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Anime Editorials

Slice of life

Kurau Phantom Memory

I know it has been a long time since I published anything, but I hope you haven’t given up on me just yet. There is warmth in these embers still, I can feel it. I just need stoke them up is all, with a bit of hard work and guts.

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Editorials

When merely good anime is good enough

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I’ve just spent the last few hours messing around on MyAnimeList. The result? This is the closest I’ve come to realizing how much anime I’ve actually consumed over the years. Apparently, I’ve completed 70 TV series, 51 OVAs and 61 movies, and out of all that, I’m dishing out an average score of 7.9 out of 10. I’m not sure how to feel; I’m totally satisfied to finally have a decent gauge on all this anime “stuff” I’ve been watching, but at the same time, it’s rather like an alcoholic discovering the depths of his addiction… Well, it’s not that bad, but you get the point.
Anyway, ripping my way through the MAL anime archives, I came across a couple of series I’d loved for a few weeks and then, for whatever reason, had just totally forgotten. The one that struck me most was “Infinite Ryvius” (1999). I must have watched it back during 2004, because while I have these vivid memories of the show, I discovered it around about the same time that my interest in anime had ramped up into overdrive. I was grabbing as much as I could find (probably working my way through the AnimeNFO.com top 200) and as a result, almost everything from that period was great, but whenever I try to reel off my favorites, I can only recall the familiar names like “Berserk” and “Cowboy Bebop”; the rest is forgotten, almost like fading in the noise of time.
I don’t want to forget Infinite Ryvius. It’s by no means a masterpiece, but it’s fascinating and excellent, none the less. Sometimes, I find it hard to go back and watch my absolute favorites; recalling all that emotion you felt first time around, will it be the same on replay? I don’t want to invalidate those feelings by going back and realizing that, actually, my favorite anime sucks. Something like Infinite Ryvius is safe ground; it doesn’t have that sentimental weight of being the “BEST ANIME EVER!!” but regardless, I remember it being good; that’s enough.
This is perhaps as good a testament to my love of anime as I can offer. As much as it may seem like I’m swinging between love and hate, or constantly searching for the next big thing, I really don’t need any of that to feel the warmth and fondness I have for these stupid shows. I can’t really explain exactly why I’m an anime fan, but I expect that answer lies in my continued attraction to series like Infinite Ryvius.