Anime Babé

I wouldn't consider myself a cartoon person. In fact I grew out of cartoons a long time ago. But for the last few years, I have a secret or not so secret obsession with english-dubbed anime.

When I say obsession; I mean unhealthy late night binge-watching, waking up with an anime hang-over; wishing you had some sort of anime food porn to eat, kind of obsession.

What I find really funny about watching anime, is unlike British and American 'cartoons ' I don't feel immature for actually sitting down to watch an episode. With genres like 'a slice of life' being one of my favourites, I actually feel the storylines don't seem too childish for me to relate to.  I mean who doesn't like a bit of drama? A bit of romance or a bit of thrill? 

Don't get me wrong – I love my live-action dramas and fantasy shows, which have the same sense of addictiveness. But to me anime is like art, you either understand it or you don't, and when you do, you love it! 

I've watched really good ones and I've watched really disturbing ones too – don't ask.

So to start you on your own anime journey, I've listed a few good recommendations:

1) Howl's Moving Castle- This is a Studio Ghibili production based on a novel of the same name. It's a really magical tale of romance, witchcraft, wizardry and of course a moving castle. It's a total classic and old-time fave! 

2)Death Note- I watched this as a teen and I absolutely fell in love with Light Yagami. I don't want to spoil the entire plot line, but this two season series; plays with the notion of defining what the 'great of good' is. With the added supernatural elements added to the mix.

3) Perfect Blue- This is a rather strange one, but it was good none the less, WARNING it has a rape scene. It's a mind manipulative movie, with a rather confusing ending. But it still makes you wonder, especially interesting for anyone needing examples of the 'male gaze' in the portrayal in film. 

4) Say I love you- A light hearted series about an awkward teen falling in love with a popular guy. I know it sounds like the archetype for every american teen movie, but it was really entertaining. I really enjoyed the exploration of sub-characters back stories, not even live-action shows have this sometimes.

5) Monster- This is such a journey of a series, it really carries you on the depths of human emotion. It's such a gem of a show. If any of these deserved to be turned into life-action series or movie, I truly believe this should. It's amazing! The story dabbles in nurture vs nature debate, but much deeper than that. Are we all capable of evil things? What makes us good people?  All these kind of questions were all asked while I watched it! 

The list could go on but I think once you start, you will begin to discover new and amazing heart-wrenching animes to watch, no matter how old you are!