Perhaps a silly title, but it symbolically represents the love/hate relationship I've had over the years with this medium, one that has been milked to death in certain genres, yet I have always known that a few of them have made drastic impression upon me, which are the ones I have already mentioned elsewhere.
Recently, I've had a resurrection of sorts to watch various kinds of anime series in order to see if there is still magic to be found. Some of the ones I have watched include Attack on Titan, the new popular one with plenty of merchandise available already.
Themes of morbid and grotesque are combined with blood and flesh visuals. Controversial decisions are sometimes made, it has good art style, action and lore mysteries awaiting viewers. Character developments and appropriate music complete the balance and I must say that yes, I was entertained with the first season.
Another anime I gave a go was Ping Pong The Animation, a sports show, with emotions and a little bit of philosophy for table tennis. Featuring international competition, a coming of age story, a distinct art style and decent opening and ending songs.
Ping Pong The Animation isn't exactly like Hajime no Ippo, one of my favorites. But it does portray the sport excitingly, with all of it's techniques and styles. The polarizing relationships between "Smile" and Peco was also a reason to keep watching.
Luckily, I have discovered a new strong favorite anime. Based on a 19th century novel, now turned into an adaptation with royal and sci-fi themes, Gankutsuou takes time to build up before it gets to the good parts.
It truly has a unique art style as people's clothing and hair are standing out in a dynamic and artistic merit. A young aristocrat becomes friends with a charming count and decides to introduce him to friends and family, without knowing that the count has ulterior motives.
Gankutsuou really shines because it's successful on several levels, those include it's appearance, the revenge story, the unusual combination of genres and yet it remains beautiful in overall because the writing, the direction and the characters continue to stay compelling. It is unlike any other anime out there.
I also wanted to point out that around this month, I have been watching anime for 10 years now, obviously with high and low traffics. Starting with humble movies including Akira(1988) and Ninja Scroll(1993), and more or less then getting introduced through series via Full Metal Panic, it has always been stuck somehow in my mind on occassion.
The other medium I have yet to really start on is manga, and apart from a very random Yu-Gi-Oh! book, the only one I ever bought, I ought to give this a retry someday. Because some stories never get an anime adaptation, for starters.
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