Japanese Anime Cartoon

When we, as Japanese hear the term, a Japanese anime cartoon, we got this funny feeling. Perhaps, this is a cartoon that is not part of the wrapping part of the anime in the right way. Since we only use terms like Manga and anime, maybe a new concept, a cartoon, not something that is used to.However, there are so many factors why the notion of us these special feelings.

I know that this is only an expression of who they are, rather than the subject itself, but when you say the Japanese cartoon, it sounds less animated, in a sense, I apologize if this offends anyone. On the contrary, if, say Japanese animation, this could mean, that was created in rich form of art. It is probably not the impression that more than Americans or Europeans are getting the Japanese animation cartoons.

By definition, the difference between anime and cartoons are as slijedi.Anime, who come from the animation, pointing to all the Japanese animation as opposed to the topical satire Cartoon comics.

Therefore, there are still Cartoons out there who are Japanese anime, and I guess we call them Japanese anime cartoons. So, I should not even make any difference on this issue, but it is only definicija.Pravi feeling towards those words in the terminology is slightly different from the Japanese perspective.

Anime and cartoons are two separate things. I know this sounds a little strange for some people who are not used for cultural differences. However, small differences like this can make a huge difference in the big picture.

I'm sure there are terms in English that are so close, but have slightly different meanings. For example, if a Dragon Ball game of the Cartoon Network, it looks and sounds kind of funny. However, something like PowerPuffGirls the cartoon is more appropriate from our perspective.

of Japanese anime such as InuYasha or Bleach are great cartoon animation started. This is due to the fact that they are not just good and fun to read comics, but sometimes, they can represent our Japanese culture in the further stage, it can be entertainment after all.

I know that some people in the United States do not understand what I am saying, but those of you who are getting what you think, keep in mind the next time you are taking pictures, images, backgrounds and characters from the gallery, the Japanese rarely call them the Japanese anime cartoon. We prefer to use the term, Japanese anime, manga or animation. Consider the term applies only to Cartoon animation by non-Japanese creators. So in the end, what we call them does not really matter, but the image quality or Cartoon is what counts.

Top Ten OST Tracks

Some random fact about Arianna Sterling: When I was younger, a little kid, I did not, under any circumstances, like listening to instrumentals. I wanted words, dammit. And if a song wasn't going to give me words, that song could just go straight to hell. Then when I got a bit older, I think around eleven or twelve, I discovered that some instrumentals (read: the ones by Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Savatage) weren't all that bad. Skip forward a little more to when I was thirteen, more instrumentals were welcome in my life, including classical stuff like Beethoven. I love Beethoven.

Then take me now, and I love a lot of instrumentals just as much as I love songs with words.

Granted, this list is not 100% instrumental. A number of the songs have those vague kinda vocalizations, and there are a few with actual words. But for the most part, they're wordless, so I figured I would just offer up this tidbit about myself.

And for the record, music is one of my greatest loves next to anime and writing. I'm always on the lookout for something new to listen to.

Moving on, my top ten OST/insert tracks.

Number Ten: Kokoro wo Shibaru Ai no Kotoba (Durarara!!)

Composer: Makoto Yoshimori

In general, I wasn't all that impressed by the DRRR!! OSTs, but I can go into detail on that when I review them, so I won't babble about that here. This is the one song that stuck with me when I gave it a listen and I kinda sorta love it. For anyone who doesn't know (most of you?) I'm a really morbid, sometimes creepy, obsessed-with-Poe sorta person. I mean, bodies make me happy.

So this song, with it's not-word vocals that sound like the musically enhanced moans of someone dying (it's not just me who hears that, is it?), or at least someone who has been stabbed by Saika, it appeals to me. It gets even better with the...whatever that is that comes in at about 0:50. Seriously, what is that? I don't know, but I love the hell out of it. And when both those aspects are combined...well. Let's just say it makes me smile.

Number Nine: Diva (Blood+)

Composer: Mark Mancina

The song opens up beautifully, and makes me think of dark theatres and single spotlights on girls in long black dresses. Which is interesting, considering the character who sang it did not wear long black dresses—I believe she wore white dresses, and also little sailor boy clothes (← that was kinda weird). Yes, this is in fact Diva's song from Blood+, so it was only played if the character was singing it herself. And as much as it's certainly beautiful when you don't know the context, it takes on an extreme creepy factor when you put it inside of its own story.

Usually people started turning into Chiropterans if they heard this in person. Great fun, turning people into horrible man-eating monsters. Well, despite that horrifying bit, the song is still lovely. I think the high point for me is around 2:20, when it's picking up, and then a number of seconds later when she hits that high point. Or 3:12-ish, which is also amazing. I have no clue who actually did the vocals for this, but I she has a beautiful voice. I suspect she was trained in opera.

Number Eight: Kage Futatsu (Clannad)

Artist: Riya

Studio Key, in most of their creations, seem to have a penchant for using songs performed by ladies with absolutely gorgeous voices. Clannad certainly wasn't an exception, and it was hard for me to choose which Clannad piece was my favorite, but Kage Futatsu won.

Riya does have a lovely voice, so I couldn't even complain that the song wasn't Lia, like so many songs Key uses are. I think part of what makes me love the song so much might just be that it was played during a scene that brought an enormous smile to my face, because it was something I'd been waiting on for awhile, but for the most part...how can someone not enjoy this song? It isn't the most masterful composition on this list by any means, it's just plain beautiful and really, that's all it needs.

Number Seven: Si Deus Me Relinquit (Kuroshitsuji)

Composer: Taku Iwasaki (I think)

The first time I heard this song it brought tears to my eyes and it had nothing to do with what was going on in the anime at the time. That voice...it's so pretty, so soft. And I have a weak spot for Latin in music (Carmina Burana anyone?). Then I looked up the lyrics translation and somehow that made it even better. Even just the first line:

If God has forsaken me, Then I shall forsake God, too

That's...wow. This is a heart-wrenching song in its own right. Throw Ciel's backstory in there and it's a recipe for disaster. In a good way. If that makes sense.

Besides the female vocalist, I also like how the male voices are tossed in the back. And the instrumental appeal is very high. And I just really love this song. It still makes me cry when I listen to it, and that tends to be somewhat often, as it also sort of perfectly fits every single main character in one of the novels I'm working on (very much not a happy novel).

Number Six: Day and Night (Shiki)

Composer: Yasuharu Takanashi

This song...I can't explain what makes it so good, it's kind of just a matter of, wow, this song is good. I love the way the music all works together—I feel like if I picked it apart, each separate sound would work fine on its own, but hearing them all right atop each other the way Takanashi did it lovely.

Oh, and the rain first heard at 1:27? I love those things. Plus the strings that enter right after—I have such a weakness to strings. The vocals that follow, are...how is this song not higher on my list? I'm not sure. But it ended up right here. I just love it so.

Especially how the strings trail off at the end.

Number Five: L's Theme B (Death Note)

Composer: Yoshihisa Hirano

L himself made my top guys ten list, as number two, as you may have seen. Well here's another thing about L that's pretty awesome: he also has amazing themes. In fact, just that he has two themes is pretty freaking awesome. His second theme gets to be number five on my list.

I can't for the life of me remember which L scenes used this song. But I love it. I spent spring break my junior year (last year, guys) listening mostly to the Death Note OST and mostly to this song and L's other theme. I love the rock-esque tone to this. It's not actually rock, and anyone who calls it such can feel free to argue with me.

This song represents L's badassery though. I can say that. Because you know that genius is a badass. How else could he have all those weirdo habits and still be taken so seriously? And probably my favorite part of this song is the series of notes first heard starting at 0:09 which play throughout the entire song (they change midway through and start taking breaks, but they're the same notes). While I love the entire combination of music, there's something about that specific sound that just draws me in every time—basically, if I turn this on and don't actually want to listen to it at first, I have to get out before those notes begin or I will listen to the entire song.

Number Four: Aozora (Air)

Artist: Lia

I mentioned Lia, didn't I? Well, of course she was going to make this list somewhere. I think she's also on another one somewhere, but that's beside the point. This song.

This song makes me cry every single time I listen to it. Now, I had heard it before watching Air. Or...okay, an amendment. I heard it after seeing one episode, because I went to download the songs, and of course, having seen one episode of Air, you still get to think it's a happy series. The soul-ripping comes later. So I figured, happy series with pretty music, very awesome.

Then I got to the part of the anime where they play this song. And I was already in tears at that part, so having the depressing combined with this pure beauty—that just made me cry harder. Thus why I cry whenever I hear this. But listen to it! It's beautiful. I can't stop listening.

Meaning really, I just can't win.

Number Three: L's Theme (Death Note)





Composer: Yoshihisa Hirano

Okay, walking into writing this list, I had a goal. I knew there was going to be something from Death Note in here, and I knew it was going to be L-related. And I know myself, so I knew it would be an L theme, and my goal was to only include one of those themes. Well, then I listened to them both and I tried so hard to pick just one to make the list. ...Obviously, I did not succeed. I'm too in love with both of them.

This one gets to be higher up on the list, my third favorite, because it plays during one of my absolute favorite scenes from that anime. In episode two, when L decides to send Lind L. Taylor on TV and see if he'll die, completely playing Light with that trick (where the thing was broadcasting), that is where I first started to love the crazy detective. And this song was playing for that duration. So I feel like this song completely just 100% really represents the essence of L, who he is and what he can do.

And that piano. God, I love that piano. (The piano and violin are my two favorite instruments.) Of course what amuses me in this song is that both of my parents have heard the beginning of it at different times, and both have assumed based on the piano at the beginning that it's Savatage. No guys, it's from an anime.

A really awesome anime.

Note: Numbers 1 & 2 were very hard choices. I love both of these songs obsessively.

Number Two: Eau de Vie (Shiki)

Composer: Yasuharu Takanashi

I couldn't help it, Shiki had to be on this list again. It has one of my favorite OSTs of all time, for sure. This song is so amazing it distracted the hell out of me during the series. It didn't matter if something was going down, if I was mourning over a recently lost character (much as I knew better than to get attached to anyone from the very beginning, there were still a few people I felt mildly sad over) this song...as soon as it started playing, I started fangirling.

If I tell this song to play, I have to get out very early, or I'll be trapped. And I mean I'll let it loop for awhile unless there's something else I really want to listen to.

My favorite aspects of this particular song are...well there are a few. I love the way it sounds around 0:10, how it's pretty but also sounds a bit like urgency. It is followed up by the rising of the strings at 0:22, in another beautiful melody. I adore both of those parts with all my heart. But what takes the cake for the track is the way the strings and the voice join forces around 0:56 and just keep going. I believe the first time it played in the series my jaw literally dropped for that part.

Such pretty music, I think, would mask the true manner of the series if you hearing it without context. As things stand, it's a little creepy, how beautiful it is.

Number One: Ake ni Somaru (Jigoku Shoujo)

Composer: Yasuharu Takanashi

First of all, notice something—there are three Yasuharu Takanashi compositions on this song. Clearly, he knows how to get to me.

From the start, watching Jigoku Shoujo, I adored this song. That little-girlish voice set to that tone of music, sounding that way, and in such a darkly themed anime...it sorta blew my mind. Then the rest of the music came in, along with the other sort of vocals this song gets, and my mind was blown all over again. Then it got strings and guess what happened? Yes. More mind-blowing.

It seems like every time I listen to this song, I locate a new portion of it to give my love to and worship and bow down to. The little girl 'la' thing coming back in, softer, combined with the music right there? Yes. All over that. The slow ending, drawn out with sort of the Silent Hill-static sound thrown in there just for good measure? Yes.

Am I in love with this song?

Oh hell yes.



So there's my top ten OSTs/insert tracks. That was fun.

Top Ten Anime Girls

Here we have my top ten anime girls! I actually seem to have managed to stick with just anime for this one instead of throwing a random manga lady in there...though admittedly, there are two of them whom I've seen in both mediums at some point or another. It was kind of hard for me to come up with people for this list—there are plenty of girls in anime that I like just fine when I'm watching the series, but not many I'd say I adore and can think of otherwise

Number Ten: Kanade Tachibana(Angel Beats!)

As one of the lead women in Angel Beats!, Kanade (aka Tenshi) caught my eye pretty quickly. In fact, within the first few minutes. What can I say—you stab a guy through the heart to prove he can't really die, that's going to make me interested in you.

I see Kanade as a beautiful character, not only because she's physically very pretty (and there's some amazing art of her out there) but because of her purpose in being. The group initially sees her as an enemy, but really, she isn't. I won't say anything more for risk of spoilers, but basically, Kanade is a good person and it's something that makes me love her.

Number Nine: Misuzu Kamio (Air)

If we met in real life, Misuzu and I would get along very well. She loves dinosaurs. That, in and of itself, tells me we could be friends, because, I too, love dinosaurs. Other than that though. Misuzu is an adorable, sweet young girl who just wants to be happy and make friends. That's the entire reason she starts talking to Yukito in the first episode, is to make a friend—she wants to play.

This girl has one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever seen in an anime. Cursed to become ill and die when she gets emotionally close to someone, and therefore her aunt, who has been raising her, is forced to act pretty cold to her. It's a depressing thing to think about, and Misuzu...well, Misuzu deserves to be allowed to get close to people. She's such a good girl.

Number Eight: Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad)

The ladies of Clannad are some of my absolute favorites on the whole, and Kotomi is near the very top. Much like me, she is a lover of books, and she's very quiet. Granted, her reasons for being quiet are incredibly different from mine—she has extreme emotional issues and me, I'm just shy. Still, I loved her for being quiet and cute and intelligent yet completely lacking in the common sense department. Besides, her obsession with being called “Kotomi-chan” made me smile.

Kotomi...is a girl that I felt a lot of pity for. Her arc of the anime was one of my favorites to watch, and probably the one I considered the saddest. The way she shut herself down was just...sad. I don't know what other word to use. It made me tear up.

And on a lighter note, Kotomi + violin = don't do it man.

Number Seven: Fuko Ibuki (Clannad)

I am quite positive that it's impossible to watch Clannad and not have an intense urge to glomp Fuko at least once. When I look at her I have those Rena Ryugu “I'm taking it home” moments, because seriously, she's adorable. And she makes me laugh. Like with her starfish—well, that part's just plain cute, but when it comes to the cuts on her hands and how she denies that she's in pain...it's just adorable.

My one regret in watching Clannad was that she didn't wake up earlier. I really wish she had. But I loved the times when she would pop up and do something random and declare that they didn't have to remember yet, that she could wait. She's just so amusing.

Number Six: Rena Ryugu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni/Kai)

Oh, Rena...On my list of 'most psychotic anime characters' (actually, that list doesn't exist) she's probably at the top. Or at least in second place, because Mion might just have her beat. But at the same time, despite her utter insanity, she's freaking cute. And I got attached to her throughout the course of the two Higurashi seasons.

That's all.

Number Five: Sakura Kinomoto (Card Captor Sakura)

Sakura is one of the two I've seen in both mediums. I read the Card Captor Sakura manga in its entirety and watched the second movie of the series, though I still have yet to watch the rest of everything that goes with it. Still, I 100% adore this little girl. Not...not in a creepy way. She's just cute and has such a fighting spirit—watching her I always had to cheer her on, kinda like Tomoyo, just without the clear lesbian attraction.

...Uhm, anyway. Watching her capture the Clow cards and develop a relationship with Syaoran made me very happy, and so did her interactions with everyone else. She's such a bright girl. The world needs more people like her.

Number Four: Mai Taniyama (Ghost Hunt)

I think this attachment may have been formed because I've sat through Ghost Hunt about a million times now. I have the dub, so if I need something to play in the background, Ghost Hunt is my go-to series. I've sorta developed a love of Mai. I like her because she's spunky. Naru is her boss, but she doesn't put up with his crap the way everyone else is willing to. If she doesn't like what he's doing, she makes sure he knows it.

So for that, I love her.

Number Three: Celty Sturluson (Durarara!!)

Look man, Celty is undeniably badass. For anyone who hasn't seen Durarara!!...well first of all, fix it—go watch the series, right now. But I was saying she's a Dullahan, a sort of Irish fairy who can control shadows and whatnot. This one doesn't have a head as a result of plot points I shall not disclose. And instead of riding a horse, she rides a motorcycle...which actually is her horse, but still.

Despite being a powerful mythical creature who can't die and heals incredibly fast, she's not always brave. She isn't one of those typical icy bitches who acts like she's the most epic thing ever to walk planet earth—there are moment where she's truly scared, where she throws herself at Shinra and tells him she's scared. It makes her seem to human. She's amazing.

Number Two: Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad)

Clannad has to make one last appearance on this list. I don't even know how to explain my love of Nagisa, because I don't fully understand what it is that I love about her. She's sweet. She's pretty. She doesn't want to cause trouble for anyone. She's...just a wonderful girl all around.

And I'm not going to bother justifying my love of her.

Number One: Ai Enma (Jigoku Shoujo)

I love the series Jigoku Shoujo, and Ai Enma, Jigoku Shoujo herself, is very much my favorite girl in the world of anime. Ai is obligated to take people to hell for people who wish revenge, and this applies whether or not the person deserves to be sent to hell or not. In one episode, for example, she takes a nurse who is truly a wonderful person, because some drug addict has a problem with her that isn't fully explained—presumably he's just an asshole.

During the first season I didn't have much of a reason to love Ai, I just did. Then season two, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, happened. It was...wow. At the end of the season, Ai was forced to take this little boy who didn't at all deserve to be sent to hell. And she brought him back. She was punished for that, harshly. But she did it anyway.

Love her.

This has been, my top ten anime girls.