(secrets): I like girly anime.

James Mar: (secrets)

This illustration makes me feel gross.  But I'm the one who drew it!  It's a little out of context too.  I drew it as a joke.  Anyway, I colored it in photoshop to test out some brushes and be a little looser around the lines.

Yes, I do like some girly or shojo anime but not all.  I blame Disney and Studio Ghibli for getting me receptive to these character gender protagonists.  I'm not into super girly junk like Sailor Moon  where they have all these soap opera romances.  Nor do I care for brainless cutesy fantasy stuff like My Little Pony.  Can't stand that sort of stuff.  Sometimes I feel like female protagonists are better candidates for acting drama as they can more prone to easily draw out their emotions and such.  Boy protagonists may be better suited for action or comedy.  Maybe I'm just stereotyping. 

Actually, the shows and movies I have hovering around me in my illustration are stories I like more because of the drama or comedy in them.

Heidi and Anne of Green Gables are wonderful realist dramas based on literary classics of the same name.  Part of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater, they were directed by Isao Takahata and includes work by animators Hayao Miyazaki and Yoshifumi Kondo.

Later on, Isao Takahata went on to direct among others Chie the Brat and Only Yesterday.  Chie the Brat is a fun comedy/drama.  Only Yesterday is a great coming of age drama as well.

Hayao Miyazaki has directed many movies featuring female protagonists like Kiki's Delivery Service.  That's another good coming of age drama.Yoshifumi Kondo is the director of Whisper of the Heart.  It's sort of a coming of age drama too, with romantic undertones, butit's not trashy.

Maybe I'm just biased towards Studio Ghibli anime.  After all, I'm tepidly receptive to the live action movie of Anne of Green Gables.  But I do like other animes.  I've only seen a few English translations of Sakura Momoko's TV series Chibi Maruko Chan but what I have seen have been very funny and at times heartwarming. 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a movie with stupid comedy, cheesy romance, dorky sci fi, but good drama.  The director, Mamoru Hosoda must be either really talented or really lucky.

So actually the qualities that attract me to these shows were the realist qualities, good comedy and great drama.  Kid protagonists can be fun to watch too.  I wish American animated shows would dare to have more realist-toned content.