My Spice Of Life

 I have a lot to choose from because the path before me is capable of branching out to many different routes. There can be generic shounen action, fanservice galore, epic masquerade, ‘deep thinking’ shows and many more. Am I spoilt for choice? Yes sir, very much.

Back in my very first post for the Blue Fox Alley, I did mention my desire to understand why has anime attracted me so much. Perhaps this spring season will serve as the prelude of my search.

 Perhaps like many kids, I grew up with a fascination for the beauty of story-telling. Told I was that even as a toddler, I had found pleasure in gazing at the colourful illustrations of fairy-tale stories even way before I was able understand words. As a young kid, I would often pester my mother into reading stories to me. Since the comments came from my mother, I might simply dismiss her words as a biased statement to praise her child of being able to appreciate books. Yet as I reflect on my current self, it cannot be helped in me having to admit that her words might hold some truth in it.

Now I hope no one would consider my thoughts as dogmatic since they are very personal and I have no intention of declaring that I am right. I have always thought that there are two different purposes in telling a story. The first is to tell a story with a mission of pointing out opinions or debatable issues. With that in mind, the story is very often or not a side-dish or a necessity to accentuate on the morals/themes/controversy/whatever that are brought up. My idea of such a story can be seen in the 2001 film No Man’s Land. As I enjoyed the show, which I hope you would have as well, it came to me that it had the goal of stating how ironic and hypocritical is the tune that reality plays in contrast to idealism. The second purpose is to simply tell a tale with its messages being more ambiguous and subjective to the perception of its audience. Its beauty lies in the plausible tale which is churned through imagination or realistic reference. Let it be fantasy or accurate depiction of life, such stories enchant us simply with the purpose of story-telling. The stated two purposes are very much extreme categories and every story is always caught in between with varying inclinations towards either sides.

With the 2008 Spring season, one single show so far has caught my attention as decent example of a show with a mission to enchant us with its story-telling.

 

 In fact, it was only a few months that I had the chance of finishing Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Even if it is a really old anime, it appealed to the gleeful boy in me with an enjoyable plot of a love triangle and most importantly – powerful giant aliens giving up their dominance in the universe to join mankind into indulging with drugs, pr0n and 4chan. Alright I kid. It told a promising story of embracing the culture of others despite diversities. With SDF Macross having sealed a special place in my heart, no doubt my love would direct my attention to the newest member of the franchise.

It has been a while since the appearance of a show that is capable of bringing me back to a past which I adore and often reminisce about. Although growing up is what life is about, it still brings back warmth to occassionally glance at the path behind us. This is what Macross Frontier has brought for me amidst its drama, a gateway back to innocence where time flows slowly and life seems much more beautiful as than in reality.

Surely the ‘nostalgia’ (rather subjected to debate since I had only seen the original series a few months ago) has a part to do with enjoying Macross Frontier. I have to admit that it boosts my enjoyment by 100% as compared to someone who is new to the franchise. But even if I had not seen the first, I am pretty much sure I would have stayed for this ride. The knowledge of SDF Macross elevates the thrill of Macross F viewing.

For now, I have found something which brings me unadulterated joy to indulge in. What about you?

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 Oh. Pardon me for I am ABOUT to commence some spamming/pimping for Macross Frontier. The following are the seven best things from Macross Frontier for me so far.

7.

A love sign in the blue sky space.

6.

Britney Spears

5.

Final defence line breached. Nothing beats the sense of impending doom.

4.

Ranka’s bag

3.

Kuran’s two in one special. Oh yeah… I know this picture has been used but it is perfect for loli Kuran.

 2.

Barrage of missiles

1.

The VF-25

Just started on the Earthsea books and I am now wondering what the hell have I been doing for the past few years. orz