For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I’m sure you all have had your fair share of sub par gifts. Sure, you may or may not get the new video game console or the newest version of the I-phone, but there is always one thing you can count on, and that is some lame present that you have no use for what so ever. Usually, these types of gifts come from some sort of third aunt, twice removed or cheapskates who are trying to weasel their way out of their holiday obligations, ala George Costanza. The same basic concept applies to the types of characters found in anime.
Practically the only thing Simon did the entire series
While the list of characters who had no purpose to the actual story of their anime is too long to list, the biggest and most notable lumps of proverbial coal just this year were Majo from Ookami-san, Simon for Durarara!, and Matsushita from Angel Beats. Not only did these characters do nothing in their respective shows, it seemed like they would have more pivotal roles than they actually did. It is like looking forward to Christmas all year round, and then finding out on Christmas day that there is no Santa. Very disappoint.
While I really didn’t have a problem with Majo or Simon’s lack of screen time in their respective series, the excessive amount of minutes that I put into analyzing Angel Beats, and thinking that Matsushita was the one pulling the strings was a waste of my time. I truly thought that the he was the big bad guy given that he just sort of disappeared for several episodes, but in the end, we got some half @ssed explanation saying he was training in the mountains. What’s up with that?
Then again, all of Angel Beats was half @ssed
Call it being trolled, call it grandma giving you socks for Christmas, call it what you will, but misused and misleading characters are a cornerstone of all anime, just like the sucky present is to Christmas.
I’ll start this post off with a confession: I have a thing for side characters. You know, the ones who don’t get as much of a turn in the spotlight as the lucky main few; the ones who aren’t the stars of their series. Maybe they’re the ones who should be or could be, though, and at the very least, they help the stars shine brighter. I love these characters. I’m not sure why, either. Perhaps it’s that the lack of character development allows me to theorise endlessly about potential hidden depths. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that if a character has less screen-time, there’s less potential for them to be irritating. Regardless, this side character fascination is certainly there. Throughout 2010, we were presented with a wealth of delicious flat characters – ‘flat’ in the sense of a lack of character depth, of course – in anime, and I want to take a look at some of them here.
I suppose the girl featuring in my current avatar is as good a place to start as any, eh? Aoi Yamada of Working!! is largely a mystery. What we do know about her is as follows: she’s a klutzy, incredibly blunt, drama-mongering, supposedly sixteen-year-old girl who fancies herself a ‘super waitress’, has a huge collection of disguises and is inexplicably good at bugging people. Aoi is also a fantastic comedic side character. She’s entertaining and charming, and she also brings out the funniest in everyone around her, whether they’re members of the main cast or not. To quote what I said in my final post on Working!!, “I honestly think that her addition [to the cast] directly or indirectly led to each character’s funniest moment of the series”. One more Working!! character who definitely deserves mention is Maya Matsumoto, who only had her first real lines in the last episode of the series. Her obsession with normality was what set her apart from her bizarrely-behaved coworkers… and it was also what makes her fit perfectly among them, as it caused her to act as strangely as the best of them.
Another creator of hilarity and easily one of my favourite side characters of the year was Railgun‘s Mitsuko Kongou. Mitsuko toed both the fanservice character and gag character lines, but got a bit of development as well and a crowning moment of awesome (or two, arguably) to boot. She’s essentially presented as the ojou-sama with the giant ego. She’s confident to the point of boastfulness, and self-assured to the point of narcissism, and I loved her for it. We got hints, though, too, of her private persona being quite different to this – she seemed a lot milder and kinder to her friends, albeit not less boastful, telling them stories about how she single-handedly brought down one of Railgun‘s primary antagonists with ease. I think she’s fantastic, but I don’t at all think she could have carried Railgun. (For the most part, it was too laid-back for all Mitsuko all the time.) She was, however, both an excellent rival to Kuroko and an excellent unknown rival/self-proclaimed friend to Mikoto.
Sometimes, side characters don’t have terribly much to say or do. If we’re lucky, though, whatever they do end up saying or doing is hilarious. Angel Beats! had TK with his nonsensical English backed up by an array of dance moves, Seitokai Yakuindomo had Satomi Arai playing another schoolgirl lesbian in the snarky and slightly depraved Ranko Hata, and B Gata H Kei had the permanently cheerful and cheerfully frank Mami Misato. But perhaps the ultimate scene-stealer of the year was Milky Holmes‘ unforgettable Twenty. Milky Holmes actually had a few characters like this – another notable example being Arsene/Henriette’s chest, which seemed to have a mind of its own - but even in a show full of people with little tethering them to reality, Twenty managed to stand out the most. Whether he was stripping at an alarming pace, showing off his incredibly pointy nipples to the camera, moaning and screaming in Engrish about how beautiful he was, or going on a date with a hug pillow of himself, he demanded attention.
There were the usual side character duos, too. Occult Academy‘s sardonic janitor Smile and cheerful goth JK begged many questions. Why were the two of them always together? How was JK able to consume so much pudding? Why was Smile permanently wearing a smiley face badge, and what the hell was up with his giant spanner? Even more mysterious were Durarara!!‘s Erika Karisawa and Walker Yumasaki. Prone to fast-paced banter and off-the-wall conversations on topics ranging from fandom to philosophy, the two also displayed a wide variety of skills and prominent sadistic streaks. In addition, they made an excellent couple.
Lastly, we had – or should that be ‘have’, given she’s in a still-ongoing show? – Ruri Makina of Star Driver. … Yeah, she’s kind of only here because she reminds me of Utena‘s Wakaba, somehow. I’d love for her to get even comparable character development to Wakaba; I really want there to be more to her than “Her specialty is meat and potatoes!”. Star Driver, I have faith that you’ll deliver. Don’t let me down!
Okay, that concludes day five of Borderline Hikikomori’s twelve days of Christmas. Who were your favourite anime side characters of 2010?
If you’ve been following my Twitter feed at all, you know that I was at New York Anime Festival (combined with New York Comic Convention) this past weekend. I’m working on a proper writeup of the convention overall, but in the meanwhile, enjoy some photos of the great cosplayers I took over the weekend. You can find all the cosplay photos I took in my Picasa web albums: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. The resolutions have been reduced from their original 12MP so that they don’t take up insane amounts of space, but if you’d like the full-res version of any of them, just ask. And to all the cosplayers during the convention, thank you!
Friday was a short day, starting from 1PM. I also wanted to attend a lot of panels that day, so I didn’t manage to take a lot of pictures. Still, I got some good ones, including Alex Leavitt and his girlfriend as the pair from Toradora! – if you’ll recall, Leavitt is the guy who ran panels at both PAX East and Anime Boston earlier this year. He ran a discussion panel called “Anime in Academia” which I attended most of.
That's them. Leavitt is a tall dude, but there's still not enough of a height differential.
The only Working!! cosplayers I saw all weekend.
I like the reflection in this one. Don't know what song they're from, but I'm pretty sure they're Miku and Luka.
Some Haruhi cosplayers before the screening of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. The one in the middle is wearing the costume from the movie.
Saturday was absolutely insane. I wish I had taken more, but most of the time, the area was so packed that a good photo just wasn’t possible. It was on this day that I noticed that Durarara!! seemed to be one of the more popular shows to cosplay. Makes sense, I guess, since it’s mostly pretty easy, there are some unique designs, and the guys are perfect yaoi material. Some good Shizuos that I unfortunately couldn’t get pictures of.
Also, there were a lot of Vocaloid cosplayers, just like at Anime Boston, somewhat expected because there was a Miku “concert” that day with a couple of the creators of Vocaloid, including the CEO of Crypton (the company that produces the software). Among those, Kagamine Rin seemed to be a close 2nd to Miku.
These were actually official cosplayers at Bandai's booth.
The Kagamine twins or couple, depending on your interpretation. They were in line for the Miku "concert," which was filled very quickly. It prompted an "encore performance" later that evening so that everyone who missed out could go.
The only Bakemonogatari cosplayers I - or they - saw in the con. I tried to get them to re-enact the scene from the end of the Suruga Monkey arc, but they didn't remember it. Notice Suruga's shoes - great attention to detail there.
The Laughing Man. Simple, easy, clever.
Sunday might have been a short day just like Friday, but it was almost as busy as on Saturday. Again, not a lot of chances to snap pictures, but two really stood out to me. One was Tissue-hime, the Nico Nico Douga celebrity known for dressing up as Yuki Nagato, wearing a cough mask to cover his face, and playing the guitar. The other was a near-perfect replica of the Old Spice guy.
There was also a K-On cosplay event at the Bandai booth, to which I arrived too late to get any good pictures.
Now, was this a crossplayer like Tissue-hime, or actually a woman? If the latter, would that make HER a crossplayer? I didn't ask.
One of many blind shots I took from overhead, behind the crowd of people who got here before me. I believe the Mio on the way right might be one of the dub VAs as well.
A large portion of the cast of Durarara!! I like that Shizuo's brother is there, too.
In retrospect, I should've asked her to hold the gun sideways. It really was a thing of beauty.
Well, those are some of the highlights. Again, plenty more in my Picasa albums, links to which I have at the top or as the headers for each section. I probably didn’t get even half the pictures I would’ve liked to just due to how crowded and busy it was, but, well, there’s always next year.
With only a few weeks until the start of the fall season, it’s probably a good idea to finish up my look at the spring season. 
I’m always surprised how every anime season develops a distinct feeling to it that separates itself from those seasons that came before it and the seasons that will come in the future. The difference between the Summer 2010 season and the Spring 2010 season have been huge. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I like to change things up but I wish there were more seasons like this Spring season.
In deciding the number of shows to include in my seasonal countdown I have two criteria; the first is to include only those shows that deserve the recognition and the second is to limit the number of shows to no more then half of the shows watched. This time the second criteria was the limiting factor and not the first criteria. I could have run the countdown up to 12 spots and still feel those extra shows deserved the attention.
And with that, let’s head to the countdown.
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In the same vein as those Microsoft commercials where people say they made the new Windows, I can say I made the new season of K-On!.
The first season of K-ON! left me in the small minority of people who didn’t think it was the second coming or reviled it as the spawn of Satan. I thought it was decent but had a couple glaring problems that held it back. The first was the pacing – it covers 2 years of high school life in a single cour – which made it a relaxing type show that was always rushing to the next thing. It felt wrong. The second was the sub-optimal characters that dragged the series down. Yui was the best main character and the only one that pulled her weight on the show.
For the new season of K-On! I wanted both of those issues fixed and that’s what we got. And it was just what K-On! needed. We went from covering 2 years of high school over 13 episodes to 24 episodes to cover 1 year of school. This gave/gives the characters the time to do what they’re supposed to do and it’s not becoming the next great band. With that problem fixed now some of the other characters needed to step up and Mugi and Azunyan (I can’t even remember her real name anymore) did. They, along with Yui formed a triumvirate of main characters that was able to raise the quality of the show and keep it there. And let’s not forget the addition of Jun and creating a secondary triumvirate of Ui, Azunyan, and Jun. This group creates a completely different feeling dynamic that’s fun to watch by itself and also by adding some variety to the show.
Since I’m so late doing this, instead of hoping the second cour could match the first cour in quality, I can say the second cour – currently running over the Summer season – is on track to finish very, very high in the countdown. Which makes me glad KyoAni decided to do another season of K-On! and didn’t waste their time on Angel Beats.
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What I think hampered many from liking this show more was that we all wanted Baccano! season 2 and tried to fit Durarara into that mold. I know it got to me; I watched Baccano! for the first time just before the start of Durarara because I wanted to get a feel for the work of Ryohgo Narita and spent most of the first cour trying to look at the two works as separate. It didn’t help that the two shared many similarities, as you’d imagine coming from the same author and animated by the same people.
For the most part, I worked this impulse out of my system by the time the second half of Durarara aired (during the Spring season) and was able to appreciate the show for what it was, not what I initially wanted it to be. It still wasn’t perfect, the ending was really telegraphed and lacked the dramatic tension to wow the viewers, but there was plenty to like about it like: the characters, animation quality, setting, and characters (the characters were cool enough that they deserve two mentions). In a different season, Durarara would have easily placed in the top 5 and maybe even in the top 3.
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Katanagatari has shown that sometimes less is more.
To see Katanagatari ranked this season would have surprised me back in January, when the series first started. I wasn’t that impressed with the opening episode and even if I was, there was only going to be 3 episodes shown per season (one ~50 minute episode per month for 12 months) which would make it very difficult for it go head-to-head against the excellent shows that run the full 11-13 episodes per season. However, as I’ve seen so often with anime, the first episode isn’t the best indicator of the overall quality of the show. It took a little time to develop the main characters and the relationship between them and to introduce the real villains of the series. It also took awhile before I noticed that the format worked in the show’s favor. The only thing that carried over between episodes was the character development and overarching plot so an exact memory of what has happened the previous month isn’t required. And the month-long wait between episodes correspond to the downtime of the characters experience as they journey to where the next sword is which rids the animators from the need to throw in some fluffy episodes to connect the sword hunt stories together.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t enjoy more Katanagatari episodes per season or that more episodes wouldn’t make it easier to compete against the likes of Full Metal Alchemist:Brotherhood but there are some positives to how the show is being done. The three episodes that ran this season (4-6) saw Katanagatari really hit it’s stride in terms of character development, plot, and general all-around awesomeness. And because it’s so late into the Summer season I can say, much like I did with K-On!, that Katanagatari has continued it’s run of excellent episodes and is well-situated to place higher when I’m doing the summer awards.
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The story of one girl’s quest to sleep with 100 men before high school does not sound like a show that you’d attach words like “smart”, “clever”, “heartwarming” or “a tender love story” to but I’m attaching those and plenty others including “highly entertaining” , “hilarious” , and “one of this season’s best”. The one thing I won’t say is that I was surprised at liking B Gata H Kei because I remembered 2 AIC shows from 2009 - Asu no Yoichi and Sora No Otoshimono. Both were “fan-service” shows that performed much better then the typical “fan-service” show so I figured there was a pretty good chance that AIC would do it again and I was right.
I’ve mentioned before that I watch anime with my one younger sister. There’s some anime that we watch together as it comes out (the spring season included Arakawa, FMA:B, Katanagatari, Durarara, and K-On!!) and some that I finish myself and decide afterwords that she’d like and rewatch it with her. Picking a show to rewatch with her is one of the best ways to show that I love that anime since I hate picking a show she’ll hate to watch. Rewatching a show with her also allows me to get her feedback and to see if my thoughts about the show hold up the second time through. For B Gata H Kei, as one might guess at this point, I decided to rewatch it with her and have already, in fact, finished a second viewing of it. I loved it just as much the second time and she liked it quite a lot too.
Therefore, I won’t be swayed from putting B Gata H Kei so high and kinda wish I could rank it higher.
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I decided to split this list up because I ended up writing much more then I thought would about each entry. Don’t worry, I’ve already written the other half so there’ll be no month long wait.
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Spring 2010 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Spring 2010 Awards Part 2: Genre and Misfit Awards
Spring 2010 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1
It’s that time again – the voice, music, and animation awards – or as I like to think of them: the set of awards that are completely subjective and some of the most difficult awards to pick as a result. And this season was no different.
Winner: Hiroshi Kamiya as Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!, Hiroomi Souma from Working!!, Otonashi Yuzuru from Angel Beats, Kou Ichinomiya from Arakawa Under the Bridge and I think I missed some
The Overall 2008 Best Male Seiyuu and Summer 2009 Seasonal Best Male Seiyuu makes it a hat trick. Then again, it was essentially impossible for any other guy to win this time since so many shows featured Hiroshi Kamiya in leading roles and he continues to do a great job.
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Winner: Maaya Sakamoto as Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge and Akashi from The Tatami Galaxy
Runner-up: Yukari Tamura as Yamada from B Gata H Kei and Togame from Katanagatari, Aki Toyosaki as Yui from K-ON!! and Kena Soga from Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou and Satsuki Hyoudou from Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
Picking the best female seiyuu was a much different experience with a bevy of strong performances from many different women. In the end I had to decide on a tie-breaking criteria so I chose to pick the seiyuu with the best characters to win. And that was, Maaya Sakamoto, for voicing two female characters that came off as slightly odd at times but were really deep, interesting characters.
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Winner: Working!!
Runner-up: Rainbow, House of Five Leaves, Durarara, B Gata H Kei, Arakawa Under the Bridge
There were a lot of openings I liked this season but no one single opening was able to break from the pack to be the easy pick, at least initially, because I remembered the old argument about picking the MVP in a sport. Do you pick the best player in the league or the person that contributed the most to a team even if the team didn’t do well? In this case, I’m picking the opening to Working!! because I loved it and it was the sole reason that I didn’t drop the show. Working!! eventually got watchable, barely, in the last 3-4 episodes but before then, it was the desire to see the opening one more time that kept me watching.
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Winner: B Gata H Kei
Runner-up: The Tatami Galaxy, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
And I’m picking the ending to B Gata H Kei because it was by-far-and-away the best ending and it was always like the cherry that one leaves to eat last from a piece of awesome cake.
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Winner: K-On!!
This award is one of the awards that I almost never feel real comfortable picking the winner because I often don’t remember the background music to most of the shows I watch. There are exceptions, in the case of K-On, the BGM is light and airy and it perfectly compliments the show which is what the BGM is supposed to do.
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Winner: K-On!!
Much like the award for best action going to Full Metal Alchemist:Brotherhood was completely apparent and needed no justification, this award going to K-On is also completely apparent and needs no justification.
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Winner: The Tatami Galaxy
Runner-up: House of Five Leaves, Katanagatari
I fell in love with the animation style of Masaaki Yuasa in Kaiba so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that I’m picking The Tatami Galaxy with it’s similar style to Kaiba. What kinda surprised me was the number shows that were more stylized in nature this season. When I see animators willing to experiment and these shows actually given air time, I relax when thinking about the future of anime.
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Winner: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Runner-up: Angel Beats, K-On!!, Durarara
There were several very well animated shows this season but Full Metal had this award in-the-bag when it took it’s already great animation and bumped it up even higher this season for the final arc of episodes. Durarara was it’s closest competitor and might have pulled it out if there had been more cool action scenes.
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Winner: Madhouse
The Fall 2008 Seasonal Top Animation Studio and Overall 2008 Top Animation Studio makes it a hat trick this season as well by producing two of the best anime of the season – The Tatami Galaxy and Rainbow. Both were very original works that showcased the best anime has to offer viewers. Both works also turned out to be, surprisingly, heart-warming series that always left me impatiently waiting for the next episode. And it’s possible that Madhouse could win this award again in the summer season because Rainbow continues on which puts them in a strong position.
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That’s it for part 3 of my spring 2010 anime awards. Stay tuned for my top overall picks of the season.
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Spring 2010 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Spring 2010 Awards Part 2: Genre and Misfit Awards
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #8 – #5
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1
Before we get to part 2, I wanted to mention that I’m going on vacation in a couple of days but I plan on getting all sections of my picks for the spring season written and queued up before leaving. If you know me, it’ll take only one guess to figure out where I’m going. Which was what I wrote assuming I’d get this up before leaving on vacation but I couldn’t finish enough of the parts so it had to wait till after the vacation.
This time around I’m adding two categories that probably should have been included earlier in my seasonal awards and the inaugural winners are very well deserving.
Winner: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Easiest.Decision.This.Season.
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Winner: Shichika vs Kanara from ep.5 of Katanagatari
And yet when I started thinking about specific fights, I kept going back to this fight and not one from Full Metal (an example of not being able to see a single tree in a forest). The fight in Katanagatari wasn’t the most flashy, complex, or intricate fight but it was unique, unexpected and felt very important in terms of developing the main characters and the story.
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Winner: B Gata H Kei
Like many awards I give out, this one is very subjective. For example, some people thought Working!! was funny; whereas, I found it to be probably the least funniest show of the season – the awesome yet very serious anime Rainbow made me laugh more often. And some people disliked B Gata H Kei when I thought it to be, easily, the funniest show of the season.
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Winner: Arakawa Under the Bridge
Runner-up: B Gata H Kei, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
A comedy entertains but not all entertaining shows are comedies; thus, the need for two separate awards. And once again, a different show wins each category. Arakawa Under the Bridge wins for it’s superior ability to mix it’s comedic side with it’s heartwarming and surprisingly poignant side while always maintaining it’s high entertainment level.
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Winner: The Tatami Galaxy
Runner-up: Durarara
Durarara gave The Tatami Galaxy a strong run but it’s near impossible to beat a show that involves dozens (if not many more) parallel worlds connected by a 4.5 tatami mat dorm room with the only constants being a castella cake, a hidden 100 yen bill and a stress toy.
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Winner: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Runner-up: Rainbow – Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin
Full Metal has been working for a year to build up to this final climax and boy was it an awesome ride, topped only by events of this season. Those that followed the manga probably had a good idea about where the story was going but, after the debacle that was the first Full Metal series, I stopped following the manga and got to be surprised as a result. (The type of surprises that I like. )
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Winner: The Tatami Galaxy
Runner-up: Durarara, Arakawa Under the Bridge
The story of Watashi’s quest to find his rose-colored college life and subsequent enlightenment in The Tatami Galaxy could have been a SF story I read. That probably sounds like weak-sounding praise but, being a life-long fan of print SF, I’ve come to accept that in America (at least) television or movie SF will, 99.9% of the time, lack the depth found in print SF. Which is fine, sometimes, but I love it when somebody makes a TV series that equals the quality of the best print SF. Incidentally, if you liked The Tatami Galaxy, I’d suggest reading The Walls of the Universe from Paul Melko; it lacks the cool animation style (obviously) but it was a good read and the theme was similar to The Tatami Galaxy.
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Winner: Izaya from Durarara
Runner-up: Father from FMA: Brotherhood
Izaya falls into the conniving, intelligent villain category. It doesn’t seem like he’s out to cause the same level of villainy that Father from FMA:B was planning to do but, on the smaller scale, Izaya’s ability to manipulate everyone around him to his messed-up whims earns a great deal of respect from me, even if I’d wish he got more of a comeuppance at the end of the series.
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Winner: The Tatami Galaxy
I wasn’t sure The Tatami Galaxy was going to be able to pull itself together by the end but I shouldn’t have worried. The final episode showed exactly how in control of the story the director was even when each episode felt completely disjointed and the final episode was also just plain epic. If I could, I’d lock the people behind Angel Beats into a room and force them to watch this show a few dozen times and hope they learn the right way to do a final episode.
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Winner: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The ending to FMA:B took up the entire spring season so for the same reasons why it won Best Plot, it’s also winning Best Ending.
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Winner: B Gata H Kei
Runner-up: Durarara
I liked Durarara a lot and it would have won this award easily (since it seems like there is so much more that could be done) but I’m not convinced that the sequel could surpass the first season in “awesomeness” and I want a Durarara that was just a bit more “awesome” then the first season. (If that makes sense .) Therefore, my desire to see a second season of B Gata H Kei was able to pull ahead to win this award. In the case of B Gata H Kei, I think the next season has to include Yamada finally getting what she and Kosuda desires to be a successful show. (Which then kinda ends the point of the series but the creators could then go off in a new direction and have the luckless couple make a mistake and Yamada get pregnant. They’d probably never do something like that but it would be hilarious and completely different.)
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That’s it for part 2, the next part is the VMA awards.
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Spring 2010 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Spring 2010 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #8 – #5
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1
After one of the weakest anime seasons in recent memory (Winter 2010) and the accompanying apathy nixing it last time, the seasonal top anime awards returns to The Null Set for one of the most diverse and interesting season of anime in a very long time. We had alchemy, parallel worlds, demon kings, train wrecks, socially-inept samurai, pretty boy samurai, surprisingly deep commentary on what’s truly important in life disguised as a comedy about homeless people living under a bridge, a cute and sweet love story disguised as a comedy about one girl’s quest to bed 100 boys before graduating high school, an uplifting story of heroism set in post-war Japan, a neighborhood full of bizarre people in Japan, and a high school band known as much for the cake they serve in their clubroom as for their music, to name just a few anime.
Before starting, below is a listing of the shows that I watched this season and are the pool from which the picks for all the awards are coming from. Also a reminder, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there’ll be some because of how they’ll relate to specific awards and for the continuing shows, only the part of the series that ran during this season is under consideration for this season’s awards.
Carry-over shows watched this season (3): Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Katanagatari, Durarara
New shows watched this season (12): B Gata H Kei, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Angel Beats, K-On!! Season 2, The Tatami Galaxy, Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, House of Five Leaves, Working!!, Mayoi Neko Overrun, Rainbow – Nisha Rokubou no Shichijin, Hakuouki – Shinsengumi Kitan
Shows that got dropped (1): Heroman
Winner: Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge
Runner-up: Yamada from B Gata H Kei, Yui from K-On!!
There was tough competition in this category but the self-proclaimed Venusian won out by being awesome enough that Ko still looks like he hit the jackpot by becoming her boyfriend even if it meant having to live under a bridge with a bunch of very weird people.
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Winner: Sakuragi Rokurouta aka Bro from Rainbow
Runner-up: Kosuda from B Gata H Kei
I love heroes with their ability to act contrary to self-interest for a greater good so I was unsurprised when I developed such a quick liking of Sakuragi from Rainbow. Alphone Elric almost made runner-up for the same reason but the large cast to Full Metal lessened his time onscreen too much. Sakuragi, much like Kamina from Gurren Lagann, also oozed awesomeness and had the gravitas to make being a hero look really cool.
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Runner-up: Ozu from The Tatami Galaxy
A headless mythical creature from Ireland, Celty rides a black motorcycle, wields a scythe, communicates by writing messages on a cellphone and somehow isn’t the oddest person inhabiting the Japanese neighborhood where Durarara takes place. She’s loyal and handy to have around in a fight and the only thing that really scares her is a tough-as-nails traffic cop. She was one of my favorites from Durarara (obviously) and pretty much had this award locked early on.
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Runner-up: Misato from B Gata H Kei, Shizuo from Durarara
Screen-grabbers are characters that don’t have much screen time but make the little time they are onscreen very memorable. This season seemed to have an abundance of great screen-grabbers but TK from Angel Beats won this one pretty easily. Just goes to show you how far speaking nonsensical English phrases in a Japanese anime and just randomly dancing can take a character.
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Winner: Ko and Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge
Runner-up: Kosuda and Yamada from B Gata H Kei
This was a super tough pick and I debated it back and forth for a long time. One could argue that Kosuda and Yamada should have won because they’ve done more couply things together but there’s just something about how Recruit and Nino interact with each other that’s so nice to see.
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Winner: Fortune Teller’s ability to send people to parallel worlds from The Tatami Galaxy
The animators never come right out and say it specifically but they show her living inside the clock that always runs backwards when Watashi jumps universes and she is aware of his parallel world jumping so I’m pretty sure she does have this ability. And it’s a very cool power, useful in gaining enlightenment or making a fortune by taking a popular invention from one world to another that never invented it.
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Runner-up: Rainbow, Arakawa Under the Bridge, B Gata H Kei
There was a plethora of shows with great casts this season but Durarara pulled ahead by having a large cast of very eclectic characters that somehow meshed well together and were truly awesome by themselves as well. At times I thought Durarara wasn’t trying it’s hardest but it was always the fault of the plot and not the characters.
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Winner: Rainbow
Runner-up: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
I did not expect Rainbow would be as strongly character driven and focused on character development as it turned out to be though I should realize, by this point, that it’s often the most unexpected show that turns out to be. Just look at the past winners of this award – Railgun, Umi Monogatari, Cross Game, Asu no Yoichi, Toradora, Bamboo Blade. And I can’t wait to see where the characters go as Rainbow continues into the summer season.
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Winner: Watashi from The Tatami Galaxy
A look at the past winners of this award – Kemono no Souja Erin, Phantom, Toradora, Clannad ~After Story~, Natsume Yuujinchou, Ga-Rei: Zero – showcase some of the best anime that have aired in the past 2 years and The Tatami Galaxy is no exception. A common thread connecting these shows is the director and animation company excelled at telling a story that focused on a few main characters and allowing the characters to grow naturally. In the middle of The Tatami Galaxy, I was a little worried that all the reboots were not doing anything to help the show along but I should have had more faith in Masaaki Yuasa and Madhouse because the final episodes show just how in control of the story they really were.
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That’s the end of part 1; I hope to have the second part up within a day. Comments and feedback are always appreciated – I’d love to see what others would pick.
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Spring 2010 Awards Part 2: Genre and Misfit Awards
Spring 2010 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #8 – #5
Spring 2010 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1
What a long and varied ride Durarara has been! We began with a rollercoaster of overlapping plot points as we introduced the characters. This built up to Mikado’s dramatic reveal as the leader of the Dollars. Then we had all the possessed madness as Anri took a level in badass. Finally, we ended with three mopey teenagers learning the vital lesson to trust in each other. So where exactly does this episode leave us? The director essentially pressed the reset button.
It's like it was all some kind of strange dream!
Dotachin pops out of the shadows, saving the day and owning the Yellow Scarves in the process. Horoda fell into the same pitfall Mikado did: he didn’t make an effort to screen his members. His fault is even more egregious when you realize he said the Dollars had just gone into hiding so they could plot against his gang. It ultimately proves to be his downfall, as he loses all of his guard to the surprise attack. Then he tries to get away, only to run into Shizuo on the highway to freedom. The reaction we get out of this is priceless. Horoda far underestimated Shizuo’s ability to stubbornly refuse to lie down. Shizuo gets his revenge, and it sets them up for the traffic cops. With the loss of their leader, the war soundly ends.
Of course, Anri isn’t quite done yet, because she wants to go after the mastermind. Izaya proves his omnipresence when he reveals he chose his mook based on her ability to control him. When you get down to it, the two really aren’t very different. They both want to learn more about humanity. Izaya wants to do it because he wants to see how people react, and Anri does it because she really doesn’t understand people’s feelings. They leave us with a big plot thread to tie into the next series: Izaya wants to fight Anri. Since she failed in assimilating him into her collective, I’m sure she still wants to pursue him as well.
Wow Anri, you just got beaten by a pocket knife!
As Mikado’s ending narrative drones on, we figure out exactly where the events from the past series have led. Absolutely nowhere. Nothing significant has changed on the surface. Anri and Mikado still walk home from school every day. Dotachin’s group still runs around feeding their otaku urges. Shinra and Celty continue to pursue their slightly odd relationship. Kida and Saki have finally gotten together as a proper couple. Shizuo continues to collect debts with Mr. Tanaka. Mika and Seiji continue to grow their relatively creepy relationship. And Izaya? He’s still a creep who enjoys gathering information and manipulating people.
I believe I can fly... I believe I can touch the sky...
It feels like a weak ending, especially for a series who spent most of its time acting big. It makes Ikebukuro into a sandbox town. As highlighted, people come and people go. These people might cause a stir in the city for a short time, but eventually, everything levels out once again. Status quo truly is God in their universe. We are used to seeing our anime end on a crescendo of awesome, but Durarara subverts our expectations and delivers a realistic ending.
The city acts just like one in real life. It might have fantastic aspects, but doesn’t every city in the world have some oddities? Regardless of what an individual or even a group does, how often does a city really change because of it? I’m sure Izaya would enjoy testing out exactly how resilient the people and their city are, but it will have to wait for another season. The ending leaves us with that vital dual resolution. Yes, the current crisis has ended, and Ikebukuro has returned to a state of equilibrium. But as we’ve seen more than once, it only takes a few sparks to upset the balance, and Izaya has already set the stage. I hope to see some more of Durarara and its world in the future.
What? It's the last post, and I'll pander if I want to.
After last week’s tremendous let down of an episode, and some would say let down of a month of episodes, I wondered if Durarara could recover itself. Well, I have to say this week improved matters a bit, and everything has positioned itself for an avalanche of plot completion. I figure they will continue the series in a few seasons, so not everything will resolve, but we should have some sort of satisfying conclusion. That’s for next week though. Now we concern ourselves with this week.
YOU! Stop being such a freaking enigma!
So, I see a potentially fatal flaw in your strategy, Izaya. Yes, you have gone off the deep end in euphoria at the way events have taken place. Congratulations, all you intended to do so far succeeded. You have proven once and for all time that you are the best manipulator who has ever lived. Wait, you say Namie’s gone missing? You can tell Izaya isn’t quite thinking clearly. She is the one person who has seen Izaya’s planning and execution from beginning to end, and therefore has the best potential position to undo him. Even so, he has almost no emotional reaction to his aide-de-camp’s disappearance!
What’s her body language say? Well, she has a private phone conversation we can’t hear, though I imagine we will find out who she called and what she said in next episode. It also looks like she doesn’t really approve of Izaya’s overly cocky attitude. Really, I think he looks down on her, and Namie doesn’t like it. Izaya took her down quite easily earlier in the series, maybe he doesn’t see her as any real threat. His vital oversight might finally end his strange little game of chess/shogi/whatever.
Can you hear me now? Good!
Kida, holy crap, Kida. I will criticize you for walking straight into a death trap. Hopefully, you had the decency to finish writing your will and let the coroner know he needed to prepare a slab in his office. On the other hand, as a marked man, you probably had no real choice. Either you take down the boss or you leave town and never appear on anyone’s radar ever again. With this out of the way, Kida can sure take a hit. He gets hit in the head with a crowbar and starts bleeding from the head. Does he care? No, he turns around, picks it up, and beats down anyone who dares to challenge him. When the jerkass usurper cocks his gun and points it at him, he doesn’t even flinch, he just looks at him.
That actually brings up an interesting point. Kida is dead to rights right here, and the guy just can’t pull the trigger on him. He acts just like a traditional bully: he only preys on those weaker than him. He would have never taken Shizuo head on, but he ambushed him instead. Now that Kida stares him down, he’s paralyzed. One of his flunkies has to take the kid down, when he only needed to twitch his finger. Then we have Mikado, Anri, and Celty joining the conflict, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy pees his pants. I want to see this guy try to make some escape in the middle of battle, only to run straight into Simon. At least then the Russian would have accomplished something significant this season.
Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?
I suppose I should take just a moment to say something about Shizuo. Slipped and fell my ass. Although I suppose since we are talking about Shizuo, his explanation is at least somewhat plausible. He kept walking along with pens stuck through his kneecaps. Somehow he managed to walk all the way to Shinra’s while bleeding profusely and having, yes, another hole in his leg. Shoot, he even threatens Shinra while he’s tending to the wounds, without anesthesia. I probably would have fainted dead away. This guy is perhaps more stubborn than my father, and that says a lot. And frankly, I have to thank him for it. He has easily been the most entertaining character for me throughout the series. Hopefully he gets one last chance to shine before the end. Next week, episode 24, the finale, be there!
And when you're done you can shine my shoes, boy!
Alright everyone, I will admit I am tired. I’ve been fighting something since Colossalcon, I’m not quite sure what it is, but it has destroyed my sleep cycle and I feel constantly fatigued. Of course, when I get tired, I also get cranky. And then when I watched Durarara!! today, it went into full swing anger mode. I have constructed most of this post from undistilled rage. Why? Mikado and Kida are unbelievably stupid.
But before that, enjoy Anri looking all adorable.
We start the episode with Anri’s capture by the Yellow Scarves. Suddenly, the Dollars swing into action. I have to say, the first half of the episode is something I have wanted to see since the Dollars meetup half a series ago. This plan shows exactly how the group should operate. They use all their unique placements and talents in conjunction with a mass messaging service to work towards a common goal. Anri manages to slip out of the old creep’s hands and get all the way to Celty. With the exception of one minor slip-up, the opperation works beautifully. Shoot, I wish things I planned for weeks went as well as this completely improvised strategy. Mikado, of course, breathes a sigh of relief when Anri has made it to a safe house. When they see what they have accomplished by saving the girl, the Dollars realize exactly what they could have done all along. In addition, they are safe as long as they continue to work together. So, armed with this knowledge, what does Mikado do. Naturally, he disbands the Dollars.
What have I told you about thinking, Mikado? It's bad for you.
Wait, wait, what? Are you serious!? You just saw how much power your network has, you just managed to save the day, and now you want to quit!? What is wrong with you? Okay, I do want to be fair to Mikado, so I understand his ridiculous reasoning. If he disbands the Dollars, then the Yellow Scarves will no longer feel threatened, his friends will be safe, and he can go back to the dull, boring life he once had. Everyone wins, right? WRONG! The existence of the social network makes no difference at all to the Scarves. They want blood, and they will get it one way or the other. All disabling the network has done is to make it so members can no longer collaborate for their own protection. Remember what was going to happen to Anri? Yeah, that’s right, she was going to get lynched. Now without any way to defend themselves it will happen to every member of the Dollars. It is all. Your. Fault. Mikado. Izaya’s sitting up in his tower with an overwhelming sense of smugness because you played directly into his hands. I once saw your idealism as refreshing, but now you’re just a child who needs a swift kick in the face. All you want to do curl up under your blankets to hide from the world and pretend everything is alright.
Meanwhile, your allies aren't going to fair so well.
Then we have you, Kida. We already knew Izaya had him in his pocket, but that’s no excuse for what you have done. I almost thought you had finally figured everything out when you saved Anri from the Scarves. However, it looks like that head of yours belongs on a donkey. You have a perfect opportunity to ask her, calmly, about the situation and the Slasher. You could have set everything straight between the two of you. But what do you do? You berate her and accuse her of trying to hurt both yourself and Mikado. Kida, she just spent the last half hour of her life being traumatized by a gang. Who runs the Yellow Scarves again? Oh, right, you! Well, at least you should, but they seem to get along just fine without you. In any case, instead of comforting this girl who is supposed to be your friend, you just drive the nail a little deeper. Then she runs away. At least in your case, you realize you have screwed up and said words you shouldn’t have, but it’s a bit late for apologies. Then you try to contact Mikado. He already went into full turtle mode, but at least you tried, and in so doing managed to redeem yourself a little. In addition, I have to give Anri props for forgiving you herself, at least to some extent.
Here we have Kida executing a flawless facewall technique.
While I’m busy raging at the two major idiots in this series, I might as well rage at the writers as well. What did you just do to Shizuo? Okay, I understand mundane deaths, or in this case attacks, occur all the time. In reality, a badass can just as likely to succumb to illness or age as he is to have an epic battle leading to his demise. Durarara suspends reality on many levels, so the mundane attack really doesn’t work for me. We are talking about the guy who took down the entire Slasher army, minus Anri, by himself. Gunning him down in an ambush seems unnecessarily weak. It’s almost like you suddenly realized you needed to remove Shizuo from the playing field but had no means to do it. Whatever, it’s Shizuo, I’m sure he’ll be back up and beating the crap out of Izaya by the end of episode 24.
Could it really end with a bang AND a whimper?
So I guess I’ve been designated as the Durarara!! blogger for episodes that are 0 mod 3. Anyway, I’ll be doing this week’s post again instead of Rakuen.
This was another pretty slow paced episode. Can’t really say that too much happened, with the episode mainly focusing on Mikado’s internal struggles with his responsibility as the Dollars’s leader. I’m eagerly awaiting the next episode, though; the preview shows that something interesting is going to come out of Anri being captured by the Yellow Scarves.
For the first time, Mikado realizes just how alone he is without his 2 real life friends.
Mikado was back as the lead in this episode. I enjoyed seeing his unsure, almost scared, self during most of the episode. It really drove home the point about the double-edged sword of the anonymity of the Dollars; he has a vast network of “underlings” at his disposal, people that no one can really identify, but at the same time, he can’t control or protect them. It’s the paradox of being a leader but not being able to lead.
In the opposite situation but facing the same sort of problem was Kida. He’s the leader, and everyone knows that. When he’s around, people respect him and listen to him. He calls the shots. Actually, those scenes had me wondering if Kida was a master martial artist or something. The way he throws his weight around is through violence, and his underlings seem to genuinely fear him when he does. Is that how he had become the leader of the Yellow Scarves at such a young age? It would be pretty cool if that’s what it turns out to be.
But when he’s not around, he has no control over his gang. Again, I liked the realistic and rather cynical view taken by the show, that as much as the gang members pay lip service to the boss, when no one’s watching, they’ll do what they want.
This creepy couple makes its triumphant return. And they were actually pretty cool.
This is obviously a problem for Kida, but Mikado has embraced it by the end. It was ironic that Seiji was the one to pull him out of his funk by telling him to go after his love without letting anything get in the way, when he had been victimized by Harima doing the exact same thing. Then again, he had had the same attitude when it came to Selty’s head, so one could consider it to be fitting, as well. In any case, it was cool to see Mikado remember what the Dollars were supposed to be about; helping people. And to do that, all he needs is to nudge his crew in the right direction, without issuing orders. It’s swarm intelligence at work, and once Mikado realized it, he once again became free from the burden he had felt as the leader.
I like a girl who knows how to take charge... though this might be a bit too much.
Anri, on the other hand, took full control in this episode. I’m still getting used to the fact that she’s this supernatural “mother” of people all over town, but I like that she decided to take action instead of slinking away like Mikado. Perhaps she was too enthusiastic about it, though, because that’s what allowed her to get caught. It was kind of funny seeing Izaya call Namie to move the pieces on his game board while he was watching Anri run around. And, as far as I can remember, this is the first time we see him move the pieces in a purposeful manner.
I have to laugh at how both Kida and Mikado recognized her right away based purely on the description, “Raira uniform, glasses, big breasts.” The sheer enormity of her breasts always kinda bothered me, but I had written it off as just another anime thing, but I guess it’s a defining character trait for her.
I'll give you 1 guess as to who this is. That's all that the Yellow Scarves needed, after all.
Unfortunately, that’s what caused her to be captured by the Yellow Scarves, which means Kida is very close to her now. And with Mikado paying full attention to Anri now thanks to Seiji’s words, the big 3 are going to cross paths and learn the whole truth soon. The preview indicates that Anri and Mikado will meet each other face to face very soon. The former knows the latter’s secret already, so I figure her secret will have to come out. This will throw a huge wrench into Kida’s understanding of the situation, as he learns that Anri is helping the Dollars, even though he was trying to get revenge for her against Slasher, who is also helping the Dollars. I’m looking forward to seeing things blow up next episode and how Kida deals with it.
Looks like he's saving her. Will she reciprocate by telling him the truth?
I can't make screencaps right now, so thanks to Random Curiosity!
Man, why you gotta be hatin' on me!?
I'm sure a lot of people would love to use his talents.
Time for a good ol' fashioned lynching.
I just heard this song on the radio and I thought the title was appropriate for what just happened. This episode felt like a game of roulette where the main protagonists found out some details about their major roles in the conflict. Of course, no one knows everything, and none of them realize Izaya has done a fair amount of work manipulating from the background. The key here is how they find out about each other or their affiliated groups.
Could you turn the creepiness down a notch or two?
I will tell you, if you hurt someone, the best thing you can possibly do is to go up to them and tell them directly. Yes, the truth hurts, but when you reach out by yourself, you have a unique opportunity to explain your actions and perform damage control. You may never have the same kind of friendship or relationship you once shared, but at least you took responsibility for your actions, and many people will respect you for it.
The absolute worst thing you can do is allow the person you hurt find out about your actions from a friend of a friend, or similar circumstance. You’ve already added degrees of separation between yourself and your damaged friend. Not only that, but he or she will form their own opinions of what happened and why, and in almost every case they will come to a very negative conclusion. When the two of you inevitably collide, I wish you good luck in making any headway with the conversation. Maybe you’ll somehow pull a positive resolution out of your ass, but you’ll probably end up hating each other. Bottom line? Honesty is the best policy.
I... I... I can't believe it's not butter!
Durarara pretty well covers the start of the worst-case scenario. Mikado, Anri, and Kida were all friends before this night. However, Anri learns Kida runs the Yellow Scarves from a few of her Slasher buddies. She doesn’t believe it, so she goes to find out for herself. Sure enough, he’s sitting on the throne. Finding out one of your best friends is actually your enemy isn’t a terribly original plot point, but Anri isn’t the typical protagonist. The experience shatters her, and she has to fight off the soothing voice of Saika in her head while she waits for rescue.
Unfortunately, the rescue just makes everything worse. The Scarves suspected Celty worked for the Dollars. Anri then reveals herself as the Slasher. Guess who they think the Slasher works for now. On the other hand, this brings Kida to a startling realization: he doesn’t have as much control over his gang as he thought. He doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but the gang has already decided the guilty party and wants to fight. Similarly, Mikado finally realizes he has no control over his group and fragments of the “enemy” groups work for the Dollars. Anri could very well lose her grip as well. If the three want to avert the crisis, they will have to work away from their organizations and in tandem. However, the massive violation of trust might prevent it.
I have no clever quote. This is just awesome.
Of course, other parties can play a role in this. Kida goes to Dotachin and his crew for advice, and it looks like he will receive a healthy dose in the next episode. Then, we once again have the enigmatic Simon. It looks like he’s absolutely everywhere, and he even manages to interfere in an attack by the Scarves. I could be mistaken, but I think he narrates this episode. I’ve said it before and I know I’ll keep saying it, but he knows too much. I’m just waiting for the big reveal at this point.
Give me this pipe or I'll shove it through your ears.
About a week ago, 2-D Teleidoscope made a post titled The Sexy Otaku Manifesto, in which he wrote about “getting back into shape” and called out to other “geeks” and “otaku” to do the same. 21stcenturydigitalboy wrote a response on Fuzakenna, The Inauthenticity of Nerd Appearances – All of Us Are Slaves, And Most of Us Are Liars that elaborated on the idea further, going also into the mindset that leads otaku to be unfit. He also told a bit of his own story and that of his friends/relatives regarding fitness.
These posts piqued my interest because personal fitness is a (dare I use the term?) passion of mine. I understand their sentiment, more than you can imagine, as I’ll try to show in this post. But something about the posts bothered me. They rubbed me the wrong way. I believe that they got their message all wrong. If you want to engender change in behavior relative to fitness, if you really believe in some “Sexy Otaku Manifesto,” you don’t do it by telling others that they need to change or by calling them liars.
Let me back up. Each of those posters said something about their own personal fitness history or goals, so I think it’s appropriate that I share mine. I’ll start almost 2 years ago in July of 2008. I’m 5 feet, 9 inches (175cm) tall and have been for about a decade now. At that point, I weighed 217 pounds (98.4Kg). For those of you without a BMI calculator handy, that’s a 32.1 BMI, or well into the “obese” range. And even though BMI isn’t the best measure of fitness, believe me, “obese” was the right word to describe me. I was the very image of the fat otaku.
OK, so I wasn't THAT far gone. But believe me, it was pretty bad. I didn't even get Persona 3 until 2009.
I can’t tell you what or if anything even clicked in me at that point. But I decided that I had had enough. I set what I felt then was a reasonable goal: lose 50 pounds in 2 years. By the end, I would weigh 167 pounds (75.7Kg), right under the 25 BMI boundary between “normal” and “overweight,” and that wasn’t even 1/2 pound a week! Piece of cake, right?
I started to eat right. And I started running. At first, I could barely make it to 100m before I had to walk. But if I had to walk, I kept walking until I could run again. I got my running endurance from 30 seconds to a minute. Then to 2 minutes, then 5, then 10. I still remember the first time I ran for 30 minutes. I had just passed the 3 mile marker when my watch finally read “30:00.” I was so busy looking at the watch, I tripped on my own feet and landed face first. Fortunately, I had maintained enough control to fall to the side, onto the grass. The dirt was sweet, and it was September.
Then from 30 to 40. I leveled off at that, spiking upwards only when I really felt good. It was a cold, snowy winter that year, but it only made me more excited. By the time the calendar had rolled around to 2009, I had run more than 50 minutes exactly once, covering 6 miles in 54. And I weighed 169 pounds (76.7Kg). My BMI was pretty much right on that 25 line that I had shot for.
Then came the strength training. I won’t bore you any further with the numbers regarding that. Right now, 1 year 10 months after I had made my choice, I weigh 144 pounds (65.3Kg). That’s a BMI of 21.3, right around the middle of the “normal” range. I can squat 3/4 of my body weight, do 14 pull ups, run a 10K in 42:44 (6:53/mile). I’ve become fit.
What am I trying to say here? Am I trying to brag? Maybe. I do feel proud. But on the Internets, everyone is a tough guy. Everyone is a man’s man and everyone looks like someone from 300 (I wonder how many times that movie has been referenced in relation to fitness?). There is no reason for you to believe me, so I don’t think I’d be accomplishing anything by bragging. Maybe I just wanted to write it down to make me feel good.
On the Internets, everyone's a tough guy.
But the purpose with which I wrote this is to put a proper context to what I’m about to say. When it comes to fitness and weight loss, I’ve been to hell and back (That’s not to say that I’m done. I’ll continually be reaching for more for for the rest of my life). And I did it effortlessly. I never once looked at my plate with dread or despair over the contents. My heart only pumped harder with excitement when it was 20 degrees outside and I had a date with 4.5 miles of road. I got the gain with no pain (well, except for that knee injury I had in spring 2009). I believe that my message holds true even if you ignore my history with fitness, but I believe having it in mind strengthens it. Take it for what you will.
Maybe the ease with which I had achieved my goals fills me with guilt, which is why my sensibilities were offended by some of the content in 2DT’s and 21stcenturydigitalboy’s posts. They have the right idea, at the high level: put your mind to it, and your body can be what you want it to be. And if you don’t care how your body looks, think very deeply about why that is. Are you being honest to yourself? Are you being fair to yourself? I don’t pretend to know the answer for anyone; I can barely answer the question for myself. But if you can say yes, you’ve reached a state of mind that few of us can ever hope to reach.
But it’s wrong to think you can cause behavioral change by simply telling them to change or by calling them liars. At best you’re just insulting them. At worst, you’re only contributing to the cycle of low self esteem that can lead to bad fitness in the first place. Real change comes from within. And no one can control that but the person himself.
And that’s what I’m really trying to get at here. It’s not anyone’s place to tell others that they should look a certain way. We choose to be who we are. Some of don’t prioritize our fitness as highly as others. Some – most – no, probably all – of us lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better. But that’s our choice. It was my choice to become healthy, to become fit, and that’s why it worked and has lasted. Change not of our own choosing is meaningless and cannot survive.
If you really want to see others change, give them the tools, the encouragement, the ideas of change. First, let them understand that it’s possible. Then, give them the choice. Maybe give them a nudge, but don’t push, because they’ll only push back. 2DT himself seems to understand this when he writes, “The people I’d really like to reach with this message will likely never read it, or simply ignore it.”
I had said that getting fit had been easy for me. It’s true. But what allowed that was the biggest change in me, which was in my mind. As my mindset changed, I learned to like – to love – the things that would naturally cause my body to become fit. It was gradual, and I only realized it after the fact.
But I’m not naive or arrogant enough to think that just because I found the change to be easy, it should or will be for others. It was only in looking back that I realized just how much my mind had changed. I had become a different person, and I had barely realized it in the process. It’s pretty daunting to think of at times. I refuse to trivialize it by telling others to simply go do it.
So what really can I contribute? What can I do if I want people to change? If I want others to make the same kinds of decisions regarding their bodies as I made regarding my body? There’s no knowledge I can offer that you can’t find in a million other places. (except maybe this: People on /fit/ are assholes, but they know what they’re talking about. If you can stand the heat, take a gander over there and read some threads, even start one. I take no responsibility for the consequences).
To paraphrase Hitagi from Bakemonogatari episode 12, “What I can offer is my body.” It is yet another example of people changing their fitness for the better. There’s no reason why your body can’t be one too. I’m going to invoke Kamina here, just like 21stcenturydigitalboy did with his post. Not for his perfect body, but rather for his message. Believe in yourself. If you can’t, believe in me, because I’ve been down the same path, and I believe that you can do it too.
What do Archer, Shizuo, and Kamina have in common besides being perfect physical specimen? They got to where they are by doing what they believed in. (OK, fine, Shizuo kinda had an unfair advantage. But you know what I mean).
If you get nothing else out of this post, if this is tl;dr, let me just try to get this one message out: don’t judge. Just think about what it means to be an otaku. Like, how they use the word over in Japan. It’s a term used not only for anime fans, but for hardcore fans of anything particularly niche. It means liking something that few others care about to an extent few others care to understand. And that’s why in order for a community to form among otaku, judgments need to be held at the door. Let others be who they are.
