pacificpikachu | (no subject)

Distracting myself from Yoko Kanno insanity for now because putting my body into constant stress mode is not good. Finished NHK ni Youkoso!

It was a good series, with a few moments of greatness. I can't say the writing was as tight nor as dark or explorative as I was expecting (that said, I didn't know a whole lot about it going in, so these were just my assumptions I guess), but it had quite a few wonderful moments and the characters were easy to relate to. It's funny, as I was watching it I kept having to remind myself that I am not, in fact, a NEET/hikikomori. I guess that says something about my self-esteem, orz? Some of the really emotional/human moments hit me well and seemed well-done, especially the more subtle ones, and there were others that seemed to be forcing it too much for my tastes and so it didn't move me as much as it could have. I'm especially surprised that all the suicide themes didn't grab me more, as I've always had a bit of dark fascination with the theme of suicide. (I'm not suicidal and have never been, just for the record, but I've done a lot of reading on suicide and watched tons of documentaries, etc. on the topic.) It didn't seem to be taken as seriously and far as it could have, and I think the series would have been better for it if it had. Don't get me wrong, though, there were some scenes that were nicely done and will probably stick with me. It had some good things to say about social anxiety, loneliness, value as a person, and so on, and some of those themes resonated with me.

I'm not sure how I felt about the Sato/Misaki dynamic. I wanted to like it, and Misaki's character design is cute, but ultimately I found it hard to be convinced by their chemistry? I think I like the idea of their dynamic more than I liked how it actually went down, because they seemed pretty disconnected and impersonal almost the entire series. Even at the end, I wasn't really feeling it.

I guess I feel like the series was basically inconsistent all over, not just in its animation. It had moments where the series felt very balanced and insightful and the storytelling came together, and moments where it didn't. Moments (more like episodes or scenes) where the animation looked nice, and other times where it looked terrible.

I wonder if I would like the original novel more? (Though I don't know if I'll read it, considering I barely get to reading anything these days.) It feels like the anime wasn't put together as well as it could have, so it seemed a bit sloppy. I certainly don't regret watching it, though. It was a worthwhile watch, and better than average anime.

My hen Ivory passed away yesterday morning. I hadn't noticed anything wrong with her previously, but suddenly found her lying in the coop, weak, the day before yesterday. She was thin, but had a full crop, so it may have been impacted or sour or something. I massaged her crop for quite a while and that seemed to help some, but apparently not enough (if that's what was even wrong). I don't know what exactly was wrong, but she didn't make it through the night. Sad, but I can't blame myself for this one, as she hid her symptoms well, as chickens are prone to do. Poor sweetheart. RIP, Ivory. Thankfully I haven't had many deaths since the death streak that was February and March, though I did lose my beloved duck Ahiru between then and now.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not to renew my paid LJ account, too. I would really miss my icons, though! But, this is also the worst time for it to expire. =___= I dunno, I have a few days to think about it.