Llamas and alpacas celebrate Christmas by going to Mass. (Via Aliens in This World.)
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So, what am I going to watch this winter beyond the rest of Shin Sekai Yori? Let’s see …
• I might watch all of Satoshi Kon’s work in order and see what overall themes emerge. With four movies and one 13-episode series, that’s a manageable goal.
• I might look again at series I started but never finished: Noein, Kurau Phantom Memory, Fantastic Children.
• I might finally watch some of the sets gathering dust on my shelves: Witch Hunter Robin, Welcome to the N.H.K., Texhnolyze, Samurai X, various Ghosts in the Shell.
• I might revisit old favorites that I haven’t watched recently: Serial Experiments Lain, Princess Tutu, Mushishi, Kino’s Journey, Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, Divergence Eve.
• I probably will watch all of Shingu yet again when I once more make the mistake of thinking I can watch just one episode.
… or I might not watch anything, but instead read.
What I’m probably not going to watch is any of the winter anime offerings. In all the previews I’ve read, there is not a single show that looks even slightly interesting.
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I noticed that Hyouka was on a lot of best-of-the-year lists, including Jonathan’s, so I watched the first episode. It’s okay, I guess, but the premise wasn’t particulary interesting, and the characters were mildly irritating. I doubt I’ll watch more. What caught my attention was the plant above, the first mesemb I’ve seen in anime. There were also images of the distinctive and dangerous Euphorbia marginata, out of focus but unmistakable.
To be fair, I should note that I attended four grade schools and three high schools and was a bored outsider at all of them. I am not the least bit nostalgic for my school years, and any story set in a high school automatically has one strike against it.