What a nightmare. LOL
Been awhile. *long deep breath* *look outside to the hazard ridden, smoldering ruins on the horizon* *let out a deep sigh*
I haven’t been on here since January(not to say that I was on here ever, at any point, consistently or otherwise) when I saw “Weathering With You” in theaters. And to address the proverbial elephant in the room, is probably where I contracted covid-19.. What a year.
I am QUITE sure, that everyone on the planet has had one hell of a journey to get to here, 9 months later… Covid-19, fires ravaging CA, and those are just some of the specific things that have challenged me where I am. No one knew back in January that this little virus was already probably making the rounds in America. I lost my sense of taste, was very sore, and I assume that I had mild symptoms of covid-19 before we knew much about it. My brother got it and so many others I know contracted covid-19.. though fortunately all of my loved ones are still hanging around and kicking.
All that I have done since this covid-19 pandemic started is work and work and work. My job entails that I contact trace people presumed or confirmed to have covid-19, so reviewing hundreds and hundreds of hours of video, identifying people who have had “qualifying” contact with individuals that contracted covid-19… it was interesting for the first couple hours and quickly became miserable, monotonous work that I am STILL doing, and I keep sane by thinking this might actually help save a human being *shrug* Due to the increased stress and anxiety, work place violence events have been up, so when not contact tracing me and my team have been conducting the interviews for fights, threats, suicidal ideation etc etc as part of the incident command team. Not to mention theft interviews -_- been operating on all cylinders for months with 50+ hour weeks… 0_o suffice to say, I haven’t had a whole lot of interest(rather it hasn’t even crossed my mind) in blogging. Hell, my wife was the one who asked if I was still blogging LOL and it occurred to me that I haven’t been on here in awhile.
But I do enjoy it and mulling over the odd topic here and there, PLUS, I need to make this blog worth it, need to make it worth the investment!
I hope all have been well, fighting the good fight!
Anyway, all this madness has been reflected not only in our everyday lives, but our media, books, and even our anime. Specifically, Japan Sinks 2020, has been an absolute HOOT AND A HALF LOL!
Which is what inspired me to hop on here. It is on the ever ubiquitous NetFlix, 10 episodes and just…. surreal?
I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly what this show is… passable to low budget, b-movie hokey to profound, utterly surreal to grounded and reality based… but at the end of it all? Entertaining.
One moment, laughing at how a father happened to hit the only mine in the only demilitarized zone in some timbucktu-off-the-beaten-path area in Japan, with his severed hand landing in front of his wife and family, PROMINENTLY showcasing his intact wedding ring, none of the family reacting like humans.. and the next moment being genuinely sad at how a female character that JUST stopped a group of women from being raped(by the equivalent of a comical mustache twirling cartoon villain who was also poorly developed) stoops down to pee and is killed from inhaling noxious fumes released by a crevice from all the earthquakes. Completely taken by surprise, with only the briefest of portents! But this scene is interrupted by a famous YouTuber flying in on a fan blade jet pack machine paraglider thing(this guy killed me, he is a clairvoyant know it all ace problem solver, shows up, pulls an idea out of his ass, and saves everyone lol) yelling for everyone to stay away from the invisible enemy, the noxious fumes concentrated in the valley below.
Just… TOTAL madness lololol. And this atmosphere of surrealism and series of unlikely and unfortunate(often comically so) events framed in a fairly standard, reality-ish based and even tried and true disaster story, makes this odd duck a bird worth eating. Some horrific, distorted animations, nutty dialogue and just plain weird scenarios will leave this one lingering with you for awhile.
One more can you ask for? You’ll never be bored, you’ll laugh often, and occasionally? This show will even elicit feelings of sadness and sensations of fear and trepidation. A wild card to be sure.
And as you enjoy watching this motley crew of survivors navigate the end of the world as they knew it… with(considering Japan is literally sinking into the ocean LOL) SURPRISINGLY bad luck, you’ll realize, no matter how bad things are in your life, it isn’t THAT bad, and it ends up being kind of cathartic!
This isn’t the romp and disaster that we deserved… but it is the romp and disaster that we needed. The capstone and enduring anthem of the year 2020 will be forever immortalized in this anime. Sometimes life sucks, sucks a lot, and sucks for longer than we would prefer, and sometimes you just got to die, when that stone smashes your head open, when that wave of water crashes down on you, or when caustic fumes smother your lungs in death… not to mention hitting a mine while digging for yams… or drowning… or being shot by a bullet of arrow.. 0_o when that happens, sometimes ya got to die… but until then, we will persist, we will fight, and if we aren’t as unlucky as most the people in this show, we might survive long enough to see the dust settle, and see the sun setting on the end of one more day!
Who can say?!
Until then, everyone fighting the good fight, keep the masks tight, the distance between others over 6 feet, and may we all rally together separately in our own homes… LOL!
And with that..
OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGAAAAAATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
*ROCK SMASHES HEAD*
Welp, until next time!
-AniSun
Anime Sunday 