All the Right Notes: Chihayafuru

When I was about halfway through Chihayafuru, I knew it would be the perfect show to illustrate what, I think, is a very important question for me: Why do I love anime?

Obviously, I don't want anyone to think that I uncritiquely watch and enjoy every single anime ever made.  This is far from the truth.  The word "anime" is basically a catch-all for all Japanese animation, a good portion of which I do not think is worth my while.  (I recently attempted to watch Chobits and was personally put off by it, for example.  Panty and Stocking, despite its popularity, is the same.  Not really my taste.)  However, I still confidently say that I do love the medium of anime.

Generally, Americans have a very strict view of animation.  Outside of America, however--notably in Japanese animation, of course--animation as a medium does not have the stigma and expectations Americans tend to give it.

So what does this all have to do with Chihayafuru?  Read on to find out!

This isn't your typical children's card game...

Check out the review after the break!

Some kids just won't leave the nest: Pippin!

One of my favorite aspects of storytelling is undoubtedly character creation.  From the moment I picked up my first pencil and started doodling, I was creating characters and stories to immerse those characters in (I'm fairly certain that a lot of these old "books" I wrote/drew still exist somewhere in my house, probably under my bed).  My love of character creation really blossomed, however, when I joined Neopets around the age of twelve.  From there, I took up role-playing, and for several happy years my friends and I developed countless fantastic characters and stories.

Though I'm older now and I've mostly retired from role-playing, I still look fondly at the vast spectrum of characters I hold close to my heart.  I've no regrets about my role-playing; thanks to it, I learned a lot about creating well-rounded, believable characters that can truly touch someone.  If you go on my deviantART, you can actually find a link on my Journal that will take you to a Freewebs page that basically lists all my "canon" characters.  Although I do not draw or write about these characters anymore, I still like to remember they exist (which is why I have yet to retire that page from the public eye, I suppose).

There are other characters, however, that refuse to be simply set aside with fondness.  There are some that just somehow take hold of your attention and, no matter what you do, won't leave you alone.

Continue reading after the break!