As I might've implied in a previous post, I (Like most people nowadays) have some very bad, and yes painful, memories of my middle and high school days. I've only watched the first three episodes of Watamote and I've been reminded of said painful days (as I've typed in the aforementioned post, especially during the first episode of my middle school days). And, although not for the same reasons (obviously), I can sort of understand how Takashi Natsume felt when he remembers his own painful memories of being rejected by his classmates. But still...
Natsume Yuujincho is one of my favorite anime series and my favorite shoujo series of all time. Yet Watamote, mostly that first episode, ends up 'opening old wounds' so to speak.
Let's see...In Watamote, Tomoko's freshly experiencing these sort of things and although it's only that first episode that really affects me that much, the latter episodes do still remind me of somethings... (Will comment more on that in The End of Watamote.) ...my best theory so far is that this hits me all the harder is that said hardships is 'played for funny'. It's a lot like a 'Funny Aneurysm Moment' without ever seeing a rerun of it.
Natsume Yuujincho, yes bad things still happen to Takashi... (Maybe it also helps that here it's played for drama instead of laughs.) ...but, it still has plenty of lighthearted 'fluffy' moments to balance the bad, and even those can result in me crying. But in this case it's in more of a 'liquid pride' sense than the usual type. And, from my opinion at least, the worst of it happened in the past... (And only shown during flashbacks) ...rather than during the show proper.
Even when bad things happen to Takashi, at least the audience can take some amount of comfort in knowing that it'll work out in some way shape or form. Since the premise of the series relies on the following factors: A) That Takashi Natsume is alive and well. B) Madara/Nyanko-sensei is still with him. C) He has the eponymous Book of Friends and can still return the names within. Along with the fact that any changes to any of those factors can only be temporary, with each episode/story arc ending with a sense that everything's going to be alright.
While with Watamote, the very premise demands that Tomoko be completely unhappy with her current predicament; aiming to be popular even when...well...no matter how I look at it, if Tomoko really wants to become popular, she's going to have to stop being her and conform to how everyone else acts; even if it means that she'll become a shallow, vapid, idiot. (This is why aiming to be popular is a stupid endeavor in the first place). Another reason is that there is no presence of the supernatural in any way, shape, or form that can distract me from said painful memories...but seeing Tomoko enjoy herself playing Otome games or making references to various video games and other anime series does help...somewhat.
So, the reason I'm enjoying Natsume Yuujincho more than what I've seen so far of Watamote is because I'm automatically treating the latter show like a rather painful example of glurge (when it's a cringe comedy) while treating the former like an "It Gets Better" video (For being excluded and feeling lonely), or I could just be...Overthinking Things.
No comments:
Post a Comment