ohisashiburi
egelantier tagged me for a meme! so here we go.
instructions: comment on this entry, and i'll give you three themes by the lines of "username and [some idea or concept or thing]'. you then post what you have to say on these themes in your own livejournal, and tag me back.
ambientlight and friendship narratives
This may sound silly, but I'm actually not very interested in straightforward friendship narratives. I can certainly enjoy them -- in Chihayafuru, for instance. But the dynamics that interest me most are those which are flawed or fragile, and friendship narratives have to involve some sort of difficulty for me to really care about them. (I think this applies to my taste re: all sorts of relationships, frankly -- I'm generally bored by fluffy romance and I much prefer reluctant comradeship to something more secure.)
I suppose Natsume Yuujinchou is the best series to talk about, here. I like watching the tentative friendships that Natsume's making, but I like this precisely because of how tentative his progress is: how it isn't easy, how he still doubts others and flinches from closeness and has trouble allowing people to care about him, even if he does all that less and less. If Natsume gets to the point where his friendships become smooth-sailing and uncomplicated, then I'm sure my interest will wane.
This applies many times over for fic. Fic which charts the development of a friendship -- great. Fic which deals with the difficulty of connecting with others, with the limits of a friendship -- excellent. But I don't really care to read about established happy fluffy friendships.
---
ambientlight and favourite manga
When it comes to anime, most of my favourite series are favourites largely because of how they're crafted -- because I marvel at how they're put together, at all the deliberate and pointed artistic decisions involved, at the tightness of their structure or writing, or how they make the most of the visual possibilities of the medium. (A lot of these also tend to be short, self-contained series.)
Manga, though. Most of my favourite manga series are favourites because of the emotions they elicit, I suppose. Obviously there can be a lot of craft underlying that as well, but I respond to my favourite manga on an emotional level first, whereas my engagement with my favourite anime series tends to be more immediately on an aesthetic level.
Fortunately, MAL has already forced me to choose several manga series to list as my favourites, so here they are: Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou, Kimi to Boku, Horimiya and Pluto.
Mushishi just resonates with me. I love its atmosphere and tone, how it's neither mawkish nor grimdark, how it affirms nothing more or less than existence. The world is indifferent, not cruel. People are flawed; some, but not all, can save themselves. Also, Ginko. ♥
Natsume Yuujinchou is... well, see above. I like the manga more than the anime because it's less soft, a little more challenging. The anime is very warm, even down to its colour scheme.
Kimi to Boku is very fun to read and immensely enjoyable as a low-energy ~seishun~ series. I find it genuinely funny, and when it aims at poignant (which it does more often that you'd expect, maybe), it always succeeds. I came for the humour and stayed for the poignancy.
Horimiya is probably the only romance-centric piece of media I've cared about! It genderflips the standard set-up of "shy girl meets popular boy and learns to make friends", which I appreciate, and takes the characters beyond those stock roles. It's another very ~seishun~ series, capturing the awkwardness of adolescence in a way that doesn't make me cringe.
Pluto involves detectives and AI, two of my narrative weaknesses. Detectives!! It's by Urasawa Naoki so you know you're in safe hands. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but otherwise I absolutely loved this series. So much humanity in its stories, without making the robots seem just like humans.
---
ambientlight and travelling
I talked about travelling a while ago, and I suppose my views haven't changed much. In short, I travel to see and experience new and beautiful things. I guess there are some vague concerns about authenticity in there too, but I'm not hung up about them and I do consider myself just another tourist, not a ~traveller~. I feel no obligation, so to speak, to visit anywhere in particular -- you know, of the "50 places you must see in your lifetime" sort.
I enjoy natural landscapes, vast expanses, and views from heights. I like places with a deep sense of history and with the buildings or ruins to go with it. I really like trying new foods. I'm biased in favour of cooler climates; if I'm going to go on holiday, I figure I should go somewhere colder than where I live. I am no good at roughing it; I don't stay in hotels, but I have grown accustomed to private rooms in B&Bs and hostels, and I am not keen on camping. I am uncomfortable travelling in countries where, as a tourist, I enjoy a significantly better standard of living than the average local resident. (So I don't really travel in such countries.)
I have grown quite fond of light walking holidays, by which I mean the sort where you don't need to lug a 20kg backpack around with you. Unfortunately this does limit the walks that one can attempt.
I haven't had much occasion to travel alone. There's a certain deep sense of freedom that comes with doing so, a sharper appreciation of how vast the world is, and of course more chances to chat with strangers. But I still prefer having someone else to share the experience with, I guess.
I am the sort of annoying person who will share their relevant travel anecdotes re: a certain country if they find out that someone else is going there or has been there.
instructions: comment on this entry, and i'll give you three themes by the lines of "username and [some idea or concept or thing]'. you then post what you have to say on these themes in your own livejournal, and tag me back.
ambientlight and friendship narratives
This may sound silly, but I'm actually not very interested in straightforward friendship narratives. I can certainly enjoy them -- in Chihayafuru, for instance. But the dynamics that interest me most are those which are flawed or fragile, and friendship narratives have to involve some sort of difficulty for me to really care about them. (I think this applies to my taste re: all sorts of relationships, frankly -- I'm generally bored by fluffy romance and I much prefer reluctant comradeship to something more secure.)
I suppose Natsume Yuujinchou is the best series to talk about, here. I like watching the tentative friendships that Natsume's making, but I like this precisely because of how tentative his progress is: how it isn't easy, how he still doubts others and flinches from closeness and has trouble allowing people to care about him, even if he does all that less and less. If Natsume gets to the point where his friendships become smooth-sailing and uncomplicated, then I'm sure my interest will wane.
This applies many times over for fic. Fic which charts the development of a friendship -- great. Fic which deals with the difficulty of connecting with others, with the limits of a friendship -- excellent. But I don't really care to read about established happy fluffy friendships.
---
ambientlight and favourite manga
When it comes to anime, most of my favourite series are favourites largely because of how they're crafted -- because I marvel at how they're put together, at all the deliberate and pointed artistic decisions involved, at the tightness of their structure or writing, or how they make the most of the visual possibilities of the medium. (A lot of these also tend to be short, self-contained series.)
Manga, though. Most of my favourite manga series are favourites because of the emotions they elicit, I suppose. Obviously there can be a lot of craft underlying that as well, but I respond to my favourite manga on an emotional level first, whereas my engagement with my favourite anime series tends to be more immediately on an aesthetic level.
Fortunately, MAL has already forced me to choose several manga series to list as my favourites, so here they are: Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou, Kimi to Boku, Horimiya and Pluto.
Mushishi just resonates with me. I love its atmosphere and tone, how it's neither mawkish nor grimdark, how it affirms nothing more or less than existence. The world is indifferent, not cruel. People are flawed; some, but not all, can save themselves. Also, Ginko. ♥
Natsume Yuujinchou is... well, see above. I like the manga more than the anime because it's less soft, a little more challenging. The anime is very warm, even down to its colour scheme.
Kimi to Boku is very fun to read and immensely enjoyable as a low-energy ~seishun~ series. I find it genuinely funny, and when it aims at poignant (which it does more often that you'd expect, maybe), it always succeeds. I came for the humour and stayed for the poignancy.
Horimiya is probably the only romance-centric piece of media I've cared about! It genderflips the standard set-up of "shy girl meets popular boy and learns to make friends", which I appreciate, and takes the characters beyond those stock roles. It's another very ~seishun~ series, capturing the awkwardness of adolescence in a way that doesn't make me cringe.
Pluto involves detectives and AI, two of my narrative weaknesses. Detectives!! It's by Urasawa Naoki so you know you're in safe hands. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but otherwise I absolutely loved this series. So much humanity in its stories, without making the robots seem just like humans.
---
ambientlight and travelling
I talked about travelling a while ago, and I suppose my views haven't changed much. In short, I travel to see and experience new and beautiful things. I guess there are some vague concerns about authenticity in there too, but I'm not hung up about them and I do consider myself just another tourist, not a ~traveller~. I feel no obligation, so to speak, to visit anywhere in particular -- you know, of the "50 places you must see in your lifetime" sort.
I enjoy natural landscapes, vast expanses, and views from heights. I like places with a deep sense of history and with the buildings or ruins to go with it. I really like trying new foods. I'm biased in favour of cooler climates; if I'm going to go on holiday, I figure I should go somewhere colder than where I live. I am no good at roughing it; I don't stay in hotels, but I have grown accustomed to private rooms in B&Bs and hostels, and I am not keen on camping. I am uncomfortable travelling in countries where, as a tourist, I enjoy a significantly better standard of living than the average local resident. (So I don't really travel in such countries.)
I have grown quite fond of light walking holidays, by which I mean the sort where you don't need to lug a 20kg backpack around with you. Unfortunately this does limit the walks that one can attempt.
I haven't had much occasion to travel alone. There's a certain deep sense of freedom that comes with doing so, a sharper appreciation of how vast the world is, and of course more chances to chat with strangers. But I still prefer having someone else to share the experience with, I guess.
I am the sort of annoying person who will share their relevant travel anecdotes re: a certain country if they find out that someone else is going there or has been there.