Experiment

I screwed with the personality test. :P

Because I realized that I couldn't answer the questions to the best of my ability without taking the test twice, with a very different mindset each time. Home me and College me are complete opposites in some ways. So I took the test the first time around with the College mindset (strictly answering in relation to how I behave at college and with my friends), and the second time around with the Home mindset (how I behave at home and with my relatives & family, and only if necessary, how I behaved in high school).

1st results:

expressive, open, self revealing, loves large parties, loud, social, outgoing, does not like social isolation, assertive, social chameleon, positive, always busy, likes to fit in, likes to stand out, enjoys leadership, brutally honest, trusting, optimistic, desires attention, dominant, aggressive, attachment prone, wants to be understood, realistic

2nd results:

introverted, secretive, reclusive, tough, non social, observer, fearless, solitary, libertarian, detached, does not like to lead, outsider, abides the rules, mind over heart, does not like to stand out, does not make friends easily, self sufficient, not aggressive, likes the unknown, unconcerned with external opinion, strong, abstract, independent, very intellectual, analytical, high self control

Not very surprising, seeing as how I am much more open with my friends than I am with my family (my mother being the only exception). I remember a while back, I was on my soap box about how much my home life sucks in comparison to college. I've come to terms with that since then, but it doesn't mean the wide gap isn't still there. What I really find interesting is how my wealth percentage raised when I answered with the College mindset. It IS true that I spend a little more money in College, and more people there assume I'm wealthy because of the way I dress. >_>;

I'm not putting a lot of stock into this, since I have a TON of criticisms and think this test was off on a lot of things on both results:

• This test had the tendency to phrase things in terms of extremes (e.g. "I most enjoy..." "I don't feel happy unless..."), which leads to inaccuracies. For example...
• The in-depth results on facebook said my intellectual score isn't high, so I wouldn't like a job in research and analysis. But I LIKE doing research and analysis on subjects I'm interested in. I wrote analytical essays on theO for fun; I'm analyzing this test, for godssake! Just because I prefer to do things other than studying and work (such as hanging out with friends) doesn't mean I don't like studying, period.
• For the same reason, my romantic score was low. I have very strong views on love, but I'm not the type of person who NEEDS to be in a relationship in order to be happy or thinks finding a partner is the most important thing in life, which were the types of questions the test was asking.
• Nitpicky, but what was up with the Pixies question? If you don't like the Pixies, you're that much less artistic? Please.
• And the most inaccurate thing of all! My work ethic score was low on both tries. I'm not sure which questions they used to determine this, but I KNOW College me has a very strong work ethic. I'm not so hot at doing things in my free time, but when it comes to my real responsibilities, I get my shit done.
• Also, I feel that I'm actually more materialistic than the test results state I am. Or maybe less materialistic and more "high-maintenance." ^^;

Even though 125 questions may seem like a lot, for a personality test that tries to determine so much, it's a pretty short questionnaire. IIRC, official personality tests used in psychology usually have many more questions. (I recently took one personality test for a psychological study that was 300+ questions long.) So I'd say take this test for fun, but don't put too much weight in the results. After all, you probably know yourself better than any test does. :)

DUDE

Okay, so I lied about the next post being a review, BUT I JUST (LIKE, LITERALLY LESS THAN A MINUTE AGO) NOTICED THIS AND GOT REALLY EXCITED.

I was rewatching the baseball episode from first season Haruhi. The above is the final part of the episode, where they're at the last inning and Yuki is rigging Kyon's pitches.

THEN I NOTICED THE BG MUSIC WAS FAMILIAR. AND THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S THE FIRST OPENING THEME SONG OF TOUCH!!

The music starts at 1:10. Compare:

:D! :D! :D! :D! :D! :D!

Haruhi S2 ep. 4

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIT.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YET TO WATCH THIS EPISODE, SKIP IT. WHY DID THE ANIMATORS EVEN BOTHER TO MAKE THIS. YOU CAN'T EVEN CALL IT A FILLER; IT'S MORE LIKE THE MOST OBNOXIOUS RECAP EPISODE EVER.

GODDAMNIT.

-----------------Though on a better note:

• Dude, what is up with all the Itsuki/Kyon fanservice in this arc? I was dense enough to not even really think much of them throughout the first season. (I guess I just assumed Itsuki was one of those little sadists who like to piss off people who bitch a lot, like Kyon, and that was that.) But in the past few episodes, it has just been fucking *everywhere*. I mean, even I noticed it!
• Despite that horrid fourth episode, I feel like I'm enjoying this season quite a bit more than the first. Though I'm not sure if I just think the 2nd season is better or if it's me that's changed. (Since it has been a while since the first season aired.) In any case, that's probably a good thing...

Back to the regularly scheduled reviews in the next post. >_>;

Slam Dunk

Happy (now officially late) 4th of July, everyone! I did all of my celebrating with the family on the 3rd, so I spent today starting up yet another baseball anime series. It seems that I've been bitten by the sports tournament anime bug; I've always been a sucker for shounen action series, and sports anime are basically the same thing (except with less killing).

Just as a forewarning, this isn't going to be nearly half as intelligent as the last post. Slam Dunk is the type of anime that begs fangirlish wailing when writing about it. ^^;

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Slam Dunk was first aired in the mid-90s and since then, has become one of the most famous anime ever in Japan, as well as other countries such as China and S.Korea, and is even known in Latin America. (I myself first heard of this show in the Philippines.) Along with Touch, this is one of the only sports anime that ranks up close to the Dragonball series and One Piece in terms of Japanese popularity. It's less impressive in 2009, mainly because many of the pioneering aspects of the series are no longer fresh. However, it IS very entertaining and a show well-worth looking into for people who generally like shounen and/or basketball.

In a few words, Slam Dunk is a show about basketball, fistfighting, and being Real Manly. Yes, it is incredibly shallow fun, but fun it is. The main character, Sakuragi, is basically Naruto on steroids, minus the wangst and traumatic background. His rival, Rukawa, is two Sasukes in one, plus narcolepsy, minus the wangst and traumatic background. The two of them are hilarious. Slam Dunk is half sports action and half comedy, with many of the funniest jokes revolving around these two. ("Pffft, did you all hear that? Rukawa's favorite hobby is sleeping. Ah, what a boring guy! And expressionless too!")

After finishing this show, I needed to let it settle for a while before I could form a clear opinion of it. This show definitely has flaws, most of these flaws involving the two characters above. Despite improving throughout the series, Sakuragi is a basketball n00b with a huge ego. There are many, many, many instances where Sakuragi tries to show up Rukawa, but ends up fumbling and letting the opponents get a hold of the ball--when this occurs during critical moments, it is INFURIATING. On the other hand, Rukawa has the opposite problem: he's too perfect. He hardly grows as a character because he doesn't need to; during one game, a spectator criticized Rukawa for playing selfishly, then quickly retracted the statement because he's just SO damn good that he can make risky plays and get away with it.

However. Once the show settled in my mind, I realized how small these complaints of mine were once I looked at the show as a whole. Despite all of its flaws (and there are a lot of them), in the end, I am very fond of this series. It's the type of anime that I love despite knowing how truly bad it is in some ways. It's very watchable: the matches (though overly-long) do manage to hold the viewer's attention, the action is well-animated, the characters are all entertaining, and the show is funny as all hell. I have trouble remembering the last time an anime made me laugh out loud so consistently.

Major plus points:

• Mitsui, my fav. character. He has the most... interesting backstory. He rolls with gangs. (No, seriously.)
• Filler-ish episodes that are actually fun to watch. (e.g. The team studying at Akagi's house overnight b/c they're all failing miserably.)
• Sendo's sexy, sexy voice. It's the type of thing you need to hear for yourself. My eyes tear up just thinking about it. *o*~
• Heero Rukawa is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa. That man should just voice every snarky character ever. Even females.
• The fact that I didn't get the Rukawa/Sendo pairing at ALL... until I saw the fanart of them eating fast food and FISHING and all that other couple-y crap. Goddamn Chinese fangirls.

And the first OP song! It's perfect for this show, really; addictive and energizing. The video itself features some excellent clips from the show, including scenes from the Shohoku vs Shoyo game, my favorite of the series. :)

Touch--revisited!

(Unrelated: I kind of saw Keri Hilson & Ne-Yo in concert today. Only kind of b/c I couldn't actually see the stage. *mijikai'd*)

Holy damn, I have a ton of anime to write about. I guess I'll have to do one post per anime per day. I've been an anime-watching machine; other than Touch, I now have two other series to review as well. @_@;

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In the end, it's the characters that make Touch compelling. Tatsuya and Minami are among the strongest-willed, most admirable people to ever fall in love in anime form. Their tireless efforts to better themselves is inspiring, their passions are involving, their triumphs, exhilarating. It's the sort of anime that makes us strive to be better, ourselves.
---Justin Sevakis, Buried Treasure (Oct 11th 2007) (warning: major spoilers in the series synopsis)

That last sentence perfectly states why I've quickly grown to love this series so much. It's very rare that I see a story, anime or otherwise, with characters who I feel people could legitimately idolize. The characters feel less like characters and more like real people--the type of people who you would respect, look up to, and learn from.

A while back, I remember writing a post where I mentioned that characters in anime and movies tend to have grandiose problems, whereas in real life, people stress out over small things that may even seem inconsequential to others. Most writers don't bother to recreate real-life and real-life problems because of just that fact; getting bad grades, being rejected by your crush, and other normal, everyday issues aren't the type of things to bring someone to tears if it's not happening to them personally, and especially if all this is occurring within a story and not in real-life.

Adachi, the mangaka who originally penned Touch, is famous in Japan for being a master at recreating real-life onto paper in a way that is compelling and readable. Many instances throughout Touch, when a character felt upset over something, I found myself thinking I know how that feels or even I went through something exactly like that before. (e.g. There is a scene later in the series where Minami is trying to study, but has difficulty because she can hear Tatsuya and another girl goofing off in his room. Minami knows this girl could never replace her, but she's bothered by it anyway. Cue DHB flashbacks for moi.) Not even Honey & Clover depicted life as accurately as this show does. This is character complexity at its finest.

The lead character Tatsuya is the most impressive of all; I've never seen a character who develops so drastically, but done so well that it almost creeps up on you. It's similar to how the lead character of Twelve Kingdoms, Yoko, develops from a weak teenage girl to a strong-willed woman... but whereas Yoko has clear turning points (e.g. defeating the spirit in her sword --> overcoming her distrust of others), Tatsuya has no singular moment where he suddenly matures. Instead there is a slow build-up of many landmark moments of change, until a respectable and dedicated person emerges from his much less determined self at the beginning. (At one point, Tatsuya describes himself as an earthworm rather than a caterpillar, the latter of which is capable of evolving.)

Of course, this show wouldn't be nearly as interesting if the leads were all average Joes with mediocre lives. Tatsuya, his twin brother Kazuya, and Minami all find themselves in a very complex and at times extraordinary situation. Even putting the dramatic events of their lives aside, the character relationships in and of themselves could carry the entire show, as can be seen here in what I thought was one of the most notable scenes in the whole series:

DHB once told me he thought it would be cool to have a twin. My response was, "I think I'd hate it. People would compare the two of you all the time. You wouldn't be your own person. You'd just be the smarter twin or the meaner twin or whatever." Which is the exact problem in Touch, except in a way I hadn't anticipated. In the above, Minami is complimenting Tatsuya by saying the he has matched the high ability of his twin brother, yet he scorns the comparison anyway. Herein lies the biggest hurdle Tatsuya must overcome throughout the series: confidence in himself. He is so troubled by the mere prospect of high expectations and responsibilities that he would rather shuffle the burden off to his more dependable, "genius" younger brother than deal with it himself. Rather than go down the expected path and have Tatsuya resent his talented twin, his reaction is much more personality-specific: he welcomes the attention his twin receives even though it's at his expense.

And that's just the beginning. The series is complex from the start, but becomes even moreso as it progresses. Despite the slice-of-life nature of this show in its first arc, it does not stay stagnant; things do change in dramatic ways that serve to make the show even better.

A quick word on the baseball itself: even though Touch isn't really about sports, some of the games in this show had me more excited than any of the basketball matches in Slam Dunk (which IS really about sports). During the final game of the series, I was literally cursing in excitement. ("WHAT NOW, BITCHES? WHAT. NOW.") And from what I've heard, even the way the pitchers hold the baseball is accurate in accordance to the pitch they throw. :)

Final verdict: If you are at all interested in things that are amazing, then this show is worth checking out. :P