In a conversation I was having with a friend of mine a few months ago I passively mentioned that I had been watching Breaking Bad like mad and his reaction was precisely what mine had been to people telling me I should watch it, an eye roll followed by a "yeah whatever." After a fair amount of nagging I finally got him to watch it, and having finished the show I wanted to go back and watch the first episode knowing everything I now know. It was... strange. Surprisingly, he didn't dislike it, which I fully expected him to. Not only that, but he seemed somewhat interested in continuing. Today after school we drove to his mom's work where he was going to be picked up and watched the first part of the second episode in my car which was fun. ----------------------------- I first watched Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Planet Chasers Starlight Excellent back in late 2009 and was entertained just enough by the crazy mech designs to keep with it and consider myself a fan. Fast-forward a few years to 2013 and thinking about anything I had consumed post-2008 leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of where I was in life and the memories/emotions associated with that period. So of course whenever I would think of Starlight Excellent I would get this sensation and immediately be turned off to it. Now that I am well out of high-school and by all accounts in a better place in life, I have decided to return to the series and look at in a new light, and perhaps be able to fully overwrite those bad sensations. This return was motivated by the recent resurgence of my Code Geass fanboy-ism and the mechsturbation that ensued. I finished the first episode moments ago and my immediate impression was, "This is the best thing ever. Ever." Having finished the episode I am fairly certain that when I first watched Starlight Excellent I completely missed what the point of the show is and the endearing qualities it has, which is perhaps another reason why I do not remember it fondly. At the time I first watched the show the only mech shows I had seen were grounded in politics and any other anime I had watched was very brooding and... just not that fun. But this. This. This show is absolutely ridiculous and awesome for it and that's the point. But what's spectacular about the show and why it is so remarkable is that it's craziness is not the only thing it has going for it, it's actually doing things, interesting things. The concept of people living underground and having fooled themselves for generations about the surface world existing is one of the most interesting things I have ever seen, and I am fully invested only one episode in. I cannot wait to continue. In my opinion, the return to this show and the epiphany that I had while watching it point towards how I have grown, matured, and changed over these past years, and that is something I regard very highly considering the person I was when I watched this series for the first time over four years ago. I can already tell that I will remember this series fondly for this very reason. Sorry for this thread. I felt obligated to post it if only for the last paragraph and to be able to brag about myself a little, an entirely selfish reason but one I take pride in nonetheless. And I thought I would share the first part of this for no particular reason other than amusement.
