On Being Too Attached To Fictional Characters

It might sound silly to some people, but I’ve seen friends and strangers alike being overly attached to fictional characters. In the context of this blog, being too attached to 2D characters from anime or manga. Maybe even games! But I seldom read or hear people complain about characters in games. I wonder why…

This thought crossed my mind every time I read or hear fans complaining about a certain tragedy that has fallen on their favorite characters. Most recently, a friend told me she was scared to read the then latest chapter (probably two weeks ago?) of Naruto because she was scared to find out what’d happened Kakashi. Apparently, our mutual friend had told her that something bad might happened to the character. I didn’t know what to say when she explained her reason. I simply kept quiet.

Bakuman: Positivity

I’ve written before about how motivating and inspiring the pair Shuujin and Saikou it is for me and their dynamic relationship with fellow mangakas. While those two elements are still present throughout the third installment of Bakuman, the vibe I’ve been getting the most can be described in one word – Positivity.

I don’t think anyone of the characters in this series could have accomplished what they did if they did not have a positive mindset, the positive attitude, and with positive criticism. This is especially true when it comes to Ashirogi Muto. And when I say this name, I meant the three characters whose name were used in the pen name formulation.

Fairy Tail: Where Do I Go From Here?

Come to think of it, I never really wrote anything about Fairy Tail. I might not be fully invested in the series, but still I have follow the anime until the end. That’s right – 175 episodes. All watched. It’s pure leisure.

Fairy Tail isn’t any different from other shounen titles. In my opinion, that’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because it feels familiar and I know it won’t go too far off the formulae. At the same time, it’s a bad thing because of the good thing (am I confusing you here?) and that makes it some sort of a clone. It makes it easy for skeptics to say “Oh, that’s just another shounen series. Good guys will win at the end.”

Robotics;Notes: What Is It Again?

In my opinion, Steins;Gate was great fun. The interactions among all the characters and the mystery behind gooey banana, I like. Heck, Chaos;Head was interesting even though it was only during the first half. It could’ve been a lot better. It had potential. So needless to say, I had high hopes for Robotics;Notes. I was eager to know what’s the mystery this time around.

Maybe I was a little too hopeful, a little too eager.

Why I Watch Anime?

Gosh, I am super late with this post. Sigh. Anyway, Kai from Deluscar has recently asked us to write about our reasons for watching anime. We may all be like-minded, loving anime but are we reasons the same?

I admit. Even though I have watch anime for almost a decade, I never really question why I watch anime. Seriously. I sorta just went with it the moment I discovered it. Okay, while I didn’t directly ask myself the question, somehow deep down inside I have a few reasons why I favor anime over other form of visual entertainment.

And no, it’s not because there are plenty of cute 2D girls. I started with shounen series. Let’s face it, there aren’t many cute 2D girls or even guys to look at.

Psycho-Pass: Dark Side of Computerized Society

Blood. More blood. And even more blood. There’s an air of eeriness surrounding Psycho-Pass. It was shockingly violent and unkind to gentle hearts. The very first episode literally shocked me into silence. I remember staring at my computer screen, trying to absorb what just happened, what kind of series had I just watched. Besides Chaos;Head, I cannot recall a series with such dark vibes.

Psycho-Pass shows us a community in a time not too far ahead from now, governed by Sibyl System, an application. It’s crazy right? As a developer by profession, one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind is the reliability of such a system. We developers were all, or at least I, was taught that there is no 100% bug-free, loophole-free software. Also, relying on a logical system to run a legal system that are subjected to multiple elements including empathy is absurd. It’s not the kind of place I’d wanna be in.

A Different Perception on JDrama

If anyone asks me two years ago about my opinion of JDrama or Japanese live action movies, I tell you my answer would not be a positive one. Watching Kimi ni Todoke live action movie left such a bad taste in my mouth that I find it hard to watch another series. Although I won’t go as far as to say that I hate it completely, they just weren’t my cup of tea.

That was until I was asked to watch Nodame Cantabile live action drama on YouTube.