mould

I digged this up recently - something I wanted to post but never got around to completing. There'll probably be a part 2 - this is the "1st generation" part, which involves anime from before I entered the army. Or rather, anime that didn't require the use of to-to-to-torrents. Your captain torrents. Whoever knows where that joke came from is SAD SAD SAD.

SPECIAL: Best Anime Moments

This is it: the best moments in my short anime-watching life. These are the clinchers, the seconds or minutes that renew again and again my attachment to this medium of entertainment and communication and reaffirm my hopes for it. Whether it's holding my breath in awe as my mouth gapes wide open, or the surreptitious rubbing of my eyes (no, not crying what, who's crying?), these congeries of colour-pixels and electronically-generated sound have the ability to induce emotions in me, and in so doing I believe they come to life, metaphorically born by the interaction between their creator and me, then killed off when the magic fades (if the magic fades). Price and quantity are the interaction of demand and supply. (ed: I can't for the life of me figure out what I was trying to say here.) I guess it applies to other media as well (for example the effect is even more significant with mere written words), but the line between anime and normal visual media (films and real-life people) is the most blurred one (amongst my favs of RPGs, anime and fiction), and that makes it seem all the more...dunno what. (ed: this part is totally incoherent too.)

I'll describe the moment (as best as I can) and its significance for me. In no particular order:

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Eva-01 goes berserk
Having waded past 00, 02 and the rest of NERV, Zeruel's wanton destruction incites our depressed hero to pilot the test-type Eva again. He is able to take the angel out of NERV HQ but ends up getting trashed when the portable power supply runs out. After a brief chat with mum, the Eva comes back online and proceeds to utterly destroy its opponent. The apex of this scene is when it eats the angel, with the synchro ratio blasting through the roof (400% I think).
This was like, wtf... There had been previous berserk moments, against the 3rd angel, when it came out of the Sea of Dirac, and against Touji's corrupted Eva (though that was the dummy system), but I think this is the pinnacle of raw Eva power. It's totally jaw-dropping. To all you pansies who like to watch white-and-blue-and-gold-coloured robots waltz endlessly through space in some sort of rhythm emotion, I'll tell you that nothing beats the sheer feeling of carnage and brutality this scene induces. I mean, I like Robotech and Gundam too, but this different mecha style feels much cooler to me.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kenshin's relationship with Tomoe (Manga and Tsuiokuhen)
From the time he kills Akira as the Battousai, up to when he kills Tomoe (sia la!). Every moment is poignantly-depicted, because you know how it's gonna turn out. Their interaction, both verbal and physical, is understated and minimal, but laden with pathos and that wonderfully heart-wrenching feeling of sublime beauty. The transcience of life and mortality underlying the entire plot heightens this 'moment of eternity' thing even more. Interestingly enough, though Watsuki based Tomoe on Rei, I prefer Asuka to the blue-haired (and blue-blooded?) clone.

Boys Be: the conversation between Kyoichi and his two friends in the episode with the weird dreams (of the falling planes in the airbase)
Boys Be was quite long ago, but the music of the scene stuck, and while the exact words have been forgotten, the general impression still remains. Kyoichi is talking about the kind of pain that comes with the loneliness of growing up. He says though that it's in fact a part of boyhood (I mean, it's not meant in a sexist way but whatever), which one of his friends agrees with while the other says that AV is the cure. It's rather forlorn I guess, but when I watched this series it meant a lot to me, cos it captured quite a lot of the things I felt. The music was really good too.

Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (Not End of Eva): At the very end, when Asuka/02 looks up to see the mass-production models circling above her like vultures. Tamashii no Rufuran plays and the credits appear.
It was Tamashii No Rufuran that clinched it for this moment. After defeating the UN/JDF whatever military, she looks up and sees that there is an even deadlier enemy waiting and that she has run out of power. Surreal.

Cowboy Bebop: when Ed and Faye are leaving the Bebop
Honky-tonk Women, far from being the frivolous episode its name suggests, must be one of the saddest moments in the series. The crew starts to break up, marking an end to the adventures they had together. Once again, transcience and mortality - everything must end. And also, how staying in the past holds you back from the future - Faye as she lies down in the 'bed' of her 'house'. Then, Spike begins to feel that he must leave too. Very sad, especially with Wo Qui Non Coin in the background.

Gensomaden Saiyuki: when it's raining, they're stuck in a tent and they think about the past (I think)
I'm not that sure about this part anymore, but it begins with one of them (Genzo I think) saying he hates the rain. And then there're lotsa flashbacks about how they struggled through their various tragedies to get to where they are. The best part for me was when Open up your mind by Mirai plays. It's somehow very moving.

Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory: Kou Uraki, near the end of the series, when he comes into his full potential as an ace Gundamn pilot, is launched from a ship in the RX-78GP03 Gundam "Dendrobium Orchis". This is a Gundam (the RX-78GP03S Gundam "Dendrobium Stamen") embedded within a removable weapons platform. He fires like a million missiles and performs some incredible acrobatics with the Orchis, destroying like a million enemy mobile suits, before detaching the weapons platform and fighting the main bad guy with the Stamen. It's just a classic Gundam moment I suppose.

Yep that's it for now I think. I have to admit that anime, because of the colour, motion and music + sound, makes it very difficult for manga to compete in terms of these moments which are engraved into your mind by sheer force of action. But not to worry - I have a few manga moments in mind when I do Part 2. This will include the Shonen Big 3: Naruto, Bleach and One Piece, and perhaps Tenjho Tenge as well. I can't quite think of anymore...I've watched quite a lot since army, but not all were that memorable.