For my last post, I shall post about one of my favourite things in the world... from the title it should be pretty obvious...
Obvious isn't it? Who doesn't like anime?
Anime, or manga art, pretty much has its origins in Japan. After World War II, the number of manga artists had increased drastically. Boys and young men were the first audience early manga was aimed at, known as shonen manga, then came along manga for females, notably shojo manga. Also, popular themes back then were sci-fi, sports and many others. Not to mention, there was manga for everybody, including some which are more... perverted.
Also, drawing styles also began to evolve. Now, if you watch a variety of different anime, you would notice the differences in drawing techniques. Some include the eyes, body and also maybe the choice of colours. But what makes manga and anime so appealing? Is it the drawing technique, characters? Or some more personal reasons? No matter the reason, anime is now a international influence in modern cartooning and popular among all age groups.
Now, I'm going to introduce you
some of my personal favourites.
Inuyasha was my first anime. And its artist was Rumiko Takahashi, who also published the famous mangas Ranma 1/2 and others.
It talks about Inuyasha, a hanyo (half-demon) teenage boy who was sealed to the Tree of Time by miko (priestess) Kikyo for stealing the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of Four Souls). After sealing Inuyasha, Kikyo died from a fatal injury. 50 years later, 15 year old girl Kagome Higurashi goes to fetch her cat, Buyo from the Bone Eater's Well in her temple, only to have a demon centipede monster drag her into the well and feudal Japan, where she finds the jewel, in an emergency, she frees Inuyasha and he defeats the monster. After that incident, Kagome accidentally shatters the jewel into millions of shards and they must both work together to retrieve them. Along the way, they meet lecherous monk Miroku who has a wind tunnel in his hand that sucks everything in there into oblivion, Shippo, a young fox demon in training, and Sango, a demon slayer who lost her family to a demon named Naraku and accompanied by her demon cat Kirara. Also, trouble comes in the form of Naraku, who is the source of their troubles, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's half-brother who is a full demon and despises his brother, and Kikyo, who is raised from the dead with the desire for revenge.
This anime is one of my favourites, since it involves battling, the supernatural and humour with the hint of romance. Much like the other animes.
Most people may recognise this anime, because it's shown internationally. It's Naruto, famous for its still-running anime and manga by Masashi Kishimoto. It involves Naruto Uzumaki, a boy in the Village Hidden in the Leaves (Konohagakure) and the host of the demon, the Nine-Tailed Fox, trying to be the top ninja in the village, also known as the Hokage, or the Fire Shadow. But he still has a lot of work to do, and practise too. Together with his teammate and crush Sakura Haruno , rival Sasuke Uchiha and sensei Kakashi Hatake, they all aspire to become a better ninja.This anime is full with characters, heroes and villains included. From the other rookie ninja in other teams to the Akatsuki, an organization of powerful rogue ninja with evil intentions of using the hosts of the tailed beasts. Also, romance is also involved, especially with this much characters and a complicated love web. Also, this also has plenty of funny moments, whether it involves Sakura's bad temper or just plain awkward. The battle scenes are also pretty epic and a lot of drama is shown. I have to say that this is a great thumbs up! Here is a video of a collection of funny moments. Watch out for the end though >_<
Here is the third and final anime th
at I want to introduce. This is famous for its trading card game, Yu Gi Oh , by Kazuki Takahashi. This is the story of Yugi Muto, who had just solved a 1000-year old ancient Egyptian puzzle, the Millenium Puzzle. This artifact actually has an ancient Egyptian spirit in it, which during duels in Duel Monsters, gives him skill and courage. Together with his friends Joey Wheeler, Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor, they have to work their way up the duelist rankings. Also, they are antagonists to this show as well. It includes Seto Kaiba, the boss of Kaibacorp, a large virtual reality producer for Duel Monsters who is Yugi's self-proclaimed rival, Ryo Bakura, even though is one of Yugi's friends, he has an evil spirit inside him from a similar Egyptian ring. Along with many other greedy villains seeking to gain power and wealth, Yugi must defeat them to prevent their evil plans from succeeding and to save the world from certain destruction.This anime is one of my favourites, because unlike other animes with epic fight scenes, the fight scenes are card games, namely Duel Monsters. Yet you can remain calm and it gives it an aura of suspense. This actually helps me with planning and strategy, along with it, it also gives the idea that the villains would never win.
Here's Yugi's duel with Kaiba! Sorry I couldn't get the first one :(
Anime has let me pursue an interest in art, also, the storylines for these series has also help in my writing. Also, I intend to do a little more research and maybe, more anime? But of course, I wouldn't let it take over my life completely, as there are more beautiful things out there other than anime. Well, one last thing now.
さようなら！
