No, my feet hurt because I got on the 14C bus, which doesn't go to my house, but stops outside Saltdean, by the Lido. So, I'm on the bus, listening to my iPod, developing my characters in my mind -- I know I say that a lot, but I really do constantly write in my head, and it's usually Serendipity or my Treasure Planet fanfiction --, and watching the sky turn this lovely golden bronze colour.
Then, I realise I was supposed to get off two stops ago.
So I scuffle awkward off the bus, and begin to make my way down from the top of the hill, to the seafront to the beginning of Saltdean park, and then I walk past Leah's flat and THEN I walk into my drive. For someone whose feet were already hurting, it wasn't that far from torture.
But yeah, here I am after a day of walking aimlessly around town.
Let's have a bullet point list of what happened, shall we?
- Bought a mango and passion fruit frozen drink and it was deliiiiiicious~~
- Found out what dry shampoo is.
- Saw Lucy Jaffa and gave her a hug.
- Went into Cybercandy and asked for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and had the sales person look at me like I got let out of the crazy hospital for a day.
- Took a balloon from McDonald's and wrote HP related things on it -- "SIRIUS LIVES!" "Mischief Managed" "Sirius 4 Mel" etc.
Wow this blog post is extra short, so I feel I should talk about something else as well as this... but I don't know what. I mean, none of my readers, apart from Benjamin, really like or know what it is. Perhaps I should introduce it?
Okay, anime is basically Japanese cartoons and manga is the equivalent of Japanese comics. The difference from the American to the Japanese is that the Japanese is more complex and has more themes. I mean, you think of an American comic, you think Batman and Superman and stuff; with manga, there is more variety and it's not as geeky, I don't think.
I mean, I can't really call myself the expert, since I've only seen the effect it has on Western countries. Rumour has it that the term 'otaku' is more close to describing a loser; someone with no social life and never goes out, that sorta thing. This means that it's probable that lots of people find anime and manga lame and uncool, the same way people who read comics and graphic novels aren't exactly the 'happening' people of their school.
The theme I tend to read and watch the most is shoujo. Shoujo is aimed at girls, and usually has romantic/comedic/dramatic situations, and kind of resemble soaps or sitcoms. I can pretty much nail every shoujo stereotype nowadays, because they're all pretty similar and repetitive.
One common theme is the gender bender. This is when a girl dresses up as a boy to go into a boy school, for some goal of sorts or something, which, to be frank, is always pretty... well... not worth becoming a transvestite over. Examples: Hana Kimi, Girl Got Game, Ouran High School Host Club, etc.
Another common theme is the magical girl. Girl is awkward, is always late, is in high school, has a crush, is frustratingly dense, but is loveable. By reasons that tend to differ depending on the show, the girl is a part-time super hero with a secret identity that is disguised by nothing. Srsly, nothing. Just like how Clark Kent is no longer recognisable without his glasses, these girl dress up in skimpy, girly outfits and no-one can longer recognise them. Seen in Sailor Moon, Shugo Chara, Pretty Cure, etc.
Nearly present in all mangas and animes is the slice of life and school life theme. Srsly, the Japanese have a thing for high school girls. I think it's more to do with how it's supposed to tell us hormonal, emotional fifteen year olds that we can be okay with life because we're the stars of pretty much every anime and manga ever, or something like that. Evidence: Lucky Star, Kimi ni Todoke and Lovely Complex.
Those are the main of shoujo.
There are of course shoujo-ai, which includes yuri, which is when the two main characters are girls and they are each other's love interests.
There is also shounen, aimed at boys. Mostly, they're violent and funny, but include wisps of romance to add a little more well-rounded-ness to the show. Examples of are: Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin and Pokemon.
Shounen-ai is the same concept as shoujo-ai, but with the other sex, if you get me.
Fun fact: Openings to anime usually are popular j-pop songs!
I'm going to go now,
Melanie.
The opening to the Japanese Dragonball GT is a song called Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku by Field of View, which is actually awesome, have you heard it?
ReplyDeleteThey had English versions of the song where they altered the lyrics and made them all about Dragonballs and etc, but I dunno, the song doesn't really flow as well in English. I'm rambling, but I'm sure you could see what I mean if you listen to it. =D
Only anime I've watched is the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I thought it was quite good, it was funny and cheerful, if very strange. But I enjoyed watching it.
ReplyDeleteI would probably have watched something else too, except that I don't really watch TV.