Nine out of every ten people will discard anime as something childish and meaningless. Just because it is animation, and not real-life. However, it’s something quite different, I assure you. In many ways, it is greater than what real-life is and what it can possibly achieve. Like a fantasy land, where every bit of emotion is amplified, every bit of action is intensified, full of perfect, yet proper romance, and moments full of tears and belly-aching laughter. I’ve often found myself craving to exist in that virtual world as an anime character rather than this one.
One negative point is, definitely, lack of diversity of ‘quality’ anime. You can find countless amazing real-life movies, but you can count amazing animes with one hand. But the best ones are so excellent, that they compensate for the rarity.
Many-a-times simple anime scenes have affected me deeply. I’ll relate two such events.
First, in 5 centimeters per second. The two lead roles, Akari and Takaki, had been living separately for more than a decade. They had been past lovers. One day while walking down a road, they presumably pass and recognize each other, across a train crossing. They both pause and begin to look back, but the passing trains quickly cut off their view. Takaki waits for the trains to pass, but when the view clears, he sees that the woman is gone. She had not waited. After a pause, he smiles to himself and continues walking. Thus the brief chance of reunion vaporized.
Second, in Honey and Clover. Yamada had been in love with Mayama for quite a while. She had never confessed it, but Mayama knew. One night, Mayama was carrying the drunken Yamada on his back, to drop her home. He was mumbling about how precious Yamada was to him, and he didn’t want to hurt her by turning her down. Just then Yamada whispered “Mayama, I love you” and burst into silent tears, moistening his coat. She kept repeating the line for about 8-9 times in a trance. Mayama’s reply was simply “Yeah”. He knew that she would forget this once she’s sober in the following morning.
Both scenes have unexplained sadness attached to them. And both are accompanied by awe-inspiring background music. The first one had an incompleteness about it, which would haunt you for a good many days after watching it. The second one specially, made me want to be in that situation. For a while, I wanted someone to love me that much and to cry for me that way (it was an impulsive thought, mind you). Only, I wouldn’t have been so indifferent like Mayama. At least that’s what I like to believe. It’s a kind of scene which gets your heart desperate for seconds, till your brain pacifies it again.
One negative point is, definitely, lack of diversity of ‘quality’ anime. You can find countless amazing real-life movies, but you can count amazing animes with one hand. But the best ones are so excellent, that they compensate for the rarity.
Many-a-times simple anime scenes have affected me deeply. I’ll relate two such events.
First, in 5 centimeters per second. The two lead roles, Akari and Takaki, had been living separately for more than a decade. They had been past lovers. One day while walking down a road, they presumably pass and recognize each other, across a train crossing. They both pause and begin to look back, but the passing trains quickly cut off their view. Takaki waits for the trains to pass, but when the view clears, he sees that the woman is gone. She had not waited. After a pause, he smiles to himself and continues walking. Thus the brief chance of reunion vaporized.
Second, in Honey and Clover. Yamada had been in love with Mayama for quite a while. She had never confessed it, but Mayama knew. One night, Mayama was carrying the drunken Yamada on his back, to drop her home. He was mumbling about how precious Yamada was to him, and he didn’t want to hurt her by turning her down. Just then Yamada whispered “Mayama, I love you” and burst into silent tears, moistening his coat. She kept repeating the line for about 8-9 times in a trance. Mayama’s reply was simply “Yeah”. He knew that she would forget this once she’s sober in the following morning.Both scenes have unexplained sadness attached to them. And both are accompanied by awe-inspiring background music. The first one had an incompleteness about it, which would haunt you for a good many days after watching it. The second one specially, made me want to be in that situation. For a while, I wanted someone to love me that much and to cry for me that way (it was an impulsive thought, mind you). Only, I wouldn’t have been so indifferent like Mayama. At least that’s what I like to believe. It’s a kind of scene which gets your heart desperate for seconds, till your brain pacifies it again.I know that I have been the cause of a few teardrops here and there. Sorry to the concerned people for that, but I assure you that they were the results of simple misunderstandings.
good thought and nicely written (as usual)
ReplyDelete