Tag: anime

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon is copyright Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation and others.

For the past month, I’ve been experiencing an anime revival in the sense that I have found opportunities to rewatch some of my favourite anime series. I thought this would be a good chance to explore my relationship with anime and all the ones I have watched.

Most of the anime I’ve seen were first watched in the early 2000s which was the height of my anime phase. I was an adolescent with an anime past, curiosity, and the internet. In general, I have become quite picky about the animes I watch. I just need to find the time to track the series down and stick with it. I’ll watch an episode or two and I tend to know early on if it’s for me; I did use to be more open minded about the series I watched. Same with Asian dramas really, but when they are good, they are really good.

Not all the animes in the following list are my favourites, but they are ones I stuck with for the whole series so that in itself is an achievement for me.

If you’ll notice below, I watch a lot of female dominated series and movies. Part of the reason I go back to anime is the dominance of strong female protagonists and gender roles. Anime is the medium which fostered a whole genre about girls saving the world by being girls. For that reason, I do tend to go back to my favourites.

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Commentary on movies I’ve seen each month. Annual list.

The Departed (04-5 03 07): Good Scorsese. Now, I have to watch the original again. I really liked DiCaprio in this.

The Holiday (08 03 07): I only watched is for Kate Winslet.

Borat (10 03 07): Some of it was funny. It’s a bit sad, really.

Little Miss Sunshine (11 03 07): Nice, good, and funny.

Casino RoyaleCasino Royale (19 03 07): I grew up with James Bond. My Dad loves the franchise. I’ve seen most of the Bond movies except Oh Her Majesty’s Secret Service so don’t ask me about Lazenby, but I believe each Bond is unique and different. I don’t pick favourites among them any more. Given that, I really liked this movie. I found the last couple of Bond movies pedantic compared to this. I have not read any of the Bond books or any spy novels; not for dislike, but lack of chance. Having said that, this movie seemed to be more like an actual spy novel with a plot rather than a screenplay someone put forth so the franchise could keep going. I really did like Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, but I found that Daniel Craig was raw in his portrayal. His emotional side was a tad more soft and revealing, which makes me more excited that he’s going to Asriel. Eva Green, the main Bond girl of this film, is simply beautiful and I really look forward to her in The Golden Compass as well.

Fruits Basket (21-22 03 07): Every episode is so emotional. I watched this in Japanese with French subtitles which got me brushing up on the latter. I remember how obsessed everyone was with the anime when it first came out in Japan. Due to the fact that it ran concurrent with the manga, and probably thought there would be a second season, a couple of the episodes were filler-ish. I think it would have made a good second season even though some of the endings to the manga were rather lame. Still, it ended on a beautiful note with the 26 eps.