Asakomi

Though the fall season has begun full-force in Japan, I find myself with an unquenchable thirst for older, “classic” series these days. A drawback to watching currently airing series, at least for me, is that the wait between episodes often leaves me feeling disconnected from the plot and characters. Watching this week’s episode sometimes becomes nothing more than routine, lessening my enjoyment factor and causing me to miss details I otherwise would’ve picked up on. There’s nothing like loading up your playlist with a good 10 episodes of some completed gem, becoming completely absorbed in its world and the people who live in it. Gentle tales slowly unwind their delicate plots without interruption; fast-paced action series explode at breakneck speed, without losing momentum.

I recently became lost in the world of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and I loved every minute of it. I watched all 36 episodes nearly back-to-back over about a week, and was enchanted by the wonderfully fleshed-out characters. Not just the main characters, either. Side characters had backgrounds and delightfully quirky personalities, and even the so-called villains had a story behind them and reasons for what they were trying to do. Their inability to grasp humanity’s culture often led to absolutely hilarious circumstances.

I’m looking forward to this new season immensely, but I think from now on I’m going to always include an older series in the mix. After all, it’ll make the wait for new episodes not seem so bad!