Daijoubu

I am happy to see that tj han describes the current anime season as “not bad,” but I am tempted to go further. Let’s consider the facts… In the past, anime was enjoyable to new fans because it was different. It was funny when a character had a nose bleed or a big sweat drop appeared because these were unusual and knowing what they meant gave us entry into a special community that understands what these things mean. Hints of cute girls were fun, but in those past days we had no idea of the true potential of anime. Satisfied with story and occasionally interesting characters, we were unaware of gradually increasing trends–trends with the power to infect our minds and make mere nose bleeds seem a trivial entertainment.

What am I talking about? Two words: Yuri and Moe. The eventual and inevitable triumph of these two concepts has finally shown to us all what anime was created for. Instead of mere annoyances, these elements have infested the medium to such an extent that it is impossible for us viewers to even conceive of their absence. Take Railgun ep. 2. An action show with girls fighting. But the barest hint of plot and characters must make way in ep. 2 for the true meat of yuri passion. There is not even an attempt anymore to gradually introduce us into female-female lust or to merely hint at its presence. Even in a series like Kashimashi, it took many episodes for us to accustom ourselves to the notion of yuri passion. But we are now fully impregnated with its influence. The pain and ecstasy of a yuri-obsessed girl is now in front of us for a full episode!

Take Kampfer as another example. The boy-turned girl concept, a mere gimmick in the days of Ranma, is now merely a vehicle to a potential yuri situation, as a girl loves the female and not the male form of the protagonist. It is not that this kind of thing has not happened before as the concept has, over past seasons, completely invaded our conceptual frameworks. No! It is actually that we now accept by the second episode, without any hesitation, that a girl will ask another girl out. We are now indoctrinated in the ways of yuri. A show like the Sacred Blacksmith, where a girl having sexual tension with a moody and difficult guy is the order of the day, can only seem like a throwback to us now. But the triumph of yuri is at hand and as each season increases our absorption of it, each season is a greater and greater success, since the rule of yuri and moe is our ultimate destiny. I have not even touched on moe, whose triumph must accompany that of yuri, but I can leave that to my readers own consideration. And on the moe front, it is true that a lack of K-On and a moetized Haruhi this season might take away from the greatest season of anime idea. Perhaps I should say, 2009 is anime’s greatest year instead. For 2009 is the year an anime company fully expected its fans to happily consume Endless 8 (and even purchase it!). And those who dislike endless repetition are not thinking that all of the endless moe and yuri out there is just repetition of a different kind!

And are those luddites who rage against the rise of moe and yuri to be called false otaku? Only the dangos know! =P