Need A Distraction? Try Anime!

Nothing really noteworthy to recap from this past weekend...nothing I feel like disclosing anyway...nothing like a weekend full of parenting woes to truly bring a smile to your face! [That last bit is written with so much sarcasm, even Chandler Bing would flinch...]

Chandler Bing...a character that
I might have more in common with
than I originally thought...

Nostalgia for fantastic 90's sitcoms aside, parenting can suck. Single parenting can suck twice as much. But, this is not new news to anyone, myself included....so I'm just going to gloss over all of the painful, wince-inducing details and skip on over to better, more entertaining things...such as anime! [Yeah, yeah...roll your eyes if you must, but sometimes getting lost in a good story is the best way to cope with all the suckage that life brings!]

Sadly, I finished up Ouran High School Host Club on Friday. I enjoyed the series much more than I'd anticipated...I don't think I've ever watched a comedy sort of anime, I usually watch ones that are more action-based and have an element of comedy as an added bonus. It was definitely an enjoyable change of pace. 

Over the weekend, I watched the Madoka Magica series. [Puella Magi Madoka Magica, to be exact...thank goodness Netflix has the show listed under the shorter, more manageable title...]

Madoka appeared on several 'anime recommendation' lists that I'd checked out. What piqued my interest was the repeated mentioning of a dark twist that carried through the series despite the outward appearance of a saccharin sweet 'magic girl' anime. Even Netflix got in on the action...the little tagline under the title said "look no further than this series if you're looking to get your dark fix!" Come on...who can resist something like that!

I wanted to like this series...I really, really wanted to like this series...but I'm afraid I found it rather disappointing. 

I think that a big portion of my disappointment can be attributed to having read anything about the series before watching it. I started the series with the expectation of a huge, blind-siding plot twist...and wound up feeling like the 'big twist' was rather...meh.

Though, if I were to be honest, the 'shocking turning point' of the story occurs rather early in the series, in episode 3. That particular point is a bit jarring and can very easily catch you off-guard...but it's nowhere near 'genre-bending,' especially if you know that it's coming.

This is Kyubey...he is terrible!

There are some aspects of the series that I did like...I really liked that there are multiple animation techniques that are used, the style changes as the characters enter into different scenarios. I thought this was a clever method of bringing attention to the stark differences between the good and evil elements of the story. 

I also think that the series did a decent job of trying to portray a different side to the typical 'ruffles and glitter' presentation of the 'magical girl' anime genre...but.../sigh I just didn't love the series. 

Oh well...I would still recommend the show to anyone who has even the tiniest bit of interest...just because I didn't love the series doesn't mean that you won't. 

I started watching Deathnote last night. I'm about 3 episodes in and it seems promising so far...I'll be sure and let you guys know what I think of the series when I finish it...

And I swear that one of these days I'll finally get caught up on Supernatural...don't think I've forgotten about my Winchester boys!