Just last week, I watched a Shoujo anime that had a very simple plot. I was thinking of giving it a review, but when I finished the series...I ended up being lost for words.
Shoujo anime is usually centered on very simplistic plots such as magic, love, friendship, school, and many other things that could be deemed as mundane. Sailor Moon is about a group of magical girls who surprisingly have these amazing sparkly powers to fight the forces of evil. Cardcaptor Sakura was entrusted with a book of mystical cards while she tries to solve a very difficult math problem, and Taiga just struggles with her height and temper issues. If you think about it, there's nothing much to think about when you watch anime or shows like these. They weren't really designed to make you think hard on what kind of plot twists could come and you certainly don't have to decode the symbolism and messages they are trying to portray. In other words, they are all open books. What you see is what you get.
Shoujo anime with a bit of magical elements? For me, I can certainly critique that. I've done it before. But an anime with a "Slice of Life" theme? Now that's a challenge.
There is no concrete basis on how to really criticize a "slice of life" anime. All you can do is talk about how it is and comment about it. But I think the comment would only go as far as, "I like it because..." and that's it! I don't think you can put in suggestions on how to improve the show. You're trying to critique slice of life, or in short, you're trying to criticize life when you really don't have a sole basis for your argument. See how twisted that sounds?
That's why I can't seem to critique anime that centers on everyday life or other simple topics such as courtship and school clubs. It may be the easiest genre to write about, but analyzing and nitpicking it can be really tricky. Like I said earlier, what you see is what you get. Shows like Toradora or Kimi ni Todoke show the reality of life and how stupid teenagers or pre-teens can really be (If you're a teenager or a pre-teen reading this, do not take it to heart. I used to be your age too, so believe...I know what I am talking about). When I was watching this anime last week, I've been internally screaming about how incredibly dumb the characters were. The problem was so simple and all they had to do was take initiative! But then I realized, "Oh. I was actually like this when I was a high school student." In the end, I could not really judge because I somehow knew what the characters were going through.
I already knew that we can never avoid mistakes or screw-ups. But after watching this series, I realized that stupid mistakes really happen and they actually matter in your life. Committing really dumb moves are like a necessary evil for you just to become a better person. If you have a brain, you can learn from them and your brain automatically becomes attuned to what you learned. That's right; there is more to life than just hitting your head with textbooks. You can learn about life from the most unexpected places, such as x-rated anime.
So how do you critique the slice of life? Don't. Because they are the mirror to the daily routines we all have now, even if we all do not live in Japan. Learn from it. Learn from the girl who never got the chance to talk to senpai, or learn from senpai about how to be not conceited. Learn. Because shows are not around just so we can nitpick them. They are here to reflect what is really going on. And Slice of Life definitely shows that.
If you insist on critiquing such a thing, then I guess I have no other reason why I should stop you. But really, can you analyze something that's already there? Can you criticize a character's development, when you actually know people who can possibly relate to these problems? Whoa.
Till the next post~
