Episode 7: What happened to friends?

The essay I had to read for Lit class inspired this essay. Aside from describing love, which is supposed to be the pinnacle of human relationships, as fleeting and meaningless and restricting true friendship to an unattainable level. This gives friendship an idealistic spin, saying that true friendship exists in of itself and has no real reason for being there. People are friends simply because they are, not because they enjoy each other's humor or because they are always there for each other. This may be the case sometimes, but the author of the essay seems to imply that when friendship exists for some sort of need, it cheapens its sincerity. It was that stance that confused me the most because friendships is instrinsically tied in with the basic human need for companionship. Yes, that is a need the same as anything else. So, by its very nature, friendship is something you gain from. It can never be completely virtuous and pure from other things. With this in mind, one can see why an essay that claims friendship to be the thing all should stive for actually turns out depressing. Nobody can ever have the true friendship that this essay discusses.

Jumping ahead, we come to my next topic. Why can't people just be friends? This is more a problem in the fictional realm than it is in real life where people often realize they are being presumptuous and correct themselves. But how many times do people watch a movie or read a book where to characters interact intimately but are not defined as "involved." Of course, this is the basis for all fandoms. People wish to take those characters who seemed so close and throw them into a romantic relationship. Nobody can just be friends anymore. Two guys that hang out all the time and share their innermost feelings with each other or use each other as a shoulder to cry on have their "friendship" reduced to "love." The one part of last night's essay that I did agree to was the notion that love is a powerful emotion but is often fleeting. Friendships last longer and if they are true, they can last forever, with the mild scuffle and such. It is also possible for people to be in intimate friendships that involve touching, hugging, kissing, etc...without them being in love. Most generally say that those who participate in an intimate relationship but don't see it as having any romantic stronghold are in denial. "They don't want to admit that they are in love." Does this always have to be the case? For the most part, this is more commonly tied to American culture, which has the tendency to push away human intimacy unless it is with a person whom one is romantically involved with. Other cultures are openly intimate with their family as well as friends. And such things are goodbye kisses are common and certainly not a sign of attraction or sexual feelings.

I, myself, am guilty of pairing up fictional people romantically because they seem to show kinship. Heero/Duo, Satoshi/Daisuke, Akira/Hikaru, Tsume/Toboe, etc. Obviously, there are cases where this "friendship" can blossom into love and where two people just are "friends" anymore. But too often, people jump the gun for them. Nobody wants to write about friendship. They want romance. I guess this is what the audience screams for so it's the supply and demand scenario. Still, it would be nice to see more writing where two characters can talk and bond on a completely non-romantic level but still seem very close.

This type of relationship does exist in the real world. Now, many write fanfiction to escape this world and to create their own realm, which isn't supposed to have an real basis. This can be fun but I think the other side of the spectrum, which acknowledges reality, should also be explored once in a while. Sorata and Kamui can *just* be "friends. As can Ryuuichi and Shuuichi as can...(god, I'm going to kick myself in the head for saying this later)...Ban and Ginji. It doesn't always have to be boosted up to the level of love. Also, one can love his/her friends but not feel any romantic ties. In this way, one may feel very close to a friend and even willing to make sacrifices. Does this mean that they are always in love? Nor does this mean that I don't enjoy when people take the romantic approach in fanfiction, it's sweet and can often seem realistic. I just think that this has become too often a cliche in writing. People should always try new things and I think the idea of writing a friendship versus a romantic/attractional relationship would be a good challenge.

Well, it's not spectacular, spectacular but....

At least it can be read.
And it's cute so there. ^^

Episode 8: Let the Ranting Commence

Rant 1: Anime Junkies

I just finished catching up with Get Backers. The last two episodes were of course subbed by Anime Junkies. I didn't have so much a problem with 26 as I did with 27, which I think was extremely rushed. I'm not complaining about translation or anything, I'm complaining about subbing. The subbing was often poorly timed and came long after the words were finished and the dialogue had changed speakers. The sound was also off from the picture. This made both episodes, particularly 26 which had my much-anticipated JuKaz hot springs scene, hard to watch. It also made it near impossible to cap. The timing was so slow that the words were *always* there. I had to crop the hall out of the cute JuKaz scenes. I also have realized how impossible it is for me to snag the JuKaz picture from the ED. I really want that one too. ;_; Anime Empire has seemed pick this up again and right now I'm downloading one of their episodes purely for the sake of subbing since I don't feel like copying a whole new file on disk. I hope Anime Empire starts subbing the rest again. I love their picture quality.

Rant 2: Screen Caps

I know this may be hard for people to believe but even on the Internet, there exists such a thing as etiquette. For example, if someone beats you to making an icon, making a skin, making a wallpaper, or making a screencap, you do not go after the frame a split second after the one they grabbed. Instead, you do the decent thing and either ask permission to use their images or try and find scenes that weren't already covered by other screencappers. There is nothing people hate worse than seeing the same image on every single page. Try for some originality people. I try to apply this to my own practices. I know that other people like to go after DNAngel episodes just as I do. To deal with this, whenever I take caps after some have been released on the Web, I do my best to take shots of scenes that were skipped or other subjects that haven't been placed on the Web. Not only does this increase the diversity of images on the Internet, it shows people that you aren't trying to blatantly rip off their idea. Yes, I am aware that none of this art belongs to anybody but the original artists. But when you bust you ass to get a certain screen cap and then see that someone basically used your ideal scene and snagged a shot from a split second earlier/later and places it on their page a day later, you tend to get pissed. ><

Rant 3: Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Has everyone who cared about this series dropped off the face of the planet? This show is one of the most popular new series in Japan. Why is it already Thursday and there's not a single sub of it available? Two subbing groups have already claimed it and neither one has given us a new episode yet. What the hell happened? I'm just curious what other projects they may be burdened with? It wouldn't hurt to put up information on their respective web pages about the status of their projects. I think all groups should do this. They should have a small section on their page just to explain the status of each new episode of each series they feature. It could be as simple as saying "aired," "subbing," "available," or "hiatus." At least, this would tell eager fans of the series what's going on and we wouldn't be gnawing our nails of in anticipation. DO YOU HEAR ME LOKI SUBBERS? I WANT MY FRIGGIN' LOKI!!!

This concludes Nayami's bitching. Do come again.