Rewind: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

Many teenage girls learn to squeal and giggle about boys with their friends... or at least, that's what I imagine. I didn't talk about that kind of thing very much, and I didn't have any crushes. I was too practical, too shy, and too unwilling to objectify men. Those last two traits explain themselves, but in regards to practicality... I didn't plan to date until I reached the marrying age. Nothing but disappointment could come from getting prematurely excited about some male classmate (particularly since I didn't have the guts to talk to most of them). And I really didn't get other girls' obsession with actors like Orlando Bloom. Thus, I discovered my squeal while watching shoujo anime like Kaichou wa Maid-sama.

Usui in glasses. Episode 19. When I first watched this, I was
surprised how much those thin loops of wire on his face affected
me... I just realized that his shirt's open in this pic. I was too
focused on his face to see that before.

I discovered other things, too. Anime bishounen in glasses caused a certain happiness in my chest, similar to the feeling I got when I saw a character do something romantic. I felt free to stare at these bishounen, such as Usui Takami in Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, in a way I couldn't look at real people (not even actors in a movie). I knew Usui wouldn't catch me looking. 

Don't misunderstand; I'm not talking about lust. In fact, in that first year or two of anime watching, I was too naive to recognize a lot of the innuendo in what I watched. For example, in Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, the main character, Misaki, works at a maid cafe. At the time, I had almost entirely innocent connotations with these kinds of things. And, honestly, a lot of things went over my head. When I re-watch episodes, I realize that a lot of it went over Misaki's head, too. For example, near the end of episode 7, when the maid cafe is having a cross dressing day, two female customers discuss the role Misaki would have if she were a guy in a yaoi coupling. Misaki doesn't understand their lingo, and I probably still wouldn't understand it if I hadn't continued hanging around otaku corners of the internet.

I'm not saying that Kaichou wa Maid-sama! isn't good to watch. Nor am I saying that my mind was completely innocent during my junior and senior years of high school. But things were different. I was different; I don't enjoy this type of shoujo anime nearly as much as I did three years ago. Okay, actually, maybe I do enjoy it, just with a little more discretion. And let's face it; some of the recent shoujo, especially reverse harems like Brothers Conflict, could disillusion almost anyone. I should probably finish re-watching Kaichou wa Maid-sama! within the next couple weeks to remind myself why this stuff can be good.

What did I like about it? I vaguely remember some really good themes, but it's been a long time since I watched the whole thing. I know that, to some extent, I was still enamored by the shoujo anime world, a world different enough from my real life to be fantasy, even if there was no magic in it. The exaggerated characters and situations made me laugh. I had fun. 

I lived through the characters to some extent, as is usually the case. Misaki is pretty cool: she's strong, inspirational, and hardworking. But she does have weaknesses, which make her relatable. Plus, Usui is interested her. He's strong, good-looking, and amusing to watch, as many anime characters are. And he can be quite the knight in shining armor when he needs to be. Sure, he has some serious character flaws -  the way he teases Misaki could get him a sexual harassment charge. But, obviously, he's an anime character, so I can (and did) forgive him such faults.

I do wonder Usui's type of character, though. He's good at heart, but he can be a jerk. I've seen it in other shoujo fare, most notably Itazura na Kiss (although I'm not sure how good Irie's heart actually is). It's appeared in an abundance of fiction written by teen girls on Wattpad, too. Something about that character is attractive, at least in fictional form. Perhaps it's just that he's flawed, which makes him relatable, yet there's good in him, and it's most obvious when he's in love... making the girl a kind of savior, which is probably an ego boost. 

Of course, right after I said all that cynical stuff, I went and re-watched episode 8. I saw all the devices they were using to get me hyped up (including the music). I knew what they were doing. And I've

*Squeal*

watched a lot more Law and Order: SVU since the last time I watched this, so the scene felt more intense. When Usui swooped in to save Misaka, I let out a little squeak, even though I was in a criticizing mood and knew exactly what was happening. The mangaka, director, etc. are good at their craft, that's for sure.

Right before Usui burst in to save Misaki, she whispered his
name. She's tough, but even she needs saving sometimes, and
Usui is always there.

But I've spent far too much time on this already. Perhaps I'll speculate about shoujo characters in a more thorough post someday (don't count on it, though). For now, I need to wrap this up. I have a paper I'd like to finish tonight (it was actually due this afternoon, but I couldn't manage it), and quite a bit of writing and studying to do over the next five or so days. Then, I will finally be free for another summer.  And not a moment too soon. If I didn't love school so much, I'd hate it right now. I'm so sleep deprived, the mere idea of climbing under my covers for a good night's sleep makes me giggle in delight.

Guess what? Blogs have "Unique Linguistic Character"

Okay. That's it. I can't take it anymore. I need to write.

I'm researching blogs for an English class, and I can't stop thinking about my experience in the blogosphere. It makes me want to read aniblogs and write, even though I really don't have the time. So, here. I'm rebelling against my responsible self for just a few minutes. I want to write and share my reactions to what I'm researching, and I want to take longer than 140 characters (those of you on Twitter have seen some of my thoughts).

That top book's useful, along with one I'm
renting on Kindle, Internet Linguistics: A
Student Guide.

To my amusement, some of the academic articles - even recent ones - refer to blogs as "weblogs." This is their fuller and older name, and rarely used outside of these kinds of articles. I suspect that these scholars are out of touch with their subject, despite their good insights. Then again, perhaps they must translate from informal lingo to academic-ese for the sake of their fellow academics' comfort and understanding.

I have, however, found one very well-informed author, David Crystal, who uses more common terminology. I'm using a couple of his books. He acknowledges the diverse ways blogs are used, unlike some, who can't seem to move beyond the diary analogy (granted, some of what I've read is quite old in internet time, but Crystal recognized the diversity even back in 2006). He appears to be on of only a handful of experts on Internet Linguistics (that is, the study of language as used on the Internet).

Crystal and others say blogs have "unique linguistic character." Our posts can't be fit into the same box as most printed writing, and, obviously, blogging isn't the same as speech, even though we love to use words like "say" and "conversation" for what we're doing. So blogs require a separate analysis... as do other forms of Netspeak - which I've been able to read a little about.

Oh, and by the way - did you see my use of ellipses and a dash in the sentence above? Yeah, linguists find that kind of thing notable, 'cause it's so different from what gets into standardized print.

I'm having fun with this research... but the 6-8 page paper is due in less than 22 hours, and I haven't even finished the pre-writing stage. And there are other things due tomorrow, too, so I'd better get back to work.

So Swamped, I Forgot to Post

Wow, this is a first. I completely forgot to write a Rewind post, and Friday is now over. My apologies for the lateness... I actually had a few spare moments to write, too. Well, sort of. It's probably good that I forgot. I have a huge research paper due next Friday, and I haven't even done the research for it. Other homework demanded my attention the last couple weeks. And other homework continues to demand my attention. So, really, writing a post would have been an unwise use of my time and brain energy. 

In a couple weeks, I'll be on summer vacation. Finally, I'll be able to write more! I'll need to read several weeks' worth of other people's blogs, too, to see what I've been missing. I look forward to it. In the meanwhile... there's sleep. And homework. And I need to spend some time journalling, too. When I'm stressed, I need to sit with my journal and my Bible even more than usual, and I haven't set aside the time. Plus, it's Easter weekend. That should give me extra motivation to get my priorities straight.

Rewind: Trigun

I watched Trigun after seeing it featured several times on Beneath the Tangles, most memorably around Easter a couple years ago. At first, I didn't think I'd like it. It sported an "episodic" tag on Anime-Planet, and I had a serious bias against "episodic" anime. How could anything with that tag have good character and plot development? Plus, I didn't like what I'd seen of the visuals - it was gritty and a bit dated in my eyes.

Finally, Beneath the Tangles and other sources wore me down. I decided to give Trigun a solid try. Turns out that it does have character development and a significant underlying plot. It's set in the future, on a deserty planet that echoes America's Old West in style and action. The hero, Vash "the Stampede," has a goofy and open personality, but he remains an enigma in many ways until the end. He has serious skill and is nearly invulnerable, but he's also sympathetic - basically, an all-around likable protagonist.

Vash in Episode 25 at a sentimental moment. I forget the details of the
moment, but the cross belongs to a friend of his.

Throughout the 26 episodes, we learn about Vash and his past as he makes friends, beats bad guys, and sidesteps the bounty hunters who are after the 60 billion on his head. In the end, the mystery of his nature is solved. There's a climatic confrontation, which I enjoyed, and the show wraps up as well as any non-episodic anime.

I liked Trigun a lot. It's not even close to making my list of favorites, but I'm glad I caved in and watched it. I needed to put my discrimination against episodic anime away for good. It's not smart to judge shows based on their plot style, animation style, genre, or pace before I even watch them. It's a lesson I've had to learn through experiences like this.

Swamped: Club Edition

Well, I'm swamped again. But this time, it's not just because of exhaustion and homework! I've got club activities.

At the beginning of the school year, I wrote the post Advice from Anime: Join a Club. This year, our club gained more members, we did more things, and I made more friends. We only have one more month left before the end of the school year.

What's your favorite club anime? Sports anime don't count... well, they sort of do, but you have to mention an anime with another type of club, too. Sports anime aside, I suppose one of my favorites would be Chihayafuru. It's also one of the few club anime to come to mind.