Its been about a year and two months. I look back on what I have posted, most of the things I have posted here, and I have to say I feel I have done pretty good for someone who knows crap about blogging and writing. For someone who wants to write a fiction novel and hopes to be published, I have a long way to go; and for someone with a lot to say on my mind I have said absolutely nothing of what truly counts. At least not to my understanding, not of how I see things at this moment. Some things I have written are good, others can be forgotten. But what really surprised me as interesting was the lack of impurities.
Isn’t this blog, a blog of obsessions and impurities? A blog where I come clean, and confess all my wrong doings (well not exactly, I would be shameless) and obsess about the things I wish I could possess/do/create… just BE? Yes! This is such a blog, and this is the longest time I have been away from it. At the risk of making this, yet, another post about NOT POSTING… oops, I already have! I will share how obsession entered my mind:
"Perception" (This is an image I captured from a drawing,"Perception", I did back in Highschool. For those who have been following my art, you should be able to notice the roughness in the skills 😛 )
It was in the form of a gift, or should I say a friend’s good will. Because, the meaning of liking is not the same as being obsess with something.
Perception rather twists things, and ultimately confuses you… it is a dangerous weapon if a person is weak-minded. For example: A person may like a certain music band, and be happy listening to their songs for more than a day; a friend may perceive that, as this person being obsess with this particular band. However, it’s their perspective, not what it’s really happening. What follows: this friend will potentially give this person, gifts of this particular music band since he/she believes it is what this person “obsesses” about. And this is how and obsession begins. Nothing wrong with it, nothing to rant about, nothing to be angry about… and I am not! It got me thinking: perhaps half of my obsessions are not even real. I have been posting about my obsessions for more than a year, and there is a big chance they aren’t really mine to begin with! WOW. I hope it’s not entirely so… I think it’s not. I still love Cowboy Bebop, and I’m very sensitive of it; I believe this one at least is real. 😉
For the rest of the year, or until I get tired again -which seems to be what happened- I would like to write about my impurities, and give way to the wicked me by sharing the things inside my head, perhaps by doing so, I will become a little more human each time. An exercise I have been practicing lately with great results… it goes something like this: “find peace within, by casting away your demons.” Hmm, why do I get the feeling that I have gotten it all wrong? Hahaha…
Bebopperal Inspiration was the post of the month for November. It might seem somewhat annoying that Bebop keeps popping up every month ever since that time I wrote about the soundtrack. Well, Cowboy Bebop is one of those series that has marked the history of television. It will forever be in every 10 best ANYTHING list.
Here is a link for those Cowboy Bebop lovers, to one of the most entertaining blogs for CBB alone. Its all about CBB.
And pictures… I love my Bebop crew! 🙂
We don’t like Julia here at Sine Cera so… no Julia pictures. Vicious is okay, he’s got his mysterious personality.
Today I’m sick. I have the flu and as always it is a surprise since I don’t get sick very often, not even every year. I’m in bed, resting, or something like it. God! its boring for someone like me who likes to be up doing anything -although I must confess right now, that which I call “anything” has never to do with hard work; yep I’m lazy. I was trying to find a good anime to watch since I have been out of anime to watch, I have probably seen all of them (the ones that came out this year that is). Instead of finding a good anime, I ended up watching clips of Cowboy Bebop on youtube. (SIGH) Man this anime is incredible! I found myself lost in all that bebopperal (this word I made up a long time ago. Its meaning I can’t quite describe since it has to do with my feelings for Bebop. Its like a proxy between us two)
I want to share some clips of my number 1 anime of all times. I’m pretty sure it is number 1 for more than a few people out there. Enjoy;
(bell peppers and beef… NOT)
(the last few ending scenes… I hate Julia)
Someone had commented that in the end nobody got closure; that they all ended miserable. False and true. Everybody got closure, it was just too miserable a reality.
I think the end of Cowboy Bebop is as real as you are going to get it on an action anime, where the hero never dies because its not a drama but an action anime. In this particular anime, Spike had to die to end all that bitterness that was so overpowering. I mean, Spike was piratically living to find closure to his sad past. He did not want to care about anything else. Although he did came to care for others, I think he could not ignore his past as it was always coming back to him. It had been his only purpose for a long time and just because the crew happened to tag along he wasn’t going to let go of his main goal, to end everything between him and Vicious. You see, Spike is not a hero, he is what is called anti-hero. Spike was a bitter man, and believed he deserved nothing else but to carry the burden of his past. At the end, he told Faye he was not going there to die, but to live. That answers the question why he had to die. He needed to die as the Spike he was, a bitter lonely man. As he was, he was no good for the crew; that was his belief, and the reason why he is such an amazing character. Hes got flaws. That is the way he is, that is what made him so mysterious and appealing, and that is real. That is one reason why we like Cowboy Bebop so much.
Oh! How I miss the crew. Here is a drawing a did of Spike a long time ago. I wanted to draw him more realistic looking, and it came out something like this:
And here is a new drawing of him I just did right now on my skecth-book, which is why the hair is cut, hehe.;
Well, now I’m left with all the Bebopperal inspiration. I will use it to draw more of that character I have been working on, I will post once I’m done with it.
I finally worked up the courage to write about the CBB original soundtrack. It isn’t an easy task. Given my lack of writing skills, and because I treasure it so much I would have love to read something about it more than write it myself. On my frenzy, many times I have search for the anime, characters, music videos, etc. But never have I been really interested in looking for information about the soundtrack. Although some have talked about the music, and its widely known to be one the best original soundtrack for an anime, I have not read a post dedicated to the music of CBB alone… or, maybe I have not been paying attention. Either way, I have decided, today will be the day for my bebop muse. And I choose to write of its music, being –in my opinion- one main reason for its success.
The music of bebop was composed by Kanno Yoko, and The Seatbelts, which was a band specially formed just for this project by Kanno herself. They have created a soundtrack with such rich sounds -specifically focusing in Jazz- that it’s hard not to notice. Even more amazing, is the fact that their music has attracted none CBB fans as well.
The OST (for the series only) is a collection of 3 albums; Cowboy Bebop, released in May 21 of 98; Cowboy Bebop No Disc, October 21, same year; and Cowboy Bebop Blue, May 1, of 99. A mini album was also released in June 3, 1998 titled Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless. All the albums performed by The Seatbelts, and produced by Kanno under the label company Victor Entertainment.
Later, they got together again and released the OST for the CBB movie, titled Future Blues, and a mini disc, Ask DNA. Yet again, in December 22, 2004 they released Cowboy Bebop Tank! THE! BEST!. There is also Cowboy Bebop Remixes: Music for Freelance; Cowgirl Ed, another mini-CD; and Cowboy Bebop Box Set, which includes four disc; the first three discs are previously released tracks, and the fourth disc are tracks from the band’s tour. In addition, a booklet with trivia, interviews, track listings, and lyrics. The best! I know, sadly is out of production. I got my hands on one of this soon enough. (Phew)
I used the OST as reference for a school project about Jazz and how it has disappeared in modern times. I believe, it is one music genre that should not be ignored, for it has been ground for many of those “subgenres” youngsters listen to today like; Smooth jazz, acid jazz, and jazz rap, among others.
Now, I don’t know much about music, in a professional level I mean. All I know is how to listen to it and appreciated it… is that enough? I guess, at least for someone like me; a person without a real motif when it comes to music. Perhaps reason why my favorite song from the soundtrack is “Blue”, surely not the best song. I guess it has more of a meaning than anything else, since when I listen to it I remember Spike falling dead (or wounded) at the end of the series. Whatever the reason, is the one song I have chosen to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
The video I have to show with the music, is from the anime with images from the last episode. As much as dislike the whole Julia-Spike-Vicious trio, it is what defines Spike’s past and what the final episode is all about.
My number one obsession, was, for a long time Cowboy Bebop. Now it has become more like an antique for me, something very valuable. I keep it close to my heart.
I don’t have anything more to say about this anime, which is, and will always be the #1 anime of all times. Well, O.K…. so I can’t really say that it will be the number one ALWAYS. But I can say that it was and it has been for quite some time now, #1 anime, and not rated by me but by the people who actually know detail by detail what makes an anime good, no matter what your preferences are. I have talked about this anime a lot in other blogs, so, I will only re-post here what I wrote years ago.
You see, I always wanted to have a blog where I could just brag about how great this anime is, but there are just so many out there that I felt it would be a waste of my time. Who was going to read my blog about some anime? Who was going to pay attention to what I had to say about it? Now that I have actually decided to start my blog -and not particularly about Bebop- I don’t feel inspired enough to start writing something new about Bebop. However, it is such a good anime, and my obsession for it -although it has subsided- is still there, so it deserves to be on my blog. So much for an original idea huh? Well it might not be a new entry really, but it was written by me and so it is original.
Okay so here it is, hope you like it:
I am so overwhelmed to the point of tears, that is truly making me lose control over my mind, and I don’t know how to start this damn entry. However, I feel that I must force myself and write about the only thing that has brought light into my soul this very morning. So, with heart in hand, and to the tunes of Steve Contes, Kanno Yoko and The Seatbelts, and lots, and lots of bebopperal inspiration (Bebopperal: word I have just made up, and added to my singular yet not very vast vocabulary) I am going to delight you with the most anticipated, and welcomed news of the year.
It has been two days since I received the magazine Anime Insider to which I am subscribed and, read with the utmost devotion every month. I hadn’t had any time (please, note that the word “time” in Laura’s vocabulary really means, lacking desire)… Did I write something about “read with the utmost devotion”? Hmmm, why do I get into this anyway? Truthfully, when I get a magazine, first I read through it superficially so I can get an idea of what the context is. Second, I go straight to the most interesting articles and read them fully; and then after I am done analyzing the whole context of the article, I browse the magazine two or three times more, and just like that I end my reading. Same thing I do with books, what can I say? I suffer from a deficiency very common in most Capricorns: lack of patients (yes Johan, now you know the secret behind all those books I have managed to read -_-) Of course that some books you just can’t read like that. Take for instance; if you were reading a story, you wouldn’t be able to read the more interesting parts before reading the entire book. Simply because you don’t know which part are those. The same reason why I just go straight to the last page, find out how it ends, if I like it, I read it. Now, going back to my madly fanatical story; I browsed the magazine as soon as I got it in the mail, but I put it aside right away so I could read it today during my lunch hour. Savor the moment, page by page, become one with the context. Why did I break up my unusual reading habit? Well, only, because in very big and shiny letters that took most of the cover’s left side these words were written: “BEST ANIME EVER!” What was the first thing that popped into my head? Hahaha… yeah, that’s right XD
It was at 11:30 in the morning, with much expectation and plenty of determination to not spoiled the surprised that I started reading my magazine like a normal person should. Two seconds later I jumped 46 pages, and went ahead to read the article “Simply the Best”. The only thing I feel truly proud of –when it comes to the matter of my deficiency- is of being able to read the entire article from beginning to end without reading the last page first. And this, is what I found out:
The article is about the 50 best anime shows ever. Of course, only one got to be the number one on the list, but we have plenty of time to talk about that later. First, I would like to tell you about those animes that form a part of my enormous collection, and were proudly and well deserving included in the 50 best. Just one more thing before I start listing them. It is with little joy, and somewhat tears in my eyes that I say Berserk didn’t make it to the first five. However, I’m glad is part of the 50, at least. Berserk has been a very precious treasure for me. It was the first anime I watched; the first anime to captivate me; the first to inspired me; and more importantly, the one anime that opened the doors to the most marvelous and magical world I have seen yet….
–Berserk; 48.
–The Twelve kingdoms; 42.
–Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust; 38.
–Trigun; 34.
–Princess Mononoke; 32… Your favorite Johan ^_^
–Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal; 30.
–Samurai Champloo; 27.
–My Neighbor Totoro; 19.
I must make a pause right here, and say that from this page on my heartbeat incremented considerably. What a dork… -_-
–Grave of the Fireflies; 16.
–Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind; 13.
-Akira; 9.
Now that I have finished listing those anime I posses and love, which made it to the best 50 but didn’t make it to the first 5 (Places from 8 to 5 didn’t hold any meaning for me.) I have to say, I was amazed to see that after getting places 32, 19 and, 13, Hayao Miyazaki still got even closer to being number one. Porco Rosso got second place, and let me tell you, even when it is definitely not my favorite from the Master of creation, it was very well deserved.
I think it is unnecessary at this point to say what happened next…. Yeah I had a stroke and now I’m at the hospital writing about this idiotic incident. Of course NOT!!! But, I was very close to collapsing. Cowboy Bebop, Watanabe’s best work of art was, is, and always will be the number one best anime in the world.
Obviously, CBB takes a whole page, and representing it are: my favorite anti-hero Spike together with the always sexy, infamous Faye, and a smaller picture of Ed and Ein… what happened to Jet? The article is about what makes CBB the best anime ever. About everything that forms part of its grandeur, and some facts, like how it was serialized for four consecutive years on Adult Swim. SUGOI >_<
I wish I could describe one by one, the things I consider the ones that make this anime so remarkable. However, I think I have done this in so many ways already, and so many people (not to say all of them) that watch this anime end up agreeing with us when it comes to its greatness, that I will only be repeating myself and what others have said about it. I think that won’t be a very original idea! So, I would limit myself to only give you a little bit of bebopperal flavor.
Why is it such an incredible anime? We can –with complete confidence- compare its magnificence with Hollywood’s greatest films ever, like for example: The Godfather. Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail says: “The Godfather is the answer to all your questions”. Well, I say CBB is not just the answer to all of your questions: “What are the first rules of combat? Shoot them, before they shoot you” (Faye) “Who the hell is this? Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th” (Faye and Ed) “Three things that I hate: Kids… animals… and, women with attitude” (Spike) “How long have you been listening for? Too long. Your story needs editing” (Faye and Spike) “Why do you have to go? Where are you going? I’m not going there to die. I’m going to find out if I’m really alive” (Faye and Spike) but also it has become a form of living:
FASHION
ACTION/MUSIC: Kanno Yoko, The Seatbelts
ART LESSONS IN ECONOMY
Spike: “Uh, listen Jet. You said bell peppers and beef. There’s no beef in here. So you wouldn’t really call it bell peppers and beef, now would you?”
Jet: “Yes, I would.”
Spike: “Well, it’s NOT!”
Jet: “It is when you’re broke!” PHILOSOPHY
Bull: “Do not fear death. Death is always at your side. When you show fear, it will spring at you faster than light. If you do not show fear, it will only gently look over you…” DRAMA, LOVE
HOPE
Vicious: “There’s nothing in this world to believe in.” (Of course he was only being sarcastic kids) IMAGINATION
Spike: “Hunger is the best spice they say.” KNOWLEDGE
Jet: “Everything has a beginning and an end. Life is just a cycle of starts and stops. There are ends we don’t desire, but they’re inevitable, we have to face them. It’s what being human is all about.” BEAUTY AND WIT
Also it has fundamental values like, honesty, loyalty, friendship, etc. CBB has a great sense of humor, and lots, lots of trumpet. Therefore I urge you to rent…No! Not to rent, but to buy Cowboy Bebop. Watch it superficially a first time, like if you were just browsing; then a second time, but just your favorite episodes; and last, watch it again two or three more times, so you can fuse with all that JAZZ, which is the aphrodisiac of the soul. Simply watch it, just like if you were reading a magazine Laura style. <—- (Oh! That’s right… Laura is me, hehe)
It has been a long time since I watched it last, and just by adding this entry to my blog I miss the crew and feel all nostalgic again… awww so many good and sad memories! Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my old post of CBB.
Sine Cera 