Some Personal Notes
If you've got any
My reasons for doing this page about Fumi Saimon? (My Anime History)
In a way, this is a dedication to my college days. I grew up under the influence of comics and anime, and from the perspective of a fan, my life always seemed to be marked by some title. First there was Laputa, Castle in the Sky which a close relative brought me to see. As I was desperately saving up money to buy a CD from the anime while trying to reproduce the music on my piano to impress neighbours, I was briefly exposed to some mass-production-quality Chinese dubbed renditions of some series broadcasted in Hong Kong. There was Kimagure Orange Road, Ranma 1/2 and Yurasei Yatsura (sp?) which gave me a cheap, childish impression then due to the quality (lack of) of the voice actors. There were also some that, despite all, managed to steal my heart. In the order I can recall them: Maison Ikokku, Galaxy Express 999, Conan the Boy of the Future, the Macross series, Gundam, Astro Boy, What's Michael?, another series by Tezuka about a queen with very long hair (can't remember the name), and one about a little witch with a pointed hat from space who has two cats (not Sailor Moon nor Kiki's Delivery Service!), and probably many more. (However, I never managed to faithfully follow through any series, until much later.) At school, at the same time when boys was a new topic, my classmates and I secretly passed around the newest copy of City Hunter to read in class. Later, I watched Macross: Do you Remember Love? with my first boyfriend right before he left me and Hong Kong for Vancouver. In the last Christmas with my second boyfriend before I was to leave for Canada with my family, he dragged me to see Omoide Poro Poro (Tears of Memories), which remains my favourite.
Okay, finally about the anime I met while at University of Waterloo. After the bitter seperation with my home country, people I met here were my first new leaf in Canada. Along with them, they brought along a world of anime I have never seen. Kiki's Delivery Service and some comics from Fumi Saimon (Tokyo Love Story, Les Camarades de Classe, New Days of Living Together, White whatever). Along the way, there were three people who all loved Video Girl Ai crossing my path, and thus I had the chance to read the manga, watch the oav series and listen to the soundtracks. I also got to appreciate the complete Maison Ikokku and Kimagure Orange Road series in their original, undubbed form, and many more since I joined the
anime club there. However, Fumi's manga was different because I have never seriously read a manga before, and yet it occured so naturally. I mean, I never imagined being able to read both the drawings and the words (in Chinese) AND enjoy at the same time. Fumi's manga struck me because her drawing style is so simple, they seem to readily take the form of the reader's memories. Without coloured illustrations drawn to the last detail, every person's experience of the stories is unique (I even remember my younger sibling commenting about the ugliness of the drawing!). I don't know what generation Fumi has modelled her stories after, but they are such intimate portrayals of emotions, that mine often resonate with them. More often than not, a story's ending is barely happy. Yet, in realising the pain rose from seeing the characters try to resolve between ideal love and the not-so-perfect reality, there is always this bitter-sweet feeling lingering in the end, knowing that they are contented because they have tried their best...
My Favourite Fumi Saimon Series?
Undoubtedly Les Camarades de Classe. Probably as Fumi intended, I saw my own reflections in the story.
Though not exactly my story in college, it reminded me of the paths that cannot be retraced;
be it right or wrong it doesn't really matter, because you have done your best then.
There is also the reminder that you have to grow up, whether you want to or not. Very nostalgic.
Moreover the series seem to answer the question: if you love me, why did you let me go? Because it was
for your happiness. Just thinking about their ending leaves a lump in my throat. But at the same
time I can surely feel happy for them.
Afterword
And so eventually I had the power to acquire the manga, animes and their soundtracks on my own
(sort of). The pieces of music that allow me to return to the time they occurred to me.
comments for me, e-mail me right away!
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