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I honestly don't if you'll like them, but read Hibari's Morning and Cocoon.

dude, by the way, i'm reading "in search of lost time" by marcel proust right now and after that, i'll probably look through your favorite novels as per your goodreads ratings for other recommendations (like the man without qualities). i'm actually getting back into reading fiction and maybe i'll get around to actually finishing dante's divine comedy like we talked about years ago.

Hello. Random person. Just wanted to say I like your list. Also, what is up with your ratings?

I like your favorites, but your ratings confuse me...

Aha, you have a "RateYourMusic" account. That's really cool to see since most people I meet around the community never really care for cataloging music the way they do Anime or other mediums. Cool tastes as well even though they're drastically different from mine. Also... long time no speak I suppose.

The first episode touched a lot on isolation built upon through people's insecurities, and curosity being the thing that drives innovation and friendship. Really been meaning to watch more of it, but I have a few other shows. It is definitely interesting and the visual motiffs are quite clever with coloring around okeri to distinguish his views of people as wasting energy due to his own desire to be left alone, but his gloomy atmosphere being shined by Chitanda who forces him to open up.

Curious to hear your thoughts on Hyouka? Watched the first few episodes and was decently impressed with Takemoto's storyboarding of the first episode.

Hehe, I can't exactly say I won't read Dante after reading such praise. And besides, it's just something everyone *has* to read, right? It's a classic. I'll definitely, undoubtedly read it, but I don't know when. I'm in a purely nonfiction mood right now. Still gotta read that, Faust, rest of Shakespeare, Paradise Lost, etc. The classics.

Definitely. There's tons of stuff I have to reread as well (I hardly remember anything from Machiavelli's The Prince besides "don't hire mercenaries!" Brothers Karamazov is always up for a reread as well, of course)

Oh, well, I agree with your Breaking Bad criticisms. I still like it, but it's not a show I can unreservedly recommend. Like you said, the acting aside from Walt ranges from fine to bad (Jesse's actor is one-note with regards to this). The side characters are defined by their relation to the main characters (I don't understand how Skylar can be some people's favorites. She can be summed up as "The Wife Character"). I enjoy it as a thriller with Walt's scheming and machinations versus the antagonists' scheming and machinations. It's fun, but the first three seasons are subpar at worst and fine at best.

How far are you in Mad Men? The symbolism only gets worse as it moves further on. I have a lot of criticism for Mad Men. To be honest, my love of it faded the more I thought about it. I didn't even watch the final season, haha. It feels unplanned in a bad way (characters redo the same old shtick and besides commentary on "human nature!" or whatever, it wears thin), it's politically questionable (those who uphold current power structures are bad, but people who challenge those structures (counterculture) are also bad. Also, reeks heavily of second-wave feminism), and it's eye-rollingly smug with its constant pointing of "See how bad the 60's were! See how ignorant they were! Maybe... things... haven't changed that much from then???"

Witihin an episodic context, yeah, I agree. I thought there were problems with the seasonal plottings despite your defense of it. As in, with this, I'm referring to season-long plotlines like Tony's sister and her boyfriend in season 2, the snitch in season 2, Tony's Uncle's planning in season 1, etc. I have a lot of criticisms for each of these plotlines. While I don't deny that The Sopranos can be clever and well-done (the rape scene in Employee of the Month is horrifying), I still find its plotting, aside from certain individual episodes, to be not all that well-thought out.

Well, hmm. I honestly don't remember that ADD plotpoint that you're mentioning. But, yeah, I guess you're right. There are subtle interactions. The characters are portrayed using rather subtle acting and characteristics. The characters are all very strong and super well-thought out and understood. I just wish the rest of the show didn't intrude on my enjoyment of this aspect so much. With the lack of subtlety, I was thinking more along the lines of the plot-related stuff, yeah. Like the aforementioned image, Tony's final dream in season 2 where it straight-up states that Tony knows who the rat is, the cheesy song selection (I think I remember "More Than a Feeling" and "Free Falling" being used in a bad manner?), Melfi's explanation of Tony's dream in S1 (understandable since it's the pilot I suppose), etc.

Well, you make a persuasive argument. Maybe I was wrong with that. I honestly never even considered it being a subversion/parody of a crime procedural drama. But, I have reservations since it's not the first time that Sopranos pulled out an insert song that cheesily related to the current scene lyrically.

Yeah, and the way TV is organized seems to reflect that i.e. head writers being in charge of the entire show and how it looks. While I agree theoretically, I think that pretty much every TV series I've seen has flubbed on that regard (except for The Wire, the only TV show I can, without reservations, recommend). A lot of that, I suppose, can be due to commercial/economic pressures, a constant need for good ratings and the risk of cancellation making lots of TV series play it safe, its long-spanning nature, the uncertainty of any actor's death, and, every single TV series I've seen hasn't had at least one underwhelming season (The Wire S5, Breaking Bad S1-3, Deadwood S2 and beyond, etc.) And one underwhelming season is equal to 12 hours of time. I think TV has a lot of potential, but nothing in the Golden Age of TV has really convinced me that anything has really lived up to that title.

Sailor Moon is fun when it's lighthearted. It isn't when it's drama-focused. Right now, I"m in the middle of the supposedly worst season and I have no motivation to continue it (it's been a year since I've started it)

I see that your score on Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion rose. What was your previous opinion on them at a lower score and how did that opinion change as of now? I'm very curious to see if you see something in it more special now.

Motto was definitely the most comedy-centric season. Even the finale was super light-hearted, which really isn't something you can say about any of the other seasons. Another Onpu episode that I think did what you are talking about well was that one in Dokkan where she meets the older really talented actor. That one was sooo good even if it wasn't directed by Yamauchi (though I imagine it would have only been better with him on it). Her development in S1 was no doubt one of my favorite parts of that season, specifically the stuff with her breaking the rules of magic. Her inner conflicts and overall characterization may possibly be my favorite out of the six girls, but that's hard to say because ahhhh all the characters were just so great! I totally agree that the seasons just got better and better though, by the time Dokkan comes around it seems like the staff learned from any mistakes they might have made and knew exactly what they were doing. It's insane how big a proportion of Dokkan was absolutely great.

I've seen the same thing you're talking about. While I'm glad more people are getting into Doremi because of it, it really should be hyped up for the all the amazing things it really does instead. I will admit though that part of the reason I even picked it up at all was from /a/ hype lol.

I fucking love Spirited Away no matter how "entry-level" it may be. It's just such a lively and creative film. If there's any Miyazaki film for me to rewatch soon it's definitely Totoro though. I liked the film the first time around but I think I'll like it so much more now. I feel like the comfy laidback-ness will resonate much more with the current me than it did with me of a couple years ago. I've been on like an all-time high for anime-watching volume recently, almost entirely due to Doremi and me diving into anitwitter. I really should be spending more time on lit and film. Film's easy but lit can be scary and I still haven't entirely gotten into it. I have a good 50~ books on my shelf that I desperately need to read. Both are no doubt far more diverse than anime though.

Finally, I rewatched Eva myself about a week ago. I do that a lot though. It's still as awesome as ever in my eyes. I actually didn't even like Eva much until I watched it a second time (under depression goggles, truly the best way to watch Eva). Although I did first watch Eva with only about 20 anime under my belt.

And super duper sorry for taking years to respond. Working 40 hours a week is a bitch and writing is impossible. ): I actually ended up in a cycle of writing half-responses, procrastinating, and then accidentally letting them get deleted when the browser closed. Took me 3 tries before I learned my lesson lol.

It's a great movie! >:) I see your favorite anime is Akage no Anne, too. Almost everybody I've run into who has seen it loves that show. I'll try getting to it soon, maybe after I watch the rest of Takahata's movies.

Utena, Doremi, Mushishi...I think I already like you.

Oh, sweet. I didn't even look at your letterboxd until just now, but Mirror is like one of my all-time favorite films. Tarkovsky is a God.

Don't forget Motto's yam fart episode too, that one was hilarious! But, yeah, I don't even know how I'd begin to come up with a top ten episodes (Naisho 04 and Dokkan 49 would top it off though). I adore Momoko, but Doremi is the all around best. Doremi is pretty much the show's heart and soul. I don't think you could love the franchise without loving Doremi as a character. Guessing Onpu is one of your favorites? Doremi is a hidden masterpiece in the west since a lot of anime fans simply glance over children's shows, more people need to give it a chance. Plus I think it's subs only finished relatively recently too so there's that. I only first picked it up thanks to the anitwitter hype. Here's to hoping the love keeps spreading.

I noticed you haven't watch any anime in for a while now. Any reason for that? Burnt out and focusing on other mediums?

Hey! I think you can figure out why I added you, lol. Totally need to get to Anne one of these days though, everybody seems to adore it.

Naisho 09 (where the pic's from) was probably my favorite comedy episode in the franchise. It's Momoko at her prime. Not as good as some of the more serious masterpiece-tier episodes, but still up there for me (maybe top 10?). Finished the franchise a couple of weeks ago and I am absolutely in love with it.

Trueeee. I've heard some people complain that too many people constantly compare Yurikuma to Utena, but it's kind of hard not to! Even disregarding the fact that it has the same director, it also, as you said, covers a lot of the same thematic ground and seeing Ikuhara develop as a director is one of the most intriguing parts of it. It is kind of unfair to it, but still...

Dante is so good! Although I've only read Inferno and I don't know how the other two sections compare. And wow, you've been adding a lot of books to your goodreads lately, eh? Heh. Are they stuff you've already read before or stuff you've been reading recently?

Yeah, that final season, eh? I'm not watching it right now as it's airing, but I'll get to it when it ends probably. Same as you. Yeah, I agree, they're pretty similar thematically speaking and Don and Tony are pretty similar as well -- disillusioned, brooding, struggling b/c of the different "faces" they have to maintain, etc.



I've heard The Shield was good, but the first season isn't that good. If that's true, it's got a slow beginning, and that's cool, but for a TV series, that means 12 or 13 hours! I think I want to checkout non-American/British shows that aren't miniseries a la Dekalog and stuff eventually. I have no knowledge on that stuff.

Yeah, I don't think Lilpri will match up to Doremi (of course, heh) it's not as visually interesting and the characters don't seem to be as endearing (they don't seem to have an arc?), but the show's got some all right comedy bits. I think I'm gonna try to push through Sailor Moon R to get to S, which I've heard is stellar.