This is the WORLD where I write my musing about manga/anime/video games and make comments on certain aspects. It's just a little something to stir up a conversation so please don't take me TOO seriously on the things I write here. I'd love to hear your opinion so feel free to comment.

Assimilation

Sometimes I think I've gotten too far into my otakudom. I suppose this is more apparent when I think about it compared to all the people I know. None of my friends (except one) is actually into anime or manga or things like that and even the friend that is, isn't as into it as I am (or so it seems). Even my cousin thinkanti, who still has a membership here, isn't into it as she was.

But getting back to the otakudom. Almost all I read lately is manga (probably because I can set aside an hour easily, rather than the many hours it takes to read a novel), all I do on the internet is watch AMVs and be here. All I draw is anime-styled. This is really embarrassing to talk about. -///- '

I don't know if it's shame or what. But this is a hobby and I shouldn't have a problem with my hobbies. It's better than not having one. Yet sometimes I miss the less otaku-fied version of myself. But then I think, "What the heck did I ever do before?" I can't answer that question.

Which leads to another question. Is entering the world of anime a broadening or limiting of the horizions (as the term goes)? At first, I think it was a broadening but then as time went on became a limitation, which is sad.

Am I alone in this thought?

Character Conflict

In going along the same lines as my last post, I have another musing about character personalities. The dominant/submissive character personalities seem to be overused as well. I'm not just talking about in professional works but I mean works in general (I can't tell you how many fan fictions I've read...). Even though it works well in some character relationships, I think it's sort of an easy way out.

It's so much simpler for one character to assert something and just have the other one go along with it. However, that's not necessarily realistic. Most people aren't completely submissive and will put up a bit of protest. On the other side of the spectrum, dominant personalities aren't suddenly going to be submissive. They're going to try to gain the upper hand and will probably be a little irked that they are being confronted. This is on an extreme level, of course. Personalities are complex and very difficult to express.

But like my last musing, I don't think this dominant/submissive thing is a bad thing. It moves a plot along at a quick rate and will probably keep a reader interested. It also saves a writer time of incessant fighting between the two (or more) characters. And maybe the characters are actually that dominant and that submissive and so it's realistic to have them react to each other that way.

Perhaps I just pick on these things because I wrote a book and now I pay extra attention to character interaction and development. It could just be me.

Trapped

I was reading some shojo manga the other day and I noticed that the main girl character kept being pinned or trapped against a wall by the main guy character. Has anyone else noticed that that happens a lot in manga? Especially shojo manga. So I thought, "Why?"

Is there something appealing to that? Is it the seduction of danger? Obviously, it's a good way to make a character fess up to something or bend them to your will, what have you. But usually it isn't used in that sort of way. Usually it's some out-of-the-blue romantic scene that causes a lot of tension.

That's not to say that I don't think these moments are pointless or stupid. They're really effective in creating a moment and bringing a story up a notch. I think I've used that circumstance once or twice in my writing (I can't really remember). Perhaps, though, it is a little overused. What do you think?