Nostalgia November: Childhood Japanese Anime TV Shows
As a kid, I was incredibly influenced by television. The
technicoloured images flying across the screen gave birth to excitement and
adventure in my mundane, quiet childhood life. I lived vicariously through the
eyes of my TV idols like the kids in Digimon who save the world with their
monster friends, and yearned for the friendships forged between Pokémon and
their trainers. Sure, I was a Barney & Friends lover and Disney addict but
there were a few Japanese shows that I had an unexplainable love for as a
child. It’s no wonder I grew up to become weaboo trash continue loving
Japanese culture and productions.
Being the second last month of the year, November seems to
be a time of reminiscing. And reflecting on goals you set for yourself in
January that you didn’t quite manage to stick to. (There’s always next year,
right?) Let’s take a break from our hectic lives to recall the fonder memories
of our yester years.
Cardcaptor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら)
What started out as a manga series serialized in 1996 grew
to become a global franchise. For good reason too! Cardcaptor Sakura clinched
the coveted Seiun Award for Best Manga in 2001 and is praised by critics
worldwide for its impressive depth, character development and its unique spin
on the fantasy shoujo genre.
One of my most memorable childhood gifts was Sakura’s wand
that lighted up and released the classic magic sounds when swung down. I
absolutely loved that toy and I probably spent hours swinging that darn thing
around and living my magical girl dreams.
I also had a Kero alarm clock! It was definitely one of my
most treasured possessions.
Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎)
Hamsters have never looked so cute!
We all remember Hamtaro with his iconic sunflower seed and bunch of equally
cute friends. When I was a kid, I had plastic pencil caps in all colours of the
rainbow, sprinkled with glitter and tiny Hamtaros, and I loved them so much.
Digimon (デジモン)
Digimon was a show that made a huge impact on me as a child.
I was inexplicably drawn to its premise and characters, and as a soon-to-be-adult
looking back on it, I can see why. It’s an almost dystopian setting featuring
pre-teens fighting evil forces with their pet companions in both the digital
and the real world. Being a child myself, the idea of children battling such
formidable foes and forging bonds with powerful monsters was almost
breath-taking. And, um, I had a huge crush on the blonde dude.
I also loved the evolutions. The monsters usually looked
very different each time and even changed personalities. My favourite was, and
still is, Patamon’s. I mean, how could this cutie patootie:
Turn into this angel hottie:
But you probably have your own biases so here’s an old
school video of the different evolutions:
Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール)
I personally never watched Dragon Ball but it’s practically
a crime to leave it out of this list. It is a true classic which debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump during 1984.
The manga was incredibly, colossally influential and the volumes sold millions
in Japan alone. The main character, Goku, earned the admiration of young boys
everywhere and became the timeless, unprecedented poster boy of shōnen battle
manga. Needless to say, the anime followed suit in popularity and became a huge
mainstream success in the West.
Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン)
If Dragon Ball is the pinnacle of classic shōnen anime, Sailor
Moon would be its shoujo equivalent. To this day, Sailor Moon enjoys a vast and
universal fan base and its dreamy, girly vibes have attracted a present day
niche cult following of hipster teen girls. Its unyielding popularity is
evident in the fact that a modern remake of the 1992 anime was released earlier
on in July this year, and boy, were expectations high.
On another note, have any of you played this emulator game
before? I remember being obsessed with it and playing it on my cousin’s chunky
PC. Never got past the gooey body-sucking demons though, sigh.
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ)
Next, we have everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic animal!
Hello Kitty is a walking, talking bundle of cute and she has throngs of loyal
fans all over the world who are slave to her irresistible kawaii-ness. After so
many years, Hello Kitty still sits on her throne in the limelight as the
reigning kitty princess of everything adorable. But is there a secret to her never-ending
appeal across different ages and nationalities?
As quoted from The
Straits Times, Ms Janet Hsu, president and chief operating officer of
Sanrio's North American arm, aptly explains that “she evolves by integrating
herself into pop culture and collaborating with relevant partners. That's why
she's had this enduring appeal for 40 years."
I remember watching an episode of the anime whereby Hello
Kitty was eating curry and rice. (It looked more like mashed potatoes and gravy
but I’m guessing it’s the former) She was too greedy and asked for a super
large portion despite her parents’ chastising.
In the end, she could not finish
her food and it was wasted. Basically, the moral of the story was that you
shouldn’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s a pretty cynical metaphor for
life now that I look back on it as an older person. But the scene stayed in my
head through the years for some reason. Probably because that brown mush looked
so dang good.
Doraemon (ドラえもん)
Again, this is another show I never watched but is much too
iconic to not have a spot here. Fun fact: Did you know that the second edition
of the anime clocked a whopping 1,787 episodes? That’s insane!
In more recent
news, Doraemon’s Japanese production company has teamed up with Disney to bring
the 2005 edition to the Disney XD Channel in the United States, with the
agreement being officially announced during May this year.
Pokémon (ポケモン)
Lastly, we have the show that made us want to catch them
all. Pokémon also had some genius puns and sassy comebacks. The reason why our
generation is so corny and sarcastic is probably because we subconsciously
absorbed all their bad jokes. Thanks Pokémon, you educated me in all the right
ways.
Remember fervently collecting those shiny cards and playing
the games on a big ass Gameboy? Those were good times. I’ve recently gotten
into playing them again, along with some epic hacks, and thus, rekindling my
love for the little pocket critters.
Remember crying when Ash said goodbye to Butterfree,
cheering when Pikachu beat Raichu, and quaking in your boots when the team got
stuck in the sunken ship? We were so invested in the show, in the characters.
Their joy was our joy, their pain was our pain. And most importantly, Pokémon
taught us about the power of friendship, kindness and how to care for the world
we live in.
Written by Faelan
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