Friday, January 20, 2012

John and I: The Siskel and Ebert of Japanese Animation

It snowed.

It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed.

This is the view from my office building. Pretty dang amazing if you ask me.
 Did I mention that it snowed?

I must say that things are pretty dang Hickelty-Picklety here in the Emerald City.

I'm currently thanking God that I live within walking distance to my job. I've heard countless horror stories of people losing control of their cars while commuting; and I saw more than one vehicle get stuck on the on-ramps to I-5 while walking on Pine street towards downtown.

Even though it wasn't that big of a deal for me to get into work, (and one of the reasons they hired me here is because I am able to come in during days like this), I can't help but pout a bit in jealousy at my coworkers who were dubbed "non-essential personnel" and who were encouraged to not come into the office. But, somebody's gotta answer the phones and keep an eye on the front desk. So no snowday for Miss Jackie.

It's kind of nice, though, being the only person on the floor. Almost therapeutic, in a way.

Plus, I was able to whip out these amazing gloves:
Pattern can be found here: http://illuminknitdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/08/with-twist-of-mustard.html



Work aside, it's honestly been kind of nice having the so-called "snowpocolypse". Very peaceful. I've always loved snow (although I hate driving in it), and the sheer vision of my city blanketed in white makes me smile.

My fiance and I have been spending a ton of time at my apartment, needless to say. Everything in this town is pretty much closed down for the time being. So, we got onto netflix and watched A LOT of anime.

It's interesting watching animated films with a person who animates and illustrates for a living.


This is one of my fiance's many portraits of me; He did this one on the bus!
As we were watching, we came to the following conclusions about the various animes in existence:
1. Naruto Shippuden, when in line with the actual manga (filler doesn't count), is not nearly as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

2. Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop are two of the finest shows ever made.

3. Miyazaki films are amazing, but tend to have a strange vibe because none of them really have an established antagonist, and if they DO, the antagonist's backstory is pounded into the viewer's head so that EVERY character can be related to.

4. ALL of the creators of FLCL must have been under the influence of SOMETHING while writing it;

5. Rurouni Kenshin was great...but kind of fell apart after the licencing issue that lead to "Samauri X," which was a different artist and just wasn't the same.

6. The Japanese versions of Sailor Moon WERE NOT OVERLY SEXUALIZED. People need to keep in mind that Sailor Moon, like most animes, was written and intended for teenagers and adults, not small children. I mean, COME ON! They never show REAL nudity (getting rid of the OUTLINE OF THE BUST FIGURE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?), the most touching and defining moments of the series (like "Day of Destiny") were censored in the US because they were deemed "too innapropriate for children", again, THIS WAS NOT MEANT FOR CHILDREN YA BONEHEADS! And, people need to just accept the fact that HOMOSEXUALITY HAPPENS. Yeah, there are a lot of people who don't agree with it, but it happens. Making Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune "cousins" didn't fool anybody, and if you ask me, just made it WEIRDER...in the English version, it almost implied incest!
Oh Usagi, you TERRIBLE TEMPTRESS you! Image found here: http://animeyourway.blogspot.com/
7. On a side note, we both came to the conclusion that we, should we decide to procreate, would rather explain to our children why the two men are holding hands or what a nipple/breast is than explain why a character is stealing cars and shooting people.

Another fabulous thing has happened througout this snowfall as well...I have yet again been struck with inspiration! Readers, you can expect a Sailor-Moon themed knitting project next, that will be all class without being cosplay!

Enjoy the snow, fellow Northwesterners!

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