To Cry or Not To Cry

... that really is not the question. You cry when you cry and that is it. If you feel like crying go for it for crying out loud! ... no pun intended - ok maybe a little.

I am not sure about when the last time I really cried were, but I believe it were quite a while ago. More precisely at the funeral of my grandmother (on my mothers side) around 12 years ago. Think it was the culmination of seeing several people around me suddenly in tears that tipped it over for me. Since then I have felt it to be close several times but never really done it. Most memorable is the funeral of my other grandmother (on my fathers side). It was a very moving event, with one of my cousins singing and all, but I was almost ten years older and apparently more prepared.

I have never cried from watching a film. One cause might be that I have not really seen that many really really sad films, so there have probably never been a reason to do so. Even though I have not seen that many I have seen some and although I have noticed a reaction, it has never been big enough to really bring forth the tears. Lately I have seen several anime series with quite sad and moving story lines and the latest have been the most brutal so far, Clannad After Story. It is the second season of the Clannad story. The first season were the first of this kind of theme I have seen and it were a bit supricing to me as it is marked as a "seinen" anime, which means it is targeted at men. The reason for this however is probably that Clannad were originally what is known as a visual novel - a computer game with lots of talk and often several cute manga/anime girls. The whole series is basically about one boy, a senior at high school, who gets to know several girls who all have a tragic problem of some kind which he helps them with. In the second season this style continues for the first episodes but it soon shifts to more or less only focus on this boys life as he struggles with several tragic events happening to and around him. Another anime I have seen which have the same kind of theme is Kanon (2006 edition). It is created by the same team who is behind Clannad, and is basically the same. Were also originally a visual novel. The main difference here however is that this time the boy have met all the girls before (when they were 7-10 years younger) but he have forgotten about it. While he starts remembering stuff some tragic events from the past are unfolded and at the same time happening in the present.

All series are actually quite good, but not exactly my kind of theme so even though I considered seeing Air, a third anime series created by the same team (and again originally a visual novel), I am not sure I really feel like it at the moment. I probably need a lot of comedy for a while :P . As mentioned Clannad After Story have been the most brutal I have seen so far, but it is only because of its length and thereby the amount of tragic events. There is no doubt in my mind that the absolute most emotional and sad film I have ever seen is still Grave of the Fireflies, yet another anime. It is weird to believe that it is by the same company who is behind My Neighbor Totoro! :o

One good thing about all this is that seeing these have proven to me that anime expands over so many different areas, from the very sad (mentioned above) over the more serious (e.g. Planetes) to the mindless fun (e.g. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, Azumanga Daiou and School Rumble), and from the dark thriller (e.g. Death Note) over an ecchi magical world (e.g. Zero no Tsukaima) to some aimed at children and/or the whole family (e.g. Kiki's Delivery Service). So no reason not to watch anime! Btw, all animes mentioned are recommended :P .