anime fans/otakus, and let me tell you why. Don't get me wrong, I like being with other fans, but some otakus are a bit... WEIRD. They spend all their time torrenting and watching anime and reading manga, and THAT'S ALL THEY DO. Now obviously not EVERY person who considers themselves to be a diehard anime fan is like that, but there are quite a few of 'em. And that has the potential to turn people into purists and snobs, and also lends itself to social interaction issues.

For example, I'd go to the anime clubs in my schools, and it would be like walking into another world... but not in a good way. You suddenly get thrust into the sub or dub argument, and there's a very clear indication that the "purists" (people who think anime should only be watched in the original Japanese) are more respected (particuarly amonst each other LOL), or rather, considered better or more dedicated fans.



My personal opinion is that YES in most cases, the Japanese version is better; however, there are lots of cases where the English version is just as good, and completely tolerable; I also realize that not everyone has the opportunity to see anime before it's been scrambled and processed and aired and put on domestic DVDs; if you see an anime and fall in love with the characters while seeing it in English, chances are you're going to want to continue watching it in English even if you have the opportunity to watch it in Japanese, and sometimes even if the Japanese version is better! Also, a LOT of people have trouble reading subtitles. If you're trying to share the joy of anime with someone who's never experienced it before, and you're trying to shove subtitles in their eye sockets, chances are they're not going to enjoy it as much as you would like them too.

There's also the issue of all the Japanese culture that's in anime. The more you watch anime, the more you catch on, and EVENTUALLY you start to pick up on inside jokes that you wouldn't have understood before, get caught up on some history, get clued in on common references (especially if you have a good fan subber who gives info whenever something like that pops up) but even without that you gain the knowledge, at least a little bit.

It's really, really hard to be just starting into anime and try to talk to people who are already otakus, because they take that knowledge for granted. They've adopted the culture as their own, and suddenly YOU'RE the weird one for NOT knowing.

So if you're trying to talk to someone and get to know them, and they're talking about the latest newest release Sora no Kimi Doki Konnichiwa (yes that's gibberish I'm being sarcastic) that you have no clue about and they look at you funny 'cause you don't know how they're getting access to all this anime without selling themselves into slavery to pay for it, and all the while they're reading their manga (in Japanese even though they don't speak or read Japanese but are "learning") and preaching about how you're an uncultured moron if you prefer the English version of an anime that you saw on *LE GASP* an English T.V. channel, it's kind of a put-off, you know?

GRANTED, YES I TORRENT, YES I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT NEW ANIME RELEASES. But if someone wants to ask me what the f*** a torrent is, or wants to talk about the anime that's on Adult Swim or about an English voice actor that they like, or even if they don't like anime all that much but there's that one show that they DO like, that's fine to: for me, there's no PRIZE you get for being a more hardcore anime fan, it's not like I'm going to snub someone for not being on the same "level" as me. I guess that's the part that bothers me, that the knowledge somehow makes you superior, and sometimes people who feel that way can get pushy and unpleasant, that's all I'm saying.

Okay, I have to stop talking now. There should be a time of day window when you can write journals, and in the middle of the night should be off limits. I babble soooooo much I just can't stop myself. =w= And I'm not really angry, I hope I haven't offended anyone, it's just my opinion and it usually changes and I'm sure I'd say it differently (more politely) if I were actually awake. ||3

Again I'll say, I don't have anything against anime fans (I AM ONE I'd be a hypocrite otherwise) I just think sometimes we're not as considerate of other fellow fans (or potential fans! Or even just people in general!) as we could be.

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P.S. I really want to do some kind of parody now using the title Sora no Kimi Doki Konnichiwa. Does anyone know what that would actually say if translated? "Hello, Heartbeat Feeling of the Sky" ROFLMAO Something like that, I think. X3 I think it could also be more widely interpreted though, the language can be so abstract sometimes it's better to take liberties "Hello to the Skyward Feelings of My Heart" *snickers* Doesn't that just sound like a horrible shoujo title? =w=

SERIOUSLY OKAY I'M GOING TO BED NOW.