Something I will never experience, which is why I enjoy watching it. Not in 2D form, but in 3D form. For me, anything about high school in anime is good. Sports, slice-of-life, comedy and the list goes on. Anything, except romance. Which is why I don’t watch stuff like Clannad and many others of the similar genre. Yes, I am a fool who misses out on how great Key’s work is, and it doesn’t bother me. Not even the slightest bit.
Sorry, but I’m not interested
On the other hand, I love watching high school Japanese dramas that involve romance. This might seem quite weird, especially since most who are reading this blog would be going “3D sucks, 2D for the win!!!”. However, to me, watching high school romance in 3D form feels more realistic and closer to the heart, as compared to watching it in 2D form. There’s only one thing that cannot be avoid and has caught my dislike in the 3D high school romance, and that’s over-exaggeration. It occurs in most dramas, Japanese or not, as the entertainment factor something crucial. However, if you can overlook that, watching high school Japanese dramas touching on romance can be really enjoyable. University romance dramas too.
Besides romance, any Japanese drama regarding high school life would attain my interest. Currently, I’m of the age of a high school student, and the school I am attending is something equivalent to high school. As much as I hate to say this, my school life is a bore. I’m not really interested in going to school, and the only reason why I go is to score a decent grade just so that I can move on to University. It could be due to the pathetic fact that my course has a limited intake of only 2 classes, resulting in the number of people I get to meet being limited too.
Ok, I admit. The hawt school girls in their uniforms are one of the reasons why I watch high school Japanese dramas^^
My current situation is far different from what my secondary school (also known as junior high) life was. Despite those 4 years being in an all-male environment, I actually enjoyed going to school and meeting up with my classmates. However, in Polytechnic, there are only a few people in my class whom I can hold a real conversation with. The rest feels like forced interaction. I’m there because I have to be there.
When I speak of real conversations, it means having friends who are so close that you can have a heart-to-heart talk. It may sound cheesy for a guy to say this, but it really feels good to be able to open up freely to someone when you are troubled or just plain lost.
But of course, that is not the main and only reason why I enjoy high school Japanese dramas
I choose the Polytechnic route over the Junior College(high school) route mainly because I wanted to have a specialised study. I have never regretted my decision, and never will. However, I’m just dissatisfied with my current school life.
Now, I’m sure a couple of you would be going “Stop complaining and change your life”. I would say that. However, putting something into action is always far more difficult than just saying it out. What I need to do now is to meet more people, and increase the chances of me meeting more people whom I can hold real conversations with. In short, I need to expand my social circle. I will probably join a club when my second academic year begins.
I guess it’s just fate that my current situation is as such, but I’m not really blaming anything or anyone. Damn, I sound like a freaking whiner.
As for the romance part, I’m doomed to stay single all the way till at least 21. Heck, I can even count the number of females of the same age group whom I actually frequently interact with, all with a single hand, so there’s no chances even for crushes. What’s more, I find it difficult to really fall for a girl. For example, I could see a physically attractive female and all I would say is “Wow, she’s hawt!”. I wouldn’t go “Wow, I wanna date her!”, simply because there’s more to a relationship than just looks. I would fall for an average looking female with a personality that attracts me, rather than a really attractive female who’s personality is only so-so. Of course, the formula of [hawt + attractive] would be much better, but magic like that doesn’t usually occur. In the real world, that is.
There are only 2 times in my 17 short years where I had really special feelings (stronger than like? I’m not sure how to put it in words) for a member of the opposite sex, one when I was 10, and the other, this year. Nothing ever bloomed out of those feelings, since it was probably one sided and I lacked the courage. Heh, I suck.
The crush I had 7 years ago is nothing more than a memory etched in the corner of my mind. As for the crush this year… that’s a tale for another time.
Staying single’s good though, as you have more budget to do all the crap you want. Like buying H-doujins (I don’t buy them, yet) and figurines. And you have tons of personal time too!
I got this image from google. I don’t know the girls
And all this brings us back to the reason why I enjoy watching high school Japanese dramas. It’s a form of escapism for me, since those are things I will probably never experience, especially since I will no longer be the age of a high schooler in a couple(literally) of years. Anime is a good form of escapism too, but I like my anime action-packed or funny enough for me to laugh buckets of tears and die of muscle aches.
Ah, I feel much better after this senseless rant.
On a final note, I would be really grateful is anyone could recommend some high school themed Japanese dramas. So far, I’ve only watched GTO, Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango(is this even high school?), and Gokusen(both seasons). ãŠå‹§ã‚を下ã•ã„ ＾＾
DON’T WORRY, I’M RONERY TOO.
And yeah, I’m still glad I haven’t had a girlfriend in a while (notice how I’m saying I wasn’t always single, EH?) because it lets you have so much more cash in your pocket
Well in that case I hope you’ve watched STAND UP!! It’s my favorite HS drama
IcyStorm > Actually, I actually went out with a girl for the first time in my life, but I eventually realised that she was someone who I would like much better as a friend, and we stopped going out after that. We didn’t even hold hands or do anything along those lines, so I don’t really think that would be considered as being attached.
Hinano > Oh noes, I actually forgot about Stand Up! And to think I’ve actually watched the entire series not once, but twice. It’s total awesomeness!!!
For the people who tell you to “Stop complaining and change your lifeâ€, well they probably don’t have any REAL friends. I mean, in the vein of making friends, you can’t just up and change your life by ‘deciding to make more friends’. So yeah, it’s better to search for those few true friends that you can be an ass around, be emo to, be yourself around rather than do what most people do: just having many friends but almost no friends they can be themselves with. O: It’s sad.
Japanese HS Dramas are awesome… Hahaha, I’m sad to say that one of my favourites is Hana Yori Dango. XD
Soshi > Your first paragraph is so true, I agree with that, totally.
And I thought Hana Yori Dango season 1 was rather ok. Season 2 sucked >_>
Yeah! Hana Yori Dango has this weird habit of sucking in the second season, both Taiwan and Japan version fell into that trap. D:
Me not planning to have a GF but who knows…
anyway, I also recommend “LIFE”, a live-action series which strongly involves bullying, betrayal, true friendship, etc… the lead heroine is a cute too…
Nya
Nice rant. XD
This was quite unexpected. I was searching for that specific image of Ichinose Kotomi on top of this page, and found this rant. (found it via tineye.com) While reading through it, you immediately got my attention.
I’m in a similar situation, you see. I’ve also always found school boring, only going there to get grades and not for making any real friends. The latter part is mainly because I’m so ‘different’ compared to normal school kids. I also took the polytechnic route which severely limited any real contact with the opposite sex. At the time, I thought, just like you, that not having a girlfriend is a good thing, because you have more money and a lot more free time, which I spent well by studying the things I like outside the schools curriculum (and on anime too)
But by now I’m 27 and almost done with University. When you get this old, you start to realize certain things. I realize that I don’t have much romantic experience, which decreases my chances of making girlfriends at this age. I also realize that I still like the girls aged 14-21, because my ‘romantic clock’ was sort of standing still all this time. I don’t like girls 22 or older much unless they look and act very young. This just about eliminates any chance I had previously. I don’t know if this will happen to you too or if I’m just an Ephebiphile to begin with. (Ephebiphile is a sexual disorder for one who likes late teens, as opposed to a paedophile who likes kids)
Of one thing I’m sure, I regret not taking a lot more action while I was in my late teens. If I could do that time over, I would go out a lot more, to create a lot more opportunities. After all, when one night has 1% opportunity (or rather 99% failure rate), then just 100 nights have a combined chance of 100%-99%^100 = 63%. 200 nights equals 87% chance, etc. It doesn’t matter how small the chance, when given enough chances, the combined chance increases to plausible proportions. I would probably do this not only by going to night clubs, but also by joining clubs, activities, sports (which I hate btw) and being much less naive.
On the anime part, I have to agree with you in that I also use it as an outlet for the things I can never have, like romance and heartships and stuff. It satisfies me much, maybe too much, to experience these real feelings through fictional characters. I say ‘too much’ because lately I get the felling it actually lowers my motivation to actually go out and find the one.
To blog owner,
i must agree with you on certain things. After graduation from high school, i feel something is missing. Through 7 year of junior high and senior high, i have not experience teen romance. i was busy struggling through for academic success, that i have completed. i feel that i have missed out the core social high school life. others whom are happy-go-lucky in their studies only manage to earn merit for junior college but they are happy. sometime i ask myself, is it worth it? although i hate school butr i miss it as much. wish i could experience high school life again.
I forgot to add that i am 25 and still single. i am running out of time. in 2 years time, after i graduate from university. i really miss high school. i never had any relationship whatsoever except classmate. spetnaz_mikhail at Y!