Casual Fridays: Crohns and Colitis Awareness

Hi guys, its that time of the week where I shed the mantle of the phoenix and take a minute to share the minutia of everyday life with my reader. Today instead of focusing on anime and anime-related content I would like to call you guys to arms so to speak and request that you rais awareness for a cause near and dear to my heart. As many of you know I am disabled by way of Cerebral Palsy (CP) and while it does hinder my day-to day life in terms of mobility dealing with it has taught me a great deal of patience in dealing with others whose particular maladies are not externally noticeable. After all just because an illness, direct effects cannot be seen does not mean those afflicted do not suffer. Our own site moderator, sekaifan1991, is so afflicted. Like so many she suffers from a rather burdensome illness that a few in her life refuse to recognize.

The bane of her existence is called Crohns Disease. For the uninitiated, Crohns is a lifelong condition that causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal track. As you might expect, this can cause anything from simple cramping to constipation and even intestinal blockages. Make no mistake, while they sound like simple symptoms in tandem they can be severe enough to leave a person bedridden for months at a time and suffering from indescribable pain. In the 13 years I have been with sekaifan1991, who is said to have to have a minor case, she has been hospitalized than 5 times for more severe symptoms. This literally places her life on hold and keeps her from seeking a lot of opportunities. While conventional biologic therapy helps to keep it at bay fo the short term a cure is surely needed.

This brings me to my reason for today’s post. Sadly, research into the cause, treatment, and prevention of Crohns is slow going and with many severe cases turning to chemotherapy to reverse their symptoms things look grim. But that is where you come in. Be you blogger or longtime reader I implore you please click here to donate to a reputable charity that raises funds to research Crohns and its sister-disease Colitis. Even if it’s just the $ 1.00 USD you are helping others and aiding in the cure effort. Together lets see this accursed malefaction banished from existence!

The Nostalgia Factor: Are the Rose-Tinted Glasses Blinding Us

Normally I would save a topic like this for an in-depth review, but a recent conversation with a fellow connoisseur of anime brought me around to to questioning the effect of nostalgia on the our perception of a given anime as good or bad. Humans are, for the most part, creatures of habit for the most part, and we tend to like revisit those things we most enjoy. Some may like the long-fused romance of CLAMP’s Clannad while others might better enjoy making a run through the shounen juggernaut Naruto No matter your choice of anime there is always that one show that a fan returns to over the years to recapture and relive one’s favorite moment. To many of us those anime are sacred in a sense and we often neglect to find faults in a given show.

This brings me to the titular question of rather nostalgia blinds us to the shortcomings of a show. During the conversation, as is common for us, we discussed our thoughts on certain anime with the catalyst of this discussion being his recent binge of the English dubbed version of Angel Beats. Speaking as a fan, I cited its reputation as a legendary feels anime and to my absolute shock he was not sold. While he did say that the emotional aspects of the anime were well-done he noted that the show seemed to lack a notion of what it wanted to be. According to him it jumped between comedy, action, and slice of life. While a busy plot is nothing new in terms of anime the way in which the three elements were coordinated to created to construct the viewing experience. Between, the convoluted aspects of the plot which I wont reveal given its potential for a review and the hidden elements that felt needed explanation he decried Angel Beats legendary status.

So, in order to prove him wrong I chose to dust off my reviewer’s trilby and gave it the critical treatment. Lo and behold he was right. The flaws I saw stuck out like a sore thumb. With the veil of my biases lifted I saw the show for what it was. Were the rose-colored glasses all that mad it great? Not entirely as I hold my belief that the anime is exceptional despite its flaws. Indeed, the rose-colored glasses of youth needs a great aspect to latch on to. In the case of Angel Beats I found that it was the characters and their interactions that drew me back. I found myself drawn to the very thing that makes it such a successful feels anime. In effect nostalgia is powerful but there has to be an ancor point there.

So, are the rose-tinted Glasses blinding us? Like many questions regarding taste in anime it’s subjective. Nostalgia has a stronger for some than it is for others. In the end, you like what you like and if you love a series enough recognizing its flaws should not change the experience. If it does maybe you are more attached to an anime’s reputation. Ergo, the answer to the titular question is both yes and no. What are your thoughts.