Anime

By Ng Chin Ling

The December holiday is finally here. The moment that all students look for, the time where family can get together, for a relaxing year end holiday and also the new year! Though it is a moment that students cherish, we have to admit that after some time of sleeping for half a day, lying on the couch and rotting, our mind will become bored. What better way to cure boredom than watching anime on Youtube.

Yes everyone, Youtube is a source of free anime. I am not very sure about the legal stuff that happens behind the scene but since it is uploaded, I guess we have the right to watch it. So what are some of the better animes around on Youtube? My pick will be Inuyasha and Naruto.

First of all, to those who are reading this, I hope you all know what is anime. The most common definition which is widely accepted is that it is japanese cartoon. Yup, just like that. Japanese cartoon has its own distinctive style which differentiates it from Malay, American and European cartoon. Can find out more info about anime from Wikipedia.

Let's start with Inuyasha. Inuyasha is basically an anime which revolves around a group of people, set in the feudal era of Japan, where they search for a sacred jewel which makes the owner of the jewel very powerful. The series begins with a schoolgirl in present Japan who fell into her family well and reappeared in Feudal Japan. She is the reincarnation of a priestess who looked after the sacred jewel before the priestess had died. Many monsters, known as youkai seek the sacred jewel in order to become powerful (ultimate).

The hero of the anime is Inuyasha, who is a hanyou. (Half monster and half human) He wanted the jewel himself because he wanted to be a full fledge monster, having being ashame of his weakness as a half human. Episode 1 introduces the main characters Inuyasha and Kagome(schoolgirl) where Inuyasha saves Kagome from a monster who wanted to kill Kagome because she had the sacred jewel inside her body. (again because she is the reincarnation of Kikyo)

In Episode 2, Inuyasha manages to kill the monster with ease but another monster, a flying bird steals the jewel. Kagome uses her bow and arrow and shoots at the youkai. The youkai dies but unfortunately the jewel broke into like a thousand pieces which was scattered all over the feudal land of Japan. This sets the setting for the anime where Inuyasha and Kagome goes in search for the scattered jewels in each episode. Along the way, they make new friends and after some time, all of them discover that they have a common enemy to destroy, the chief villain of this story.

This series ran from 2000 to 2004 over a span of 160 plus episodes. It is a highly entertaining anime with various comedy elements in it. Each of the character has a funny and humorous side to themselves. There is also light romance in this anime which makes this anime interesting too. And after watching anime for some time, I have to say that besides the occasional violence, anime actually teaches us a lot of values like honour, trust, filial piety and determination. Seriously.

So, to those who are bored in this December, do give anime a try. But also remember, moderation is important. Remember to spend adequate time to look after your health, and spend time with family and friends. Alright that's all for now. Next time, I will write about Naruto, another awesome anime and manga. See you guys. Janna.