Evolutionary Viewing Of The Internet Critic: Part V

I've said it many times and I mean it with every syllable, for a pessimist I'm pretty optimistic. Fun though it is to reference a Paramore song, because I'm turning to dust and bones with each passing moment, I truly mean that. If you know anything about me in real life I'm grumpy, bitter, and don't care much for people. So why exactly do I choose to look on the bright side when it comes to movies, and shows, and just media in general? Well I always consider it to be escapism first and foremost, I'm self aware enough to look at the big picture and even laugh at my own anger and frustration which more often than not is directed towards something that doesn't matter a lot. Not to say cinema and entertainment cannot be more than simply that, I know better, I know what the power of film and stories can do to the world but like I said I have enough disassociation to understand it's a movie. I wish more people had such ways of thinking, cause I'll be honest here man....it's gotten to the point where I don't give two fucks about hardly anyone's opinions anymore when it comes to movies. That really is something big for me to say here, I built my life from teenage years onward on film reviews, internet critics, and opinion pieces on all different kinds of media, but I'm just not that dude anymore. Which is odd because I've held the firm belief that you shouldn't care what other people think and to live your life your way for a good long while now, before I really got out of my teenage years when self doubt, paranoia, and teeming emotions are a constant. And I'm taking a positive stance on this, it's just another part of growing up. And you never really stop growing. But I hate to admit it came from a spiteful source, I'm just so over an abundance of negativity to where I'm receding further and further from social media. Because I see just so much ugliness over like a kid's show or a book and most certainly on movie series I greatly enjoy, even if I don't indulge in those individuals content and it grates. It grates like a son of a bitch and I can't stand it. That's pretty much my stance on my own reviews, why contribute to just badmouthing and hating on something when you can shed some positivity instead? I know it all comes down to emotions but I strongly feel not many folks take everything into account and just rage for the sake of views and don't acknowledge good things as well. You've probably seen that a good few times online. I have seen some not so great stuff in my life but I don't dwell. You know what I mean? So my opinions and my personality have changed and I just hope it's for the better. Having a high functioning autistic mind doesn't help much, ridiculous though it seems I feel very isolated if that's the right word in my own thoughts and likings because I simply don't see or hear anyone share them. Not all of them obviously, that would be impossible but just something....anything. Very counter culture though I am, never once have I wrote something just to be contrary. I fail to see the point and just tell it how I feel, even if certain opinions have changed since the initial review which they have! I've even flat out called bullshit on myself for certain ratings, but I'd rather grow and form new opinions than stagnate on a topic for nearly a decade not reflecting on anything. I've been a hopeless YouTube addict for nearly 20 years, delving into all kinds of stuff but I find myself more rewatching older stuff than pursuing new material, maybe you do the same but I feel that's something I need to come out of my shell more on. You never have to agree on everything, you just gotta find someone your speed and energy. But all that most certainly will not hinder my own views on the things I choose to review, it's been a very grand journey thus far and to know people stop by to read awhile means the world to me. And let me tell you something man, it's a better world to live in when you get up, walk away from the computer, and savor life a bit before coming back for a little while later. That's the goal. And as far as my writing I can only say this: It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done before, and it is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. Less than a month to go now and I'll see you tomorrow.

Anime Landscape: Now And Then

Another editorial for you this time, I was in a severe rumination mood after I drank heavily from the last review, so I decided to do a somewhat EVOTIC style piece on one of my favorite things to watch, anime. What really kickstarted this for me is I was watching a reviewer unpack literal memories of different memorabilia and items of interest, and it did nothing but spark memories of a very specific niche genre. My utter love and fascination with anime stemmed from a very early age, I can't have been older than 4 or 5 when I started watching anime on this thing called Toonami on Cartoon Network, still my favorite channel ever. I watched that channel religiously every single day, and my cousins who were like 16 or 17 used to come down to my grandparents house and watch Dragonball Z with me. They explained basic plot because when I got into that we were into the Cell saga, but they also told me that these cartoons were not from America but from a place called Japan. And to a 4 year old the concept of a place bigger than my hometown was beyond my comprehension, but I never took the animation style or voice acting differently than I would with shows like Powerpuff Girls or Scooby-Doo. I used to run as fast as I could to my bedroom, tell my Nan and Papa hi, throw my backpack down and turn on this giant television set incased in wood to watch Toonami after school everyday. If I was really lucky I could see the intro which I thought was the coolest intro to anything ever, and Tom was the coolest host ever. And boooooy did that start something for my life. As I grew up I found likeminded friends who also watched anime in the early 2000s, a true golden age for such content. Staying up as late as I could to see Adult Swim, having sleepovers and watching all our favorite series was the highlight of the day. Watching Ghost In The Shell, Case Closed, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, The Big O, Trigun, and easily the one me and my friends were most involved with, Inuyasha. It was the show for us and when I found out there were feature length films of the show like Pokemon I lost my mind. Cause you have to fully grasp, anime has come lightyears since my youth. The internet was still in it's infancy, if you wanted to delve deep into anime culture or see more examples of the genre, whether it be films, or shows, or games (hell I didn't even know about manga until high school) you either had to know places that selled episodes and merchandise, or know people who knew people where you could get different anime stuff. Nowadays I can walk into a Walmart and pick up shows as current as My Hero Academia or as old as Cowboy Bebop with ease. I knew two places that sold anime DVD's, a local video store and Fry's Electronics. And that shit was expensive. I can pick up the first season of a show or an entire show for about twenty dollars now, but if you wanted the first whole season of say Chobits you better be ready to cough up 50 or 60 bucks. Or you had to do it like me and spend roughly twenty dollars for 4 episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist and do that for volume after volume to get the whole show. No joke that was the first anime show I not only owned but saw all the way through, cause the only way you could watch it is if it was on TV or you spent a pretty penny for it on video. And merchandise was nonexistent. Regardless of what it was, posters, statues, plushies, action figures, cosplay items, you had to either have the good grace and knowledge of having a website where you could buy stuff which was an absurd notion to me back then, or you pick up an anime magazine with a little luck from the gods at your local supermarket and they would have extensive lists, pages upon pages, of different items to order through the mail. I cut up a magazine like mad to keep the pictures inside or to give them to friends who saw it and thought it was cool during school. The landscape of being a fan of this genre has changed to the point of being unrecognizable now, I had bookmarks on the family computer of places that sold anime merchandise in middle school, and now I can get an entire show and cosplay apparel and find 20 websites where I can marathon Bleach without even getting off the couch. It has changed for the better but you really had to have been alive and interested in that stuff at that moment in time to fully get what I'm saying. Unless it was Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, there was no way in hell you were getting anything in stores, and televison blocks were the only way to watch your favorites. All the premium movie channels like Encore and Starz were godsends to pre-teen Dude, to be able to watch Howl's Moving Castle and the second Inuyasha movie. Hell when Cartoon Network held a special month of Miyazaki's films that was a big deal back then, I think they possibly even showed it both subbed and dubbed. You had to dig in the right place, but if you fell asleep late at night before your show came on, totally me by the by, you were screwed. I had to rely on friends to fill me in on what happened last time on Dragonball Z (literally), or some other slew of shows at sleepovers, and had to wait sometimes a day sometimes until next week for the next episode. In a way it's all sort of lost it's sense of adventure, you had to bust your ass to find anyway to watch and enjoy this very niche market in America before it grew into an industry that is just as prolific and strong as any movie studio, but those experiences would last forever if only in memory. Funimation man, Funimation damn near single-handedly presented so many shows to me on a silver platter, captivating my imagination and made me always wanting more. I truly couldn't have been born at a better time for that culture, that fanbase, it crafted many good memories and I truly would not trade or change one bit of it. The fact that watching Toonami lasted well into my teens, that I would still be at my grandparent's house in my room and that I could turn my TV on Saturday night and digest show after show and wrap up by the time the sun slowly starts to rise, is incredible beyond words. How fitting is it, that you spend an entire night watching animation from Japan to wrap up by the time of the rising sun. Britain might have a strong place in my heart, but never forget who stole your heart first.