A Tale of Anime Bingeing

So a couple of new people have joined the gang (I'm happy to report that one or two are old pals of mine) and I'm thrilled. I'm also thrilled with how unfocused I am about how many people visit me here at Mine For The Reading. The move here has taken so much pressure off and I'm so relieved. Also: I realize I still haven't updated the links above. How is it that I've managed to sleep at night burdened by such a failure? ;) I will get there, I promise.

Anyway, this past week I haven't really managed much reading. Because I am OBSESSING over anime lately. It's always been a thing we watch in my household - that's just one of the perks of growing up with my kind of mom - but I haven't managed to find anything amazing in some time.

I have this soulmate of animes, if you will, that has been a recurrence in my life since I was about five years old - don't judge us (it has a little bit of mature content, but whatevs - it's not like I processed ALL of it back then). I give you, Fushigi Yuugi.

THIS PICTURE MAKES ME CRY EVERY TIME. ALL THE FEELS, GUYS. ALL THE FEELS.

I can't even fathom how to explain the depth of emotion this anime has brought me. The sheer power of the storytelling, but, most importantly, the tale of friendship and love inside this action-packed story. I'd not, and still haven't, found anything that brings me the same insurmountable joy and heartache.

(If you're interested, I recommend watching this dubbed - I normally hate dubs, but this is voiced wonderfully! This is also my all-time favorite english dubbing.)

However, I have found a couple that really are worth mentioning:

Inu x Boku SS is the kind of anime that's almost too saccharine for my tastes...

OH, WHO AM I KIDDING? I love the dopey lovestruck stuff. And what's great about this is that there is substance to the romance despite all the oddities of the love interest. It's remarkably sweet and heartwarming and what I loved most of all is the evolution of the main character - her emotional growth fills you with warmth and hope and it was the perfect palette cleanser after some more heart breaking attempts to find a great anime as it was relatively short and sweet.

Is Hiiro No Kakera the most perfect of animes? Absolutely not. I didn't like the pacing but everything else was pretty darn awesome. What drew me the most, and what pushed me to share this anime with my family, was that friend connection again, as well as the slow build up of the romance. Of course, the ending didn't hurt.

Well, nothing but my ass when I slid to the floor in happiness.

The point of this? Well, there really isn't one, except if you're interested in watching some fabulous shows riddled with love, mystery, friendship, and superpowers, here you go.

Sayonara!