Light Novels and Anime, take 2

nospam@example.com (Kyuuki-chan) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:51 -0500

Kyuuki-chan

Yup, I'm making another post on the same subject. This is partially because my next entry may be late (as I've decided to make my posts on Saturday) because of JAFAX weekend and partially because I want to revisit my feelings on the Twelve Kingdoms.

There's all sorts of development in that series. Once you get to the second half and are introduced to Suzu and Shoukei you're introduced to two highly flawed female characters. You get to see what trials they've gone through to make them feel the way they do; to see why Suzu and Shoukei feel their lives are unfairly miserable, why Suzu has come to despair and see Yoko as her only hope and why Shoukei sees Yoko as someone to hate and envy. You get to sympathize with them even if at times their flaws glare at you and make you want to smack some sense into them because you know it's possible if you had went through hardships of the caliber they've gone through you may not have come out any better.

But what makes it memorable is you get to see them change in their travels, as they move beyond their personal hardships to see them face the world around them. You see them start to stop thinking only about what is unfair in their lives and look to what is unfair with the world. It's wonderful seeing them change for the better and reach out to make things around them better as well. It's something we who watch it can learn from, for how many of us actively seek to make things better in some way? Some make small donations to charity, but how much do they actually do? What good is it if we make paltry gestures if for the most part we don't do anything but go about our lives? We should at least seek out what we need to do to better ourselves and treat those about us fairly and kindly.

We may feel our lives are unfair and come to feel great pity for ourselves or hate those that seem more fortunate. We may be ignorant of the world around us and the trials faced by others and that ignorance may hobble us. We may decide in our heads that things are a certain way when they aren't and judge people by those false assumptions. But it's when we try to look beyond all that, when we grow as people who consciously or subconsciously seek to better ourselves and learn more about things we shine. When we reach out to understand how the world is, how we can better it, and how we can help those around us, even in only small ways, we polish ourselves. When we realize our actions can better ourselves and our world we have a chance to become something that helps our whole world shine.

Think about it. Reach out for whatever wisdom comes your way. The greatest gems lie not in the ground, but in our hearts if only we allow them to shine.

Light Novels and Anime

nospam@example.com (Kyuuki-chan) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:36:00 -0500

Kyuuki-chan

Y'know how sometimes even when there's something new to watch sometimes you really wanna go back and read an oldie but goody you've already seen, maybe even more than twice? Well, I've been slowly watching Twelve Kingdoms over the past several days AND reading the light novels that it was based on - or at least what has been translated so far by Tokyopop. I've also got the Slayers novels and anime in my upcoming lineup.

Now, I've seen some people criticize Twelve Kingdoms early on and give up on it because they felt Yoko was too weak, to pathetic. Personally, after seeing all of the series I have to say Yoko is one of the most likable, dynamic characters I've seen in anime. She starts off weak and pathetic but by the end of the series she's grown to a point you can't recognize her from the Yoko in the beginning of the series. Watching her grow and learning about the world of Twelve Kingdoms is a wonderful experience that when watching in the right frame of mind can actually help the watcher learn more about themself and how they can change for the better.

I'd highly encourage both the reading of the novels and the watching of the anime, especially to those who gave up on it early on. I feel one is really missing out if they're an anime fan or a fantasy novel fan and overlooks this series. It's a gem, even if it does have a few minor flaws, including the fact they never finished Taiki's story in the anime, it's a must watch and must read. If only the author of the novels hadn't put the series on hold, perhaps then they'd have finished Taiki's story. Hopefully sales of the novels will go well and Tokyopop will release all the novels, even the one finishing Taiki's story so fans can get some closure. It would also be nice if they picked up Massho no Ko (Demonic Child), a novel written before the Twelve Kingdoms series was started by the same author that became part of Taiki's backstory.

Caffeine & Painkillers - books

Light Novels and Anime, take 2

Light Novels and Anime