Lately I’ve been trying my best to just take it easy. Ever since I left that dreaded hell of high school, I’ve had a giant Space Battleship lodged up my arse. It’s slowly working its way out of there, but as all you readers probably know, I still get my panties in a twist over many things. The main reason why I’m generally just trying my best to “keep it cool, yo” (as the kids say) is because this type of attitude does nothing good for me, and only causes headaches. But enough Live Journaling, I already have one for that. What I want to talk about is favourites.
A lot of bloggers at one point or another make it clear as to why things make it on their favourites list. Jeff Lawson is the first one that comes to mind, but there’s probably more. For a long time being on my list of favourites has been a very exclusive position for the 5 or 6 shows on there out of the 298 completed shows/movies/whatevers I’ve seen so far– kind of like a snobby party for only the elite of the elite of the elite. Basically my favourites list was the landmarks of anime that I’d seen and really enjoyed. Stuff that was approved “good” by various respected anime-watching personalities that just happened to strike me in a profound manner as well. Stuff I wouldn’t be “ashamed” of having on my list of favourites. Well, now I want to open it up. Consider this another step in removing the <Insert Giant Object Here> from my arse.
It just hit me a few minutes ago while I was in the shower– such an attitude is the attitude of a fucking critic. The attitude of Jay Sherman, if you will. I’m not a motherfucking anime critic, I’m a fan. Fans don’t need to operate on logic, they just need to love. That isn’t to say you should abandon the critic mentality as a fan, but you shouldn’t let it take you over. I think my main problem for a while was that the critic mentality and fan mentality were often at odds, which resulted in many confused emotions over shows, along with numerous headaches and other terrible things. But now that’s gone. I figure if I already post shameless pictures of dakimakura covers, I should be allowed to be shameless with my tastes, too. So, as of right now, Shuffle! is a favourite anime. Tsukuyomi is a favourite anime. Futakoi Alternative is… almost a favourite anime!
Of course, with my standards being a lot more loose now, things will come and go from the list a lot easier. One thing that determines a favourite for me is rewatchability, and a lot of the shows going up there I haven’t watched much more than once. However, when I come to the end of a series, I know if it’ll be worth a second look or not. What determines that is what emotions the series brought up in me, and how strongly they affected me. For instance, after Shuffle! I knew I’d eventually come around to it again, but I’ll never pick up Kaiji for another viewing after I’m done with it. Sure, Kaiji’s a great series, but it doesn’t effect me emotionally at all.
Anyway, I’m getting off track here. I guess I should just stop writing this and chill, or something.
