Furu Anime Panikku

Have you ever watched an anime and unknowingly, some elements within it trigger some memories of your past?

This is a memory that I would like to have ^^

Recently, I came across 2 anime series that reminded me about portions of the past, one of my secondary school life, and the other of my trip to Japan in 2006. Care to guess?

The anime which made me recall the first memory is Ookiku Furikabutte, also known in short as Oofuri. Now, you might be wondering, was I in the baseball team during my secondary school days? My school had no baseball team, only a softball team. And no, I wasn’t in it either. So, why do I say that Oofuri reminds me of my secondary school life?

I was part of a scout troop during my secondary school days. Often, we had to stay back after school for the various activities which would often end in the evening. After the activites ended, we would often chill out in the den. As the entrance of the scout den was somewhat facing the field, we often went outside to observe the softballers train. Sometimes if we were lucky, we would get to catch an interesting match between our school team and another school’s.

Before coming to secondary school, I didn’t know a thing about softball/baseball. However, after some observation, the rules and gameplay of the sport became understandable.

When I watch the team in Oofuri training hard, I recall the training sessions I observed through my school life. I’ve always admired the softballers of my school. They had a steel-hard determination, training almost everyday, be it under the scorching sun or torrential rain.

Besides the training observation, I also went to support a couple of the school team’s crucial matches. I fondly remember the year in which the team took part in the Nationals for the very first time, and fought all the way to the semi-finals. The semi-finals match was a pleasant surprise. Despite our school trailing behind the opponent at the beginning, we managed to end the match victoriously. Although I played no part in their victory, the joy of them winning through hard work was contagious.

Now, for the second memory. The anime? Persona -Trinity Soul-.

My trip to Japan in December 2006 was to Hokkaido, followed by taking the Shinkansen down to Tokyo. As majority of the time was spent in Hokkaido, the reminiscence of the beauty that serene winter possessed remains etched in my memory. This is rather unusual, as I am an extremely forgetful person. In Persona -Trinity Soul-, the scenery of a quiet town resembles that of what I observed during my trip. Watching it, memories of the various places I visited such as Otaru are triggered.

I really enjoyed the peace of the quiet wintry towns. Just walking along the quiet snowy pavements allowed my mind be relaxed and fully at ease. Train rides past such scenery gave me the same feel too. Unlike Singapore, where life is fast paced and full of competition, I felt no sense of stress during my short stay in Hokkaido. Even though I have been on countless overseas vacation trips, this was one of the few times where I felt I was able to spiritually enjoy a trip.

The previous paragraph must have sounded really corny, but the feeling was overwhelmingly awesome, I am unable to truly express it in words. I guess a part of me just loves snow and silence.

Of course, my trip did not involve any phantasmal battles. The only link between it and the Persona anime is the setting the plot is in. Merely that. Maybe I should have used Byousoku 5cm or Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho as a better example, but I decided that using something from my current watch list would not be that bad either.

I’m sure that if I went through a through recollection of how some anime would link to some of my memories, I would be able to name many more. However, if I did, this post would probably never see the light of the Internet.

Alright, I have shared my little piece. Maybe you would like to share yours too, if any ^.^